User reviews

Granted, the inside bank heist plot is implausible in 'Bastille Day' (retitled 'The Take' for its USA release), but the director James Watson paces the film so well with non-stop tense moments, and taps Idris Elba's innate tension-building talents and ability to deliver quick dialogue (as he does with Sorkin's trademark banter in 'Molly's Game'), that one overlooks the spectacularly unrealistic story of the intended heist.

This is a pure entertainment escapism - an action film that does not pretend to be more than it is.

Therefore, I'm giving two thumbs up 👍👍 for a good fun-to-watch action flick. Grab a dish of popcorn and enjoy. Note my 7 Rating means it's good (like an 8 by most User standards).

Richard Madden and Jose Garcia are well-casted.

Is it just me that thinks Garcia looks and acts a lot like Harvey Kietel in his 30s?!

Ever wanted to know what happens when you mix 24, Bourne, Die Hard III, and Luther on a tight budget, and then you spice it all with a little Luc Besson? Then you have your answer right here.

It's a fast paced, no-nonsense action spy thriller, without a single piece of originality. But it manages to present all the borrowed bits and pieces in a way, to deliver a very entertaining experience.

The main character is almost a carbon copy of the title character in Luther, so Elba naturally revels in the role. They even managed to include one of my favorite lines from Luther, the little thieves. Which is funny since the second main character is actually a thief in this. Self irony maybe? The movie never slows down, not for a minute. I haven't seen anything like it for quite some time. There is less Neutral Gear in here, than in Luc Bessson's original Taxi.

Of course you shouldn't expect a masterpiece. The characters are all shallow, and the story is predictable. It doesn't even try to be clever, it just gives you everything at face value.

Normally I only watch 7.0 and above but I was tired of scrolling and gave it a try. Nice, undercover CIA movie with a decent amount of action.

This film (unfortunately) is most famous because it was set to come out at the same time as a Islamic terrorist attack in France, and one of the reasons I waited a while to watch this film was because I was wary of how Muslims would be portrayed in it etc. Let me without spoilers tell you this film is almost entirely unpolitical, with the 'Islamic threat' so far down the radar it can't even be said to be a theme.

Now on to the film! Do you like Idris Elba? If you don't, stop reading this review and never watch this film. This is his film. He plays a bad-ass CIA agent (there is an irony of a British actor playing a CIA man stationed in France) who does not like to follow rules, and he is on the trail of a master pick pocket (Richard Madden) who gets wrapped up in a plot to blow up France. Cliché, yes, but the film does avoid some obvious ones, surprising pleasantly at some points.

Elba is menacing, cool and always fantastic, and all of his co-stars pull their weight, but none are particularly likable, and they just have very little chemistry together. But, this is an action, thriller, so who really cares about that. The action is solid, but not mind blowing. The balance between action and thriller is about right, and the director does not get distracted with too many side characters or plots.

This is about as standard a movie as you can get, with the only real plus being Elba. He needs to do more action movies, he needs to be the next Bond. 6.5, but IMDb won't let me give it that score so I bump to a 7 on Elba's performance!

This was a great action movie. The movie held my interest for the full hour and a half. I enjoyed the close hand to hand combat. There was an interesting twist. I really enjoyed watching Idris Elba. Overall very enjoyable movie to watch.

Michael Mason (Richard Madden) is an American pickpocket in Paris. Zoe (Charlotte Le Bon) is an anti-fascist who is recruited to place a bomb in an empty right wing party building. Sean Briar (Idris Elba) is a reckless CIA agent assigned to Paris. The three are pulled into a conspiracy to heighten the political atmosphere for a Die Hard scheme.

This proves to me that Idris Elba could have been a great Bond. The story is a good convoluted thriller. The only thing missing is a truly fun buddy chemistry. Madden needs to be a little funnier to make the pairing better. I'm reminded of 48 Hrs or various other odd couples. This is not quite up to that level. It's not as fun but it's a solid thriller.

I'm torn between a 6 and 7 for this film. This has everything a good thriller should have, but nothing notably unique about the film or the way it's done past the protagonists and some of the cinematography.

The film is a spiral into chaos and the characters are very likable, forming an unlikely friendship between a thief and a CIA agent. Idris Elba and Richard Madden show off some great acting that really drives the film, with the dialogue between the two easily being my favourite part of the film. The directing is great, too, with a riveting chase sequence that looks and feels exciting and some lovely cinematography in France.

The premise isn't anything amazing, but throwing a sly, witty pocket thief into the mix of what would be an ordinary every-year thriller is what drives the film and makes it anything worth noting. If you're going to see this film for any reason, it should be for the two leads. Bastille Day is nothing unique, but it's definitely a good film if you're in the mood for a thriller (however I'd recommend Eye in the Sky over this). This is a film for people that are into thrillers and fun character interaction.

I always use subtitles since I don't hear well.

The spoken English was subtitled, which was helpful, but the long spoken exchanges between the French police/tactical/intelligence was spoken in French, but NONE of the French dialog WAS TRANSLATED and SUBTITLED.

Maybe not a huge issue except that the 'good guys' had maybe ten pages of dialog between them. The French speakers provided about 80% of 'The Take's' total spoken word.

Now, Idris Elba is the caliber of actor who doesn't need to chatter in order to get his thoughts out.

Still, with the Strong, Silent Type in the lead, there was no way to follow the plot. When we thought we'd identified the villians, we had to watch and wait for another character's confirmation of events.

I don't know who's responsible for subtitles...but really, our phones can transcribe a spoken voice message. We can speak to lock our doors, turn off our lights, and play our favorite music.

#pleasefixsubtitles

You have to forget that, during the making of this action film shot in Paris, the French capital was the scene of a brutal terrorist attack. Instead you have to go with the flow - and, boy, does it flow with constant flights and fights and a frenetically-cut chase sequence on rooftops that could have come straight out of a Bourne movie.

British director James Watkins has given us a thoroughly entertaining romp that never lets up and looks great. The plotting is utterly implausible but the hard-as-diamond core is the former CIA agent Briar played wonderfully by Britain's Idris Elba in a role that could be seen as an audition to be the next James Bond. Not at all sure about his 'singing' over the credits though ...

And no I'm not talking about a river. The charisma and screen presence Idris Elba projects is amazing. He can throw shades, have a stare-down and just generally make you do things without saying much. If someone like this is on the hunt to get you ... well you better run fast. But this is not just a chase movie. This has unfortunately some roots in reality with its terrorist attack theme.

This is something that is hard to stomach and might be too much for some to view, in light of things that did happen in Paris or anywhere else in the world for that matter. But if you can blend that out and just accept this as entertainment and a movie, you will get a suspenseful story, that is intriguing and decent enough to watch

Well paced action film with A decently interesting plot. Idris sticks to his Luther type in a good way. The "bad guy's" plan is somewhat original but otherwise nothing new which is why it is a 6 versus a 7. Definitely worth a watch and good way to spend an hour and half.

Paris, the crazy hubbub of the never sleeping European metropolis, right before the national holiday, the Bastille Day. A renegade, brilliant but woefully disobedient CIA agent, a somewhat charming pickpocket, an almost innocent smitten young women and the last, but not least a group of evil antagonists that threaten the celebrations. All the necessary ingredients for an exciting, heart-stopping caper that calls for a jumbo bucket of buttery popcorn. There are hundreds of similar movie compulsively churned every year to satisfy insatiable appetites of moviegoers all over our crazy planet, so why would you watch this, particular one. Well, it is quite simple. It doesn't pretend to be more than it is, it doesn't patronize the viewer and the really nice, first class cast of very fine mostly British ( all playing Americans flawlessly) and French actors. Perhaps not the kind of a flick that stays forever etched in one's mind, but how many ever do? This would do nicely for a cold December, Saturday evening, and it did. 7,5 stars.

So this was a decent movie. Fast paced and full of action. Just the right amount of absurdities. Idris does a great job selling his character. I just rented it actually from my local library. What I can't comprehend is how this was released just one year after the actual Paris bombings. I just watched that documentary on Netflix.

It's got all the mandatory 'stuff'. Foot chases, car chases and shoot-'em-ups. For the most part they are well executed. Add a couple of little twists plus an interesting storyline and for me it was worth the hour and a half I invested.

Idris Elba was in his usual form. Richard Madden and Charlotte Le Bon were good supporting characters. The pickpocket angle worked. And Kelly Reilly was super cute as usual. I think she made me decide to raise my 6 rating to a 7.

I didn't mind the subtitles, but I found them a little hard to read at times. The white letters didn't show up well when they appeared in scenes with light backgrounds.

The good: The 2 leads play their roles well enough and are entertaining to watch. The movie clips along at a nice pace and whilst predictable, is entertaining from start to finish.

The bad: The dialogue / interactions between the protagonists is average - a missed opportunity with the 2 very capable actors. Whilst the action is ok, the editing is horrific. Especially during fight scenes. There are so many quick cuts and continuity issues it's nauseating (i.e., John Wick, this aint).

Should you watch it: Bastille Day / The Take is a solid action flick that is well paced and entertaining throughout it's 1.5hr runtime. A one-and-done only though.

A low budget actioner. It's nicely paced so keeps your attention throughout with pockets of gunplay and fight scenes. The action style isn't anything different but it gets the job done. Some cheesy lines from a typical Euro action script. It isn't anything you haven't seen before but if your fine with that then you'll be satisfied. It ain't no Taken, Transporter or London Has Fallen (all being set in Europe and with that similar feel.) And sadly Idris Elba isn't a Liam Neeson, Jason Statham or Gerard Butler in action-man terms, he'd easily lose a fight between any of them. Yes he is tall and imposing but delivers quite an empty performance, it doesn't seem like he had to make much effort and unfortunately it shows. Maybe the money men behind this production wanted this kind of performance from Mr. Elba but being cool takes a lot more effort than this. If it was a Luc Besson production i think we would have had different results in regards to the action. Its an entertaining one-watch. 5/10

Surprised this isn't at least in the 7's on here. Elba is excellent, no cheesy crap Bond esque love interests. Just a proper thriller with some great twists and decent action sequences. Some comical moments in a non Marvel universe cheesy way.

Nothing incredibly new with the plot, but it does keep you interested for the duration. The end hints at a sequel, which could be interesting.

If you like a good action / thriller - this is the best I've seen in a long while. Not quite as good as the old Bournes, but certainly better than recent Bonds.

Pretty good, for what it is. 'Bastille Day', or 'The Take' for us in my neck of the woods, is a sound action thriller that suitably entertains.

Idris Elba has played this sorta role many a time but there's no doubting how strongly he performs in such films. He and co-star Richard Madden are sporting distracting (at least to someone who knows them more for their native tongue) accents, but are a solid pairing... their (admittedly somewhat minimal) buddy cop-esque banter isn't the best, though.

Elba also appears in the end credits singing... not to great effect, I gotta say. Don't get me wrong I know that guy can very much do music, it's just that this song is, erm, not his strongest work, let's just say that.

It's largely predictable, though it does things in a manner that kept me interested and enjoying what I was setting eyes on. So it gets a pass from yours truly.

There isn't much of anything to this movie, other than a lot of fast action, with the usual "collateral damage." Idris Elba is an actual actor, but he has no material to act with here. So, for that matter, is Thierry Godard, one of the leads in the French TV series Un Village français, but here he gets nothing at all.

Every now and then there are allusions to current politics in French - the National Front, etc. - but they don't go anywhere, and are not explained.

Not much is done with the Paris setting. No pleasant scenes in the Eiffel Tower restaurants, or along the banks of the Seine, etc.

There is no point in summarizing the plot, such as it is, because it's not very interesting. Suffice it to say that, when all is said and done, this is actually about an impossible bank holdup.

If you decide to watch this movie - and I can't imagine why you would - watch it late at night when your mind has shut down and doesn't catch all the holes in the plot.

Bastille Day is a vehicle showing off Idris Elba's action hero skills and it succeeds in that respect, menacing with a suave meanness, kicking asses and taking no prisoners but all with charm. He commits to the action hero role with a screen presence that carries the film, even as the script goes down every clichéd path B-grade action movie. The Paris we see is not the City of Lights but a place where the lead actor drives his way through gritty Parisienne outskirts, avoiding bad guys, all the way drawing the viewer's eye away from the secondary actors who never get a chance to flesh out their characters. All in all a nice story with an original location.

Idris Elba is well cast as Sean Briar, a CIA agent on the trail of a Paris bomber. He is a bit of a 'one tough guy against the world' type character who he plays very well. It's a bit of a job application for the James Bond roll, but is an enjoyable thriller nonetheless.

Richard Madden plays, Michael Mason, a cheeky pickpocket, who steals a handbag that, unbeknown to him, contains a bomb. When the bomb explodes Mason becomes Paris's most wanted and is hunted by Briar. There is a great chemistry between the two leads and although the story is a little predictable it bubbles along nicely with some good action scenes and stunts.

The movie is nothing special, but throw in the wit of Mason and you have a descent movie with a few laughs for good measure.