Taken

Taken may refer to:

Film and television

Literature

Music

Up All Night (One Direction album)

Up All Night is the debut studio album by English-Irish group One Direction, released by Syco Records in November 2011 in Ireland and the United Kingdom, followed by a worldwide release during 2012. Four months after finishing third in the seventh series of British reality singing contest The X Factor in December 2010, One Direction began recording the album in Sweden, UK and the United States, working with a variety of writers and producers. The album is predominantly a pop music album which orientates into pop rock, dance-pop, teen pop and power pop. The album's lyrical content regards being young, relationships, heartbreak and empowerment. Staged in support of the album, One Direction performed the album's songs live on televised shows, at awards ceremonies, and during their worldwide Up All Night Tour.

The album received generally favourable reviews from contemporary music critics, many of whom appreciated the album's combination of melodic song craft and catchy, pop-oriented material that, while slickly produced, avoided the commercial cynicism and adult contemporary posturing of some of their '80s and '90s forebears. An international success, the album topped the charts in sixteen countries and, by December 2012, has sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide. The album bowed at number two on the UK Albums Chart and ultimately became the UK's fastest-selling debut album of 2011. Up All Night debuted to number one on the United States Billboard 200, selling 176,000 copies in its first week. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), Up All Night was the third global best-selling album of 2012 with sales of 4.5 million copies.

Taken (film series)

The Taken film series is a series of English-language French action films beginning with Taken in 2008. All three films feature Liam Neeson as Bryan Mills.

Films

Taken (2008)

A retired CIA operative named Bryan Mills crosses the globe to rescue his 17-year-old daughter after she is kidnapped by human traffickers and sold into sexual slavery while traveling in France.

Taken 2 (2012)

Murad, the mob boss of the gang of human traffickers and father of Marko, whom Bryan had killed by electrocution, plans to capture Bryan, who is vacationing with his family in Turkey, and avenge his son's death.

Taken 3 (2015)

Bryan has been framed for the murder of his ex-wife, Lenore. He then sets out to clear his name by going after the real killers, while also eluding capture from U.S. authorities that he formerly worked for.

TV series

In September 2015, NBC ordered a prequel based on the series depicting a young Bryan Mills.

Characters and cast

Crew and other

Reception

Box office performance

Critical and public response

Bishop (artillery)

The Bishop was the nickname of a British self-propelled artillery vehicle based on the Valentine tank, armed with the 25 pounder gun-howitzer, which could fire an 87.6 mm (3.45 in) 11.5 kg (25 lb) HE shell or an armour-piercing shell. A result of a rushed attempt to create a self-propelled gun, the vehicle had numerous problems, was produced in limited numbers and was soon replaced by better designs.

Design and development

The rapid manoeuvre warfare practiced in the North African Campaign led to a requirement for a self-propelled artillery vehicle armed with the 25-pounder gun-howitzer. In June 1941 the development was entrusted to the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company. A prototype was ready for trials by August and 100 were ordered by November 1941. The result was a vehicle with the formal title: "Ordnance QF 25-pdr on Carrier Valentine 25-pdr Mk 1".

The vehicle was based on the Valentine II hull, with the turret replaced by a fixed boxy superstructure with large rear doors. It was nicknamed the "Bishop" for its high mitre-like superstructure.

List of Alien characters

This article lists characters and actors in the Alien series of science fiction films. The series spans four films: Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992), and Alien: Resurrection (1997). The only recurring actress in all four films is Sigourney Weaver, who portrays the series' central character Ellen Ripley.

The film series was subsequently crossed-over with the Predator films with the releases of Alien vs. Predator (2004) and its sequel Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007). Together the two Alien vs. Predator films serve as prequels to the Alien series. The only actor from the Alien films to appear in one of the prequels was Lance Henriksen, who had played the android Bishop in Aliens and a man claiming to be the android's creator in Alien 3. Henriksen returned for Alien vs. Predator, in which he played Charles Bishop Weyland.

Characters overview

Table shows the actors who portrayed the characters in the franchise.

Alien

Ash (Ian Holm) is the Nostromo's inscrutable science officer. He administers medical treatment, conducts biological research and is responsible for investigating any alien life forms the crew may encounter. It is at Ash's insistence that the crew investigates the mysterious signal emanating from LV-426. Ripley becomes suspicious of him when he breaks quarantine protocol by allowing Kane, Dallas, and Lambert to re-enter the Nostromo while the Alien facehugger is attached to Kane. Captain Dallas later informs Ripley that Ash had abruptly replaced the ship's previous science officer, whom Dallas had done five previous missions with, just as the Nostromo left Thedus for its return journey to Earth. Over Ripley's objections, Dallas entrusts Ash with all science-related decisions.

Bishop (surname)

Bishop is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: