10 "Ms-Taken" stories like mystery series Six Four

British thriller mini-series Six Four is adapted from the 2013 book Six Four by Japanese mystery and crime novelist and journalist Hideo Yokoyama. Over a taut four episodes, Detective Constable Chris O'Neill (Kevin McKidd, Dr Owen Hunt in Grey’s Anatomy) and his wife, former undercover officer Michelle O'Neill (Vinette Robinson), dive into murky waters when their daughter Olivia goes missing. Reporter Sam Wishart (Selin Hizli) starts asking Chris questions  about another girl who went missing, claiming that Chris’s brother, Assistant Chief Constable Phillip O'Neill (Andrew Whipp), covered up important aspects of the case. 

Then another girl from a high-profile political family is kidnapped from her private school and the bodies and mysteries keep stacking up. 

Fortunately for the kidnapped daughters, Chris and Michelle investigate mysteries as their bread and butter. And with their own daughter missing, they’re not just going to open a docket and toss it on the pile.  

Watch Six Four now  »

Kidnapped daughters keep TV and movie cops and dads pretty busy. This guy is not vulnerable enough to be kidnapped himself (obviously he’d break free with one punch, and that’s too little to make a whole movie about), but he does get called on to be a saviour. In what other situation would an everyday guy get to throw off his disguise of mild-mannered dad and husband, and run amok threatening and killing people and (if he’s a cop, soldier or secret agent) breaking all the rules … while still being the good guy?  

Try these 10 “Ms Taken” movies… 

Little Dixie 

Special Forces operative Doc Alexander (Frank Grillo) is called on to broker a secret truce between the Prado drug cartel and the state of Oklahoma. But when Oklahoma Governor Richard Jeffs (Eric Dane) publicly celebrates the execution of a cartel member, the truce is shattered and the cartel head Cuco (Beau Knapp) kidnaps Doc’s innocent nine-year-old daughter, Dixie (Sofia Bryant) and holds her hostage in exchange for Doc bringing him the governor’s head in a bag. Cue a full-on 1980s-style action movie shoot-up as the bodies stack up like a wood pile.  

Mojave Diamonds

The black market economy works in strange ways. When mob boss Julian (Quinton "Rampage" Jackson) needs collateral to ensure that MMA fighter Roy (Donald Cerrone) smuggles diamonds to Mexico for him, he kills his girlfriend in front of him and then threatens to do the same to Roy’s brother Joe’s (Chael Sonnen) pretty wife and two daughters. Roy and his brother Danny (Chris Maher) hop to it to do Julian’s bidding – because, oh, no, not the women! – but when the diamond truck gets hijacked, a family reunion is at stake … at least for the ladies.  

Firewall 

Shady businessman Bill Cox (Paul Bettany) holds bank chief of security Jack Stanfield’s (Harrison Ford) wife Beth (Virginia Madsen) and kids hostage to force Jack to transfer $100 million from this bank to Bill’s offshore accounts. Ordinary guy Jack is forced to play along , but tries every trick in his book to undermine Cox before Cox can cover his tracks and leave Jack looking like the thief … if he and his family even live to tell the tale. Soon this mild-mannered banker is using household objects as weapons, driving over henchmen and swinging a pickaxe with murder in his eyes.  

Final Score 

Former US soldier Michael Knox (Dave Bautista) is at a football game in London with his niece Danni (Lara Peake) when Russian mercenary Arkady (Ray Stevenson) and his men infiltrate the football stadium and lock it down with all the football fans inside, including Danni, who’s wandered off to go sit with some boy. With communications with the outside world and the police blocked off, Michael goes on a killing spree, and after the hostage takers investigate his background they retaliate by snatching Danni and using her as leverage for their demands to find Arkady’s brother Dimitri (Pierce Brosnan). Soon the stadium is filled with two teams playing a whole different ball game, with Danni as the ball.  

Hard Kill 

It’s never a good idea to kidnap Bruce Willis’s female family members. Ex-marine turned billionaire CEO Donovan Chalmers (Bruce) hires mercenaries led by Derek Miller (Jesse Metcalfe) to save his scientist daughter Eva (Lala Kent) from a terrorist known as the Pardoner (Sergio Rizzuto), who’s holding her hostage in an effort to force Donovan to reveal a secret code that’ll allow him to use Eva’s cutting edge technology.  

Also watch Survive the Night: When robbers hold a disgraced doctor Rich Clark's (Chad Michael Murray) family hostage to force him to treat one of the gang, Rich's dad Frank (Bruce Willis) goes on a rage-fuelled rampage to save the female family members after finding out that the robbers killed his wife.  

Redemption Day 

US Marine Corps Captain Brad Paxton (Gary Dourdan) calls on all his old contacts for help when his archaeologist wife Kate (Serinda Swan) is taken prisoner for ransom. The terrorist hostage takers are demanding $10 million for Kate’s return, but Brad has assembled a top-tier group of men to take on the hostage takers (without starting an all-out war) with guns and cunning. If only there wasn’t someone underhanded within Brad’s circle of trust complicating the operation.  

Last Seen Alive 

A troubled marriage becomes even more bizarrely troubled when rich estate agent Will Spann’s (Gerard Butler) wife Lisa (Jaimie Alexander) goes missing at a truck stop. Slow, by-the-book police work forces Will to take the law into his own hands and he starts beating confessions out of a trail of street villains in an effort to track her down. As Will is lashing out, police officer Detective Paterson (Russell Hornsby) dogs his every step, convinced that Will is up to no good.  

Getaway 

A mysterious criminal known just as The Voice kidnaps Leanne Magna (Rebecca Budig) to force her husband, former race driver Brent Magna (Ethan Hawke), to steal a car and follow all his instructions, including evading police, crashing into trucks, running red lights, speeding, and driving through a park, shopping mall, ice rink. That’s just the tip of this lunatic’s scheme to treat Brent like a real-life computer game character. There’s a larger scheme afoot that “The Voice” wants to frame Brent for. Alas, if only Brent hadn't been married.  

Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard 

While most kidnapped-lady films play it straight, this topsy-turvy action comedy has a bit more fun with the plot and who gets to rescue who. Sonia Kincaid (Salema Hayek) interrupts bodyguard Michael Bryce’s (Ryan Reynolds) holiday to get him to rescue her hitman husband Darius (Samuel L Jackson), who’s been kidnapped by mobsters. But shortly after Darius and Sonia are back together, Sonia winds up in the power of her ex, terrorist mastermind Aristotle Papadopoulos (Antonio Banderas), forcing Darius and Bryce to stage a rescue, while Sonia works from the inside to save herself.  

Black Lotus | From 30 October 2023 

In this Dutch-made action flick, ex-special forces operative Matteo Donner (heavyweight boxing champion Rico Verhoeven) takes on Amsterdam’s underworld to save his dead friend’s adorable little daughter Angie (Pippi Casey), who’s practically become his own kid, from criminal kidnappers led by Gabriel Saban (Frank Grillo). Cue wild antics, car chases and fights through the otherwise peaceful city. Don’t you dare steal my almost-daughter! 

Watch Black Lotus from Monday, 30 October. 

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