Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Benicio Del Toro, Connie Nielsen, Leslie Stefanson, Jenna Boyd, Jose Zuniga

Director: William Friedkin

Summary: When the body count begins to rise in the woods, it's not the wildlife that needs to be afraid. An expert assassin is on the loose taking out the hunters. Now the man who trained the killer must take up the final challenge and face the demons in his own past.

When the body count begins to rise in the woods, it's not the wildlife that needs to be afraid. An expert assassin is on the loose taking out the hunters. Now the man who trained the killer must take up the final challenge and face the demons in his own past. Echoing Francis Ford Coppola's APOCALYPSE NOW, William Friedkin's THE HUNTED opens with a close-up of the protagonist, Aaron Hallam (Benicio Del Toro)--a Special Ops soldier who is witnessing atrocities in Kosovo. His battle stress soon turns him into a killing machine, as he murders hunters in the Oregon woods. Meanwhile, L.T. Bonham (Tommy Lee Jones) is living a solitary existence in the Pacific Northwest, rescuing wolves and living off the land. The Feds lure Bonham out of retirement, since he was responsible for training Hallam--and might be the only person alive who can stop him. Combining elements of RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD--in which Richard Crenna played the only man who could stop the battle-fatigued Sylvester Stallone--with THE PARK IS MINE--in which Jones played a Vietnam veteran who took over Central Park and booby-trapped it--THE HUNTED is an exciting chase film that is infused with a compelling streak of humanity amid all the blood and gore. Del Toro and Jones are both excellent, conveying a father-and-son-like relationship that is filled with intrigue. Johnny Cash's talk-rendition of Bob Dylan's 'Highway 61' opens and closes the film with gusto.

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Christopher Lambert, the imposing French actor with the nasal whine best known to American audiences as Scottish swordsman Highlander, plays a rank amateur in The Hunted. He's an American businessman in Japan who lucks into a one-night stand with slinky Joan Chen and winds up a witness to her murder by a mysterious band of black-clad ninjas. Escaping not one but two attempts on his life by a little quick thinking and a lot of dumb luck, he winds up on a harrowing bullet train ride. As swarms of masked assassins decimate passengers in search of the elusive eyewitness, Lambert's laconic protector, rough-edged samurai Yoshio Harada, unleashes a martial arts frenzy of flashing swords in close quarters. His savior is not as altruistic as he seems, however. He just wants to lure mysterious ninja overlord John Lone out of hiding and into a fight to the death on Harada's island fortress, and Lambert is little more than live bait. Though it made few ripples at the box office, The Hunted is a slick and surprisingly smart thriller. Lone and Harada cut striking figures as the warriors following ancient codes in the modern world, and writer-director J.F. Lawton (screenwriter of Pretty Woman and Under Siege) gives them almost as much screen time as ostensible hero Lambert. The action scenes are furious and fast paced, lacking the grace and precision of real Japanese samurai adventures but full of clever flourishes. --Sean Axmaker

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Commentary - 1. William Friedkin - Director, Featurette - 1. Making of THE HUNTED, 2. Four behind-the-scenes Featurettes, Cast & Crew Interviews, Deleted Scenes, Trailers, TV Spots
Year:	2003
Release Date:	October 6, 2003
Runtime:	91 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	D 094640
Keywords:	Action, Hunted, General, Adventure
Genre:	Action/Adventure