The Hunted (1995)

Director:

J.F. Lawton

Writer (WGA):

J.F. Lawton (written by)

Release Date:

24 February 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Action

Tagline:

He's trapped in a world where killing is an art and revenge is an obsession

Plot:

Paul is on one of his many business trips to Tokyo, as a computer-chip executive from New York, when he meets a beautiful and mysterious woman...

Plot Keywords:

Male Nudity | Female Nudity | Bathing Scene | Bare Butt | Katana Sword

Cast

Christopher Lambert	...	Paul Racine
John Lone	...	Kinjo
Joan Chen	...	Kirina
Yoshio Harada	...	Takeda Sensei
Yôko Shimada	...	Mieko Takeda
Mari Natsuki	...	Junko
Tak Kubota	...	Oshima
Masumi Okada	...	Lt. Wadakura
Tatsuya Irie	...	Hiryu
Michael Warren	...	Chase
Bart Anderson	...	John
James Saito	...	Nemura
Seth Sakai	...	Dr. Otozo Yamura
Toshirô Obata	...	Ryuma
Ken Kensei	...	Sujin

MPAA:

Rated R for strong bloody ninja violence and some sexuality.

Runtime:

106 min | USA:111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

South Korea:18 | Sweden:15 | Iceland:16 | Philippines:R-18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-18 | Germany:18 | Ireland:18 | Norway:15 | Singapore:M18 | UK:18 (video premiere) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company:

Bregman/Baer Productions

Trivia:

Exterior shots of the train were filmed on location on Japan, however, the interior shots were filmed on a set at Bridge Studios in Vancouver, B.C. The scenery rushing by outside the windows was simulated using large rotating drums with "blurred" scenery painted on it.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the Opening scene where Racine is walking with his business partners talking about "selling ice to Eskimos", Racine enters the taxi-cab with his trench coat on. When he arrives at the hotel, he gets out of the cab without the trench coat.

Quotes:

<puffing> Racine: I wish I knew Japanese so I could tell this guy, I am not a donkey.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Your Studio and You (1995)

OK actioner with swordfights. But not quite Shogun Assassin!

This film, The Hunted, is written and directed by the guy (J. F. Lawton) who wrote us the first Under Siege movie with Steven Seagal, directed by Andrew Davis. The Hunted stars Christopher Lambert who was OK in Highlander by Russell Mulcahy and who is not too bad action star. The Hunted is not a great movie but it should satisfy action fans, especially mainstream action fans.

Chris is an American businessman visiting Japan and he sees the secret face of a masterful assassin, somekind of a yakuza cult member/leader. Soon Christopher finds himself in the middle of bloody and fastly edited swordfights and understands that his life is what they want. He gets some help from a rival "gang" and now they must destroy the evil clan that is on their tail..

There is one extremely suspenceful sequence in a train, which is filled with evil ninjas and so no passenger is safe. The train goes fast and there's no way to escape. That sequence is a highlight of this film and proves that the director can direct great action scenes if he wants to. The film runs pretty long, approximately 1h 50 min in NTSC speed, but there are no significantly irritating boring moments and the film is easy to sit through.

We are not talking about a classic picture but it is nice to see that these kinds of films were still made by big studios in USA as "recently" as 1995. The fights are often bloody but not too bloody. If one is bored with PG13 crap and stupid films which try to make money as much as possible, then I suggest trying this film for example. And fans on Seagal, Damme and other action kickers/fighters should also like the often nihilistic attitude of The Hunted.

6/10 and I recommend this to action film fanatics especially!