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The Hunting Party

  • 19711971
  • RR
  • 1h 51m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
3K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Candice Bergen and Oliver Reed in The Hunting Party (1971)
A ruthless rancher and his gang use extremely long range rifles to kill the men who kidnapped his infidel wife.
Play trailer3:02
1 Video
99 Photos
  • Action
  • Drama
  • Western
A ruthless rancher and his gang use extremely long range rifles to kill the men who kidnapped his infidel wife.A ruthless rancher and his gang use extremely long range rifles to kill the men who kidnapped his infidel wife.A ruthless rancher and his gang use extremely long range rifles to kill the men who kidnapped his infidel wife.
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
3K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Don Medford
  • Writers
    • Gilbert Ralston(story)
    • Lou Morheim(story)
    • William W. Norton(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Oliver Reed
    • Candice Bergen
    • Gene Hackman
Top credits
  • Director
    • Don Medford
  • Writers
    • Gilbert Ralston(story)
    • Lou Morheim(story)
    • William W. Norton(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Oliver Reed
    • Candice Bergen
    • Gene Hackman
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 58User reviews
    • 38Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 3:02
    Trailer

    Photos99

    Candice Bergen and Oliver Reed in The Hunting Party (1971)
    Gene Hackman in The Hunting Party (1971)
    Oliver Reed in The Hunting Party (1971)
    Oliver Reed in The Hunting Party (1971)
    Candice Bergen and Oliver Reed in The Hunting Party (1971)
    Candice Bergen, Oliver Reed, and Mitchell Ryan in The Hunting Party (1971)
    Candice Bergen in The Hunting Party (1971)
    Candice Bergen and Oliver Reed in The Hunting Party (1971)
    Candice Bergen and Gene Hackman in The Hunting Party (1971)
    Oliver Reed and William Watson in The Hunting Party (1971)
    Candice Bergen and Oliver Reed in The Hunting Party (1971)
    Gene Hackman in The Hunting Party (1971)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Oliver Reed
    Oliver Reed
    • Frank Calderas Frank Calder
    Candice Bergen
    Candice Bergen
    • Melissa Rugeras Melissa Ruger
    Gene Hackman
    Gene Hackman
    • Brandt Rugeras Brandt Ruger
    Simon Oakland
    Simon Oakland
    • Matthew Gunnas Matthew Gunn
    Mitchell Ryan
    Mitchell Ryan
    • Doc Harrisonas Doc Harrison
    L.Q. Jones
    L.Q. Jones
    • Hog Warrenas Hog Warren
    William Watson
    William Watson
    • Jim Loringas Jim Loring
    G.D. Spradlin
    G.D. Spradlin
    • Sam Bayardas Sam Bayard
    Rayford Barnes
    Rayford Barnes
    • Crimpas Crimp
    Ronald Howard
    Ronald Howard
    • Watt Nelsonas Watt Nelson
    Bernard Kay
    Bernard Kay
    • Buford Kingas Buford King
    Richard Adams
    • Owney Clarkas Owney Clark
    Dean Selmier
    • Collinsas Collins
    Sarah Atkinson
    • Redheadas Redhead
    Francesca Tu
    Francesca Tu
    • Chinese Girlas Chinese Girl
    • (as Francisca Tu)
    Marian Collier
    Marian Collier
    • Teacheras Teacher
    Ralph Brown
    • Sheriffas Sheriff
    • (as Ralph Browne)
    Charly Bravo
    • Cowboyas Cowboy
    • (as Carlos Bravo)
    • Director
      • Don Medford
    • Writers
      • Gilbert Ralston(story) (screenplay)
      • Lou Morheim(story) (screenplay)
      • William W. Norton(screenplay)
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The first of three films that Candice Bergen made with Gene Hackman in the 70s, the others being the equally reviled The Domino Principle (1977) and the much more acclaimed Bite the Bullet (1975). Although they only share a handful of scenes in this film, Bergen is on record as saying she learned more about film acting from Hackman in their films together than from any other quarter.
    • Goofs
      None of the hunting party's horses are packing the rifles when they get off the train. Even the two pack horses have packs too small to hold rifles (or much else for that matter).
    • Quotes

      Frank Calder: You ain't too bad. For a schoolteacher.

      Melissa Ruger: If you think you're going to get a lot of money for me, you're wrong. They'll be coming after us, you know. A lot of men.

      Frank Calder: Why? They short of teachers back there?

      Melissa Ruger: I am not a teacher. I am Brandt Ruger's wife. I am! I am Brandt Rugers wife!

      Frank Calder: It don't matter whose wife you are. There ain't nothin' he can do about it.

      Melissa Ruger: Why do you want to learn to read?

      Frank Calder: 'Cause I can't.

    • Alternate versions
      The British network version aired on BBC2 in 1999 had several cuts, including a close-up of a cow being slaughtered during the opening sequence, the ending of the scene with Brandt Ruger and the chinese prostitute (he forces her into the bed and tortures her with his cigar), the death of one of Ruger's friends and some horsefalls when Frank Calder ambushes the hunting party and some shots of Hog Warren beating Melissa during the attempted rape.
    • Connections
      Featured in The Honkers (1972)

    User reviews58

    Review
    Top review
    Heavily flawed western but grim, bloody and gritty enough to be a decent addition to the early 70's canon
    A group of hired gunmen travelling north to participate in a range war (presumambly someplace like Kansas or Wyoming, as the story by all accounts seem to take place in the early 1880's) kidnap a hapless woman from a small town while her husband, a mean, sadistic sonofabitch cattle baron, is engaged in a hunting trip with his upper class buddies. Few people in any kind of audience, then or now, would have trouble spelling out this kind of plot in advance, how the woman will fall in love with her kidnapper while the husband realizes she's lost to him forever, but, seeing how this is a 44. Magnum, the most powerful handg- hey, waitaminute. Seeing how this is the pessimistic and violent movie world of the early 70's we're talking about, if it's going to be predictable, you can at least be sure it's going to be bloody and grim and nihilistic in the process.

    You know it's a grim movie you're going to see when it opens with a shot of Gene Hackman roughing up his wife a little in that particularly mean-spirited way that made him such an endearing villain in the early 70's (and which he reprised for Clint Eastwood's UNFORGIVEN winning his second Oscar) intercut with shots of a cow being slaughtered. At least director Don Medford is upfront about it. The movie remains pretty unflinching in the portrayal of violence. Almost every actor is propped with blood squibs at some point in the film while others not lucky to be shot out of horses in slow motion get knives in their necks and buckshot in their faces. The Hunting Party is dinstictly a product of its time, a loyal retracing of the steps back to THE WILD BUNCH instead of taking the genre to new areas, belonging to that particularly bloody and violent American western niche that followed in the wake of Peckinpah's film (along with others like Chato's Land, The Revengers, The Deadly Trackers etc). Subverting and taking off the rose-tinted glasses the far west mythos was seen with by people like John Wayne, who cared so much about perceived values and ideals he had to make RIO BRAVO in response to Gary Cooper throwing down his star in HIGH NOON, taking a closer, more realistic look, if not at authentic period detail, then at least at how people were shot and killed.

    All blood and clamor aside however, The Hunting Party is just not a very good movie. Medford's average-to-poor direction and the fact it's 20 minutes too long make sure it won't be seeing top lists anytime soon. And then there's the script. That Brandt Ruger (Gene Hackman) curiously refrains from shooting Frank Calder, the man who kidnapped his wife and whom he specifically set out to kill, when he gets plenty of chances to do so, seems to occur for no other reason than to stretch a final showdown that could have taken place in the first half hour into almost two hours. The acting is in turns okay and wooden, generally of the 'good enough' or 'will have to do' variety. Oddly enough for a cast featuring a man who would go on to win the Oscar that same year for THE FRENCH CONNECTION and kickstart a brilliant career, the best thing about The Hunting Party is a man who made a career out playing Athos in The Three Musketeers. Oliver Reed looks just right for the part, in a role that would be played probably by Richard Boone 20 years earlier and Javier Bardem twenty years later. When he tries to emote and just do anything that doesn't involve looking mean and badass, he faulters, but he looks mean and badass for all but maybe 2 minutes in the film.
    helpful•28
    10
    • chaos-rampant
    • Mar 7, 2009

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 30, 1971 (West Germany)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Krvavi lov
    • Filming locations
      • Spain
    • Production companies
      • Levy-Gardner-Laven
      • Brighton Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $1,600,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 51 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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