The Hunted (2003)

An FBI deep-woods tracker attempts to capture a trained assassin who has made a sport of hunting humans.

Director:

William Friedkin

Writers:

David Griffiths, Peter Griffiths

Stars:

Tommy Lee Jones, Benicio Del Toro, Connie Nielsen

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tommy Lee Jones	...	L.T. Bonham
Benicio Del Toro	...	Aaron Hallam
Connie Nielsen	...	Abby Durrell
Leslie Stefanson	...	Irene Kravitz
John Finn	...	Ted Chenoweth
José Zúñiga	...	Bobby Moret (as Jose Zuniga)
Ron Canada	...	Harry Van Zandt
Mark Pellegrino	...	Dale Hewitt
Jenna Boyd	...	Loretta Kravitz
Aaron DeCone	...	Stokes (as Aaron Brounstein)
Carrick O'Quinn	...	Kohler
Lonny Chapman	...	Zander
Rex Linn	...	Powell
Eddie Velez	...	Richards
Alexander MacKenzie	...	Sheriff

Storyline

In the green woods of Silver Falls, Oregon, Aaron Hallam, a trained assassin AWOL from the Special Forces, keeps his own brand of wildlife vigil. After Hallam brutally slew four deer hunters in the area, FBI Special Agent Abby Durrell turns to L.T. Bonham-- the one man who may be able to stop him. At first L.T. resists the mission. Snug in retirement, he's closed off to his past, the years he spent in the Special Forces training soldiers to become skilled killers. But when he realizes that these recent slaying is the work of a man he trained, he feels obligated to stop him. Accepting the assignment under the condition that he works alone, L.T. enters the woods, unarmed--plagued by memories of his best student and riddled with guilt for not responding to Aaron's tortured letters to him as he began to slip over the edge of sanity. Furious as he is with his former mentor for ignoring his pleas for help, Aaron knows that he and L.T. share a tragic bond that is unbreakable. And, even as ...

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Plot Keywords:

serial killer | psychopathic killer | body count | one man army | ex soldier | 

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Taglines:

What happens when the hunter becomes the hunted?

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong bloody violence and some language

Details

Official Sites:

Filmax [Spain] Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Serbo-Croatian

Release Date:

14 March 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die Stunde des Jägers

Filming Locations:

Blue Heron Paper Company - 419 Main Street, Oregon City, Oregon, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,482,638, 16 March 2003, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$34,238,611, 26 May 2003

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,782,486, 7 November 2003

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lakeshore Entertainment,Alphaville Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The martial art Bonham teaches Hallam, and which they employ against each other, is called Sayoc Kali. It is a variation of Eskrima, the Filipino martial arts system dedicated to weapons. Sayoc Kali deals exclusively with knives in extremely close-quarter combat.

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Goofs

When Bonham is first looking for Hallum after the two "sweepers" have been killed, he comes upon the remnants of the snare Hallum used. In the scene where the sweeper is caught by the snare, one can see it's made from 550 (parachute) cord. It is also 550 cord when Bonham tugs on it attached to the tree. However, the loop section of the snare that Bonham picks up with the stick is obviously constructed of wire.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: [voiceover] God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son." Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on." God say, "no"; Abe say, "what?" God say, "You can do what you want, Abe, but the next time you see me comin', you better run." Abe says, "Where do you want this killin' done?" God says, "Out on Highway 61."

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Alternate Versions

In Germany the film was released on DVD in its uncut form (rated "Not under 18") and in an edited version which has a "Not under 16" rating and misses ca. 5 minutes.

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Connections

Spoofs First Blood (1982)

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Soundtracks

Highway 61 Revisited
by Bob Dylan
Performed by Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash performs courtesy of American Recordings

User Reviews

Not bad, but not great

Some movies are made just for action, some just for story.

Unfortunately, the Hunted doesn't seem to fit either category.

There is not much depth to the story here, although they try hard to make it seem that way.

Simply: A killing machine is on the loose, so they send the guy who trained him to get him. No side story needed to forward the plot.

Tommy Lee Jones gives a decent performance as L.T. Bonham, the "hunter". Nothing spectacular, but not bad either.

Benicio del Toro gives a good performance as Aarom Hallam, the killing machine who does not give much purpose as to why he IS a killing machine.

Connie Nielsen and Jose Zuniga are OK as FBI agents Durrell and Moret.

There were some great action scenes, and a few interesting moments. I wouldn't call them extraordinary though.

Over all: OK movie. Watch if you have nothing better to do.

5/10