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

After a spate of grisly murders performed in an almost ritualistic way, the experienced survival expert and former military instructor, L.T. Bonham, is summoned to track down the elusive and shockingly familiar killer: one of his best pupils, Aaron Hallam. Holed up in the wet and tangled wilderness of Oregon's Silver Falls State Park, Aaron--now a tormented and delusional killing machine--will soon come face-to-face with his grizzled mentor, in a no-holds-barred hand-to-hand combat. Suddenly, age; experience; strength, and the feral will to survive, blur the line between a hunter and his prey. Now, who is the hunted?

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Plot Keywords:

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

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Taglines:

Some men should not be found.

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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:

The Hunted

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

Gross USA:

$34,244,097

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$45,496,534

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

Tommy Lee Jones and John Finn worked together on Blown Away (1994), in which they were on opposite sides of the law. Jones played an IRA terrorist named Ryan Gaerity up for revenge against his former pupil Liam McGivney/James "Jimmy" Dove, who is now a Boston bomb squad cop, who was played by Jones' real-life close friend Jeff Bridges. John Finn played Bridges' boss Captain Fred Roarke in that film.

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Goofs

When Aaron Hallam is stuck in traffic, he smashes his car head-on into several cars so that the hood is badly damaged. But when he gets out of the car near the bridge, the hood is completely intact.

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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

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Hollywood Movie Knife Fights (2014)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Underrated, Straight Forward yet Emotionally Complex

Although it would be easy to write The Hunted off as a simple chase film (I can see the pitch now: "It's First Blood married to Predator with a dose of The Fugitive", and in reality that is a pretty fair description) but it's straight forward manner lends a constant sense of urgency. Throughout this gory (yeah it's pretty graphic) cat and mouse thriller we are also given some real insight into Del Toro's character. Unwilling to make sweeping judgments about nearly any of the characters (Connie Nielsen's FBI agent is a bit stubborn and single minded and occasionally very careless in discharging her firearm in public, Tommy Lee Jones'survivalist trainer has a guilty conscious of his own and even Del Toro's transformation is understandable), the finale is exciting but emotionally complicated, even tragic. The camera work and editing are very effective and affective while not overwhelming the finished product with the typical Hollywood style over substance dilemma. Combined with some very strong performances by the leads THE HUNTED makes for a very intense and satisfying thriller experience.