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 must 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:

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

Last film role of Johnny Cash. He performed the opening and closing narration lines, and the closing song.

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Goofs

In the beginning of the movie when L.T. & Aaron get into a fight and the knife ends up on the ground, we are shown two views or cuts to the knife. Its not in the same location like it should be, It was shot in two different locations.

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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 The Sopranos: Johnny Cakes (2006)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Hollow actioner with no real depth

In terms of action, this film is competently made with enough good action (particularly the chase at the end and the fighting between Del Toro and Jones) to almost make you forgive the other problems. Friedkin has proven his worth with action before, but what he had to work with here could have been better developed.

In the writer's opinion, there are no characters in this film, only the basic sketches of people are there. One guy good, other guy bad. Bad guy goes killing people (for a reason that was presented but still obscure), good guy hired to get bad guy. Del Toro was really cheesy here, doing a lot of ponderous sky staring and stumbling over his lines and Tommy Lee Jones was...well, Tommy Lee Jones.

Overall, if you're looking for a throwaway actioner then this is for you. Don't expect it to be massively engaging though. Listen out for Johnny Cash at the start and end of the film.