An FBI deep-woods tracker attempts to capture a trained assassin who has made a sport of hunting humans.An FBI deep-woods tracker attempts to capture a trained assassin who has made a sport of hunting humans.An FBI deep-woods tracker attempts to capture a trained assassin who has made a sport of hunting humans.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Awards
- 2 nominations total
José Zúñiga
- Bobby Moret
- (as Jose Zuniga)
Aaron DeCone
- Stokes
- (as Aaron Brounstein)
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- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
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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.
How could they have made this story better. There wasn't a need for more dialog or love story and the fight scenes were amazingly well done. Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio Del Toro played expertly off one another. I didn't flash onto another film when I was watching this. I was surprised to read a comparison to Rambo. What? How is that even possible. Other than the military theme (which is rather minimal in this film, since Aaron could have easily been CIA, etc.) and people being killed, what is the connection?
While Rambo is gory and violent and rather gratuitous, The Hunted is none of these. The worst we get with the "killings" are a few glimpses of *photos* if the hunters killed at the beginning of the film. I guess this is a thinking man's action film and for those that don't want to think, they will be quick to put it down.
While Rambo is gory and violent and rather gratuitous, The Hunted is none of these. The worst we get with the "killings" are a few glimpses of *photos* if the hunters killed at the beginning of the film. I guess this is a thinking man's action film and for those that don't want to think, they will be quick to put it down.
I too don't understand the negative comments here. The Hunted is a great action flick. It features great leads from Tommy Lee Jones (as you would expect) and Benicio Del Toro (my first film experience with him, I thought he added an amazing presence to his character) plus good support from the surrounding cast. The film has some amazing locations and scenery and was very well paced. The fight and actions scenes were excellent with some decent gore thrown in where necessary. My only nit pick was I felt it could have been a little longer in duration. Ignore the bad press on The Hunted. I just don't understand how you can't enjoy this film - that simple! Oh,..and doesn't Tommy Lee Jones really suit the beard.
As a big fan of both Benecio Del Toro and Tommy Lee Jones, I might be slightly biased, but that's only because I really enjoy seeing them act. That said, there are in fact movies with BDT in them that I don't care for, and the same goes for TLJ, so obviously there's more to it than that here. To me, this movie pays homage to, or at least was clearly inspired by, the first Predator movie and in ways also US Marshals which starred TLJ in a similar role. But what I really loved about The Hunted was the polarity of the characters; the coldness of Del Toro, with a pinch of humanity at the beginning, and the civility of Jones, while being detached from the world and conscious of his deeds. Action wise the movie is a little scarce, though the war-like prologue wasn't without it, just a different kind of violence. The climax was satisfying, albeit a little drawn out even for my taste; it was the cat and mouse second act that kept me going.
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
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
Did you know
- TriviaTommy Lee Jones' character is based on the real life tracker and survival expert Tom Brown Jr. who was also a technical advisor on the movie.
- GoofsThe Metro-Area Express (MAX) is shown running on the Hawthorne Bridge. The MAX actually runs along the Steel Bridge which overlooks less-colorful scenery.
- 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."
- Alternate versionsIn 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.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Hunted: Deleted Scenes (2003)
- SoundtracksHighway 61 Revisited
by Bob Dylan
Performed by Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash performs courtesy of American Recordings
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $55,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $34,244,097
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $13,482,638
- Mar 16, 2003
- Gross worldwide
- $46,061,847
- Runtime1 hour 34 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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