| | | Some men must be found.
Features: DVD, Widescreen
The story of a retired teacher of warfare (Tommy Lee Jones) who must battle his former top student (Benicio Del Toro), a top special forces assassin gone renegade.
"For a Friedkin aficionado, this is a fantastic return to form." Jamie Gillies, Apollo Guide
"A good ride, briskly paced, well played and vividly photographed." Rita Kempley, Washington Post
Editor's Note
Echoing Francis Ford Coppola's APOCALYPSE NOW, William Friedkin's THE HUNTED opens with a close-up of the protagonist, Aaron Hallam (Benicio Del Toro), a Special Ops soldier who is witnessing atrocities in Kosovo. His battle stress soon turns him into a killing machine, as he murders hunters in the Oregon woods. Meanwhile, L.T. Bonham (Tommy Lee Jones) is living a solitary existence in the Pacific Northwest, rescuing wolves and living off the land. The Feds lure Bonham out of retirement, since he was responsible for training Hallam--and might be the only person alive who can stop him.Combining elements of RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD, in which Richard Crenna played the only man who could stop the battle-fatigued Sylvester Stallone, with THE PARK IS MINE, in which Jones played a Vietnam veteran who took over Central Park and booby-trapped it, THE HUNTED is an exciting chase film that is infused with a compelling streak of humanity amid all the blood and gore. Del Toro and Jones are both excellent, conveying a father-and-son-like relationship that is filled with intrigue. Johnny Cash's talk-rendition of Bob Dylan's "Highway 61" opens and closes the film with gusto.
| Features | Widescreen Version | | Audio: English, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Surround | | 4 Documentaries On The Making Of The Hunted | | 6 Deleted Scenes | | Theatrical Trailer | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Director Commentary |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Paramount |
| Release Date: 2/13/2007 |
| Running Time: 94 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2003 | | Catalog ID: 339724 | | UPC: 00097363397243 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English, French Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | Entertainment Weekly
"...The landscapes of wilderness, city, and movie-set Kosovo are finely delineated by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel..." 03/21/2003 p.82Chicago Sun-Times
"...As Jones tracks Del Toro, the movie stays close to their immediate physical experience....Surprisingly effective..." 04/06/2003 p.5 Total Film
"...The visceral violence is razor sharp..." 07/01/2003 p.95 Sight and Sound
"...An efficient nuts-and-bolts thriller....Shot with striking thematic continuity....This is muscular film-making at its most instinctive..." 08/01/2003 p.47-8 Chicago Sun-Times 9 of 10
There are moments when Friedkin lays it on a little thick. The early how-to sequence, where Bonham's trainees learn how to make weapons from scratch, implies there will be a later sequence where they need to. Fair enough. But would Hallam, in the heat of a chase, have the time to build a fire from shavings, heat an iron rod, and hammer it into a knife? Even if Bonham cooperates by meanwhile pausing to chip his own flint weapon? Maybe not, or maybe the two hunters are ritualistically agreeing to face each other using only these tools of their trade. The resulting knife fight, which benefits from the earlier knife training sequence, is physical action of a high order. - Roger Ebert
San Francisco Examiner 8 of 10
While Jones--spare, intuitive, elegant--is in top form, Del Toro's Method acting is not quite in tune with Friedkin's lightning pacing. He puts those haunted eyes to great use, but you feel like he wants more time to burrow into Hallam's soul. The professionalism on display in every aspect of The Hunted is admirable; more so is the way it coheres into a singular vision. It's a lone-wolf movie, lean and hungry. - Ben Nuckols
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