WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Python Hyena The Hunted (2003): Dir: William Friedkin / Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Benicio Del Toro, Connie Nielsen, Leslie Stefanson, John Finn: A film about control regarding who is hunting whom. Tommy Lee Jones plays a tracker who wishes to leave his past behind. He used to train people to kill to survive and one of those individuals is an assassin played by Benicio Del Toro. His battle stress is so severe that two hunters are found slain in a ritualistic fashion. Jones undertakes the challenge of tracking him thus leading to a cat and mouse game until Jones realizes that he must destroy what he created. This comes to no surprise and their big physical confrontation is nothing more than exploited brutality. Director William Friedkin brings mood and detail just as he did with his masterpieces The French Connection and The Exorcist. This film is beneath both of those efforts, which is unfortunate considering the level of talent Friedkin is. Jones and Del Toro are given good backgrounds but eventually it becomes a waiting game for them to finally encounter each other and move forward in beating the crap out of each other. Connie Nielsen as an F.B.I. agent is flat but then again when the leads cannot elevate the film then some supporting role will likely do nothing. It could have done without the graphic bloodshed but unfortunately that's what the hunt was destine to come be. Score: 4 / 10

patrick powell Well, I'm not surprised The Hunted wasn't nominated for any Oscar of any kind (it might well have stood a chance for Most Dramatic Use of Coincidence Involving Scenic Locations In and Around Portland, but there you go), but if you don't expect high art it's a decent enough stab at keeping you entertained for an hour and a half.For one thing it stars Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio Del Toro and both have that uncanny and enviable knack of breathing life into the most unpromising of material, so you won't feel short-changed. But when all is said and done The Hunted is just one more chase film and apart from the long chase you don't get much else.There is a very half-hearted stab at suggesting some kind of father and son relationship between Lee Jones, the hunter, and Del Toro, his prey, but it is so lightly sketched and so utterly lightweight that you can safely ignore it.Lee Jones is given to us as an expert in unarmed combat who, though not a military man, had trained grunts to become ruthless killers ('Once you can kill mentally, the physical killing is easy' or some such hokum he comes out with at one point), and Del Toro was one of his star pupils.The whole thing begins with and extended sequence of genocide by Serbian troops in Kosovo in which, surprisingly, a group of US bods are aiming to assassinate a Serbian commander - with Del Toro eventually doing the deed - and this is obviously intended by way of 'explaining' why he became such a ruthless killer.I don't know why they bothered, to be honest, because given the rest of the film, in which Del Toro's psychological make-up is presented at a first grade, pretty shallow, level, it wasn't really needed. There's a thin plot strand of 'the woman and her daughter' Del Toro is apparently close to, but that, too, is pretty superficial.I seem to be damning the whole exercise, and I don't mean to. This is pretty ludicrous hokum but the ride itself is enjoyable enough, and, as I say, Lee Jones - where does he get the energy? - and Del Toro are worth the price of admission themselves, so if this comes your way, give it a whirl as long as you keep those grander expectations in check.

g-bodyl What happens when you combine these films: Predator, First Blood, and the Fugitive? Well, you get this thriller: The Hunted. Now while the Hunted may seem derivative (it pretty much is), it still is a good time and it's a reasonably entertaining, straightforward thriller which is like a cat and mouse game. This film is not short on the action as we witness some great knife battles, a climatic ending, and lots of graphic violence.William Friedkin's film is about a former ops named Aaron Hallam who has gone rogue after witnessing events in Kosovo. Hallam is wanted for the vicious murders of two businessmen as he tries to avoid being captured. But the FBI calls in his former assassins trainer, L.T Bonham to help them track Hallam down.Tommy Lee Jones is a great actor, but he wasn't convincing here as he should have been. This was just a ripoff of his Fugitive performance, and I'm still deciding whether that is good or not. He still has his charisma and grace though. Benicio Del Toro did do a great job as the vicious Hallam whose best friend is his stealth. Finally, Connie Nielsen was okay as the FBI agent, but I'm not sure if I could buy her performance.Overall, The Hunted is an entertaining, "cat and mouse" thriller that is highlighted by some excellent knife scenes. While the film is not short on action or gore, it does lack an excellent screenplay, which perhaps hindered the acting. But this film does have a good technical side as it has great editing and great cinematography. In other words, this film made it feel I was in the Pacific Northwest as well. I rate this film 8/10.

Steven Freekin I love this film. It's one of my favorite William Friedkin films. Although it lacks wit and edginess that some of his other films have, like the overrated French Connection, Exorcist and To Live and Die in L.A., The Hunted is still very much grounded in reality like most of his films. It also features Friedkin's signature car chase sequences, which he's only done four (French Connection, To Live & Die in LA, Jade, and The Hunted).Being from Portland, Oregon, the movie does a stellar job of portraying Portland visually with it's cloudy overcast and raining appearance, as it happens about 9 months out of the year. The Cinematography is great, which is always expected from a great cinematographer like Caleb Deschanel. However, the cinematography still has Friedkin's signature all over it with Hand Held cameras, Natural lighting or aka Induced Documentary, a style which is now overused today since the French Connection.The story although very simplistic yet is quite complex. Many reviewers on here refer to this film a duplicate of First Blood, but it doesn't come across to me that way nor do i see the connection other than its military aspect. The Knife fight scenes are pretty amazing. Overall i still love this film today. Metaphorically the film is pretty much the game hide and seek except, if you're it, you're dead. Let the games begin. I hope the film comes out on Bluray soon.