Trauma can be tracked, like a footprint, if you know the signs.

Minimalistic macho marvel from William Friedkin. He eschews extraneous bullshit and boils THE HUNTED down to essentials: 2 men, their knives, the woods and a preternatural ability to kill. We learn everything we need to know about these men & their psychology through pure action, the rhythms of their cat-and-mouse game growing ever more hypnotic as it barrels along. Tommy Lee Jones, so subtly anxious, terse & shifty when forced into pleasantries comes to life if he has something to chase. His adrenaline pumps, his senses sharpen, his focus becomes singular. Benicio del Toro drifts out of the shadows, appearing like a bogeyman. This is what they made him. "A killing machine." Behavior is learned, our pain is thrust upon us. Precipitation drips from the trees like sweat. A waterfall roars with furious, unrelenting life. The only constant is nature.

When we get to the knife combat, there is no surprise in the way Friedkin approaches the scene, as his filmmaking is about constant conflict and there is not one moment in the film when interactions cease to be aggressive, even in the most banal communication between characters. All scenes are connected in a way that makes violent action incessant (just see the way flashbacks are presented) and the very open spaces in which these men have to operate are detailed only by their relation to it and how this will lead to brutal confrontation between them. Everything leads to self-destruction.

"The Hunted" is so goddamn underrated. This is a fast-paced, lean and mean chase film, with two great leading performances by Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio Del Toro. It's a simple plot with light characterization, but there isn't a minute to spare once the train gets rolling. Everything comes crashing down at a breakneck speed, as we watch this intense game of cat-and-mouse build up to a creative and violent match of wits. The pupil is just as well crafted as the teacher, making this chase all the more suspenseful. And holy shit. The climax in this film is so badass, it's worth the view alone just to see how it all ends. "The Hunted" is a great action piece with a gorgeous setting, two strong performances and a grisly finale that I loved. Criminally underrated and highly recommended.

A really predictable and generic action thriller. There’s some good scenes (Such as the foot chase and the climatic knife fight) but everything else is poorly written. Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio Del Toro give impressive performances despite the average material.

Hyper masculine and hyper nihilistic really dug it, especially because I believe these kinds of cover ups have happened.

Meister gegen Schüler. Auf Leben und Tod.

Regielegende William Friedkin ist berühmt für seine atemberaubenden Verfolgungsjagden wie in „The French Connection“ oder „To Live And Die in L.A.“, aber hier legt er den gesamten Film als eine große Verfolgungsjagd an. 

Was The Hunted von vielen anderen Actionfilmen unterscheidet?
Die absolute „No Bullshit“-Herangehensweise: keine unnötige Sentimentalität, keine überflüssigen Back-Stories, sondern die pure Essenz des brutalen Überlebenskampfes mit wahnsinnigem Tempo auf 90min.

Tommy Lee Jones und Benicio Del Toro sind ein ungewöhnliches Protagonistenpaar, aber passen in diesem Szenario perfekt zueinander. 
Die Action und Gewalt ist präzise und brutal (Die Opening Scene war grausam!), vor allem weil der Nahkampf mit Einsatz von Messern fantastisch inszeniert wird (Das Ende, DAMN!).

Schade, dass der Film von der Kritik so verrissen wurde und gefloppt ist, denn man bekommt hier einen handwerklich fantastisch gemachten Thriller, der kaum eine Pause einlegt.
Definitiv einer der besseren Actionfilme der 00er Jahre.

Parlemet sinema clubu havasinda tam bir pazar gecesini gecirmelik bir action.. kadro muhtesem..

always put off cuz it looked like a meh version of the fugitive from a far. 

Now having seen it, its fursure a meh fugitive

still had some fun moments and i still love anything benicio does, the insane forged in fire ending moment was a gem

Tommy lee Jones does ultimate sad guy face in this.

„The Hunted“ ist sehr straff inszeniert und bietet eine gute Härte. Durch die kurze Lauflänge gibt es keine Hänger, jedoch entsteht dadurch für mich eins der größten Probleme des Films: Die Logiklöcher. Natürlich soll die Geschichte zügig voranschreiten, aber mit welcher Präzision Tommy Lee Jones Charakter hier den Spuren folgt, würde selbst Sherlock Holmes vor Neid erblassen lassen. Aber egal, wir wollen unterhalten werden und nicht alle 10 Minuten auf die Uhr schauen und das gelingt „The Hunted“.

Pretty standard man on the run and shadey government ops type thing.. some of the action scenes were very cool . This really great hand to hand combat with del toro and Jones .. the script /plot ehh was ok .. fizzled out a little for me towards the end .. del toro is lookin FINE though 🥰

William Friedkin va directo al hueso sin preocuparse por resolver el entramado de la historia. Simplemente suelta a sus personajes en una persecución que no da respiro. Un cine tan físico que resulta lejano para los tiempos que corren.

Gotta assume that Freidkin’s go-to DPs are dead. The script is fun but this is shot like a SciFi Channel original movie.

a concise film, fast-paced and unpolished; rough like a high grit whetstone. two former soldiers in the wilderness hunt one another armed with a knife, their survival training and their cunning.

recommended for fans of rustic military and survival fiction.

Guess I just felt like a Friedkin Double feature today. There really isn't a whole lot to this one, and I am perfectly fine with that. It's a prefect late night action-thriller breeze. It's awesome, got some fantastic action set pieces brilliantly directed by William Friedkin, and it's got some really interesting stuff to say about trauma from war. It's interesting and cool. Really honestly some of the most stellar chase sequences of the 2000's decade. Just brilliant stuff, but I do wish it was longer and had a bit more to it.

The Hunted has its fair share of narrative shortcomings, however, as a pure thriller, it works quite well.  Tight pacing and taut direction from Friedkin and engaging lead performances make the experience far better than most standard thrillers.