Christopher Lambert Movie:

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		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
Christopher Lambert, the imposing French actor with the nasal whine best known to American audiences as Scottish swordsman Highlander, plays a rank amateur in The Hunted. He's an American businessman in Japan who lucks into a one-night stand with slinky Joan Chen and winds up a witness to her murder by a mysterious band of black-clad ninjas. Escaping not one but two attempts on his life by a little quick thinking and a lot of dumb luck, he winds up on a harrowing bullet train ride. As swarms of masked assassins decimate passengers in search of the elusive eyewitness, Lambert's laconic protector, rough-edged samurai Yoshio Harada, unleashes a martial arts frenzy of flashing swords in close quarters. His savior is not as altruistic as he seems, however. He just wants to lure mysterious ninja overlord John Lone out of hiding and into a fight to the death on Harada's island fortress, and Lambert is little more than live bait. Though it made few ripples at the box office, The Hunted is a slick and surprisingly smart thriller. Lone and Harada cut striking figures as the warriors following ancient codes in the modern world, and writer-director J.F. Lawton (screenwriter of Pretty Woman and Under Siege) gives them almost as much screen time as ostensible hero Lambert. The action scenes are furious and fast paced, lacking the grace and precision of real Japanese samurai adventures but full of clever flourishes. --Sean Axmaker

The Hunted [Region 2] Reviews:
The Real Reasons to See It.
2008-03-22 - Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Christopher Lambert as much as the next person. His choices in movie roles make for some fun films to watch. But with this film, I have to tip my hat to Yoshio Harada who plays Takeda Sensei, the descendant of Samurai Family Lineage. In most Martial Art movies we see the insanity of running along walls, amazing flips and impossible battles that leave you gawking. Aside from one instance when Takeda deflects incoming Shuriken with his Katana, the fight scenes in this movie are brutal and are much more "realistic" than you might be used to seeing. This coupled with the power of Kodo, a Taiko drum group that adds to the films soundtrack, and you find your blood boiling with every subtle pause that follows a series of graceful sword strikes.

It is a lost movie, because it is hard to find martial art films where the fight scene makes your pulse rise to the point where you feel your heart is in tune with the small steps taken by the swordsmen who pace around each other.

The downside? Well, the movie get slightly cheesy in some points. This is is mostly due to Christopher Lambert, but I don't feel it detracts from the film in whole. In truth, I feel Lambert's performance is much more on Par than Tom Cruise in the Last Samurai and we can certainly empathize with his character: An ignorant westerner thrown into an exotic world of life and death. All he can do, is his best.

It's a fun film, and definitely worth the price you would pay by ordering from Amazon.

A "lost" film
2007-01-27 - The Hunted was the type of movie that briefly appeared in theaters and then quickly vanished. I didn't get to see it until it aired on HBO. This was a film that I regret not seeing on the big screen. After it aired on cable for a short time, it vanished again. Why do such great films often get "lost"? This film is a must-see for fans of the genre or fans of Christopher Lambert.

Manhunt in Tokyo: Bloody sword-play!
2007-01-27 - After a night with a mysterious lady, New York businessman, Mr. Racine, found himself in the middle of a Tokyo under-world assassination. The assassin: none other than the fanatical Kinjo, leader of a radical cult of Ninja assassins. The trouble began when Mr. Racine saw Kinjo's face, and Kinjo's henchmen failed to kill Mr. Racine.
The hunt is on! Racine finds he is now the target of the assassin cult, but uses his wits to evade them until he is taken in by a modern Samurai, Takeda, who is equally fanatical about hunting Kinjo to settle a multi-generational feud. Takeda cares nothing about Racine, he is merely useful as a means to identify Kinjo. The chase through Tokyo climaxes in a savage and bloody assault on the Shinkansen commuter train, where Takeda and his wife dispatch the murderous cult-members in classic Samurai style!
Temporarily safe in Takeda's fortress, Racine befriends the clan swordsmith, Oshima, (played by a real-life famous Karate instructor, Tak Kubota) a clownish, heavy-drinking, but highly-skilled craftsman of weapons.
The final battle ensues, when Kinjo launches an all-out assault on Takeda's island fortress...and the the vendetta is settled by a duel.

Ignore the negative reviews. Its just an action-movie! Although it follows many common themes in a martial-arts film, this one is slightly different from the norm. Of course, real Ninjutsu and Bujutsu is far more interesting and complex than the stereotypes seen in most movies of this category. But again, its just an action-movie! I believe this is Christopher Lambert's best film since The Highlander!


Not Great, But A Very Decent Film: Entertaining!
2006-10-19 - Now, I can understand some reviewers not liking this film. But this happens to be one of those guilty pleasures that I enjoyed immensely. Is it a classic samurai/ninja film? No. However, I found the cinematography to be outstanding, and although the plot is a little far-fetched, it was refreshingly fun. In fact, the entire film was fun. I like samurai films, and especially films from the far east [mainly Japan] And while I can understand purists looking for perfection to be disappointed, if you just sit back and enjoy the film, you will find it much better than many reviewers have stated. They are entitled to their opinion, and I respect that. Some have made very good and vaild points, and since I never give out negative marks on others, I understand and respect their complaints.

However, for me the film was an enjoyable film. I am not a fan of Christopher Lambert [This is the only one of his I own]. But, his portrayal was pretty good [not great]. The strong points of the film for me dealt with the antagonist portrayed by John Lone [head of the Ninja clan] and his nemesis Yoshio Harada [a somewhat protagonist: who also portrayed the sensei in the first Azumi film] When Lambert, and American businessman, witnesses the killing of a woman (Joan Chen) by John Lone, he barely survives the attack himself. Since he is the only one to ever see the face of this Ninja, they seek him out in order to kill him. What ensues is the clan of Harada tries to protect him. Or does Harada use him? There is a great scene of a ninja attack on a bullet train. The film is well worth the watch. Rent it first if you are not sure, I own it, and I am pleasantly happy with the film. Don't take it too seriously, it is a fun watch.

Ninja Flick from the Writer of 'Pretty Woman' (I'm Not Kidding): Poor Actions And Laughable Story
2006-07-23 - Not to be confused with `The Hunted' (2003) directed by William Friedkin.

`The Hunted' (1995) stars French actor Christopher Lambert as Paul Racine, American businessman on trip to modern-day Nagoya, third-largest city of Japan, who happens to witness the killing of a woman by black-masked ninjas. The cult ninja group is actually led by a charismatic leader, Japanese named `Kinjo' who is played by a Chinese actor John Lone, and they begin to search Paul to kill. At the end of the film Paul, an ordinary businessman, proves to be an equal match when fighting against martial arts master Kinjo with a Japanese sword. If you can believe this ridiculous story, you can believe anything.

I can happily ignore all the cultural inaccuracy in films as long as they give me something entertaining, but unfortunately it was not the case with `The Hunted,' of which story slowly follows a beaten path of the genre to the unexciting climax. Moreover, to handle a Japanese sword you need certain kind of gracefulness, which Tom Cruise in `The Last Samurai' managed to acquire after many months' hard training. Lambert et al. show no such thing. He and other ninjas just use them fast and furious, but with no grace and consequently, impact at all. Instead the film substituted the grace of Japanese sword fighting for needless bloody violence, and its pinnacle is the pointless terrorism of the ninjas in the bullet train. This is an insult to Japanese culture, for a ninja could be a spy or an assassin, but he is never a terrorist who would kill innocent passengers.

But the most damaging is the way how the film treats women, who are there to be used for sex scenes. Watching Joan Chen in a Japanese bathtub with Christopher Lambert was something I never expected to see, and it surely represents the attitudes of some (if not all) Hollywood films towards women. And it is not surprising to see the film's director is J. F. Lawton, whose biggest hit is Julia Roberts' `Pretty Woman' (as a writer).

By some distributors (who must have been shocked to know the film's awful content after buying the right) really released this Universal film theatrically in Japan. Since then it has been a cult film for avid Japanese film fans, who take this film as sort of comedy. Really. In addition to the ridiculous casting and the laughable scene where Chris and Joan make love in Japanese bathtub that looks as if made 200 years ago, it has plenty of things that make us laugh - a sweet little girl in pachinko parlor, a kind of gambling place (What is she doing there?); a flight attendant-like female assassin in the bullet train (Come on, it's a train, not an airplane!), and the banging Japanese taiko (drum) concert in the garden of a Nagoya hotel (You just cannot sleep!). Even though this is an action flick, it needs some degree of plausibility, which it totally disregards. And there are poorly done actions, which is another reason that makes me regard `The Hunted' as the Universal Pictures have temporarily stepped into the Ed Wood's Grade-Z territory.