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When you go hunting with Brandt Ruger, you go first-class all the way. But when you steal his "property", you sign your own death warrant.

That is something that a notorious outlaw (Oliver Reed) and his gang have to learn in the worst way possible in THE HUNTING PARTY, a 1971 British/American western that, even by 21st century standards, is still incredibly violent. Reed kidnaps a local schoolteacher (Candice Bergen) in the (now faint) hope that he'll be taught how to read. When Bergen warns him about her husband, he tells her "It don't matter whose wife you are." A fatal misjudgment on his part, for her husband Brandt Ruger (Gene Hackman) is not one to fool around with. While out on a hunting party with a few of his friends, the dictatorial and very abusive land baron learns of Bergen's kidnapping, and thus gets blood in his eyes. And rather than going after game, he and his boys instead go after Reed and his gang, picking them off one at a time with high-power rifles that can hit from a distance of 800 yards. The result is a sagebrush variation of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME, done with some of the most brutally violent shootouts this side of THE WILD BUNCH and SOLDIER BLUE. And as he is a man driven by extreme jealousy (Bergen is his personal "property", whom he physically abuses on more than one occasion), the fact that Bergen is beginning to develop a rapport with Reed now gives him whatever license he feels he needs to kill her as well, though he drags it out for the sheer sadistic fun of it to a very cynical and blood-splattered conclusion.

There isn't too much doubt that THE HUNTING PARTY was made to take advantage of the "market" opened up by THE WILD BUNCH and its director Sam Peckinpah's choreography of violent action, as well the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone. The shootouts are extremely bloody, and they clearly mirror those of THE WILD BUNCH in the use of slow motion and quick cutting. Where THE HUNTING PARTY falls short, however, is in a crucial area that Peckinpah knew was vital to his film being successful: the action and plot must be character-driven and made to feel real to an audience. Veteran TV director Don Medford (who, among other things, directed the classic 1961 Twilight Zone episode "Death's Head Revisited) and screenwriters Gilbert Ralston, William Norton, and Lou Morheim know how to do the Peckinpah-inspired gunfights, but they don't seem to have taken too much time to really delineate any complexities in the three main characters. Bergen is merely a damsel in distress, caught between two men who are basically bastards, one merely semi-controlling (Reed), the other a sadistic control freak of the highest order (Hackman). Absent the complex psychological and character-driven narrative that propelled THE WILD BUNCH to a controversial but well-deserved glory, THE HUNTING PARTY can so easily be tagged, as more than a few critics have done (albeit perhaps too zealously), as an extremely bloody sagebrush shooting gallery in which violence is staged for the sake of violence.

The film does succeed in giving us good performances from the three leads (notably Hackman, whose role is credibly sadistic to the highest degree); good cinematography done on location in Spain (as a stand-in for Texas); and supporting roles for L.Q. Jones (a member of Peckinpah's stock company); Simon Oakland; Mitchell Ryan; and William C. Watson. And one can't fault the long-distance shooting that occurs, or the way it so ingeniously borrows a great old-world story (THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME) and puts it into a WILD BUNCH-type western format. Had the filmmakers only paid a bit more attention to complex characters and motives here as Peckinpah had in his epic film, however, THE HUNTING PARTY might have been a bit more than a good, if incredibly and graphically violent, post-Peckinpah/Leone addition to a Western genre that was rapidly changing during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

A cruel rancher called Brabt Rage : Gene Hackman and his nasty companions as G. D. Spradlin, Simon Oakland use extremely long range rifles to hunt the gang: Mitchell Ryan, LQ Jones.. led by Frank Calder: Oliver Reed, who abducted his wife : Candice Bergen .

Violent Western in Peckinpah style with thrills, chills, noisy action, go riding and crossfire. A twilight western following the wake of the late sixties and seventies westerns as Wild Bunch, Bite the bullet, 100 rifles and taking parts of "The dangerous game" by Richard Connell. Gene Hackman gives a terrific acting as the ruthless owner who seeks a merciless vengeance. Along with Oliver Reed as Frank Calder, a bandit who wants to learn reading. And Candice Bergen is top-notch as the beautiful and sweet kidnapped teacher. It displays a very good support cast such as LQ Jones, Simon Oakland, Mitchell Ryan, Bernard Kay, GD Spradlin, William Watson, and several others.

Thrilling and moving musical score by the Italian Riz Ortalani. Atmospheric cinematograhy by Cecilio Paniagua, though being really necessary a perfect remastering . Cecilio was one of the best Spanish cameramen who photographed a lot of international films shot in Spain as 100 rifles, Custer's last adventure or Custer of the West, Dr Coppelius, Island of the doomed, Commando, Balearic caper, Mathias Sandorf, Mission in Morocco, among others.Well produced by the tandem Arnold Laven, Jules Levy, Arthur Gardner who produced several westerns. The motion picture was professionally directed by Don Medford. Don was a good director who worked essentially in TV, directing a great number of famous television series as Dynasty, Colbys, Air wolf, Alfred Hitchcock presents, Mrs Columbus, FBI, Cannon, Baretta, Untouchables, Suspicion, Decoy. And occassionaly he directed for big screen as "The organization" with Sidney Poitier as Inspector Tibbs and this Hunting party. Rating 7out of 10.Well worth watching. Better than average.

One of those "lost" films that only shows up on cable once in a while, THE HUNTING PARTY is a blood soaked western that is an obvious response to Sam Peckinpah's THE WILD BUNCH. Made in 1971 by Don Medford and starring a young Candice Bergen, a vicious Gene Hackman, and Oliver Reed with an American accent. This is certainly one of the most violent westerns ever made with slo-mo gunshot wounds and more agony and gore than most horror films. Nihilistic and extreme without hope or redemption. The soundtrack is excellent as well as the photography and editing. The Hunting Party will hopefully be rediscovered on home video soon, or else make sure you catch it on FLIX this month!

Gene Hackman and Oliver Reed face off in this hard-hitting Western from Don Medford (!). Unfortunately, the film seems to be trying to out-Peckinpah Peckinpah without fully knowing why he does what he does. What we're left with is a superficial exercise in nihilism but who doesn't love that? Lots of good action scenes, some nice acting and a meanstreak separate this one from the pack. Well worth searching out despite its flaws.

Hunting Party, is violent and bloody. Just like most Westerns. I really like Oliver Reed in this film. He is great as the rough and tumble cowboy who kidnaps the woman of the richest man in the territory. Best part is his tenderness. She never had someone treat her tenderly, and love her. Did not care for Candice Bergen's acting. She was just was not believable in the part. She walked through the film with her mouth gaping open. But the film was worth seeing, I watched it over about 3 times, mainly because of Oliver Reed. Gene Hackman played his part well of a controlling and manipulating husband. You will see many character actors who had bit parts who became bigger actors in the present. All in all it is a must see film.

I watched this film and kept watching it because of my faith in the main actors. They did not let me down. They are terrific and so are those in supporting roles. But they are working with a flawed story and a flawed script. Three quarters way through, the film starts to drag as basically the same thing keeps happening with predictable symmetry. Reed's companions die off and Hackman's leave him. Hackman and Reed are what the story is about and the hangers on, stuck to each of them, become an irrelevance to be got rid of by the script writers so that the story can reach its climax and conclusion. The fundamental flaw in the story is the barely, if at all, discussed willingness of Hackman's hunting party to go after the kidnappers rather than the animal prey. These are rich, "respectable" pillars of society - not the criminals, murderers or dubious posse characters often depicted in such a manhunt in westerns. That does not make them honourable or give them a conscience but they would think twice, big time, if invited to go on a lynching rather than a planned animal hunt. The ending would have been much more interesting if Reed had used his ingenuity to counter Hackman's long range technology ; if he had thought up an ingenious plan to attack his pursuers, and give Hackman (and us) more of a run for his money than just run, fade away into deep sand.

This movie had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. As wild westerns go, this ranks near the top. It's very well paced, and the acting is superb. Plot twists and the unfolding of well-developed characters sustain the movies' tension to the end.

Oliver Reed is stunning as Frank Calder, the tough leader of an outlaw gang who wants to learn to read. Thinking she is a schoolteacher who can teach him his letters, he kidnaps Melissa (Candice Bergman), the wife of the very wealthy Brant Rudger (Gene Hackman). Rudger, a cruel sadist and absolute dictator, talks his wealthy cronies into hunting down the outlaw gang and picking them off one by one with high-powered rifles. But he proposes it more as a game of revenge or sport than out of love or fear for his wife's safety.

Calder and Rudger are both brutal men, but Calder values human life and relationships while the Rudger cares only for indulging his passions at any cost. Though his friends start to sicken of the game and beg him to stop, Rudger won't be deterred from the game.

As the movie develops, Oliver Reed's scenes crackle with tension, energy, and a depth of sexuality that may surprise those who are more familiar with his roles as the heavy or antagonist. Gene Hackman's character brings a single-minded intensity to the movie that has rarely been matched on screen. Candice Bergman gives a feisty performance and carries off a difficult role very well. Her character is caught, both literally and figuratively in a war of emotions, in a terrifying conflict.

I agree with the prior reviewer who says this needs to be released on DVD! With so many bad movie DVD's out there, I'm surprised this one's potential has been overlooked for so long. Frankly, I would love to see it on the big screen.

Advertisements for "The Hunting Party" misleadingly portrayed the scenario as a western riff on the old "Most Dangerous Game" ploy: man hunting man for sport. Instead, this William Norton-Gilbert Alexander-Lou Morheim script is an old-fashioned revenge tale studded with new-fangled blood and sex. Gene Hackman plays land baron Brandt Ruger, an amoral sadist living in the rural town that bears his surname, who leads a somewhat-leery pack of well-wrought gentleman friends on a hunt to kill the gunslingers responsible for kidnapping his wife (he also appears to want his wife killed as well, since she's obviously been raped and now may be carrying a bastard child!). Taking his cue from Sam Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch", director Don Medford takes great delight in blasting his supporting cast away to Kingdom Come in a hail of gunfire, blood-packs spurting in slow motion. Medford hasn't much originality (or versatility), and several of his scenes are downright sloppy. However, Ruger's unmitigated relish for treating humans as cattle allows Hackman to revel in some mangy, dastardly deeds--he's a marvelous villain. As the head of the kidnappers, Oliver Reed disguises his British accent fairly well and is surprisingly tender with captive Candice Bergen (as sort of a Sweet Hostage). Opening scene juxtaposing the knifing of a cow with Hackman forcing himself on his wife in the bedroom is heavy-handed at best, distasteful at worst. But the picture improves from there and gives us a brutal, fairly realistic look at the lawless West. Very good performances from all three stars, excellent work as well from Mitchell Ryan as Reed's faithful friend Doc. **1/2 from ****

While I think the performances are quite good, I just can't get past the rape scene after the abduction. Maybe it was an attempt at errotica, but it certainly failed for me. Rape is rape. If that won't bother, then watch an otherwise decent movie.

Why this film is still so obscure and unknown goes beyond my – admittedly limited – comprehension. It has a good plot, albeit obviously a response to "The Wild Bunch" and basically just another (western) interpretation of the legendary classic "The Most Dangerous Game", the cast is excellent with both Gene Hackman and Oliver Reed in great shape and there's plenty of rough and gritty violence. The filming locations are exquisite and – possibly to further cash in on the success of Italian Spaghetti westerns – the producers even hired and Italian composer. Riz Ortolani's music is definitely one of the best elements about the film. Gene Hackman was never as vicious as here in this movie, portraying Brandt Ruger; a rich, obnoxious and egocentric bank owner who enjoys throwing hunting parties for his selected circle of equally depraved and wealthy friends. When a posse of bandits, led by the ever handsome Oliver Reed, kidnaps his wife, Brandt alters the route of their planned hunting trip and goes after them. Not so much because he loves his wife (played by the ravishing Candice Bergen), as he actually neglects and abuses her all the time, but because he's Brandt Ruger and nobody is supposed to touch what belongs to him. Ruger gets crazier and more determined to raise a bloodbath with each minute that passes, whilst his wife and her abductor fall in love. Hackman's character is truly the nastiest and most hateful type of villain there is: relentless, mad and unpredictable, but also cowardly as he continuously avoids confrontation with his opponents and shoots them from a safe distance with his technically advanced riffle. "The Hunting Party" is slightly overlong and contains a handful of tedious sequences, notably the romantic parts and the whole sub plot revolving on Melissa learning her kidnapper how to read. Still, there's always some type of ominous atmosphere, since you expect Gene and his docile accomplices to pop up out of nowhere at any given moment. The climax is very powerful, haunting and even quite depressing. The action is of course rather monotonous, since we exclusively witness people getting shot, but the images of cowboys dying in slow motion (and bathing in blood) are gritty and exploitative. The three leads are amazing and "The Hunting Party" comes with my highest possible recommendation if it were only for witnessing the final showdown between Reed and Hackman, two of the greatest actors that ever lived.

The Hunting Party tries to out-do The Wild Bunch for graphic violence and mayhem. You almost get the impression that some uninspired movie-makers sat around after seeing the 1969 Peckinpah classic, and said: "Yeah..... all that blood, all that carnage, all in glorious close-up colour. Let's see if we can go even further". However, The Hunting Party is simply a grim stain of a film. It advocates nastiness for the sake of nastiness. Where The Wild Bunch was trying to lay the old west bare, and to explore what happens to men who have outlived their era, this film merely wants to explore what damage bullets can do to human flesh. There's no insight into the period or the characters, just a heck of a lot of killing.

Surprisingly, the cast is full of powerhouse talent. Oliver Reed top bills as Frank Calder, an outlaw with no particular ambition or aim in life other than to stay alive in a violent world. He and his gang kidnap a beautiful teacher Melissa Ruger (Candice Bergen). Her husband Brandt Ruger (Gene Hackman) pursues the gang with a hunting party, aided by the latest and greatest rifles which can blow a man apart from long range. One by one, Reed's gang is reduced in number from a safe distance until only Reed himself remains.

The history of guns seems to have been well researched for this film, but if you want a potted history of how the rifle was used in the wild west then read a good book on the subject. As a serious western with themes about lawlessness, vigilantism and corruption, the film is a loss. It could've explored all these themes, but it just contents itself with close-up killings. As an entertainment it is a loss too. What's entetaining about outlaws having their torso blown open by long range rifles? What's entertaining about one set of unpleasant characters hunting down another set of unpleasant characters? It seems to me that good westerns can go down one of two routes: they can be serious explorations of a fascinating time and place, or they can be entertaining action yarns with a wild west setting. This film is neither... avoid!

I'll start out by saying that this film did not have the greatest director or editor in the world but the outcome was a film full of thrills.

From the very beginning we are introduced to variations of pretty unlikable and ruthless people. Brandt Ruger (Gene Hackman)is a rich farmer who clearly doesn't give a damn about his wife (Candice Bergen). After he have left on a hunting trip, his wife who helps out the school teacher is kidnapped by a gang of outlaws so she can teach their leader Frank (Oliver Reed) to read. Apparently he wants to become a bigger man and reading is the next step. He have of course no idea that the womans husband is even scarier than his whole gang combined.

After stumping cigarettes on a Chinese hooker and having a pretty fun night Brandt is awaken by the news. Infuriated and equipped with the long range rifles he and his rich pals for a hunting party with the mission to kill the entire gang and save his wife.

This must be one of the darkest films ever made. It could best be described as misanthropic. I felt a complete rush while watching this. As the hunting party starts their game everything can happen and the suspense is extreme. Incredibly entertaining and completely uninterested in the worth of a human life. This film is more merciless than The Wild Bunch.

This is most certainly a film about anger and revenge! And what this may cause. It shows violence for what it is: Ugly and brutal! I can see why this has such a low rating. A lot of people will obviously reject such material but if your a fan of The Great Silence, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Rabid Dogs and films of this kind it's most definitely for you. A great story indeed. A must for fans of western and grit.

I rented the DVD of "The Hunting Party" based on the cast. I found it to be an engrossing, if somewhat uneven, story of vengeance that stands the test of time. The version I watched, the MGM DVD issued in 2005, includes the scenes that IMDb lists as cut from earlier, European versions.

>>> Mild Spoiler follows <<<

Gene Hackman's character, Brandt, is obsessed with punishing the men who kidnapped his young wife. He is portrayed as a personable, wealthy rancher with a sadistic mean streak. He becomes so single-minded about getting payback that he destroys himself in the process. Oliver Reed, as Frank, is shown as an outlaw who does not kill unless necessary, and the struggle between these men forms the plot. We follow the story primarily from the Calder gang POV, so the audience shares their panic when the hunters attack. The loud report of the high-powered rifle shots becomes especially unnerving as the movie progresses.

There are a few scenes that help develop the characters of Calder and his men, such as the 'peaches' scene, which interjects a bit of levity into what is otherwise a dark, inexorable journey into oblivion. The ending, IMO, is a fitting climax to the story, and elevates the film above a rote Western shoot-em-up.

This is the kind of low-budget genre ripoff that is executed not by regional nobodies with auteur syndrome, but by dutiful hacks on loan from the tube. The genre is Western, the ripoff is of "The Wild Bunch," and excitement is distinctly lacking as a deep-south Oliver Reed kidnaps stressed-looking Candice Bergen (pretty much all she does is look stressed) so that the mysteriously dislikeable Gene Hackman can come and kill everyone with his newfangled high-powered rifles. I certainly didn't get all freaked out about the gore like Maltin and some of these guys, although when I think about it the whole movie is basically an excuse to watch scumbags get shot by other scumbags. Elements come and go according to convenience - it would have been nice to have some follow-through on the teaching-an-outlaw-to-read thing, and the seduction-by-canned-peaches is so wrong - especially given the spaghetti-drenched bum-ba-dee-da soundtrack - that all hope is lost by the reel change.

I'm a big fan of early 70's sadistic westerns and "The Hunting Party" has the special place in my grimy heart. It's among the nastiest, bloodiest and most misanthropic western movies ever made. Obviously influenced by Peckinpah's masterful "The Wild Bunch" it has its share of brutal violence and blown off heads. Even the cow gets its throat slit in the beginning of this nasty spectacle. Gene Hackman plays wealthy town owner filled with rage and misogynistic hatred. When the outlaw named Frank (Oliver Reed) kidnaps his wife (Candice Bergen) for teaching him to read, Hackman forms the hunting group. The bloodbath ensues... Highly cynical western, superbly acted and shot. The shocking finale filled my eyes with tears. A must-see.

Oliver Reed has kidnapped Gene's wife, Candy Bergen. Gene is a sadistic ranch-owner who goes out with his men to hunt down Oliver and his gang. Why Gene so desperately wants Candy back, I don't know. She offers no hint throughout that she in any way could be any man's epitome of womanhood, excepting Tommy Newsom. Maybe Gene's afraid that, if he doesn't get her back in this one, they'll make a sequel, requiring him to continue his pursuit of her and Mr. Reed across the hot Spanish desert. Can you say "actor's hell"? This is it. No originality, no warmth (from the sun, yes, but not the script or the actors). The money that financed this meatball must have been used as a tax shelter. There can be no other reason for the film's existence.

Speaking of desert, someone should have sent the producer and director of this unexciting-yet-sadistic oater into that same desert with just a bottle of (warm) water between them. What a waste. And Gene should kiss his Oscar every night for allowing him to avoid having to make movies like this epic forevermore, which he mostly has.

The Hunting Party is a good western, but there are a few scene's of nudity that I could really care less for. I'm by far a horror movie fan, and this movie has a lot of gory bloody shoot out scene's in it. The movie is about a group of outlaw's that kidnap a women who they think is a school teacher, so their leader can learn how to read. This movie has you going the good guy is the bad guy, the bad guy is the good guy, and the women is torn between the two.

Gene Hackman (Brandt Ruger) play's a really good a**hole in this movie, he plays the bad guy well. Oliver Reed (Frank Calder) play's the leader of the gang who should be a villain, but turn out to be the nice guy. Reed pulls off the American accent pretty d*mn good. You wouldn't know he was British from watching this movie. Mitch Ryan (Doc Harrison) awesome as Doc, only knew him from Dharma and Greg, pretty good performance. Candice Bergen (Melissa Ruger) I didn't recognize at first, since all I remember her from was Murphy Brown, and Miss Congeniality.

Brandt Ruger is a rich cattle rancher that if he owns something it's his and no one else, and no one steals from him either. When Frank Calder steals his wife Ruger and his men start hunting down the gang. Using high tech guns that can kill a man from 800 feet away. Ruger's men start taking down Calder's men one by one, it's very bloody and messy. Melissa Ruger and Frank fall for each other, which anger's Brandt even more. When the movie ends, your cheering and going d*mn I didn't see that one coming. It's a good movie, One western that I actually like, and that surprised me a lot.

This western is from the same crop as Peckinpah's efforts, most notably "The Wild Bunch": extreme violence, tough versus tough, and some important themes brought in between.

The "Hunting Party" of the title is led by coward rancher Brandt (Gene Hackman), who along with his gang, track down the dangerous bandit Frank Calder (Oliver Reed), kidnapper of Brandt's wife (Candice Bergen). Calder uses her talents as teacher so she can teach him how to read - something he never knew how to - in order to read maps and stuff for future robberies. But it seems that Calder and Brandt's wife are getting well together, better than what she used to had with her possessive husband. Brandt's reckless hunt to Calder (who has a bigger group of men) has one point in his favor: a collection of special rifles that can shoot to long distances, an unseen invention at the time, and unknown to Frank and his pals.

No heroes, no villains. All roles are reversed in the usual sense of what we know about westerns, they're not what they appear, right from scene one, a comparison between Calder and Brandt in the way handle situations: Brandt being violent with his wife during sex intercut with images of Calder butchering a cow. In terms of favoritism, we should root for Hackman's character because his woman was stolen and felt for the "bad guy"; but no, he reveals to be a more repulsive and ignorant character than the ever changing bandit, who has traces of humanity at moment goes by. His kidnap of the teacher might be his way to be a better man, someone who wants to get out of his current poor status. Like that Wilde quote: "Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future." But Brandt was never a saint!

The contrast between both men is very interesting to follow, just as much as in following the powerful chain between them, the headstrong teacher Melissa, one of Bergen's best and most difficult roles. She doesn't understand why she's there, and even if so, she always tries to escape Calder and return to her abusive husband, confusing the idea of what care really is. But her trust in Calder comes when he protects her against the guys in his group who try to abuse her; and when he acts like them, she relents a bit because it's nothing compared to what she had with Brandt. Yes, way before than the whole controversy involving "Straw Dogs" infamous scene.

The movie feels staggered for a long time, the plot takes a whole while to reach its best and most exciting parts - the hunting - but we can't deny that Don Medford made an impressive picture, filled with action, gory slow-motion shootouts like Mr. Sam P., with brief humored scenes (all effective) and greatly acted by Reed, Hackman, Mitchell Ryan and Bergen. I only disliked the way the script treated the female character during the first half hour, only making Mellisa as an object at almost all scenes, but later on she grows a lot and stands her ground with firmness.

Finally, a western with some deep thoughts. 7/10