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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.

Others see this film as bland or metaphorical. I saw it after considerable reading about the West as it truly was, not as a Zane Grey work of fiction or morality play. What I saw in this film was a fictional story powerfully based on accurate historical fact. Many of those facts are not pleasant or moral and violence is as much a part of this Western movie as it is of most others. What is unique here is the accurate inclusion of the actual methods and attitudes surrounding that violence. The Lone Ranger it is not. Neither is it metaphorical. My interest in, and modest knowledge of, the methods and technology of that time led me to be strongly involved when watching this movie. Some of the scenes brought out a strong feeling of dread: dreamlike realism. In that way, it is, in my mind, one of the most honest Westerns of all time.

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.

A group of hired gunmen travelling north to participate in a range war (presumambly someplace like Kansas or Wyoming, as the story by all accounts seem to take place in the early 1880's) kidnap a hapless woman from a small town while her husband, a mean, sadistic sonofabitch cattle baron, is engaged in a hunting trip with his upper class buddies. Few people in any kind of audience, then or now, would have trouble spelling out this kind of plot in advance, how the woman will fall in love with her kidnapper while the husband realizes she's lost to him forever, but, seeing how this is a 44. Magnum, the most powerful handg- hey, waitaminute. Seeing how this is the pessimistic and violent movie world of the early 70's we're talking about, if it's going to be predictable, you can at least be sure it's going to be bloody and grim and nihilistic in the process.

You know it's a grim movie you're going to see when it opens with a shot of Gene Hackman roughing up his wife a little in that particularly mean-spirited way that made him such an endearing villain in the early 70's (and which he reprised for Clint Eastwood's UNFORGIVEN winning his second Oscar) intercut with shots of a cow being slaughtered. At least director Don Medford is upfront about it. The movie remains pretty unflinching in the portrayal of violence. Almost every actor is propped with blood squibs at some point in the film while others not lucky to be shot out of horses in slow motion get knives in their necks and buckshot in their faces. The Hunting Party is dinstictly a product of its time, a loyal retracing of the steps back to THE WILD BUNCH instead of taking the genre to new areas, belonging to that particularly bloody and violent American western niche that followed in the wake of Peckinpah's film (along with others like Chato's Land, The Revengers, The Deadly Trackers etc). Subverting and taking off the rose-tinted glasses the far west mythos was seen with by people like John Wayne, who cared so much about perceived values and ideals he had to make RIO BRAVO in response to Gary Cooper throwing down his star in HIGH NOON, taking a closer, more realistic look, if not at authentic period detail, then at least at how people were shot and killed.

All blood and clamor aside however, The Hunting Party is just not a very good movie. Medford's average-to-poor direction and the fact it's 20 minutes too long make sure it won't be seeing top lists anytime soon. And then there's the script. That Brandt Ruger (Gene Hackman) curiously refrains from shooting Frank Calder, the man who kidnapped his wife and whom he specifically set out to kill, when he gets plenty of chances to do so, seems to occur for no other reason than to stretch a final showdown that could have taken place in the first half hour into almost two hours. The acting is in turns okay and wooden, generally of the 'good enough' or 'will have to do' variety. Oddly enough for a cast featuring a man who would go on to win the Oscar that same year for THE FRENCH CONNECTION and kickstart a brilliant career, the best thing about The Hunting Party is a man who made a career out playing Athos in The Three Musketeers. Oliver Reed looks just right for the part, in a role that would be played probably by Richard Boone 20 years earlier and Javier Bardem twenty years later. When he tries to emote and just do anything that doesn't involve looking mean and badass, he faulters, but he looks mean and badass for all but maybe 2 minutes in the film.

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.