La Proie

Thouh not a movie of captivating interest but has some good scenes. Especially train scene is marvelous.Suspense is arose after every important incident. Film has some flaws but these can be easily ignored. The performance of man with long hair and shining sword is impressive. Film can be watched but you must not compare it with classics like T2, Pulp Action. It is entirely different movie. I will give it at least six out of ten. You cannot be bored while watching it. It is the only movie in which I was able to tolerate Christopher. It is a bit more real in theme as compare to some idiot science fictions. I think if you want to see some good movie, it is a must see but I repeat again, do not expect much from the film. If you do not expect a standard of T2, Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings then it will do fairly well.

"The Hunted" is one of those movies that tries to give you an insight in the Japanese code of honor. So when a western business-man, a witness in the murder of a call-girl, becomes the hunted, the question arise "How far can a code of honor go?". What struck me in this movie is the excellent use of the Japanese scenery i.c. Tokyo, the bullit-trains, the temples, the ninja way of life...The score is by the heart beat drummers Kodo. A great action packed movie with a lot of tension in a very beautiful package! Don't lose your head!

Samurai movie with well staged scenes , colorful ambient , professionally directed and Japan set . The story starts with a quote by Daidoh Yuzan , 16th Century : ¨One who is a Samurai must before all things keep constantly in mind . By day by night..the fact that he has to die¨. It deals with Paul (Christopher Lambert) a computer-chip executive from New York travels to Tokyo , there he finds a gorgeous Japanese girl (Joan Chen) . After that , he inadvertently interrupting his meeting by a killing . As he is now the only man to have seen the figure of the cult's warrior-chief (John Lone) named Makato and nobody has survived after seeing his face , as he soon realizes that he is taking on a markedly foreshortened life-expectancy . Then , he joins forces with a friendly samurai couple (Harada and Shimada) who helps him . Later on , at a speed train takes place a violent face off between Ninja-sect hoodlums and Sensei , his wife along with Paul ; the result is an astonishing massacre . Ultimately , Paul recuperating on an island-fortress and learning about life and sword-play . Finally , there occurs the definitive final duel between Ninjas from Makato clan and Takeda faction .

This Ninja film packs bloody swordplay , spectacular martial-arts and noisy action sequences . This is a colourful , mostly filmed in Japan and medium budget movie ; leave no cliché untouched , though the rife fighting is magnificently staged . Amid the glamour of the scenarios is developed an intrigue about feud among Japanese factions , a two-centuries-old blood-confrontation with the Ninja and Takeda clan , including betrayal , crime and exploring the dark side of vengeance . Overwhelming and rousing fights with deadly use of Katanas , feet and palms , along with such weapons as swords , sticks , lances and ¨Shuriken¨. It contains usual learning period in which the naive businessman learns a little about courage, honor, love, swordsmanship and loyalty . The picture is full of tumultuous sequences with frenetic action , surprises , climatic combats and groundbreaking struggles . Passable acting by Christopher Lambert as a businessman who finds himself struggling to survive in the wrong place at the wrong time , and John Lone is good as a feared Ninja chief . And enjoyable couple formed by Yoshio Harada as Takeda Sensei and Yôko Shimada as Mieko Takeda . Nice production design with exterior shots of the train were filmed on location on Japan, however, the interior shots were filmed on a set at Bridge Studios in Vancouver, B.C. ; the scenery rushing by outside the windows was simulated using large rotating drums with "blurred" scenery painted on it . Colorful cinematography by Jack Conroy , full of red shades and bright images . Monotonous and syncopated musical score by means of continuous drum sounds .

The motion picture produced in moderated budget was well directed by J.F. Lawton, though with no originally . He wrote a number of feature film scripts including one called "Three Thousand", which was selected by the Sundance Institute , Touchstone Pictures purchased the script and later he changed the title to Pretty Woman (1990). He also wrote a script for Blankman (1994) , Chain reaction (1996) and DOA: Dead or Alive (2006), a film based on the huge video game series success of the same name . After that , he then wrote and directed Jackson (2008), a failed comedy-drama-musical . ¨The hunted¨ turns out to be one an acceptable film , including exciting attacks and groundbreaking fighting perfectly staged , the result is a strong entry for action buffs

Christopher Lambert stars as a businessman who witnesses the slaying of a woman (Joan Chen) who he had just slept with, when the ninja (John Lone) is spotted face and all, the ninja stops at nothing to kill Lambert and it's only a rival ninja clan which teaches Lambert how to defend himself and win in a sword fight, Sean Connery of course is nowhere to be found this time. Lambert has a weird charisma about him, he really isn't that strong of an actor but for some reason he is able to get us to watch him and his screen presence almost always makes his hero generally more interesting than a musclebound action star who projects little sympathy. Lambert comes off rather vulnerable and the villains he's up against are no slouches either. They are ruthless SOBs, for instance they actually slaughter a train of innocent by standers all because they don't want any witnesses. This includes old people, children, mothers you name it they bit the big one. In theaters this was an experience which shocked a lot of us and the crowd I was with, were prepared for brutal action. The Hunted works as a Ninja actioner and is generally better polished than almost anything made in the 80's. It's slick, brutal and overall a fast paced actioner which in the end, is all we ask for.

* * * out of 4-(Good)

This film, The Hunted, is written and directed by the guy (J. F. Lawton) who wrote us the first Under Siege movie with Steven Seagal, directed by Andrew Davis. The Hunted stars Christopher Lambert who was OK in Highlander by Russell Mulcahy and who is not too bad action star. The Hunted is not a great movie but it should satisfy action fans, especially mainstream action fans.

Chris is an American businessman visiting Japan and he sees the secret face of a masterful assassin, somekind of a yakuza cult member/leader. Soon Christopher finds himself in the middle of bloody and fastly edited swordfights and understands that his life is what they want. He gets some help from a rival "gang" and now they must destroy the evil clan that is on their tail..

There is one extremely suspenceful sequence in a train, which is filled with evil ninjas and so no passenger is safe. The train goes fast and there's no way to escape. That sequence is a highlight of this film and proves that the director can direct great action scenes if he wants to. The film runs pretty long, approximately 1h 50 min in NTSC speed, but there are no significantly irritating boring moments and the film is easy to sit through.

We are not talking about a classic picture but it is nice to see that these kinds of films were still made by big studios in USA as "recently" as 1995. The fights are often bloody but not too bloody. If one is bored with PG13 crap and stupid films which try to make money as much as possible, then I suggest trying this film for example. And fans on Seagal, Damme and other action kickers/fighters should also like the often nihilistic attitude of The Hunted.

6/10 and I recommend this to action film fanatics especially!