The Hunted (2003)

The Real Reasons to See It.
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
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!
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!