The Hunted (1995)

Christopher Lambert is typically amusing as Paul Racine, an American executive in the computer-chip business in Nagoya, Japan on business. He has a romantic night with a stranger named Kirina (the alluring Joan Chen), only to end up witnessing her assassination later that night. Dodging a few subsequent attempts on his life thanks to dumb luck and good timing, he hooks up with a samurai (Yoshio Harada) and his wife (Yoko Shimada), who vow to protect him. They must all do battle with Kinjo (John Lone), the lethal leader of a ninja cult, and his minions.Marking the second directorial effort for screenwriter J.F. Lawton ("Pretty Woman", "Under Siege"), "The Hunted" is often silly and laughable, but it becomes clear that it's not meant to be taken all that seriously all the time. It leaves most of the heroic duties to Harada, with Lambert mostly just along for the ride until the finish. He does eventually desire to receive some sort of training, but commendably does NOT become a master swordsman by the story's end."The Hunted" will never join the ranks of classic martial arts action movies, but it's actually a decent enough viewing provided one is not too demanding. It's got TONS of bloodshed and a high body count; many innocents as well as active participants in the feud get cut up. It's a rather long movie at an hour and 50 minutes, but is never truly boring, at the very least.Lambert will not likely ever be mistaken for a master thespian, but as previously mentioned, he's usually good for some amused chuckles. It's up to people like Lone, Harada, and Shimada to do the true heavy lifting. Chen tries to make the most out of her brief, ill-fated role.An irresistible, percussion-based music score (composed by Leonard Eto and Motofumi Yamaguchi) helps a lot, as well as some excellent location shooting in Japan.Six out of 10.

I love this film, i remember i watch it as a kid , as a teen and as an adult and it still holds up.Its an action film with martial arts in it,"The Hunted," a slightly better than adequate B thriller,Within limits, though, the film delivers. It has one standout action sequence, an extended samurai-ninja battle aboard a bullet train, and a good match up in its two warriors.Christopher Lambert¨Highlander¨gives a good performance as the protagonist as Paul Racine a good guy trapped in a war he bumped by accident Mr. Harada, a handsome-ugly actor in the Charles Bronson mold, projects the tragic aura of a man who knows he must wade through an ocean of blood to avenge ancient wrongs. John Lone, known for his androgynous roles in "The Last Emperor" and "M. Butterfly," makes a convincingly sleek killing machine as Kinjo.This movie is a good example of the 90s well paced, fake blood not cgi, the actors can pass as ninjas and samurais , not pretty boys trying to look there best, i say give it a good and see what you think of it for yourself.

Have you ever watched a samurai movie and thought: this would be so much better with Christopher Lambert in it? Probably not, but here's "The Hunted" anyway. And you know what, it's not too bad either. Lambert himself doesn't really get to do much fighting until the last fifteen minutes, but in the meantime his co-stars manage to squeeze out some truly impressive choreographies. I especially liked the train scene, which not only featured highly entertaining action but also the very quotable "is this Kinjooooo?". The ending isn't very believable all in all but hey, what kind of movie are we dealing with here? It doesn't exactly ruin the movie for me, mainly because it defines the movie. As for a conclusion uhm, how about: IS THIS KINJOOOO?

Paul Racine is an American executive on a business trip in Tokyo. One evening he meets a woman in a bar and after a one night stand she is murdered by a legendary ninja cult. Paul sees the ninja leader's face and they try to kill him, but he manages to somehow survive and finds himself a man marked for death. He soon meets a mysterious martial arts teacher and his wife who fill him in on what is really going on... an ancient and bloody feud.The pretty dull story idea could have been forgivable due to the fight scenes, however for such a martial arts/ninja centered action movie they are actually as dull as the story. Choppily edited, often with obvious jump-cuts, the action scenes just end up being slew of ruthless carnage that manages to knock off all non-significant characters in addition to the bad-guys. The two-dimensional acting and character development don't help out either.The only thing that stands out in a good way is the limited comic relief of a drunken sword-maker and the use of Japanese music and not a pounding rock soundtrack - it manages to place the film in its actual setting, but in the end, the film is just a poorly made bloody mess. 3/10Rated R for brutal violence