Product description

Hunter, The [1980]

Price: £4.97
RRP: £12.99 This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery
You save: £8.02 (62 %)
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
Average customer rating: 3.5

Binding : DVD
EAN : 5014437822536
Label : Paramount Home Entertainment
Manufacturer : Paramount Home Entertainment
Publisher : Paramount Home Entertainment
Release date : 2002-05-13
Title : Hunter, The [1980]
Actor : Array
Audience rating : Suitable for 15 years and over
Format : Array
Languages : Array
Number of items : 1
Original release date : 1980-01-01
Region code : 2
Running time : 98
Studio : Paramount Home Entertainment
Theatrical releaseDate : 1980-08-01
Number of discs : 1

Customer reviews

review by: skenn1701a date: 2007-09-17 rating:

Limp final offering from the great McQueen
It must have looked like a winner on paper - the foremost action hero of his age - true life story of bounty hunter, car chases, human story, terrific cast with a real chance for acting... It's not a disaster, but it's a limp effort at either a character piece, a bio, or an action movie even though it has elements of all three.
The movie covers a period in the life of the real life bounty hunter (supposedly the last...) of `Papa' Thorsen. His exploits catching various guys on the run, is contrasted with his life at home where he not only has a soft spot for lost causes, but has a beautiful wife pregnant with his child. Some semblance of drama to drive the movie along is given by one of McQueen's ex catches getting out of jail and threatening to kill him (yawn). McQueen tries hard to go against type and add various character touches, so we get a man who drives badly and cant park properly (an in-joke on McQueen's legendary driving skills, but taken way too far), he loves old things - vintage wind up toys, pocket watches - but with no reason other than to provide `character'. He does not like the birth classes his wife goes to - but lo and behold turns out to be a trooper in the end... It does not entirely work - instead, we are left with a recognizable (though clearly aging) McQueen with various layers of mannerisms and affections.
Supporting cast should save the day - Kathryn Harrold as the long suffering girlfriend is one of the best things in the picture. Every now and again there is a grand entrance of a character - Ben Johnson's sheriff for example - but he then 5 minutes later vanishes without fanfare. Only Eli Wallach hovers around for the greater part of the picture, and a youthful Levar Burton, post-Roots, pre-Star Trek The Next Generation has presence, but no reason to be there.
There are a couple of interesting set pieces - the car chase in the multi storey car park, the shootout on the train - but without a plot or story to hang on, they fall flat.
Steve McQueen is almost always worth a watch, but here the vehicle for once just isn't enough for the great man. A shame his last film was so lacklustre.

review by: date: 2006-01-24 rating:

It is one of his best
How narrow are we to compare this to any old action film, it really has a sense of realism - that it could happen, that it is why it sticks out: more of a Clint action flim really because it makes you believe something, that people do not believe. So what if he is older, this has some very subtle acting, and I hope the dvd can bring it out. Does everything have to be the best, it gives enough: but in it's own way - which is not a bad thing at all.

review by: date: 2005-12-21 rating:

Farewell to a Movie Legend
Steve McQueen was a true movie star in every sense of the word - a man who lived in the fast lane both on and off the silver screen. He was icon to many with his love of motorbikes & racing - men wanted to be like him & the women wanted him to be their man. He was also such a great actor but notoriously difficult to work with & a perfectionist. Nevertheless McQueen headlined some of the most entertaining movies of the sixties & early 70's - The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Bullitt & The Getaway.

His final movie was The Hunter in 1980 and if doesn't quite match the standard of some of his best movies it's still a very competent thriller that marked the abrupt end of Steve McQueen's career on a high note. Steve is Ralph "Papa" Thorson - a bounty hunter and the last one of his kind who spends his days hunting down bail jumpers and crooks. He attitudes doesn't fit in today's world - he drives an old convertible, collects old toys & in his own words "new things are no good". If life wasn't hard enough he also has a young wife at home to contend with and a baby on the way. Plus there's the small matter of a pyscho on the loose and he's after the man who put him away - guess who??

Steve plays Ralph to perfection and this role is perhaps the closest audiences ever got to seeing the real McQueen on screen. The action scenes are superbly executed with two chase sequences of note. The first involving McQueen in a combine harvester chasing two thieves in a stolen Pontiac Firebird(reminscient of a scene in the Lee Marvin gangster movie Prime Cut). The second involving a long chase which sees McQueen chase a criminal on board a train and then into a multi storey car park. If McQueen was suffering with cancer he certainly doesn't look it and seems almost athletic in many of chase sequences. When watching this movie you can't help but feel sadness and regret that the world was robbed of such a great actor and one wonders the sort of roles Steve would have played in later life but we will never know.

Verdict

An enjoyable chase thriller and worth a look- McQueen signed off to the big castle in the sky on a high note.

review by: Rich Burtons Voice date: 2004-03-09 rating:
New Things are no good....
For those thinking of getting this movie don't be put off what you may have read elsewhere it is a good film...agreed it is not as good as some of his earlier efforts but defenetly not the shambles some have it to be.
It is sad to watch as it gives an insight to the kind of films McQueen might of made had he survived his cancer(if indeed he decided to continue to make movies),seeing the older McQueen with the lines on his face certainly adds to the experience the Ralph"Papa"Thorsen has,as indeed it did when watching Tom Horn.
The direction is handelled well,ok it some scenes could have been better but overall it is handled well & confidently giving plently of space to his characters.
The action scenes are handled very well particually the scene when Thorson is chasing his latest bounty over Chicago...
When watching the film you do wonder how much of McQueen is in the character he plays as from what we have read about him it does appear to show up in this role more than any other.
The ending is nice for McQueen's fans as his last moments on screen show the character finally at peace & happy & which seem to reflect what was happening in his own life.
A very good buy & a must for all McQueen fans or lovers of classic action movies.

Similar products

Nevada Smith Dvd [1965]
Le Mans [1971]
The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery
Papillon [1974]
Hell Is For Heroes [1962]

Similar categories