lastliberal Samurai flicks may be considered a guilty pleasure, but this one is well worth watching.It is not a Toshiro Mifune classic, but it features plenty of Samurai action and lots of blood is spilled.Christopher Lambert (Highlander I, II, and III; Mortal Kombat) plays an American businessman who picks up an extremely lovely Joan Chen (Lust, Caution; Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl) in a bar and they have a pleasurable time before ninjas arrive to kill her for a transgression. The leader, John Lone (The Last Emperor, Year of the Dragon) is identified and the hunt begins.The businessman enlists the help of super Japanese actor Yoshio Harada and Yôko Shimada (Shogun and "Shogun"). What he doesn't realize ifs the Samurai isn't really interested in helping, he just wants to do battle with the Ninja.It's fast paced and exciting with enough exploitation to make it special.

sillybuddha Christopher Lambert is a foreigner in Japan who gets caught up in a secret world of ninja cults and samurai warriors.... The Hunted is full of Japanese clichés - but that gives it its charm - the film *likes* Japan and enjoys sticking in such quintessentially Japanese scenery like castles, pachinko parlours, robotic toilets, the bullet train, taiko drummers (the famous drumming group Kodo appear), wooden bridges over rivers, paper screen doors, swordmakers, and of course ninja and samurai.Lambert is charming throughout, his encounter with a mysterious lady in a nightclub is a sexy cliché, but Lambert's character is always likable and decent, and not stereotypically macho - he has to cower in a corner in some of the scenes where ninjas attack (although to be fair he was injured...) When Lambert manages to escape the first wave of (bloody) ninja attacks he goes to an island full of samurai who are dedicated to wiping out the evil ninja cult. In some ways it becomes a bit like The Last Samurai at this point, as Lambert's fish out of water has to learn how to handle a katana and bonds with a swordsmith.It is silly, the dialogue is often weak, but it has some nice imagery of Japan, some brutal swordplay, and successfully keeps the film pacy and ... well.. cool. Ninjas are cool. Having said that, it is low budget, the dialogue is often rubbish: (Cop: 'There are no ninjas in modern Japan!' {gets shot with arrow, dying} 'Looks like I was wrong! Lambert: 'Looks like?') Ho ho ho.

ciscokid1970 This is one of my all time favorite "Hero" movies. This is a outstanding samurai movie. In this case it is a final conflict between a Samurai clan and a Ninja clan. Just to make it interesting they throw Christopher Lambert in there as a American business man who is in the wrong place at the wrong time.The acting is very good and well cast. There are 4 good action scenes and 2 of them feature excellent sword play. There is also some great samurai traditions including tribute to sword making.The widescreen version of this is a must. It has brilliant sound starting with the Tiki concert in the beginning and culminating with the rain during the final showdown.It has a little drama and comedy sprinkled here and there. But the sword fighting is absolutely fantastic. If you liked The Last Samurai you will like this movie.

takleefey The Hunted is surprisingly high in production values, acting and story. It also provides a nice inside look into Japanese culture and society. Blood and Gore of course, are a plenty. Christopher Lambert played his role very well and kept his naiveté and innocence very well portrayed, while finding himself in the middle of a war. The sword-fight choreography is decent and very realistic. The Japanese actors put on a splendid show. This a gripping, colorful and highly satisfying film that will never have you bored at any point. I find it quite under-rated because it is quite well developed despite its obscurity. This is something I would recommend to any viewer.