kent_wow A second hand store was selling a whole pile of movies for 50cents and I felt like trying to find some funny bad movies. This is the first movie I watched.This isn't a bad movie thou. This is actually really engaging, with well shot action and a fantastic taiko influenced soundtrack (Japanese drumming).I have to talk about the train scene. Where Lambert and his new saviors board the high speed train and move to the bar section (around 12) while the assassins kill the train drivers then start moving through the carts killing everyone is sight. Lambert's savior moves down to meet them and move out the passengers then starts killing them and toying with them as he moves back to the bar section to finish them off. This scene is brilliant and well worth the watch.I'm not going to rattle on. If you haven't seen it yet then you need to give it a go.

Comeuppance Reviews Paul Racine (Lambert) is a New York businessman on a business trip to Tokyo. After getting involved with the beautiful Kirina (Chen), he finds himself inadvertently drawn into the shadowy world of Ninjas. When he tries to stop her murder, it's "Businessman to the rescue!" but he doesn't realize what he's up against. None of the Tokyo authorities believe Ninjas still exist in modern-day Japan. Obviously they're not aware of the highly-trained, yet evil Kinjo (Lone) who now takes Paul as his main enemy because he knows too much. So Paul trains in the ways of the Ninja to face off in the eventual final confrontation with Kinjo. Who will win? The Hunted comes from a not-so-distant past when Christopher Lambert movies came to the movie theater. And ones about Ninjas no less. Ah yes, it was a different time in our nation's history indeed. Part of the interest of a Christopher Lambert movie is attempting to decipher and determine if it's a Christopher Lambert movie or a Christopher Lambair film. The jury may still be out on The Hunted, because it is a fairly glossy, professionally made product with an almost two-hour running time and a pretty slow pace by today's standards. But because it's a movie about Ninjas with a lot of "Sword Violence", it's probably an "Ert" title, not an "Air" film.We give the movie credit for the fact that when the Japanese locals talk, it's in Japanese with subtitles. So many movies have locals in foreign countries speaking English to each other. Speaking of voices, Lambert's is kind of odd. It's accented, of course, but the real problem is that it's a bit thin and quiet to boot. With a more powerful voice, his screen presence could have been improved. When The Hunted is at its best is when it's executing its action setpieces, and the scene on the train is a movie highlight. But on the whole the movie seems bloated, and some trimming could have helped. Plus the movie takes itself so seriously. During the Ninja scenes in the woods, it made us miss Godfrey Ho and the fact that Ho's Ninjas have headbands that say "Ninja" on them. Well, maybe they don't have to be that silly, but a happy medium would be nice.We appreciate the professionalism and the obvious care that was put into the action/stunt sequences of The Hunted, but the hard fact is that this is not an essential movie. You could probably miss this one and not feel too bad about it. But if you do see it, you'll see a competently-made and pretty slick time-filler.

movieman_kev Businessman Paul Racine (Christopher Lambert of Highlander fame) meets the lovely enigmatic Kirina (Twin Peak's Joan Chan) and has a one-night stand, however it's not all sunshine and lollipops as later that same night he inadvertently witnesses her execution and the perpetrators that did it send him to the hospital. The thing is that he's the only living person who has seen the ninja assassin's face and has lived, so now he's in mortal danger. He has to go on the run in a vain attempt to survive the inevitable onslaught upon him.I liked the fact that the movie stayed true to its characters and didn't let a businessman go all action hero on numerous highly trained ninjas, that would've rung out as false and a cop out. The film is also well acted and kept my rapt attention throughout, which is a big feat in and of itself.Eye Candy: Joan Chan gets topless; an unknown extra gets fully nudeMy Grade: BWhere I saw it: Encore Action

Frank Markland 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)