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)
