10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Hunted

When you’re talking about some of the better underappreciated action films from the last couple of decades then you have to bring up 2003’s The Hunted. It’s hard to believe that this movie turns 20 years old this year and Benicio Del Toro is still making banger action films like Sicario and Tommy Lee Jones is still alive somewhere. Like many of you, I thought this movie was just a slightly different tale once told by Sly Stallone in First Blood. After watching the special features on this disc, however, I’ve learned that there was far more to the story of The Hunted that I didn’t know.

1.) The man named Tom Brown – Director William Friedkin had met a man named Tom Brown who was a professional tracker. The man had learned skills from a Native American as a boy in New Jersey and he grew up and trained special forces units in evasion, tracking, and killing techniques. When Friedkin had met him he was a bit disillusioned with his line of work. Brown had never killed anyone in his life but he had been teaching skills to people who were killing folks for years.

2.) The Script – The writers (Art Monterastelli, Peter Griffiths, David Griffiths) had written a spec script that pretty well followed the character of Tom Brown without ever having met him. Friedkin brought in more connection to Brown and then brought the real life Tom Brown in to work with Tommy Lee and Benicio on knife fighting.

3.) The Feds – The two hunters that Benicio kills are left very vague as to whether or not they’re just hunters or two sweepers sent to take him out. Tommy Lee seems to think they’re sweepers.

4.) Biblical – Friedkin added the story of Abraham and Isaac because he felt he didn’t want the film to be one long tracking scene. It felt like it fit with the concept of the two main characters. The government was essentially God in this context, and it was telling Abraham (Tommy Lee Jones) to sacrifice his son (or his best student).

5.) The Opening – The film opens with a narration from music legend Johnny Cash. It was a lyric from a Bob Dylan song about Abraham and his talking to God. They had to get permission to use the song from Dylan and then to get his permission for Johnny Cash to say the lines. It was never planned for the film but Friedkin believes you have to let the film evolve as you go.

6.) Performances – Friedkin found Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio del Toro to be very different actors to work with. Benicio used research and absorption in the the life of the character to drive his performance while Tommy just went with his instincts. Tommy would try to take out lines of dialogue in which he felt he could do with a look or a gesture.

7.) Setting – Friedkin chose Portland because he couldn’t remember it ever being a set piece for a movie. It also had the feeling of a small town while still being a large city full of things to film with. It was also close to some of the parks and natural features they needed in the film. .

8.) Pig Stickers – Those knives that were made at the end of the film were real. Tom Brown brought up to William Friedkin about the way they would make knives and then he went out and spent an hour making one out of a rock. The knife that Benicio del Toro used was based on a Tom Brown design that took him years to create.

9.) Experts – Tom Kier and Filipino Rafael Kayanan staged all of the knife fights in the film. The site of the final knife fight was chosen based on the final Sherlock Holmes fight where he was killed at a waterfall.

10.) Be Careful – The final knife fight along the river could’ve been very dangerous but they rubberized everything the actors would be standing on for safety. They didn’t have to worry about slipping into the water from some wet rocks and it was much softer for their falls.