The Hunting Party | | Cast : | Oliver Reed, Gene Hackman, Candice Bergen | | Director : | Don Medford | | Studio : | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | , 1971 | | DVD Released Date : | May 17, 2005 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | June 08, 2005 | | Summary | A hunting party | Content
 | i saw this movie about 34 years ago in a very smokey car at a drive-in. the movie
always stuck out in my mind, so it was great to see it available on dvd. it was even better than i remember..... . still a great western, candice bergen much hotter than murphy brown. gene hackman is meaner than in THE UNFORGIVEN. i am planning a hunting party with some of my old pals that appreciate the ultra violent westerns of the 1970s. now can anybody tell me where i can get an ULZANA'S RAID dvd that does'nt cost no stinkin 70 dollars? |
| Rating | | | Date | May 29, 2005 | | Summary | Solid But Darkly Violent Western | Content
| The Hunting Party is definitely a western for the Wild Bunch-loving, blood in buckets kind of crowd. It's not a badly made film at all, but it is one that requires a strong stomach.
Gene Hackman, in a tour-de force villainous role, is a sadistic wealthy townowner who treats his young wife, played by Candace Bergen, like any other possession. Our first scene of them shows his violently sadistic side toward women, and as we find out later, he doesn't treat men any better.
Oliver Reed plays a notorious outlaw who kidnaps Bergen from a schoolhouse so she can teach him to reach. Hackman gets word of this while on a hunting retreat with fellow wealthy friends, and enlists their aid in retrieving his wife and taking revenge on the outlaw, Hackman and his group are armed with the newest kind of rifle, long range with telescopic sights. Much mayhem and bloodshed ensues.
Everyone acts superbly in this film. Hackman plays one of the nastiest villains ever to grace motion pictures. Bergen, while a tough cookie, has to endure lost of attacks, and Reed loses his English accent and plays effectively the part of a tough but sympathetic outlaw. This is one of the classic, cynical last sixties, early seventies (1971) westerns that has a lost more sad and melancholy scenes than happy ones. But it is an darkly entertaining film. |
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