The Hunted is a 2003 American action thriller film directed by William Friedkin. It stars Tommy Lee Jones, Benicio Del Toro and Connie Nielsen

It is a suspense thriller about a tracker and retired civilian contractor and SOF Trainer Bonham (Jones), who teams up with FBI agent Abby Durrell (Nielsen) to hunt down a trained assassin and former student Hallam (Del Toro). With precision and skill, the predator remains one step ahead, and escapes into the city where a tense game of cat and mouse unfolds.

There are flashbacks to training in this film, specifically close quarters knife combat and these scenes are simply incredible. The hand-to-hand combat and knife fighting in the film featured Filipino Martial Arts. Thomas Kier and Rafael Kayanan of Sayoc Kali were brought in by Benicio del Toro. They were credited as knife fight choreographers for the film.

The film was partially filmed in and around Portland, Oregon and Silver Falls State Park. Portland scenes were filmed in Oxbow Park, the South Park Blocks, the Columbia Blvd Treatment Plant, and Tom McCall Waterfront Park. The technical adviser for the film was Tom Brown Jr., an American outdoorsman and wilderness survival expert. The story is partially inspired by a real-life incident involving Brown, who was asked to track down a former pupil and Special Forces sergeant who had evaded capture by authorities.

This story is told in Tom’s book, Case Files Of The Tracker. Chapter 2 of this book, “My Frankenstein,” describes Brown’s tracking and fight with a former special operations veteran.

The film was released on March 14, 2003. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $46 million against its $55 million budget.

It’s a solid thriller – 7/10