Review of The Hunting Party (2007) by Tony F — 28 Mar 2010

The wealthy and brutal rancher Brandt Ruger (Gene Hackman) keeps his beautiful young wife Melissa (Candice Bergen) like a part of his property, subdued to his will. But one day she is kidnapped by the famous outlaw Frank Calder (Oliver Reed) to teach him reading. Or at least that is what he tells her. Calder does not know or care whos wife she is. He takes care of her while his gang of bandits is on the move, and eventually Melissa falls in love with him. When Ruger finds out that his wife has been kidnapped, he is on a hunting trip with some other wealthy business men. Ruger feels humiliated and demands immediate revenge. Full of hate, he sets out with his friends and high technology hunting rifles to kill Calder and his men..

"The Hunting Party" was seen as an extremely violent movie when it came out in 1971, but its no worse than a classic Sam Peckinpah movie from the same period. And the movie is obviously inspired by Peckinpah and his action sequences. Gene Hackman can really pull off a sadistic character, Oliver Reed had extreme presence and Candice Bergen was stunning back in the days. This is not bad, but it is not done with a 100% perfection either. Still "The Hunting Party" is quite a different western. If you like Peckinpah, this might be up your alley.