31
Metascore
9 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 60Chicago ReaderDave KehrChicago ReaderDave KehrThe picture isn't bad, really—it's just a little too soft and eager to please, like the family films (circus pictures and suchlike) that John Wayne made in the 60s to soften his image.
- 50The Associated PressBob ThomasThe Associated PressBob ThomasBuzz Kulik has directed some slam-bang chases, but their effectiveness is blunted by a script that meanders between the bounty hunter's missions and a boring relationship with his housemate (Kathryn Harrold), who is heavy with child. [12 Aug 1980]
- 38Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertBecause McQueen can be so effective in action pictures, The Hunter is all the more frustrating: Didn't anybody point out that the script was a mess that made no sense? Didn't anybody have the guts to? Maybe they thought superstar McQueen would save the day. Pictures like this could finish him off.
- 38The Globe and Mail (Toronto)The Globe and Mail (Toronto)It's a colorless, poorly paced film in which the most interesting thing is McQueen's half-hearted struggle to create a saleable character. Most of the time, the calculation comes across as lukewarm Clint Eastwood, who is not a model McQueen should ever be reduced to imitating. [4 Aug 1980]
- 30The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyAn exceptionally clumsy, unpleasant action-melodrama. [1 Aug 1980, p.C12]
- 30NewsweekDavid AnsenNewsweekDavid AnsenAll of this may be based on fact, but as presented in the cutesy script by Ted Leighton and Peter Hyams, it has the hollow ring of counterfeit coin and the formulaic symmetry of a made-for-TV movie. [11 Aug 1980, p.69]
- 20TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineTHE HUNTER is more dead than alive. Supposedly based on a real bounty hunter's life, this episodic film never focuses on anything long enough for the audience to care about it, and characters race in and out of the story without introduction or development.
- 20Washington PostTom ShalesWashington PostTom ShalesEven this garbage-can world deserves a better grade of junk. [7 Aug 1980, p.B4]