The Hunter

The Hunter (1980)

Timing: 1:33 (93 min)

5.9/10
150

6.588/10
677

6.2/10
7700

All about film

Video 1

Photo 5

Actors and characters

Release date

1980-08-01

Country

United States

Production

Paramount, Rastar Productions

Genre

Action, Thriller, Comedy

Budget

$8 000 000

Revenue

$16 274 150

Website

Director

Buzz Kulik

Actors

Steve McQueen, Eli Wallach, Kathryn Harrold, LeVar Burton, Ben Johnson, Richard Venture, Tracey Walter, Thomas Rosales Jr., Teddy Wilson, Bill Hart
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Mort Engelberg

Operator

Fred J. Koenekamp

Composer

Michel Legrand

Artist

Audition

Jennifer Shull

Editing

Robert L. Wolfe
All team (47)

• A month after filming ended, Steve McQueen (who played the protagonist Ralph Torson) was diagnosed with lung cancer. He had felt the first signs of the illness as early as the filming in Chicago in the fall of 1979. Specifically, during the filming of a scene where his character runs down the street and turns a corner, he did not emerge from around the corner after the director yelled "Cut!" He was found right around the corner, leaning against the building wall and trying to catch his breath. McQueen performed nearly all of his stunt scenes without a double. He passed away on November 7, 1980, at the age of 50.
• When Steve McQueen arrived for filming, he was placed in an upscale hotel with all the amenities. However, he soon discovered that the crew members were staying in a cheap motel near the filming location. McQueen immediately checked out of the hotel and moved into the motel with the rest of the production team.
• The idea to portray his character as a poor driver belonged to Steve McQueen himself, whose own driving skills were legendary.
• The real Ralph Thorson, portrayed on screen by Steve McQueen, died in a car bomb explosion in 1991.
• The toy railroad shown in the film is from Steve McQueen's own collection.
• The role of Tommy Price, played in the film by LeVar Burton, was originally written in the script for a dog, but Steve McQueen liked Burton as an actor so much that he asked for the role to be rewritten for a human.
• During the fight in the stilt house, Steve McQueen's character uses a 36mm non-lethal weapon that fires bean bags filled with shot. Such stunners were used to stop a person without causing serious injury. Nowadays, electric shocks are used for this purpose.
• Much of the film is a product of the screenwriters' imagination, but the main events of the protagonist's life are depicted accurately.
• Three 1979 Pontiac Grand Prix cars were used in the filming of the chase scene in the multi-level parking garage. One of them plunged into the river from a height of 17 stories (the car was later recovered from the water). The car's fall was captured by six cameras, one of which was mounted in a helicopter hovering nearby.
• The action scene on the elevated metro train in Chicago was filmed over 10 days in September 1979. The filmmakers were provided with a 7-car train and were limited to a filming window from 9:00 AM to shortly after 3:00 PM. Steve McQueen's character (the actor performed without stunt doubles) was on the roof of the train traveling at speeds over 60 km/h.