The Hunting Party

Set to watch coz of terrence howard.

source: The Hunting Party

Am ı being so sensitive in my comments about films which have Islamic issues. İf so, it only means the producers has hit the target, because there is no way they forget the Muslim's feelings for their films. They sure must making some searching and speaking for the people like me we are surprised and impressed. So there are people still cares for the world, for meaningless wars, there are people on this planet hoping the sorrows will end. The film is about three journalists seeking a war criminal who has slaughtered Muslim's in Bosnia. Richard Gere is always Richard Gere calm acting for most times, no overacting, pure acting. Hollywood's rising star Terrence Howard does a good job, a supporting team mate, giving the film all he got (as he did in "The Brave One") The story is not boring. But i warn you the scenes after slaughter have been given so dramatic that you may not dare to watch it tears a Muslim's heart apart. Except those scenes you will sure enjoy it. And you will pause the DVD in the messages in the ending part. Films mostly are not just for entertaining now. They are communication gadgets. And they are making nations come closer, share each other's senses, try to understand. There is unfortunately some mistakes in Islamic way of living. Why do producers keep on doing mistakes at this point although they have good intentions. One of three of the world is Muslim we all watch your films as we feel close to them. İt is hard to understand. İt is a fine film from a brilliant director.

Making successful movies on civil wars is always a difficult task demanding dedication to the idea of objectiveness and complexity needed for artistic perception of madness that surrounds the tragedy of such conflict. This movie fails on so much levels that it can hardly be enumerated. Firstly, the script is so simplified and shows deeply misunderstanding of not only Bosnian, but probably any civil war conflict at all. In order to make a distinctive movie you must firstly avoid stereotype on solely bad and good guys, because that this is not a comic book, but real life in all of its cruelty and sorrow.The peoples of Bosnia have been living for centuries together and have the same genetic origin. This is important to say, because this movie shows one people as ugly bunch of cavemen including even children. There are words in the script that the main characters must be careful when they leave Bosnian capital Sarajevo because they enter into the land of raping and murdering. Thus we have a superhero dressed as a reporter who faces with the biggest horrors in the Earth in his efforts to find and capture the villain and the movie clearly suggests us that all of this people are villains and that there is no difference between them at all. With such a bad script acting stays irrelevant. The acting is in the service of propaganda unworthy of beautiful art of film making.

First of all, I am a Bosnian Serb. And it is very sad and frustrating to see that films such as this one (and Behind enemy lines with Owen Wilson) even exists (and yet what is worse, both films has a good rating). I know that this isn't a place for political discussions but this must be said because this is what the film is about. Radovan Karadzic was responsible for many lives that was lost in the war that struck this lands, I am not defending him, but I AM trying to defend Serbian people, because they are continuously being shown in the media as terrorists (again a sadly funny thing, a movie Peacemaker (is ranked 5.8 which is lower than this 2 films) with George Clooney, the main villain is represented, I quote: "I am a Serb, a Muslim and a Croat.", and that is what it should be, because Serbs alone are not responsible for the war, for the lives lost). This films are made without any consultation with the Serbian side, movie industry doesn't care about History accuracy, it only cares about the money made from the films. I mean this is so immoral, this whole campaign against one nation. This films only creates prejudice about Serbian people. But no one talks about the other side of the coin. About the number of Serbian generals and soldiers in Hague court, and the number of Bosnian and Croat Generals in Hague. Bosnian and Croat together are not equal half of the number of Serbian generals. Why? You think it is because the Serbs were aggressors?? No, it is because there is a huge political and media war against Serbian people. Western countries are tarring apart former Yugoslavia, you all heard about Kosovo. Yet another example of media manipulation. Serbs are shown as aggressors who killed Albanians and yet there are videos of Albanians burning and destroying Serbian made orthodox churches. Albanians weren't majority in Kosovo until maybe 50 years ago. Kosovo is the cradle of Serbian culture. First Serbian state was founded in Kosovo centuries ago. And yet the whole world, in front with the USA took Kosovo from Serbia illegally and gave it to Albanians. American film industry should be ashamed for making films such as this because they are mocking and detracting a nation that is centuries older than American nation.

This film belongs as much, if not more, to Terrence Howard, than Mr. Gere. It also belongs to the writer/director,Richard Shepard, who brings a unity of creativity to the project. It is a pleasure to see Mr. Howard play against (stereo)type. Unusual for an American film, "The Hunting Party" does not use as a character device the (non)issue of Mr. Howard's "race". The only references to ethnicity are the quite appropriate expositions of the Muslim/Christian dichotomy that culminated in the "ethnic cleansing"(read genocide) during the war. It is also refreshing to see an American film that portrays Muslims as something other than terrorists. Mr. Howard is the central character in the film, not Gere. The film is told from Howard's point of view, though Gere remains the conscience of the piece. Both play media types in one of the most (over)used film devices: the Western reporter whom the intended audience is supposed to empathise with, and therefore, vicariously, with the moral stance of the film. Minor quibble; I'm sure we'll see it again. Similar in tone to "The Lord of War", this film seeks to remind viewers of some recent history: the war in the former Yugoslavia and the on-going involvement of the international community. Using satire to soften the didactics of the script, the film never shies away from the horrors of, and the fog, of war. Adding authenticity to the film are the location shoots in Boznia and Croatia. The film also draws upon Michael Winterbottom's 1997 film "Welcome to Sarajevo", which is a little more hard-hitting, but looks at a somewhat different aspect of the war. Those of you who feel that this film has a "liberal" bias should rethink this perspective. This film casts a cynical eye towards all ideologies, except those of simple people who just want to raise their families in peace, and people who understand the difference between right and wrong, rather than relativistic shades of grey.

Opening with the cheeky warning "Only the most ridiculous parts of this story are true," "The Hunting Party" struggles mightily to juggle dark comedy, action and geopolitics. Although the film initially plays like breezy fun, it begins to crumble under the weight of lofty ambitions and a scatter shot tone. Writer/director Richard Shepard ("The Matador") obviously has something to say, but only the closing credit title cards come close to communicating a message. "The Hunting Party" is one of those annual releases that bridge the gap between the box office heavyweights of summer and the more serious award-contenders of fall. But once audiences have a look at what's to come, they'll forget this modest "Party" ever happened. Waste of time.

In the beginning I liked the movie... wouldn't say loved but the flow was building. My better half was already at the point of shutting it off and moving on to our next rental of the evening... I held out and by did I ever pay for it. For me this movie didn't know what it wanted to be... important social message? black comedy? drama? There were too many comedic parts OR even worse they weren't meant to be and they ended up coming off that way - in a movie that was about the horrors of war and getting involved in them personally and having to report on them or coming close to the roots of the issues and not being able to make a difference. It was just plain awful...

This film is about a disgraced journalist trying to hunt down the most wanted war criminal in Bosnia. I understand that a topic like this would attract rather polarised opinion. Putting aside the historical facts or political opinion, I think this film is well made and acted. It has thrilling and comedic elements. Just as things start to get slow, there are gunshots, car chases and road blocks to pump up the action. And just when the thrill gets too much, there are fun and relaxing scenes. The ending is strong and affecting, and it sends out a strong political message (or protest) about how the West is not doing their job. Jesse Eisenberg's role as Benjamin is a little redundant, but still I thought "The Hunting Party" was a good film.

This film was schizophrenic. It was trying to be a cliché sidekick action flick and make a serious political statement at the same time. It failed at both. First of all, you would never believe the two of these people (Gere and Howard) would ever be friends. Howard, who is a witness to Gere's pregnant girlfriend's brutal murder, doesn't act like this matters until half way through the movie. Then, it hits him. The acting and dialog is hideously weak by all parties. The fact that these three people overtly roam around a dangerous country, unarmed, haphazardly, is just beyond believability. Secondly, there is nothing in this film that truly educates the viewer about the horrors of what happened there. That being said, it is just this side of watchable on a Sunday night with no better choices.