Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5400 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-05-13
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
• Dubbed in: French, German, Italian, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 98 minutes

Special Features
English
Region 2

Synopsis
Steve McQueen's last movie is a fitting tribute to his memorable talent. He portrays real-life bounty hunter Ralph "Papa" Thorson, who made a long career out of apprehending more than 5,000 criminals and bail jumpers. Thorson's tough antics (featuring a few memorable car chases) are tempered by his touching relationship with his pregnant wife Dotty (Kathryn Harrold).

Customer Reviews

Limp final offering from the great McQueen
It must have looked like a winner on paper - the foremost action hero of his age - true life story of bounty hunter, car chases, human story, terrific cast with a real chance for acting... It's not a disaster, but it's a limp effort at either a character piece, a bio, or an action movie even though it has elements of all three.
The movie covers a period in the life of the real life bounty hunter (supposedly the last...) of `Papa' Thorsen. His exploits catching various guys on the run, is contrasted with his life at home where he not only has a soft spot for lost causes, but has a beautiful wife pregnant with his child. Some semblance of drama to drive the movie along is given by one of McQueen's ex catches getting out of jail and threatening to kill him (yawn). McQueen tries hard to go against type and add various character touches, so we get a man who drives badly and cant park properly (an in-joke on McQueen's legendary driving skills, but taken way too far), he loves old things - vintage wind up toys, pocket watches - but with no reason other than to provide `character'. He does not like the birth classes his wife goes to - but lo and behold turns out to be a trooper in the end... It does not entirely work - instead, we are left with a recognizable (though clearly aging) McQueen with various layers of mannerisms and affections.
Supporting cast should save the day - Kathryn Harrold as the long suffering girlfriend is one of the best things in the picture. Every now and again there is a grand entrance of a character - Ben Johnson's sheriff for example - but he then 5 minutes later vanishes without fanfare. Only Eli Wallach hovers around for the greater part of the picture, and a youthful Levar Burton, post-Roots, pre-Star Trek The Next Generation has presence, but no reason to be there.
There are a couple of interesting set pieces - the car chase in the multi storey car park, the shootout on the train - but without a plot or story to hang on, they fall flat.
Steve McQueen is almost always worth a watch, but here the vehicle for once just isn't enough for the great man. A shame his last film was so lacklustre.

It is one of his best
How narrow are we to compare this to any old action film, it really has a sense of realism - that it could happen, that it is why it sticks out: more of a Clint action flim really because it makes you believe something, that people do not believe. So what if he is older, this has some very subtle acting, and I hope the dvd can bring it out. Does everything have to be the best, it gives enough: but in it's own way - which is not a bad thing at all.

Farewell to a Movie Legend
Steve McQueen was a true movie star in every sense of the word - a man who lived in the fast lane both on and off the silver screen. He was icon to many with his love of motorbikes & racing - men wanted to be like him & the women wanted him to be their man. He was also such a great actor but notoriously difficult to work with & a perfectionist. Nevertheless McQueen headlined some of the most entertaining movies of the sixties & early 70's - The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Bullitt & The Getaway.

His final movie was The Hunter in 1980 and if doesn't quite match the standard of some of his best movies it's still a very competent thriller that marked the abrupt end of Steve McQueen's career on a high note. Steve is Ralph "Papa" Thorson - a bounty hunter and the last one of his kind who spends his days hunting down bail jumpers and crooks. He attitudes doesn't fit in today's world - he drives an old convertible, collects old toys & in his own words "new things are no good". If life wasn't hard enough he also has a young wife at home to contend with and a baby on the way. Plus there's the small matter of a pyscho on the loose and he's after the man who put him away - guess who??

Steve plays Ralph to perfection and this role is perhaps the closest audiences ever got to seeing the real McQueen on screen. The action scenes are superbly executed with two chase sequences of note. The first involving McQueen in a combine harvester chasing two thieves in a stolen Pontiac Firebird(reminscient of a scene in the Lee Marvin gangster movie Prime Cut). The second involving a long chase which sees McQueen chase a criminal on board a train and then into a multi storey car park. If McQueen was suffering with cancer he certainly doesn't look it and seems almost athletic in many of chase sequences. When watching this movie you can't help but feel sadness and regret that the world was robbed of such a great actor and one wonders the sort of roles Steve would have played in later life but we will never know.

Verdict

An enjoyable chase thriller and worth a look- McQueen signed off to the big castle in the sky on a high note.