SoftInloveRox Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

fullbug Actually this movie was released the year just prior to that of First Blood...and it contains all the same elements. An innocent man being hunted down by a large posse for a crime he did not commit, rugged mountainous terrain, and death defying stunts by one man's struggle to survive.The viewers sympathy lies with the main character played by Charles Bronson, (Albert Johnson) a lone trapper living in the wilderness, but it also lies with his main pursuer (Sergeant Edgar Millen of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) played by Lee Marvin. Millen would prefer to simply let Johnson go about his solitary existence, but is forced to try bringing him to justice as a result of his official title as a policeman.This movie not only entertains with all the action and drama of the unfolding chase, but it also gives the viewer a glimpse into the salty existence of the early settlers and rugged mining camps of the north.It is my type of movie and is very well produced. It also contains a great cast that includes the likes of Carl Weathers, Andrew Stevens, Ed Lauter, and Angie Dickenson. Definitely placing it in my Top 30 all time favorites.

LeonLouisRicci Outstanding Latter-Day Film for Both Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson. It Seems Like a Fitting Swan Song of the 1970's with its Macho Tone and Gritty Characters. While the Two Iconic Men's Men Only Share One Scene Together, Both are Forever Present in the Film's Mind.Marvin Plays a Hard Drinking Mountie Cynic that Senses a New Age of Technology and He is Uncomfortable, He Also has had Just About Enough of the Dim Witted Brutes that Surround the Harsh Environment of the Yukon.The Said Yukon is the Setting for this Man Hunt as Marvin is Forced by Suspected Information About a Killing. Charles Bronson is the Alleged Killer (based on a real-life Mad Trapper) that Proves to be Quite an Adversary as He Defends Himself from the Mob Out to Not Bring Him In, but Kill Him in the Process.This is an Overlooked Film in Bronson's Career and Will Prove to be an Excellent Find for Both Charlie and Marvin Fans. Director Peter Hunt Includes All the Ingredients that Make for a Superior Action Film. Good Characters, Supreme Locations, Intelligent Script, and Gritty Violence. A Fine Film Befitting it's Waning Tough Guys and is Quite an Under Seen Treat.

vostf The production team had a very powerful true story to build upon, but they just tacked Bronson and Marvin in a loose adaptation and felt content with it. In the end, the biggest flaw of all is there's hardly a Death Hunt taking place. The whole picture fumbles with geographical continuity so much that suspense is never gaining momentum. Aerial shots of abrupt snowy slopes contrast with the ground shots where actors happen to run on a mostly flat soil, with little snow most of the time.Thus the chase looks more like a veteran's trekking in the mountains. Peter Hunt was supposed to be an innovative editor, but he constantly failed to prove he could edit pictures in his head to achieve remarkable results as a director. All the chase sequences feel disjointed, shot at various locations. Bronson is in sight, then he escapes, and then again he seems cornered by the Mountie posse soon joined by the improvised bounty hunters coming out of the wild, simply catching up with the unrelenting chase (ok Bronson is supposed to zigzag and the plane helps to locate him very closely, but little is done to make this a consistent narrative feature).Eventually it's a poor rendition of a fantastic true story only because the guys involved took the pedestrian path to a Death Hunt in the Arctic wilderness. The R-rated bullet impacts or the wasteful Angie Dickinson cameo are further evidence of a cheap-shots-oriented production.

Paul Andrews Death Hunt is set during 1931 in the isolated desolate Canadian snow covered mountains where trapper Albert Johnson (Charles Bronson) lives on his own except for the white Dog he rescued from a local Dog fighter named Hazel (Ed Lauter). Hazel wasn't happy at the price Johnson paid for the Dog & with a group of his men they have a shoot-out at Johnson's cabin. Defending himself Johnson shoots & kills one man & fights the other's off, annoyed Hazel goes to Royal Canadian Mountie Sergeant Edgar Millen (Lee Marvin) & accuses Johnson of murder. Unable to ignore Hazel's accusations despite his suspicions Millen, his men & a posse from town head out to Johnson's cabin to bring him in but Johnson considers himself innocent & won't go without a fight...Directed by Peter Hunt (is it a coincidence that a film centering around a hunt in the Canadian mountains for a fugitive be directed by someone whose name is Hunt?) this watchable action adventure film was based on the true story of Albert Johnson, also known as The Mad Trapper of Rat River who was the focus of a huge manhunt in Nothwest Canada which culminated in Johnson being shot nine times & killed after eluding Mounties for over a 150 mile foot chase. The script by Michael Grais & Mark Victor shares a few similarities with the actual documented events such as the plane searching for Johnson by air & the media frenzy his manhunt sparked but overall I think the majority of Death Hunt is fictionalised. For what it is I don't think it's too bad, it passes the time & there's that basic intrigue to see whether Johnson will escape capture or be caught. However there are a few scenes which simply don't work. For start the scene when Johnson's cabin is blown up by dynamite. The main problem with this scene is that Johnson is inside at the time & as the ruins are checked he jumps out totally unharmed without so much as scratch on him! No explanation is given for how he survived the explosion. It's one of those scenes where you have to ignore everything you know, you have to ignore the fact that if you are caught in a huge explosion you will be killed or at the very least seriously injured & if the explosion didn't hurt or injure Johnson surely all the bricks, logs & rubble from the cabin collapsing on top of him would have? Then there's the ending in which Johnson survives, not so much because it's not what really happened but because why did the other trapper Bill Lusk who is mistaken for Johnson start shooting at Edgar at the end? Edgar calls Johnson's name out so why did Lusk react? It's a very awkward scene that doesn't really work, why didn't Lusk simply say he wasn't Johnson & give himself up?There are some decent shoot-outs & one or two good explosions although in reality the plane didn't crash so this part was put in here probably to up the action a bit. The Canadian scenery looks nice enough & it's a fairly handsome film with nice period production design. Animal lovers should beware that there's a Dog fight at the start, although almost certainly staged animal lovers do tend to get very upset at these sorts of scenes. While the action set-piece scenes are alright none are that exciting or spectacular.Filmed in Canada & New Mexico the film looks pretty nice, it's well made with good production values. Charles Bronson & Lee Marvin only share one scene together & never face off against each other, Marvin is pretty good while Bronson barely says anything as he is running on his own for the majority of the film.Death Hunt is an alright action adventure film although anyone looking for a historically accurate account of The Mad Trapper of Rat River are advised to look elsewhere. The family film Challenege to be Free (1975) is also another highly fictionalised portrayal of Johnson.