Silent Hunter (1995)

6/10

Silent Hunter makes a relatively decent one-time watch.

tarbosh220001 February 2013

Warning: Spoilers

Jim Paradine (O'Keeffe) is a Miami Cop on the Edge who is tired of the justice system continually releasing criminals back into society. He has a loving wife and daughter, and is about to take two weeks vacation. Suddenly a gang of thugs carjack the family, and end up killing Paradine's two beloved family members, and shooting him as well. Though left for dead, he does what would only be natural after an event like that, he moves to a snowy, rural location, grows a beard, and becomes a mountain man. When the same gang of baddies shows up in this cold, remote location and disrupts his life again, Paradine gets revenge one by one, and even Sheriff Mantee (Williamson) can't stop him. Will Paradine use his white coveralls while stalking through the snow to eliminate the criminal scum and become the ultimate SILENT HUNTER? Silent Hunter was directed by Fred, who gave himself a modest supporting role as the Sheriff. He graciously made Miles O'Keeffe the main hero, instead of himself. We're definitely fans of O'Keeffe, having enjoyed his performances in Cartel (1990) and Zero Tolerance (1994) - though not so much in Liberty & Bash (1989), but we'll let that one go because it wasn't his fault that movie sucked. When he grows his beard and long hair, it's surprising how much he looks like Ashton Kutcher. When the movie starts out, he's on the streets of Miami, battling it out with goons with outstanding hair. The next thing you know, we're in the midst of a snowy wilderness slog. The movie should have stayed with what was going on in the first third, where ideally Miles battles a bunch of meatheads until he finally gets revenge on his attackers. That's almost what happens in the wilderness, but it takes a patience-testing 97 minutes to get there. Silent Hunter, while not too bad, should have been shorter and snappier.

While O'Keeffe is good, Fred is good in his limited screen time, and Jason Cavalier, who plays the role of the classic 90's psychotic, cliché-spouting baddie, Dewey, is good, truly the movie is stolen by one Dakota Horvath. Who is Dakota Horvath you ask? Well, he can only be described as a "pint-sized Sinatra" - a young tot who, dressed in a tuxedo, belts out a classic tune like a man four times his age. This occurs at Paradine's daughter Kathy's (Rafuls) birthday party. This is the sort of entertainment normally seen at a 12 year old girl's birthday party, right? Our hats go off to you, Dakota Horvath, wherever you are.

So while the momentum slows during its overlong running time, Silent Hunter isn't without some redeeming qualities. Like the song, "You're A Long Way From Home", by Raymond Fabi and Mark Hillard, and interestingly there is a poster for the movie Scarecrows (1988) on someone's office wall. While it's not a showcase for on screen Fred, Silent Hunter makes a relatively decent one-time watch.

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5/10

Average revenge flick

HaemovoreRex17 September 2006

This was directed by none other than 'The Hammer' himself, Fred Williamson who also happens to appear in this in a small role as the resolute town Sheriff.

The plot is your run of the mill, staple revenge scenario wherein the hero (Miles O'Keefe) seeks violent retribution upon a group of sadistic psychos who previously brutally murdered his wife and child and left him for dead.

Yep, you've seen it all before and this film doesn't strive to break any new ground which is a bit of a shame.

To be fair, Williamson acquits himself fine behind the camera and contrary to many of the reviews on here, the actors do probably as best as could be done given the limited scope of the material and the stereotypical nature of the characters they found themselves lumbered with.

In fact the biggest criticism I would lay against this film is that after all the killing and misery the miscreants wreck upon so many people throughout the movies running time, their final demises are completely unspectacular and unsatisfactory. I had exactly the same problem with Death Wish 2 wherein after all the brutality the bad guys inflicted upon so many innocents, their deaths were ultimately too quick and merciful i.e simply being shot or electrocuted. This disequilibrium leaves a distinctively sour taste in ones mouth. Come on Hollywood, let's see a film where the bad guys really SUFFER!!!

Overall then, whilst the film reviewed here is not an unwatchable affair by any stretch of the imagination, it certainly falls far short of an enthralling watch and is decidedly average at best.

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Whoa, What a movie!

Kastigeer25 December 2001

I just saw this movie on 12-24-01, I saw the video in stores, but never got around to renting it. Boy, did I make a mistake. I thought it was a pretty damn good movie. It's one ultimate revenge movie. It's about a guy and his family at the wrong place at the wrong time. These crooks get away from the cops and take control of this guys vehicle with his family still in it. After they get where they are safe they end up killing his wife and daughter, and they thought they killed him as well. But that was their mistake. Anyway life goes on, and he ends up in the far North, with no one around except his dog, and a handicapped radio man and his GrandDaughter. But for some odd reason these same bad people end up there in the next town over,( maybe it was FATE? )and rob a bank roll,and after the cops disable the getaway chopper, they go down just over the hill from this cabin. They kill the man in the wheel-chair hurt the hero and use the GrandDaughter to lead them out of this rugged area. Now that he remembers that these people are the same ones that killed his family, it Pay-Back time!. With some help from the big Fred Williamson ( also the Director of the movie ) they go after these weirdo's, and will not stop until the last one is toast. The Ending you will LOVE!!!!!!.

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2/10

Kills via incompetence

movieman_kev1 October 2005

The level of acting in the film about an ex-cop in the wilderness who only looks to kill the murderers of his family when the happen to stumble over him is atrocious. The action stunted. And the plot clichéd to no end. Fred Williamson is a cool actor, but as a director he just doesn't cut it.Avoid at all costs, the film is dreadful. This is my second time reviewing this as IMDb deletes stuff willy nilly now.

Eye Candy: Lynneadams has a quick flash, and Annie Dufresne shows that fine Canadian bod of hers

Where i saw it: Starz Mystery

My Grade: D-

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1/10

What......

JCFreak-27 July 1999

I'm sorry but the actors in this movie could have tried a little harder. The plot was... okay; I'll give it that. But, the acting was board stiff. Come on, it sounded like the actors were walk ins reading off of cue cards. The best actors were the banker and Eli, and what do movies like this do to good actors... well they kill them off. To top it off the director or whatever tried to keep the viewers attention with gratuitous and wanton violence. When I rented this movie it actually sounded like an okay action movie. I'm probably just over critical, but as a Christian and a movie goer I advise you to stay away from this ultra-violent joke-of a movie.

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2/10

More Wood in actors than in Forest

Kuratowa4 August 2000

There are few movies in which all actors can be said to be wooden. This is one of them. Even the kids at the birthday party at the beginning seem to be reading of cue cards. Have you ever seen kids look enthusiastic when they really are not? Here is your chance. The only actor who brings any presence to the film is Fred Williamson, veteran actor of blaxploitation classics such as Black Ceaser. He reprises these roles right here, in particular the swinging ladies' man.

The plot basically revolves around an ex-seal and cop nearly gets killed after watching three criminals kill his daughter and wife in Miami. He recovers and moves to be a hermit-like mountain man in some northern state. Until, as in such movies often happens, the criminals come to that VERY SAME town and he gets the chance to extract his revenge.

Despite poor sound, poor action, wooden acting, and implausible set-ups. Here is where this film breaks down. It takes two-thirds of the movie to set up the avenger hunting them down one-by-one. The wrap-up is too fast, he needs Fred to take them down, and it elicits sympathy for the crazed killers in much the same way other thrillers make you care for innocent victims. The only high part is the cheesy 80s power ballad as our hero walks away triumphant, but suddenly alone (what happened to Fred?).

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1/10

The Silent Hunter extracts revenge!

ppith12 July 2004

Wow, I can't believe I flipped to this movie on digital cable. It's hard to believe that this movie was made less than ten years ago. I kept hitting info on my remote control to remind myself. The acting in this movie is probably the worst. Not only were cue cards or teleprompters used, they didn't even know the lines in some cases. I swear some of them could have been made up. The cops in this movie don't take cover: they just shoot and stand in the same place! The redeeming elements are actually the bad lines themselves. I caught myself chuckling a few times during the movie as the actors tried to read their lines with emotion. One other element was that things didn't blow up just because they fell off a cliff. This just seems so cliche of movies these days. It's refreshing to see that it doesn't always happen (even if the person dies anyway). For a revenge B movie, go for the Wraith instead.

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9/10

At 10,000 feet, silence is deadly (silent but deadly?)

ian-crowley15 June 2007

First off, I can understand being disappointed if you (like some previous reviewers) rented this expecting a half-decent, legitimate action movie. If that is the case, however, you obviously either don't rent enough action movies, or you got the rare blank, black-covered version that didn't list the cast and director.

Silent Hunter was no Cartel, but it paid the bills. Highlights included Miles' bullet-proof sternum, which absorbed three bullets from about 10 feet away, his obviously pasted on rustic mountain-man beard, the wheelchair bound veteran, apparently of WWI (at least he called it "the Great War"), the love interest reprising her role from Battlefield Earth, the corner store grenade salesman, and the villain's female henchman who switched between being Debbie Harry and Pat Benetar depending on the situation.

Overall, the movie is more than worth it, and ends on a brilliant note as Miles walks off triumphant as an amazing 80's guitar-rock clone plays. The film was also made much more amazing knowing who was directing. Fred Williamson was like a renaissance master and Silent Hunter is his Mona Lisa. I hear his moustache did the cinematography.

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What a waste of time.....

jbav_9914 July 2004

This movie had to be one of the worst movies I've endured in a long time! I've seen better acting at my son's elementary school Christmas play! If it wasn't for Fred's girlfriend getting out of the bed this movie would have been a total waste of an hour and a half. What are the chances of these two-bit criminals running into one of their previous victim's in a place way up north in a snow covered two horse town? Well whoever wrote the script thought it could happen...I caught it on cable and I am glad that I didn't spend $4.99 on a rental. Oh and the ending, it looked like they just wanted to end it and had some brainstorming meeting and came up with the idea that the last bad guy would actually climb down the rope that the good guy shot around a tree......Whew! Now that was really climactic!!!!! Please if you have any cinematic sense you WILL not sit through this piece of garbage!!!!!

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on the surface

mattb-1218 November 2003

I agree, reading the description it sounded like a decent movie with a very normal plot.

But then it started. Ex-Navy Seal runs into these guys three times before he recognizes them. And really, what are the chances they will show up to do a job in some small town? Ok, I'll overlook that. Everyone else described the acting as wooden. Giving them some decent lines would have helped, but I totally agree with the wooden. Good acting can sometimes overcome poor writing. Unfortunately, it didn't exist. And that last 10 minutes. Come on, couldn't they come up with better ways to kill the bad guys? Wearing white with a brown backpack when he's trying to not be seen? Going back to the rest of the show, nice to know that cops are just cannon fodder and extremely stupid.

Arggh. I'm glad I didn't rent or buy this one. I just get frustrated with movies that seem like they could be so much better, but just fail.

This movie makes Steven Segal movies look good. (ha!)

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