MovieChat Forums > The Hunter (2011) Discussion > Ok film but makes no sense

Ok film but makes no sense


SPOILERS

Who shot the dad in the head? - clearly we are shown a skull with a bullet hole and Dafoe asks repeatedly about anyone trying to kill him and we are told he was being followed or something.

Why didn't dafoe tell anyone about the body? - surely if he liked the woman he would tell her or tell the authorities if it was murder or maybe confront sam neil or something.

Why would they insist on sending another hunter? - ok this makes a little sense but surely they would have insisted in the first place...i mean made it contract and if they had a better guy why the hell send an independent like dafoe who they could not control???

Why would the 2nd hunter try to kill the first lol??? - I get that he might come and do the job but he clearly was going to kill dafoe.

Why would the 2nd hunter burn a house down and kill 2/3 people (and go for a forth) when the Red Leaf explicitly said that dafoe was attracting too much attention and needed to stop...so a fire and a four body murder spree is being discreet WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why did Dafoe drag his heals so much and keep returning home after stating he'd be gone for days???

Why was a super hunter like Dafoe shown to be upset about cold baths and no creature comforts and why was he an elitist snob with classical music and loads of tech. if he was this hard core hunter, killer?

Why would dafoe not research his alias if he was going to lie to everyone lol???

Why did he stay anywhere??? he could have just gone straight in and stayed for a month easy.

Why the hell did they have to kill the 2 only decent character and save the mute, freak child who was clearly brain damaged and not worth saving as he was ugly. Was he even mute wtf???

WTF was sam neils character doing half the time? in the car then sneaking around..was he the guy who killed the dad??

Why did no one give the 2nd hunter agro.? and if his cover story was better that he could sit in a bar unmolested then why didn't dafoe use it lol???

Why did sma neil have anyones number? who was he meant to be?

Why didn't dafoe wake the mum after like 3 days???

Why did dafoe give a small, bizarre child his life and death location instead of the mum or sam neil lol???

Why didn't dafoe tell the world about the tiger and save it or sell its parts to another so he'd have cash for the kid etc. or anything but slaughter it which made zero sense...all that they will never stop coming rubbish...well everyone was dead and the place is literally being torn down so who cares lol

Why were the forest workers so hostile to a scientist investigating natural creatures ???

Where did all the hippy friends go?

Where was the local law enforcement?

Why did dafoe scare off sam neil when he intended to leave in a week or so?

Was there even a customs to check for all these huge guns and traps coming on the plane lol???

Who set up all the other high tech gear in the forest?(the hippys said they were intending to do it, not they already had)

Also speakers in a tree would last 5 minutes in that climate....

Seriously who shot the dad?

No girl of that age just jumps in the bath with a stranger and if the mum was so drugged up then who arranged to have dafoe stay? and why was there not boarding in town or elsewhere etc.?

Why was an environmentalist working for a biocorp? and did they kill him? and if so why not catch the tiger why the killer hunter was there? and why not bury the body or anything better than leaving it with a friken mirror glinting in the sun for all to see lol wtf

The list goes on and if you answer them I will not return as though the film was a bit of light fun it was dum dum dum....though quite pretty.
“What we have here is a failure to communicate”, Captain

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1) Who shot the dad in the head?
- Someone from the drug comapny Redleaf as he was interfering with their plans to get their dirty paws on the tiger.

2) Why didn't dafoe tell anyone about the body?
- He's a good guy but he has a job to do. The last thing he wants is a police investigation where he is trying to hunt especially when it involves his employer.

3) Why would they insist on sending another hunter?
- The old fart Sam Neil gets in touch and tells the bad guys that there 'scientist' is upsetting the locals - he's jealous and wants Dafoe to leave.

4) Why would the 2nd hunter try to kill the first lol???
- His bosses told him to do it. Dafoe has become a liability.

5) Why would the 2nd hunter burn a house down...?
- He's a dick.

6) Why did Dafoe drag his heals so much...?
- He was away for 12 day intervals, which is quite some time. Also he had to remain in contact with his employers.

I thought the film was pretty good myself, just sayin

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[deleted]

There is a lot of hostility on the internet.

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Gerrywos, that's an absolutely horrible thing to say to anyone, even a stranger. Here's hoping nothing like that ever happens to you or someone you love. That's exactly why (even random) cyber bullying is becoming quite a punishable offense.

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Why would the 2nd hunter burn a house down and kill 2/3 people (and go for a forth) when the Red Leaf explicitly said that dafoe was attracting too much attention and needed to stop...so a fire and a four body murder spree is being discreet


No, the second hunter did not burn the house. The fire was accidental. The second hunter broke into the house leaving the door wide open and a storm was brewing outside with strong winds, the candles in the house were likely blown over by the wind and started the fire.

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SPOILERS

1) Who shot the dad in the head?
I am not sure about this. It was possibly some locals. It was more likely a RL mercenary hired by the Middleman who we see with the second hunter at the beginning when Martin gets the job. It is unclear as far as I recall. Only that he didn’t die naturally.

2) Why didn't Dafoe tell anyone about the body?
Martin is conflicted and isn’t sure what to do. He has a job to do, and was okay with shooting the “presumed extinct” animal for money. But at the same time, there is a part of him which feels drawn to the family. We can’t really know, other than he didn’t know what to do with the information. Telling her that her husband was shot in cold blood might be a good thing, or it might not.

3) Why would they insist on sending another hunter?
The Middleman said it was an important job. He sent the 2nd hunter to replace Martin. He wanted to send a second, and Martin insisted on working alone. The Middleman probably hoped that Jack would tag along, but Martin sent him home too.

Presumably Jack (who was probably very poor, as it appears that the entire area was suffering economically) would get money for helping locate the TT. So for him, it was important that Martin do his job as planned. Once they thought they’d lost control of him, and he became a liability, the middleman sent in another hunter.

4) Why would the 2nd hunter try to kill the first lol???
The Middleman, who makes his living connecting skilled mercenaries with companies like RL, assumes that Martin has stopped working for him or serving his best interests. If he left Martin alive, he could talk. Tell the world how horrible Red Leaf was for killing the TT. The second hunter seemed to be even more unscrupulous than Martin and might not want to split the money, if that was the plan the Middleman laid out.

5) Why would the 2nd hunter burn a house down and kill 2/3 people (and go for a forth) when the Red Leaf explicitly said that Dafoe was attracting too much attention and needed to stop...so a fire and a four body murder spree is being discreet.
It is unclear if the 2nd hunter did start the fire, and at any rate it “looked” like an accident. Martin going missing while wandering around in a dangerous wilderness alone is also a very convenient cover for murder. Not only will the body probably not be found (JA’s body was only found by Martin, not the search parties), being an outsider who pissed off a lot of locals, they might not be able to point the finger at anyone, certainly not RL or the 2nd hunter.

5) Why did Dafoe drag his heals so much and keep returning home after stating he'd be gone for days???
First, time in a movie is subjective, a single sequence of scenes could represent 12 days, or 2. It’s not done in real time. Clearly.

I believe it was because he was growing attached to the family. I think this is evident in the many scenes where he is interacting with them. What that means for him is unclear, but allows for numerous complex assumptions which we can make about his life, his solitary existence, etc…

6) Why was a super hunter like Dafoe shown to be upset about cold baths and no creature comforts and why was he an elitist snob with classical music and loads of tech. if he was this hard core hunter, killer?
The body gasps when it is exposed to very cold water. Regardless of conditioning or preparedness or familiarity, that is a reflex action. Also, when you go out into the wilderness, you DON’T submerge yourself in very cold water often or ever in most cases. Hyperthermia is only a relatively small drop in body temperature and it doesn’t matter how “strong” you are.

Do you really think that stoicism is the only reaction that a “hard core hunter killer” would have? People who spend a lot of time alone rarely bother to hide natural reactions to outside stimulus. He’s not a robot. And just because you can handle something doesn’t mean you don’t react normally to it. Do you think soldiers don’t bitch and moan about all kinds of things – even though they’ve done it hundreds of times and bitching doesn’t change anything?

Do you really think that just because someone can hunt/live in the wilderness – that they don’t enjoy the expected comforts of modern living?

7) Why would Dafoe not research his alias if he was going to lie to everyone lol???
He probably didn’t think he’d spend so much time with locals. The family was an unexpected variable and his growing attachment to them was also completely unforeseen. He probably expected to spend all of this time alone, and to only be dealing with casual questions. Not probing interest from curious children or well-educated adults.

8) Why did he stay anywhere??? He could have just gone straight in and stayed for a month easy.
He needed to stay in touch with his employers. He needed a place to keep his electronic equipment and to have access to a telephone and power. How would he charge his laptop? How would he collated the information he gained and send it to his employer(s)? The pack he was wearing wouldn’t have held more than 20-25 kilos of supplies. He had a vast area of ground to cover. Also the clues which led him to the TT came from the boy.

9) Why the hell did they have to kill the 2 only decent character and save the mute, freak child who was clearly brain damaged and not worth saving as he was ugly. Was he even mute wtf???
You’re an idiot and a troll. Trauma affects people. The kid lost his dad, then his mother and sister.

10) WTF was sam neils character doing half the time? in the car then sneaking around..was he the guy who killed the dad??
Probably not. Maybe. He was clearly working more for the Middleman, than for the family. Does his ambiguity confuse you? Are you so uncomfortable with shades of gray? He clearly had some interest in Martin doing his job.

11) Why did no one give the 2nd hunter agro.? and if his cover story was better that he could sit in a bar unmolested then why didn't Dafoe use it lol???
I have no reason to think the 2nd hunter went to the bar. Perhaps he wasn’t looking for a place to stay. Martin only went looking for new lodging in town once he realized that the power was out at JA’s place.

12) Why did sma neil have anyones number? who was he meant to be?
Unclear, but my guess is that he was told by JA about the TT sightings, and that he was either contacted or sought contact with someone looking for it. The beginning indicates that he’s a wilderness guide of some kind, and seems annoyed and surprised Martin doesn’t want him to come along. Hence his feelings of guilt/shame when JA ends up missing, and why he “helps” the family.

13) Why didn't dafoe wake the mum after like 3 days???
At first, he clearly doesn’t view it as his problem. As the movie progresses, his view of things changes. He changes.

14) Why did dafoe give a small, bizarre child his life and death location instead of the mum or sam neil lol???
Mum was asleep and kids aren’t stupid. She seemed capable and smart. He probably didn’t think it was necessary anyway, because he’s fairly confident. The movie expressly sets up – with clearly spoken dialog – and with supporting scenes of solitude – that he always works alone and is a solitary fellow.

15) Why didn't dafoe tell the world about the tiger and save it or sell its parts to another so he'd have cash for the kid etc. or anything but slaughter it which made zero sense...all that they will never stop coming rubbish...well everyone was dead and the place is literally being torn down so who cares lol
His choices might not be agreeable to everyone. He was clearly conflicted. He wasn’t trying to protect the area. His outrage at Jack’s actions was at the futility of calling in and reporting on him. Clearly Jack had some interest in someone finding the TT. Probably money.

Killing it, put an end to the hunt. It hurt Jack. It hurt the Middleman who sent the 2nd hunter. And it hurt RL, who paid for the whole thing and is ultimately responsible.

If he just left it, they’d eventually get what they wanted. Would you really allow someone who tried to kill you to just get what they wanted? I suppose a different movie would have had him find a way to save the species. Or go on a killing spree and put a hit on Jack, the Middleman, and the executives at RL. Those would both be inferior and unrealistic resolutions, IMHO.

As far as finding another buyer, well, that might be beyond Martin’s skillset. He works for the Middleman, and there is also probably the desire to just end it all.

16) Why were the forest workers so hostile to a scientist investigating natural creatures ???
Did you watch the movie? The workers – loggers who have an antagonistic and suspicious view of foreigners and scientists who are more than likely opposed to the “waste of taxes”, and the opposition to the single evident way to make a living for those loggers. In fact the whole reason the town even exists is said to be because of the logging. Clearly Martin walked into a situation which predates his involvement and this is so clearly illustrated.

17) Where did all the hippy friends go?
Unclear, but probably back to their camps, their houses, maybe other towns. Why does that matter? Where did the loggers go? What about the plane he flew on? Do you really need the movie to tell you where every element and minor character in the movie turns out?

18) Where was the local law enforcement?
Why would they have been involved? Or rather, we can assume they are involved but that their impact is unimportant to the story (they don’t think Martin killed the 2nd hunter, because they assume the 2nd hunter died out in the wild by slipping, etc… ).

19) Why did dafoe scare off sam neil when he intended to leave in a week or so?
What are you talking about? He said he was looking for Devils. He wasn’t. He was looking for Tigers, and not only was he supposed to keep things quiet, he didn’t know Jack was involved, or knew what he was looking for. He didn’t know Jack was working for the Middleman, or had any vested interest in things.

20) Was there even a customs to check for all these huge guns and traps coming on the plane lol???
Could he not have acquired all these items once in-country? Could RL/Middleman have not shipped all these things to him? Do you think guns, traps, knives, are only made in each country for that countries usage? Why do we need a scene of him doing this? To make it clear to idiots who can’t make logical assumptions?

21) Who set up all the other high tech gear in the forest?(the hippys said they were intending to do it, not they already had).
So nobody says anything that isn’t true? Do you think those hippies are the only hippies? Do you think they couldn’t be suspicious of him, and be feeling him out, having already rigged the camera-traps? It is also possible that there already is “competition”.
My assumption is that the hippies, or some “hippies” were trashing his stuff. They suspected him and even confronted him at the gas station obliquely.

22) Also speakers in a tree would last 5 minutes in that climate....
Not sure about that. Maybe. Maybe not.

23) No girl of that age just jumps in the bath with a stranger and if the mum was so drugged up then who arranged to have dafoe stay? and why was there not boarding in town or elsewhere etc.?
a) You’re an idiot if you cannot conceive of a kid making up their own mind about someone and trusting them. It happens all the time. And she was clearly not self-conscious or afraid of Martin. Even the mom didn't seem surprised by this.
b) Jack, most likely set that up through the middleman
c) There was a whole scene where Martin tries to find lodging. Seriously?

24) Why was an environmentalist working for a biocorp? and did they kill him? and if so why not catch the tiger why the killer hunter was there? and why not bury the body or anything better than leaving it with a friken mirror glinting in the sun for all to see lol wtf
a) RL probably hired him under false pretenses. “We want to protect the TT” or something of that nature. Do you think all Biocorps hire are hunters and lab techs?
b) I would assume so, though the movie didn’t make this clear IIRC.
c) Catching the tiger would mean transporting it, alive. That would be far harder to keep hidden from the world – who would generally oppose RL’s position or actions once it was public.
d) Burying the body would require a spade or shovel. Whomever shot him didn’t get up close, or clean up after themselves. I would assume they intended to let the devils eat the remains. We see a scene to demonstrate this idea early on.
e) Not sure about the “reflection”. When he goes to where the body is, there is no shot of what he actually saw reflecting. This is a flaw, but we can assume there was something unintentionally left, like if he was using a compass set out on the log. His body, later torn apart and eaten by scavengers. The compass being undisturbed. Not sure.

The list goes on and if you answer them I will not return as though the film was a bit of light fun it was dum dum dum....though quite pretty.
“What we have here is a failure to communicate”, Captain

I am not answering them for your sake, but on principal. You are an idiot and I feel better that this small stain of idiocy has been scrubbed clean.

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I appreciate your cleaning abstractutility.

- jeffsterz©

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Okey abstractutility, very good of you taking your time and defend this lame movie (not bad but lame with a weak plot and lot of plot holes) with your life as it seems. Anyway...you ask if OP even watched the movie and Im about to ask you the same question cause some of your lame answers that isnt really answers, just some made up guessings from your own wicked mind...

answer on your number 4.
If the company is out to kill Martin so he wont talk after everything, that means we get to see a bunch of follow up movies now cause it didnt matterd if he shot the tiger or not, cause its Martin they are after all along...
OMG is my answer to your idiotic fail answer here. If you were right in this matter, the movie would just never end and Martin could never be safe with the boy ever again but we dont get any indication of anything like this, meaning your made up retarded answer is false.

answer on your number 6.
OPs question is why a seasoned hunter would bother if the water are a little chilly when hes used to be out in the wilderness alot of his time and I agree with OP...here is a hunter who seemed bothered by a run down house with no electricty and some cold water...that is just lame and I dont think you really understood what he was bothered about and no I really dont think real soldiers bitch about some cold water and a run down house if they have been out in a real war...

answer on your number 10.
He was clearly working for the company as their set up guy on spot, to take care of the hunters they send with a place to stay and show em the area and so on and when he find out that DaFoe have an interest in the woman he love, he try to lie to the company about what Martin are doing so they will send the second hunter...dont you watch the movie abstractutility?

answer on your number 11.
Once again...didnt you watch the movie??? The second hunter was at the bar, we got to see it very clearly when he sat down in peace and not bothered by the locals while he was drinking a beer. We get to see this when Martin comes in quick and asks some question to the bartender or lent the phone or something, dont remember it very clearly right now. So the original question is very valid here...how come this stranger get to sit in peace at the bar when Martin never got that chance...lame film making I will say...

answer on your number 17.
Yes it does matter where both the loggers and hippies went, they had a major impact on the plot and did just vanish...so I say yes, this is a really valid question? and just because you dont care about a functional and complete story with alot of holes doesnt mean we others with a brain should not care...

answer on your number 19.
Did you even watch the movie Im asking again?? OP is talking about Martin got an interest in the family and notice that Sam Neil does aswell and that he tries to control the mother with drugs and he tells Sam Neil he doesnt need to come around their house anymore...that is the event that leads Sam Neil to call the company on Martin. OP asks why Martin even felt the need to try and scare off Sam Neil when he only had a week or two left before he was done with the tiger business and I will try and answer this question correctly, because he fell for the woman and the whole family life and I know it sounds lame but this movie is lame most of the time.

answer on your number 20.
This question is valid aswell, I wondered the same thing cause its a big lame plot hole if he could travel freely with big ass rifle in his pack, but to answer OP in this question aswell, he doesnt travel with the rifle, he accuires it in the country but that scene is cut from the movie, retarded to cut this scene out is my thought cause I think this is a valid intelligent question, but abstractutility seem to wanna turn off the little brain he has and doesnt care...but thats how it is if you see the dvd with directors commentaries.

answer on your number 21.
abstractutility if you think the hippies could afford that high tech cameras in the woods, you must be retarded, its more like the missing father who also worked for red leaf had put up some equipment before he went missing to catch the tiger. But the traps getting destroyed could be the work by the hippies.

answer on your number 24.
He wasnt a enviromentalist, that was just a cover, he was a paid to find the Tiger just like Martin, but got killed by a jelous Sam Neil who wanted his wife, if thats not the case and Im wrong then its an even lamer movie, if they really had sent the mercenary after the father, cause then it wouldnt make sense why the killer burned the family the second time he was on the spot, so my guess is that Sam Neil killed the father cause his jelousy and wanted his wife.



~If the realistic details fails, the movie fails~

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Wow the original poster of this thread must have the IQ of a bag of cement.

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Nope, they are all valid questions.

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wow hovee77...you are the one who must have an IQ of a bag of cement...cause all his questions are valid and really good...that is if you have an IQ at all and notice all this flaws in the lame plot.

~If the realistic details fails, the movie fails~

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I agree. Amazing that they would write so much for a film that had such little impact and wasn't deemed to be any good.

ps You have to laugh at someone describing a film as dumb that can't even spell the word!


Small moves Ellie, small moves

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Basically, you are trying wayyyyy too hard to find fault with the movie. --I mean, what difference does his taste in music make to what his character is and does? The guy is obviously an original sort. --Who wants frequent cold baths when the alternative is an occasional hot one?...especially when he knows he'll get his share of of bathless days when he gets back to the field. --The foresters just assumed anyone of an educated upbringing and from a university is naturally going to be of a liberal and ecologically sympathetic mindset. Not that tough to put together. --He didn't like the vibe that Jack Mindy was putting off and felt he was doing a better job with Lucy's household anyhow. Again, not that tough to comprehend. --As far as law enforcement, now I've never been to Tasmania, but I get the notion that it's a little "Wild West-ish." Not every province in the world is under lawful order and if they are, "lawful" is subject to interpretation. ---Honestly, I'm not sure that you understood much of this movie, he gave (or tried) to give his coordinates to Lucy and left them at the house before his ill-fated trip back to the field.

I could go on and on with this....

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I agree, it’s dumb.
Worst for me is the pointless killing of an innocent animal for some stupid human contrivance.

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