The Hunter

Cars Culture

As you may have gathered we’re McQueen geeks. We like to regularly share a dose of cultural artefacts that feature the great man – and by now we’ve worked lots of angles on the king of cool.

But for some reason we had forgotten ever to mention his last ever movie.

The Hunter was the 1980 swansong for the profoundly petrol-headed actor. Though it certainly was neither a classic, nor a truly fitting way to end a majestic movie career, it had many plus points.

Our Steve plays a bounty hunter travelling around the states trying to track down bail jumpers – a typically anti-heroic role that he played with that trademark mix of straightforward cool and bloke-ish humour. It’s well-shot and there are a number of funny, characterful support performances.

There is something of the Smokey & The Bandit about it – but that’s not at all a bad thing.

For us of course the main reason to track down this film is to check out the way Steve wears the MA1 flight jacket and jean combo with complete aplomb.

And of course, the way that Steve’s rented Trans Am gets wrecked.

Now that’s what we call a crop circle.

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2 Responses to “The Hunter”

  1. vipertruck99

    cheers for the remind…found 7 dvds on amazon uk….well theres 6 left now.mcqueen makes trans am cool by association.love smokey and the bandit but something cheesy about a black t/a with the full decals.pity cos they are gorgeous,have lovely details and can be coaxed to be quick with not many pennies

  2. Tinindian

    myself and my friends always quote this film. the way steves character struggles with the manual gearbox always made me laugh. both hands to shift the rockcrusher four speed then the car pulls away with no hands on the wheel. i will be hated for saying this but i like “The Hunter” more than “Bullet” but that becuase i’m a GM man through and through and its just another childhood film that made me go out and by a trans-am when i was 19 (insured by adrian flux as recommended by a young drivers with yanks article in street machine magazine)
    18 years later i still own the same trans-am and it will again be insured with Adrian Flux 🙂

    thanks guys and girls 🙂

    Stuart Amphlett