About halfway through "The Hunted," it hit me. This is "Star Wars," albeit with a modern-day, earthbound setting in Japan. Far-fetched? Well, let's see.

Christopher Lambert stars — although he often seems superfluous to the goings-on — as American businessman Paul Racine, who has just concluded a big computer-chip deal in Japan.

On his last night in Nagoya, Racine picks up a woman named Kirina (Joan Chen), and after a night on the town, they go back to her place. Racine falls in love, but Kirina tells him they can't be together. He leaves, but returns just in time to see Kinjo (John Lone), the leader of a secret ninja cult, decapitate Kirina. One of Kinjo's lieutenants cuts down Racine, who later recovers in the hospital.

Since he is the only person ever to have seen Kinjo's face, Racine naturally becomes a target. So, Takeda (Yoshio Harada), a local samurai expert, helps Racine escape by getting him aboard a bullet train. But they are followed, and as they search for Racine, Kinjo's men (led by a woman) begin killing every passenger on the train, car by car. After five train cars are full of dead bodies, Takeda finally stops the killers.

Takeda then spirits Racine away to a remote island, where he can recover before they have their climactic showdown against Kinjo.

The problems here are many, with sluggish pacing and plenty of battles that have nothing new to offer. There's no cleverness or humor, no stunts that get the adrenalin pumping . . . you've seen it all before.

The performances aren't bad, if often indifferent — although Japanese star Harada does seem to be walking around with his head down, looking miserable, as if he's wondering how he got talked into doing this picture in the first place.

OK, back to the "Star Wars" connection. Racine is the obvious Luke Skywalker character, taken under the wing of Takeda, this film's version of old master Obi-Wan. And Takeda's servant, Oshima, steps in for Yoda, patiently working with Racine, training him to be a Jedi knight . . . er, samurai warrior.

Then, when Kinjo (Darth Vader) finally shows up, it's up to Takeda to be sacrificed, so Racine can step in for the final showdown.

If you want to stretch it a bit, you could even use the slaughter aboard the bullet train to represent the planet that is destroyed in "Star Wars," with thousands of voices crying out in the universe.

Ironically, George Lucas credits early Japanese samurai movies (specifically a couple by Akira Kurosawa) as his inspiration for the "Star Wars" trilogy.

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It's also worth noting that two of the chief Japanese characters here are played by Chinese actors — Lone and Chen. Of course, Lambert is French, and he's playing a New Yorker!

Late in the film, Kinjo tells Takeda that he doesn't fight for honor — he fights to win.

Too bad the filmmakers didn't go for honor. They certainly aren't going to win anything.

"The Hunted" is rated R for considerable violence and gore, and some sex and nudity.

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