Bounty Hunters: Captured on Film

What does it take to be a bounty hunter? And how far is the reel world from the real world when it portrays this dangerous and exciting profession?

(See also our Bounty Hunter career and profession profile.)

The answer to the first question is complicated. To know what it takes to be a bounty hunter, it's vital to understand what a bounty hunter does. It goes down like this: When a defendant in a crime is released on bail but fails to return for a scheduled court appointment or trial, he (or she) is considered to be a fugitive from justice. Since the bail bond agency that posted bail is responsible for paying the full amount of the bail to the court if the defendant disappears, the bail bondsman has a financial interest in finding, capturing and returning the fugitive to justice. To accomplish this they will typically hire a bounty hunter to locate, arrest and return the fugitive. They then pay that bounty hunter a percentage of the defendant-turned-fugitive's original bail. According to some professional organizations, bounty hunters apprehend an estimated 30,000 bail jumpers per year.

So what does it take to become a bounty hunter? Since there are few training courses for this job, much of a bounty hunter's knowledge comes from on-the-job training, from experience, and from working with an experienced mentor. Bounty hunters are held to varying standards of training, licensing and legal restrictions on a state-by-state basis. Most states don't require any formal training or licensing, but some have strict regulations, such as a prohibition against carrying firearms.

What about Hollywood's portrayals of this profession? Are they anywhere near the reality, or is accuracy sacrificed for action? The answer is...well, both. A few examples:

Midnight Run (1988) - Robert De Niro is a tough bounty hunter tasked with transporting a Mafia accountant (Charles Grodin)-turned-embezzler-turned-bail jumper cross country. Problem is, everyone wants a piece of the action (and of the accountant), including the mob, the FBI, and a rival bounty hunter who'll stop at nothing to get the payoff. The result is one of the best, funniest and most overlooked action comedies of all time. But is it accurate? It is to a degree, although character and plot trump accuracy.

Domino (2005) - This recent action flick is based on the story of Domino Harvey (Keira Knightley), a child of privilege (and daughter of actor Laurence Harvey), who tires of her shallow Beverly Hills life and teams up with veteran bounty hunter Ed Mosley (Mickey Rourke), to learn this tough trade. Things get complicated very quickly when they find themselves involved in an armored car heist. But is this accurate? Let's just say that even though it's based on a true story, it's a triumph of style over substance. Not many bounty hunters will experience events this extreme.

Wanted Dead or Alive (1986) - In this straightforward action flick, Rutger Hauer plays an ex-CIA agent-turned-bounty hunter hot on the tail of a terrorist (Gene Simmons of Kiss), who had previously murdered the agent's best friend and girlfriend. This time it's personal! As far as accuracy goes, this is about as far from real world bounty hunting as James Bond is from real world spying.

The Hunter (1980) - Steve McQueen is an aging, old school bounty hunter forced to go up against a modern breed of criminal more vicious than any he's had to face before. When he's not chasing the villains (a running gag about what a bad driver he is), he's soul-searching about whether or not he's wasting his life by risking his life. Is it accurate? Since the story is based on the career of professional bounty hunter Ralph "Papa" Thorson, there is actually a high degree of correctness...for a quarter of a century ago.

Bounty Hunters (1997) - Jersey Bellini (Michael Dudikoff) relentlessly tracks a fugitive who is also being hunted by the Mob (shades of Midnight Run!). To outrun and outwit the criminals, he forms a reluctant alliance with a rival hunter (Lisa Howard). The movie is action-packed, fast-paced and gritty, but not exactly accurate. These bounty hunters would have been arrested in several states for their over-the-top antics.

The Rundown (2003) - Pro wrestler The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) is a bounty hunter with a difference—he wants nothing more than to retire from the business and open a restaurant. In order to make one last score to finance his plan, he reluctantly agrees to track down his financier's runaway son (Seann William Scott). Deep in the heart of the Amazon, he discovers that his target is on the trail of a secret treasure, and determines to get a piece of that action for himself. A fast-paced thrill ride that is also enormously amusing—but a far cry from reality.

Dog the Bounty Hunter - Best of Seasons 1-3 (2004) - What is it about guys named Dwayne becoming bounty hunters and having goofy nicknames? First, we had Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a. "The Rock," and now there's Duane Chapman, a.k.a. "Dog."

These episodes of the enormously popular A&E channel reality series about a real life bounty hunter, his bail bondsman wife, Beth, and their "posse" chasing bail jumpers around Hawaii has everything an aspiring bounty hunter would look for: action, drama, and suspense. Not to mention legal technicalities, professional tricks and techniques, and the occasional injection of humor. Dog treats his peeps with respect but always gets his man (or woman)—in fact, having captured more than 6,000 offenders over three decades, he's billed as the world's most successful bounty hunter. But is the series accurate? They don't call it a "reality" show for nothing!