The Fugitive (1993)

Director:

Andrew Davis

Writers (WGA):

Jeb Stuart (screenplay) and
David Twohy (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

6 August 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

A murdered wife. A one-armed man. An obsessed detective. The chase begins.

Plot:

Dr. Richard Kimble, unjustly accused of killing his wife, must find the real one-armed killer while avoiding Marshal Sam Gerard.

Plot Keywords:

Escape | U.S. Marshal | Surgeon | Murder | On The Run

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 10 wins & 19 nominations

Cast

Harrison Ford	...	Dr. Richard Kimble
Tommy Lee Jones	...	Samuel Gerard
Sela Ward	...	Helen Kimble
Julianne Moore	...	Dr. Anne Eastman
Joe Pantoliano	...	Cosmo Renfro
Andreas Katsulas	...	Sykes
Jeroen Krabbé	...	Dr. Charles Nichols (as Jeroen Krabbe)
Daniel Roebuck	...	Biggs
L. Scott Caldwell	...	Poole
Tom Wood	...	Newman
Ron Dean	...	Detective Kelly
Joseph F. Kosala	...	Detective Rosetti (as Joseph Kosala)
Miguel Nino	...	Chicago Cop #1
John Drummond	...	Newscaster
Tony Fosco	...	Chicago Cop #2

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for a murder and other action sequences in an adventure setting.

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Polish | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (2001) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Netherlands:12 | Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | Brazil:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | UK:12 (original rating) | UK:15 (video rating) (1994) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Ireland:12 | Norway:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG-13 (Certificate #32575) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

203 N. LaSalle Street Building, Downtown, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Richard Jordan, who was originally cast as Dr. Nichols, actually filmed some scenes with Harrison Ford before he became ill and had to drop out of the picture. These scenes had to be re-shot with Jeroen Krabbé. If you look closely at Krabbé's first scene, Ford's beard looks different because he had to regrow it for the re-shoot.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When they are doing the bust in Whiting, you can hear the whistle of a CTA El train in the background. There are no El lines in Whiting.

Quotes:

Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard: That's my man.
Det. Rosetti: Not anymore, he's not. He's going down. You won't help us, you stay the hell out!
Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard: Arrest us.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'Enemy of the State' (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

Tahiti Tahiti

Pure action and Tommy Lee Jones make this an unforgettable masterpiece

Arnold and Sly are great action heroes. Their characters are always larger than life. Rambo and Rocky are household names and The Terminator and films like Commando are great partly because of Arnold's physical presence. But as good as they are, I don't think they can hold a candle to Harrison Ford. Sure he is in great shape, but have you ever seen an actor take average guys and make them so real that you want to know them? Take your pick, Han Solo, Indy and even his character in Six Days and Seven Nights was an adventurer. Add Richard Kimble to that list. As Kimble, Ford is perfect. He is the wronged man that has to avenge his wife's death and clear his name at the same time. He is so great in this film and I'm sure that's why so many people went to see this film at first. But I think what kept them coming back was Tommy Lee Jones. We'll get to him in a minute.

Andrew Davis proved here that he is one of the best action directors in the business today. Along with Under Siege, he showed us that he is an efficient artist that knows how to keep the action flowing. He never seems to let up with his relentless pursuit of the perfect scene. But since the film did so well and everyone pretty much knows what it is about, let's talk about the true strength of the film, and that would be Tommy Lee Jones.

" I don't bargain." " Well that's odd!"

His portrayal of Samuel Girard is an exercise in how to make the audience relate and understand a character. He starts off as a manic perfectionist. He is obsessed with capturing Kimble and that is all that matters. But as the film proceeds, you can sense his unease, his wonder and his ethos. You can tell by a simple expression that he is beginning to solve a crime and not just chase a criminal. And the turning point to me was his simple scene where he says " You know Devlin and McGregor made 4 and one half billion dollars last year? That company's a monster. " It is all in his face. He knows that Ford is innocent but he still has a job to do. It is Jones that makes this film so much fun. And I didn't think that there would be a more worthy recipient of best supporting actor in '93 than Kilmer in Tombstone, but Jones' work here was well deserving of his Oscar.

The Fugitive belongs on every top 100 list and if the AFI wasn't so enthralled with older movies, they would see that films like this are more worthy than some of the mediocrity that graces their findings. This is an incredible film.