The Fugitive (1993)

Dr. Richard Kimble, unjustly accused of murdering his wife, must find the real killer while being the target of a nationwide manhunt.

Director:

Andrew Davis

Writers:

Jeb Stuart (screenplay), David Twohy (screenplay),

Stars:

Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, Sela Ward

Won 1 Oscar. Another 11 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

A well respected Chicago surgeon Dr. Richard Kimble has found out that his wife, Helen, has been murdered ferociously in her own home. The police found Kimble and accused him of the murder. Then, Kimble (without Justifiable Reason) was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. However, on the way to prison, Kimble's transport crashed. Kimble escapes and is now on the run. Deputy Samuel Gerard from Chicago takes charge of the chase of Kimble. Meanwhile, Kimble makes up his own investigation to find who really killed his wife, and to lure Gerard and his team into it as well.

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Plot Keywords:

escape | surgeon | u.s. marshal | manhunt | chase | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Polish Spanish

Release Date:

6 August 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

El fugitivo

Filming Locations:

11219 S St Lawrence Ave, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£8,123,499 (UK) (15 October 1993)

Gross:

£13,883,238 (UK) (10 December 1993)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby (as Dolby Stereo)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The dam used in the exterior shots is Cheoah Dam, Tapoco, Graham County, North Carolina, USA. The dam can be viewed clearly from North Carolina State Highway 129, just north of Tapoco.

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Goofs

When Gerard interviews Nichols in his office, he says that Nichols and Kimble graduated from medical school together, "class of 1973". However, the picture he is looking at on the wall reads "University of Chicago Interns '72-73", which means that Nichols and Kimble would have graduated medical school in 1972.

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Quotes

Marshal Henry: I may be crazy but that train sounds like an el.
Cosmo Renfro: St Louis doesn't have an elevated train.
Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard: How do you know it's an elevated train?
Marshal Stevens: I think he's right, I lived under an el for 20 years.
Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard: Then you can explain the difference in the sound of an elevated train as opposed to a train that's running along the ground. You must have ears like a eagle, play that back, I wanna hear the sound of an elevated train.

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Crazy Credits

Near the end of the end credits, there is a scene showing fireworks going off over the Chicago skyline.

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Connections

Featured in American Masters: You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story (2008)

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Soundtracks

"The Thrill Is Gone"
(1951)
Written by Roy Hawkins and Rick Darnell
Performed by B.B. King and Bobby Bland
Courtesy of MCA Records

User Reviews

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.