Essential
Summary
We all know The Fugitive is a classic by now with Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones at their absolute finest; this new restoration is the best the film has ever looked and the special features are genuinely fascinating making this a must buy.
Plot: Wrongfully accused of murdering his wife, Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford) escapes from the law in an attempt to find her killer and clear his name. Pursuing him is a team of U.S. marshals led by Deputy Samuel Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones), a determined detective who will not rest until Richard is captured. As Richard leads the team through a series of intricate chases, he discovers the secrets behind his wife’s death and struggles to expose the killer before it is too late.
Review: I can’t believe I’ve never reviewed this movie before as The Fugitive is a bit of a classic and remains one of Harrison Ford’s best roles.
In The Fugitive Ford plays Dr. Richard Kimble, a man wrongfully accused of murdering his wife; after a spectacular train crash Kimble escapes and goes on the run to try and prove his innocence.
We’ve all seen the movie before many times by now, but I hadn’t watched it for a few years until I bought the new 30th Anniversary 4K a few weeks ago.
As the audience we all know Kimble is innocent and that he truly adores his wife, so we are immediately on his side. There is that slight air of superiority to Kimble at first which was deliberate as he was based on real surgeons which I only discovered after watching the many special features on the 4K. Ford still brings vulnerability to Kimble and displays so many emotions with just his face.
Kimble’s grief coming out during his interrogation may be Ford’s best piece of acting and every scene he has with Tommy Lee Jones is electric. Jones is so perfectly cast as US Marshall Sam Gerard who always gets his man; he is totally believable in the role and it’s understandable why he got an Oscar for it. Gerard isn’t an especially appealing character mostly coming off as tough as nails and the scene where he is talking to one of his “kids” and says “I never bargain” shows that this is a man who generally lacks empathy, but he slowly develops it towards Kimble as he suspects he may be innocent.
The Fugitive is just over 2 hours long and despite there not being a ton of action it’s still tense and exciting. The train crash still looks amazing, and we still get a few fight scenes and chases to keep things interesting. This is a film about human characters and an engaging story rather than empty spectacle, keeping things grounded and generally believable.
The 4K looks amazing and is one of the best I’ve seen this year where the film looks like it came out last week rather than 30 years ago. The special features are fascinating giving real insight into the making of the film and I really enjoyed hearing Ford talking about his process.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- NEW 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM
- HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
- DOLBY ATMOS AUDIO TRACK, plus original 5.1 track
- Introduction by Director Andrew Davis and Harrison Ford
- Audio Commentary by Andrew Davis and Tommy Lee Jones
- Derailed: Anatomy of a Train Wreck and On the Run with The Fugitive
- Theatrical Trailer
- Optional English SDH, Spanish, and French subtitles for the main feature
It may not look like there are a lot of features, but they are lengthy and detailed and I learned a lot about the film which I never knew before. The 4K upgrade is superb with no noticeable DNR and there were a lot of lines of dialogue that I hadn’t heard previously which I picked up making this a richer experience and my favourite ever viewing of The Fugitive.
Overall, The Fugitive is a classic with Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones at the top of their respective games; it looks and sounds incredible on 4K making this a must-have for physical media collectors.
