The Fugitive Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

The Fugitive Blu-ray Movie Review

Still Running

Reviewed by Michael Reuben August 29, 2013

Twenty years after its spectacular train wreck opener first blew audiences out of their seats—with no miniatures and no CGI—director Andrew Davis' The Fugitive remains a landmark thriller. In the new documentary included with this Blu-ray, participants suggest numerous reasons for the film's success, but the one most frequently cited is also the most basic: a great story told by gripping performances. Of course, for a film to achieve the success and longevity of The Fugitive, many factors have to conspire. Consider, for example, how the film would have played if editor Dennis Virkler hadn't scrapped the original opening, which was a straightforward account of Helen and Richard Kimble attending a charity event, then Kimble being called to an emergency surgery, while Helen returned home to her fateful encounter with the one-armed man. It was Virkler who reconceived the entire sequence as a series of disturbing slow-motion flashbacks in black-and-white, accelerating the narrative and launching Kimble's escape at least ten minutes earlier than originally planned. The next time you watch The Fugitive, try to imagine it without that unsettling opening.

Warner Home Video released The Fugitive on Blu-ray in 2006 in the format's early days. That disc has been widely criticized, including by my colleague Martin Liebman, but I have the advantage of never having seen it, either in its original, MPEG-2/encoded version or in the later VC-1/encode with which Warner reportedly replaced it. I am simply evaluating the 20th Anniversary edition as a long-time fan of The Fugitive and someone on whom the original theatrical showing left a strong impression at a sneak preview in 1993. (I am not claiming, however, to have a detailed recall of the film's colors, densities, textures and how the focus was pulled in individual scenes.)

As most people know, The Fugitive is based on the TV series starring David Janssen that ran on ABC from 1963 through 1967. The film version is the story of Chicago vascular surgeon, Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford), wrongfully convicted of the brutal murder of his wife, Helen (Sela Ward), after the two of them attended a formal function sponsored by pharmaceutical giant Devlin-MacGregor. Kimble was diverted by an emergency call, only to return home to find his dying wife and an intruder, a man with a prosthetic arm (Andreas Katsulas), who ran without leaving any trace of his presence. In the absence of evidence implicating anyone other than Kimble, he is tried and sentenced to death.

But en route to the prison, Kimble's bus overturns after other inmates stage an escape attempt. Kimble barely escapes with his life, and a tense pursuit begins, as Kimble returns to Chicago attempting to find his wife's killer while eluding U.S. Marshall Sam Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor). A relentless, intelligent and unstoppable pursuer, Gerard is ably supported by what he calls "my kids", a loyal team of deputies that includes Cosmo Renfro (Joe Pantoliano), Biggs (Daniel Roebuck), Poole (L. Scott Caldwell) and Noah Newman (Tom Wood). Kimble has no one, except an occasional friend from whom he can borrow money, such as Dr. Charles Nichols (Jeroen Krabbé), or an associate at his former hospital, Chicago Memorial, like researcher Dr. Kathy Wahlund (Jane Lynch, then an unknown). But he keeps his distance from everyone he knows, assuming they'll be watched. Even strangers are dangerous, because, after a lively chase through Chicago's famous St. Patrick's Day parade, Kimble's picture is everywhere.

For longer than anyone might have believed possible, director Davis and his editing team (six editors are credited) sustain the intense cat-and-mouse game between Kimble and Gerard. The Fugitive violated the moviemaking rule that one should never go into production without a finished script, but it vindicated the adage that casting is 90% of directing. Much of the film's impact depends on the counterpoint of Harrison Ford's eloquent silence—he has relatively little dialogue but communicates more than words could say with how he moves, gestures, holds himself and looks at people (or away from them)—and Tommy Lee Jones's expressive banter, which can change from light-hearted to stone cold in an instant. Both Gerard and Kimble are quick-witted individuals, adept at sizing up situations rapidly and acting decisively. From opposite ends, they are the people who solve Helen Kimble's murder. As The Fugitive pivots back and forth between its two antagonists, bringing them almost together, but holding them apart until the very end when they've arrived at common ground, it serves as a reminder that actors really are the best special effects.

The Fugitive Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The consensus among those familiar with Warner's prior Blu-ray of The Fugitive seems to be that the same transfer has been used for this 1080p, AVC-encoded 20th Anniversary version. Regardless of whether this is a new scan or a refinement of the old one, the Blu-ray's image accurately captures the flat, wintry look of the Chicago cityscape where most of The Fugitive plays out (although some of the early sequences were shot in North Carolina). This "urban naturalist" style is typical of cinematographer Michael Chapman (Primal Fear, Rising Sun), although he can deliver a hyper-real look when required (Taxi Driver).

The detail is impressive, both in the many closeups of Ford and Jones, and in larger crowd scenes, such as the chaotic chase in the lobby of the Daley Center and the St. Patrick's Day parade. Having read many complaints about aliasing and other visual artifacts on the previous Blu-ray, I was alert for any such defects in this presentation, but I saw none. Black levels in key night scenes, such as the early escape sequence and the chase on the Hilton rooftop late in the film, are appropriate, and contrast is never overstated.

The Fugitive isn't a particularly grainy film, but it does have a natural grain pattern, which did not appear to me to have been scrubbed away or oddly manipulated in any of the ways that leave noticeable artifacts. Nor did I spot any edge halos or other indicators of artificial sharpening. The average bitrate of 25.29 Mbps is within the range of what compressionists seem to aim for with action films today (and certainly an improvement on the prior Blu-ray's reported 20.96 Mbps). If there were compression artifacts, they were too subtle for my eye.

The Fugitive Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

From the very begining of The Fugitive, when the initial credits open and close like bars and the soundtrack clangs like prison doors, the Blu-ray's lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 track provides powerful support to the film's suspense. The clanging sounds echo through the surround field as they segue into something more like the blows struck by the one-armed man against Helen Kimble, and then like the gavel of the judge who sentences her husband to be executed. The sonic mix that accompanies the bus accident and train crash register forcefully with a harsh sound of screaming metal. The roar of the water running through the dam sluices accompanies Gerard's chase of Kimble through the drain tunnels, and the police helicopter that pursues Kimble on the roof of the Hilton in the film's climactic sequence can be heard flying around the room. Bass extension may not be as deep as on some more recent soundtracks, but the low frequencies register with sufficient force to make the point.

Dialogue is generally clear, although Gerard and his deputies are often purposely overlapped so that repeat viewings sometimes reveal stray bits of banter. James Newton Howard's score is one of his very best, and it's instantly recognizable. The new "Thrill of the Chase" documentary contains a telling comparison of a scene played with and without the score.

The Fugitive Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The 20th Anniversary Blu-ray includes all of the extras from the previous edition, plus two new ones. The "carryover" extras are listed below; for further description, please see Marty Liebman's earlier review.

• The Fugitive: Thrill of the Chase (1080p; 1.78:1; 28:21): This retrospective documentary boasts an impressive array of people involved in the film, all of whom share their perspectives. Participants include Ford, Jones, Davis, Pantoliano (who is hilarious as always), Lynch, co-editor Don Brochu, producer Arnold Kopelson and co-producer Peter Macgregor-Scott. Film critic Kenneth Turan also weighs in, as does Bob Herzberg, author of The FBI and the Movies.



• The Fugitivie TV Pilot (1080p; 1.78:1; 45:28): This 2000 reboot of The Fugitive as a television series starred Tim Daly as Kimble and Mykleti Williamson as Lt. Gerard, now a police detective in Chicago who conducted the original investigation into the murder of Helen Kimble. I never watched the series, but the pilot makes it clear that the format followed that of the original David Janssen series, with Kimble tracking the one-armed man across the country and finding himself involved in the lives of people he encounters along the way. Still, the initial story contains many nods to the film, including a confrontation between Kimble and Gerard that ends with a daring swan dive off a tall building.



• Introduction by Andrew Davis and Harrison Ford (and Tommy Lee Jones) (480i; 1.78:1, enhanced; 1:52).



• Commentary with Andrew Davis and Tommy Lee Jones.



• On the Run with The Fugitive (480i; 1.33:1; 23:06).



• Derailed: Anatomy of a Train Wreck (480i; 1.33:1; 8:55).



• Theatrical Trailer (480i; 1.78:1, enhanced; 2:02).

The Fugitive Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

One interesting aspect of The Fugitive is how its plot has become more credible with time. (Spoiler alert: Stop reading now if you're new to the film.) When the film premiered in 1993, some viewers, myself included, found it hard to imagine that a pharmaceutical company would deliberately suppress evidence of a drug's dangerous side effects. Then, in 2004, Merck & Co., one of the world's largest drug companies, withdrew the widely prescribed (and highly profitable) Vioxx from the market amidst allegations that it had withheld studies showing increased risk of heart attack and stroke. No murder plots or frame-ups were alleged, but the incident just goes to show that it doesn't take much creative license to transform the stuff of real life into the basis for a great thriller. If studios tried it more often, we might someday get to see something else as good as The Fugitive. In the meantime, this 20th Anniversary Blu-ray is highly recommended.