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The Fugitive – Special Edition


Reviewed by: Brad Tobin
Genre: Action/Thriller
Video: Widescreen (1.85:1).
Audio: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
Language: English French
Subtitle: English. French.
Length: 2 hr 7 minutes
Rating: PG – 13
Release Date: June 5, 2001
Studio: Warner Bros
Commentary: Director Andrew Davis and Co-star Tommy Lee Jones.
Documentaries: None
Featurettes: Derailed: Anatomy of a Train Wreck. On the Run
Filmography/Biography: Cast/Filmmaker Highlights
Interviews: On the Featurettes
Trailers/TV Spots: Original Theatrical Trailer
Alternate/Deleted Scenes: None
Music Video: None
Other: New Digital Transfer. All New Introduction by the films Stars and Creators. Awards Text.
Cast and Crew: Harrison Ford. Tommy Lee Jones. Sela Ward. Julianne Moore. Joe Pantoliano. Harrison Ford. Tommy Lee Jones. Sela Ward. Julianne Moore. Joe Pantoliano.
Screenplay by: Written by: Jeb Stuart and David Twohy
Produced by: Arnold Kopelson
Directed By: Andrew Davis
Music: James Newton Howard
The Review: Richard Kimble (Ford) has been charged with the murder of his wife… He is innocent, he knows it, we know it and the real killer knows it. Now it’s just a matter of getting some damned proof. In comes US Marshall Samuel Gerard (Jones), a finder of lost liabilities whose sights are set on Kimble. Will he track Kimble down before the proof of innocence is found, will Gerard realise that Kimble isn’t the killer in time to find out the truth. The story has been done to death, hell, it was worn out in the days of Hitchcock, with classics like “The Wrong Man”, “Saboteur” and “North by Northwest” paving the way for rip-offs and repeats galore. What sets “The Fugitive” apart from the pack is its well-maintained thrill level; it’s highly-developed characters and its believability and realism. The characters ground the film in reality and keep it there, they are highly believable and genuinely likeable, if they weren’t this well constructed, the film would be far more run-of-the-mill. “The Fugitive” sucks us in from the get-go and doesn’t let us go until Ford is let go. Director Andrew Davis keeps the plot simple and basically sub-plot free, nothing distracts us (or Jones, for that matter) from the cat and mouse game at hand. This film definitely ranks among Davis’ very best, right up there alongside the guilty pleasure king, “Under Siege”. He tried to make lightning strike twice with the similar innocent man “Chain Reaction”, but it was not meant to be as it was nowhere near as tense or involving. Stuart and Twohy’s screenplay deserves a fair share of the credit, taking an old TV show and giving it the big screen treatment. They gave us characters that we’d follow to the ends of the earth and action of a level we had not yet seen. How could possible forget the train crash sequence, the waterfall sequence, these two scenes are instantly recognisable and they have also been spoofed a fair few times too (“The Simpson’s” and “Wrongfully Accused” to name just two). Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones each give utterly commanding performances. Ford takes on the weight if the pic and he carries it with relative ease. This performance ranks among his most dramatic and he really proves, once again, why he is one of the most beloved and respected actors working today. In a wonderful contrast to Ford’s performance, Jones is calm, cool and in control. He has a presence and authority about him that is unmistakable his, and these traits have never been more on show than they are here. All the elements (writing, acting, directing and production) combine to make “The Fugitive” a superbly crafted thriller.
Image and Sound Warner Brothers has decided to re-visit the very basic first edition of "The Fugitive", the outcome of this re-visit is “The Fugitive – Special Edition”, and thank the movie gods that they did. The first edition was anamorphic, but it was only a single layer transfer. The 1.85:1 presentation generally looked okay, but there was a rather gritty, grainy look to the movie at times that became distracting. Such a classic film deserves far better, which it has now received. This new release is, again, a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer, but this time, it has a dual-layer transfer. This presentation is not without some minor flaws, but it's a very noticeable improvement over the previous edition. Sharpness and detail have been greatly improved, the sort of grainy, noisy look that the first disc presented is now gone and the picture is far clearer and cleaner. There was also occasional pixelation with the original release, which is thankfully absent here. The film makes good use of lighting, most noticeable in the train crash sequence where the scene is lit by the headlights of a train bearing down on Ford and his fellow prisoners as their prison bus lies crashed on the railway tracks. The film is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, as was the previous edition, and like the previous edition, audio is put to good use, especially during the more action oriented sequences. James Newton Howard’s classy and masterful score helps keep the thrill level high and the pace breathless.
The Extras For a Special Edition, this release could have been made more special; it’s as simple as that. The menus are pretty average, a still picture with the score in the background. The Theatrical Trailer was, and still is, a grabber. The cast and crew biographies are average, as is the awards text. The Introduction sounded like a good feature, like Ernest Borgnine introducing “The Wild Bunch” and William Freidkin introducing “The Exorcist”. But unfortunately they have botched it. It is basically a minutes worth of filmed commentary by the director and some interview footage of Ford spliced together. The “On the Run” feature is a bit of a retrospective look at the film and bringing it to the screen. I enjoy a look back at films that I love and it features good interviews with the cast and crew. Lastly, the “Anatomy of a Train Wreck” feature takes us on a trip back to the filming of the train wreck sequence, the challenges the scene posed and how the makers have taken out a fault specially for this DVD version, a fault that the director never even picked up. Enjoy.
Commentary Director Andrew Davis and co-star Tommy Lee Jones team up for this commentary… Well, they don’t exactly team up; the commentary has the two participants recorded separately. Jones does not have a great deal to say, and occasionally comes in to offer basic opinions on the scene or working with the other actors. Davis does the majority of the talking, discussing his thoughts on working with both the cast and crew (He has worked with many of them before, eg Jones in “Under Siege”) and generally providing a tour of the film's production, pointing out the details of how scenes were achieved. There were no memorable stories that I felt needed to be told, it seems as if the production was just too professional and organised compared to many others. Most of the commentaries I have listened to discuss the utter chaos that is modern filmmaking and how the film we are watching is no where near what was intended (On the “Bad Boys” commentary, Michael Bay talks about how so much of the film is adlibbed and initially the film was intended to star Jon Lovitz and Dana Carvey, does anyone else smell a flop), these are generally the more interesting commentaries, this isn’t one of them. Many (myself included) will find the track too slow, with too many pauses and plodding dialogue. It is one for die hard Fugitive fans only.
Final Words: As far as Image and Sound go, this edition is well ahead of the previous edition. As far as Extras go, this edition is a fair bit ahead of the previous edition. As far as films go, this film is well ahead of it’s many, many competitors (except for “North by Northwest, which will never be topped). “The Fugitive” will go down in history as one of the all-time greatest thrillers, as well as one of the greatest films in recent memory.


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 July 10, 2001