I enjoy this movie more each time I watch it, with both Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones playing their roles to a tee, supported by good writing, casting, soundtrack, and cinematography.
★★★★½ of 5 (with a ♥)
Full review: https://letterboxd.com/three_star_dave/film/the-fugitive-1993/1/
Previous review: https://letterboxd.com/three_star_dave/film/the-fugitive-1993/
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This is one of a small number of films (which includes Groundhog Day ) which I will always watch when it's shown on local TV. I think it has the perfect balance for a thriller – a protagonist who demonstrates his innocence by his actions (in the hospital), an implacable but not stupid opponent, and plenty of twists and turns in the plot. One of the better films that Harrison Ford's appeared in.
I think also, that I watched the TV show this is based on in the 60s. and this film really did encapsulate the plot very well.
Yup. The old 60s Quinn-Martin production — with David Janssen as Richard Kimball and Barry Morse as Lt Gerard — was a very popular show for several years, and noteworthy for having a series finale in which Kimball finally caught the one-armed man. It was, perforce, very episodic, as Kimball wandered from town to town, working odd jobs, pursuing leads about the one-armed man, always one step ahead of Lt Gerard, never being able to slow down or stay. TV's The Incredible Hulk with David Bixby mined much the same motif.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5YAg-oVpE0
This show (and Route 66) created a whole genre of drifters helping out as the pass through places, like the Planet of the Apes and Logans Run series show. In each case there needed to be that threat that moved them on to the next location.
+Laura Ess It's a particular instance of the Wagon Train model, on an individual basis: continuing cast moving to a new setting each week. Star Trek (TOS) was sold on that basis, too.
Though luckilly it didn't stick to that model. I never saw much Wagon Train.
+Laura Ess Well, if you think about TOS (which Roddenberry literally sold as "Wagon Train to the Stars"), it really did: the ship goes from problem to problem, planet to planet, around the galaxy. Rarely if ever is a planet or problem revisited. Rarely does the show focus just on the cast vs the planet / problem / monster of the week.
TNG shifted that a bit, with more focus on the crew (though it, and Voyager both did a lot of steady wandering about). DS9 completely flipped the model — a single place that everyone comes to.
Hmm, you're right. With the fugitive though, it was always running from something that was the mcguffin. In Trek they seldom run from anything!
+Laura Ess No, they are assigned to do something — carry a cargo, visit an outpost, solve a diplomatic snafu, find a missing ship, or even just "explore out there".
Roddenberry liked the basic motif. He tried to do something similar with his Genesis II and Planet Earth series proposals (a lot like Logan's Run the TV series), and he also proposed a Fugitive style of show with The Questor Tapes.
I grew up watching the show, and absolutely loved it. I'll have to give the movie a try. I haven't really avoided it, but an opportunity to watch it never arose, and I never sought it out.
+Martin Corey Well, it's done-in-one, but I think it's a great movie. With a special bonus for Babylon 5 fans …