It may be hard to imagine, even with today’s massive critical and commercial genre hits like the John Wick and the Mission: Impossible series, but fast-moving, crowd-pleasing action pictures once had a legitimate shot at sweeping the Academy Awards. One of those films was Andrew Davis‘s The Fugitive in 1993. Still a staple of the dad cinema and TNT afternoon canon, the impeccably crafted thriller is now enjoying a second life as it skyrockets up the Pluto TV charts — people will never be able to get enough of Richard Kimble’s quest for justice.
Fresh off the surprise-hit Steven Seagal vehicle Under Siege, Davis tackled The Fugitive not as a typical television adaptation (though it absolutely is that), but a bare-bones, take-no-prisoners thriller loaded with character moments for character actors and practical special effects. It earned co-star Tommy Lee Jones his only Oscar win for Best Supporting Actor and the film itself a Best Picture nod, among five other nominations and near-universal acclaim. Luckily, this prototype for today’s man-on-the run films still thrills.
What Is ‘The Fugitive’ About?
The Fugitive begins with Ford’s Dr. Richard Kimble discovering the murder of his wife — and a glimpse of the one-armed man who killed her. Kimble’s trial and sentencing to death are played as a Kafka-esque nightmare until a violent prisoner revolt and a bus crash leave him on the run and in the crosshairs of Jones’ U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard. The cat and mouse pursuit that follows, with Kimble desperately gathering evidence to clear his name and barely stymieing Gerard at every turn, largely plays out in and around the city of Chicago and eventually balloons into a larger (and less plausible) conspiracy plot.
The film is a somewhat faithful adaptation of the massively influential 1960s TV series with David Janssen and Barry Morse in the Ford and Jones roles, respectively. The series was one of the first to follow a single, twisted plot across multiple seasons with a two-part finale built up as an event viewers couldn’t refuse to miss. Series creator Roy Huggins stayed on board as executive producer for the film, which proved a box office juggernaut in 1993, earning almost $400 million at the global box office.
What Makes ‘The Fugitive’ Special
With as much plot as it has, The Fugitive, as a cinematic experience, is not really about it. In fact, for years, audiences have thoroughly picked the film’s series of wild coincidences and unbelievable twists apart. Rather, The Fugitive represents a perfect, alchemical mix of incredible star power (Ford v. Jones), action and effects (by master genre craftsman Davis), and sturdy, propulsive storytelling that doesn’t get too bogged down in the details (Die Hard veteran Jeb Stuart).
It’s Kimble’s moment-to-moment escape artistry and near-misses with Jones’ task force that carries the viewer from the spectacular train derailment/bus crash to the fugitive and the lawman’s confrontation atop a roaring dam (a sequence that includes Jones’ iconic delivery of the line “I don’t care”), to the highly-charged (albeit unbelievable) showdown at a medical conference. Davis’ proficiency with elaborate practical effects worked much to the film’s power as well, with the train derailment being shot in a single, one million-dollar take that looks spectacular and, most importantly, real.
The film was such a unanimous hit among critics and audiences that it almost swept awards season, with a Best Picture nod that ranks alongside The Silence of the Lambs as one of the biggest surprises in Oscar history. And the film’s timeless effects, bruising action, and rock-solid performances make it every bit as rewatchable today as in 1993. It’s currently among the top-streamed films, free on Pluto TV.
- Release Date
-
August 6, 1993
- Runtime
-
131 minutes
- Director
-
Andrew Davis
