The Fugitive

Dir Andrew Davis

Written by Jeb Stuart, David Twohy

Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, Sela Ward, Julianne Moore, Joe Pantoliano, Daniel Roebuck, Andreas Katsulas, Jeroen Krabbe, Tom Wood, L Scott Caldwell, Jane Lynch, Neil ‘Jan Itor’ Flynn.

Renowned surgeon Dr Richard Kimble (Ford) returns home one night to find his wife murdered, and the killer in the house. After a scuffle with the one armed man, the killer escapes, and Kimble is accused of her murder, and sentenced to death. On his way to prison there is a bus and train collision, and Richard goes on the run, and attempts to clear his name.

US Marshal, the no nonsense Sam Gerard (Jones) is called in along with his team to find Kimble, and bring him down. But as Gerard gets close, he discovers that Kimble might not be guilty after all.

In one of the best action thrillers of the 90s, this film gets virtually everything right. The action from director Davis (who had previously worked with Jones on Under Siege) is top rate, with amazing action sequences such as the initial bus crash, to the epic dam jump later in the film.

The cast are all amazing, with a perfect screenplay to work off of. The pairing of Ford and Jones, who play cat and mouse with each other for almost the entire portion of the film is solid casting. Ford seems to be in his element playing more dramatic roles such as this, and Jones is fantastic as the group leader. He has brilliant banter with his team – again thanks to a solid screenplay. Whether he was deserving of his Oscar win for this is debateable, especially considering the competition he was up against that year.

There is an amazing score by James Newton Howard that complements the film nicely, and has a 90s action vibe to it.

Followed by the ‘standalone sequel’ five years later, US Marshals (which is to be reviewed shortly).

4.5/5