The Fugitive (1993)

[Guestx]

I've been tying up some loose ends lately, in terms of movies that I should've seen years ago but just never got to for whatever reason.

Some of y'all know I just recently watched Die Hard and Lethal Weapon for the first time. I also took care of Alien: Resurrection, since it was the straggler in the series that I never did see.

Well tonight it's The Fugitive.

This is a solid film. And it also reminded me that there was a time when Harrison Ford actually gave a fuck.

I think it's pretty obvious that he doesn't much care these days, at least in terms of continuing to hone his craft and push the boundaries in terms of his performances. I believe he even said in an interview a few years ago that these days it's all about the money. If you want to give him a dump truck full of cash then he'll come be in your shit. Otherwise, he's not interested.

But this is a good film. I almost said a good action film, but is it really action? There actually is relatively little action when you break it down. A few set pieces, that's it. It's more of a thriller. Maybe we'll go with action-thriller. But yeah, this is good and Harrison Ford is good in it, as is Tommy Lee Jones as his foil.

I was surprised to look at the director and not recognize the name. Andrew Davis? Never heard of the guy. So of course I looked to see what else he did and the answer was a bit surprising.

​

Apparently before The Fugitive he made Above the Law and Under Siege with Steven Seagal. I guess that was enough to land him the job as the director here. But his output since this film has been very uneven. On the upside, there was A Perfect Murder and Holes. But on the downside, he also made Chain Reaction (that 90s film with Keanu Reeves and Morgan Freeman) and Collateral Damage.

His last film was The Guardian, that Coast Guard movie with Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher that came out in 2006. I never saw it, but the RT score is not very good. It made $97 million worldwide, but without knowing what the budget is, I have no idea if that's a solid take or not. At least one article I ran across called it a bomb, though.

Andrew Davis has not made a movie since. and it's always strange to me when a director can make a film like The Fugitive--which is largely regarded as a classic--and be on top of the world, and then he can turn around and make films that are mediocre at best and run his career into the ground.

Anyway, yeah. . . Thoughts on The Fugitive?

 

[HARRISON_3]

Still holds up to this day.

Great, great thriller.

 

[BisexualMMA]

Great movie, and Andrew Davis is a very good action director. Like many good directors, he keeps going back to the same stable of solid character actors for supporting roles.

The most underrated part of The Fugitive is Harrison Ford's performance. He did some very, very good work in this film and I don't think a Best Actor nomination would have been out of place.

The film also made good use of the underutilized Jeroen Krabbe and Andreas Katsulas, both of whom should have had a bit more of a career on the big screen.

 

[Philo-Publius]

I've been tying up some loose ends lately, in terms of movies that I should've seen years ago but just never got to for whatever reason.

Some of y'all know I just recently watched Die Hard and Lethal Weapon for the first time. I also took care of Alien: Resurrection, since it was the straggler in the series that I never did see.

Well tonight it's The Fugitive.

This is a solid film. And it also reminded me that there was a time when Harrison Ford actually gave a fuck.

I think it's pretty obvious that he doesn't much care these days, at least in terms of continuing to hone his craft and push the boundaries in terms of his performances. I believe he even said in an interview a few years ago that these days it's all about the money. If you want to give him a dump truck full of cash then he'll come be in your shit. Otherwise, he's not interested.

But this is a good film. I almost said a good action film, but is it really action? There actually is relatively little action when you break it down. A few set pieces, that's it. It's more of a thriller. Maybe we'll go with action-thriller. But yeah, this is good and Harrison Ford is good in it, as is Tommy Lee Jones as his foil.

I was surprised to look at the director and not recognize the name. Andrew Davis? Never heard of the guy. So of course I looked to see what else he did and the answer was a bit surprising.

​

Apparently before The Fugitive he made Above the Law and Under Siege with Steven Seagal. I guess that was enough to land him the job as the director here. But his output since this film has been very uneven. On the upside, there was A Perfect Murder and Holes. But on the downside, he also made Chain Reaction (that 90s film with Keanu Reeves and Morgan Freeman) and Collateral Damage.

His last film was The Guardian, that Coast Guard movie with Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher that came out in 2006. I never saw it, but the RT score is not very good. It made $97 million worldwide, but without knowing what the budget is, I have no idea if that's a solid take or not. At least one article I ran across called it a bomb, though.

Andrew Davis has not made a movie since. and it's always strange to me when a director can make a film like The Fugitive--which is largely regarded as a classic--and be on top of the world, and then he can turn around and make films that are mediocre at best and run his career into the ground.

Anyway, yeah. . . Thoughts on The Fugitive?

I have not seen it in over 20 years, but I remember feeling like it was a little overrated. I probably need to rewatch it.

 

[Medical Marijuana Man]

 

[Medical Marijuana Man]

Great movie I would like to watch again

Not counting any of the Indiana Jones movies, this would be my favorite HF film.

 

[RockstarChris]

dont forget to watch the sequel

 

[RockstarChris]

Great movie I would like to watch again

Not counting any of the Indiana Jones movies, this would be my favorite HF film.

Sta ...Han So.....The For.....WHAT?!

 

[Guestx]

Great movie, and Andrew Davis is a very good action director. Like many good directors, he keeps going back to the same stable of solid character actors for supporting roles.

I'm surprised you're that familiar with him. Like I said, his name didn't ring a bell with me.

Collateral Damage is a terrible movie.

 

[Guestx]

dont forget to watch the sequel

I actually have seen US Marshalls. Watched it back in the day when it first came out.

It's okay, but I'd say it pales in comparison to The Fugitive. It doesn't even really feel like a sequel to this film.

 

[mb23100]

Funny this was on tv last night and i tuned in right at the famous "I didnt kill my wife!" Scene. Didnt watch much more though i hate watching movies on network television nowadays. And for what its worth i liked The Guardian. I just remember it feeling a tad too long

 

[Deleted member 110072]

This does kind of remind of that brief era between the big 80's action/comedy blockbusters and when CGI really took off, Jurassic Park whilst obviously somewhat responsible for that CGI takeoff feels similar as a pretty smart grounded(dispite the concept) film.

Ford did actually look like he was going to stay ontop as things changed being well suited to it before being bumped off by CGI aliens and cheese.

 

[mb23100]

I actually have seen US Marshalls. Watched it back in the day when it first came out.

It's okay, but I'd say it pales in comparison to The Fugitive. It doesn't even really feel like a sequel to this film.

Was it supposed to be a sequel? If so i didnt know that

 

[BisexualMMA]

I'm surprised you're that familiar with him. Like I said, his name didn't ring a bell with me.

Collateral Damage is a terrible movie.

I think Collateral Damage is a perfectly fine action movie. It just came at the wrong time of Arnold's career and it came out RIGHT AFTER 9/11.

Cliff Curtis was great in it, John Leguizamo was good, and Arnold gave, at minimum, an adequate performance.

It has some flaws, like how easily he gets into the apparently impenetrable region where The Wolf is hiding out, but all in all, I think it would be remembered as an Arnold classic if it had come out 15 years earlier.

 

[Guestx]

And for what its worth i liked The Guardian. I just remember it feeling a tad too long

I might have to check it out. I do remember thinking that the trailers at least looked kind of interesting.

Was it supposed to be a sequel? If so i didnt know that

It was, yeah. Tommy Lee is reprising his role from The Fugitive.

 

[Guestx]

I think Collateral Damage is a perfectly fine action movie. It just came at the wrong time of Arnold's career and it came out RIGHT AFTER 9/11.

Cliff Curtis was great in it, John Leguizamo was good, and Arnold gave, at minimum, an adequate performance.

It has some flaws, like how easily he gets into the apparently impenetrable region where The Wolf is hiding out, but all in all, I think it would be remembered as an Arnold classic if it had come out 15 years earlier.

I have to strongly disagree with you on this one. I STILL remember sitting down and watching that film, and the reason I remember it is because I was super fucking disappointed in it. It felt extremely generic. Like if you had a computer program that could output a stock script for an action movie, it would probably spit out something like Collateral Damage.

I couldn't believe that Arnold was even in it. I remember thinking, "Damn Arnold, this is what we've come to?" It just seemed like such a step down--several steps down, really--from his prime. Even compared to End of Days I thought it was weak as fuck.

 

[Deleted member 110072]

I have to strongly disagree with you on this one. I STILL remember sitting down and watching that film, and the reason I remember it is because I was super fucking disappointed in it. It felt extremely generic. Like if you had a computer program that could output a stock script for an action movie, it would probably spit out something like Collateral Damage.

I couldn't believe that Arnold was even in it. I remember thinking, "Damn Arnold, this is what we've come to?" It just seemed like such a step down--several steps down, really--from his prime. Even compared to End of Days I thought it was weak as fuck.

Unlike Ford I never really felt he was well suited to the shift towards grounding blockbusters more, Eraser was pretty fun I spose a lot that depended heavily on the supporting cast(and did shift into 80's mode quite a bit at points) but he was always best suited playing larger than life roles for me.

I was always a bit surprised he never went back to Predator in the mid 90's when his career was slowing down a bit, I spose you could argue that really the original has been a bit of a slow burner, it was always popular but its more this millennium its become regarded as a classic on the level of the Terminator films.

 

[BisexualMMA]

I have to strongly disagree with you on this one. I STILL remember sitting down and watching that film, and the reason I remember it is because I was super fucking disappointed in it. It felt extremely generic. Like if you had a computer program that could output a stock script for an action movie, it would probably spit out something like Collateral Damage.

I couldn't believe that Arnold was even in it. I remember thinking, "Damn Arnold, this is what we've come to?" It just seemed like such a step down--several steps down, really--from his prime. Even compared to End of Days I thought it was weak as fuck.

It isn't Predator or The Running Man, and certainly not The Terminator. But I think it greatly surpasses what his contemporaries and peers were doing around that time. Van Damme and Seagal had already entered the territory they now occupy. Stallone was starring in shit like D-Tox and Avenging Angelo, which didn't even get serious theatrical releases.

You're right, I think we'll forever disagree about the objective quality of Collateral Damage. I think it's...solid enough, and a little better than Eraser, not out of place next to the 6th Day, better than Raw Deal, and I'd rather rewatch it than Terminator 3. Nothing to write home about, but not a black mark on his record.

 

[Guestx]

Unlike Ford I never really felt he was well suited to the shift towards grounding blockbusters more, Eraser was pretty fun I spose a lot that depended heavily on the supporting cast(and did shift into 80's mode quite a bit at points) but he was always best suited playing larger than life roles for me.

I was always a bit surprised he never went back to Predator in the mid 90's when his career was slowing down a bit, was there some kind of legal holdup in the franchise that I'm forgetting?

You know, while I would say that Eraser was a more entertaining film than Collateral Damage, I remember thinking that it too was disappointing. Ironically, I also remember exactly when and where I saw that one for the first time, too. I went to the theater with my parents and some friends of theirs. They went to see Courage Under Fire, while I went to see Eraser.

As for Arnold not making the transition well, you make an interesting point. He's an over-the-top dude, both in his movies and in real life. It would be interesting to know how things would've gone for him career-wise if he had never gone into politics. What kind of movies would he have given us during those years?

 

[Deleted member 110072]

It isn't Predator or The Running Man, and certainly not The Terminator. But I think it greatly surpasses what his contemporaries and peers were doing around that time. Van Damme and Seagal had already entered the territory they now occupy. Stallone was starring in shit like D-Tox and Avenging Angelo, which didn't even get serious theatrical releases.

You're right, I think we'll forever disagree about the objective quality of Collateral Damage. I think it's...solid enough, and a little better than Eraser, not out of place next to the 6th Day, better than Raw Deal, and I'd rather rewatch it than Terminator 3. Nothing to write home about, but not a black mark on his record.

Honestly as well beyond being larger than life I think the quality of the writing in a lot of those 80's Arnie films is underrated. Really I think you had a situation after Blade Runner flopping were Hollywood didn't want to make arty sci fi anymore so a lot of the concepts that would previously have gone into such films actually ended up in actioners like Arneis stuff or Robocop. You look back really dispite the rep as "Reagan actioners" at those films were often very strongly anti establishment, little glorifaction of the US armed forces and the antagonists were generally US capitalist fascists rather than future/space commies.