The Fugitive (1993)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1993
	Director: Andrew Davis (Chain Reaction, Collateral Damage)
	Actors: Harrison Ford (Star Wars 4-7, Indiana Jones 1-4), Tommy Lee Jones (Men in Black 1-3), Sela Ward
	Country: USA
	Genre: Thriller, Polar
	Conditions of visioning: 29.03.2019, VOD, 10" tablet screen.
Synopsis: Surgeon Richard Kimble (Ford) is wrongly accused of his wife's murder and condemned to Death. Fortunate events will give him a chance to prove his innocence, if he is strong enough to outwit U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard (Jones) constantly on his tail.
Review: This movie is the best of the fast-paced Thrillers that the 90's could offer, thanks to the relentless chase by a stubborn U.S. Marshall of an innocent prisoner very motivated to prove his innocence more to find the killer of his wife than to avoid years of prison leading to the death penalty. The movie is an adaptation of a successful 60's TV-series, and condenses some 120 episodes into a 120-minute story, which I guess helps in keeping the pace elevated. Indeed there are many times in this movie when the Marshall nearly catches Kimble, but they are not neatly spread like it would be in a TV-series or a more modern audience-pleasing, less risk-taking movie. Those rather unpredictable moments keep you on edge and strongly feeling for the fugitive. In fact it reminds me of a similar suspenseful escape in Alfred Hitchcock's 1966 Torn Curtain. For some reason it also reminds be of the futuristic (well, set in 2017) The Running Man (1987) with Arnold Schwarzenegger also playing a wrongly convicted hero being chased while trying to innocent himself. Well it may partly be the story or just the main character name (Ben Richards in that one), I don't know if it was influenced at all by the 60's TV-series. The movie is framed by two events that are a bit hard to swallow: the car crash followed by a train wreck, and the length at which Kimble goes to unveil all the involved parties while he could have left Justice do its job (well, maybe he doesn't trust the system that much anymore). But past that, The Fugitive is very exciting to watch mostly for the tension between the two main characters and the great actors that play them. I can't remember if the 1998 sequel U.S. Marshals with Tommy Lee Jones reprising his role and Wesley Snipes as a new escapee is any good, I may watch it soon.
Rating: 7 /10