The Fugitive

For dynamite suspense loaded with thrills and wicked fun, you can’t beat The Fugitive — the summer’s best action blaster. Read full review

What makes the film so special is that Ford and Tommy Lee Jones (as his chief pursuer, US Marshal Samuel Gerard) are such beautifully matched adversaries. Read full review

Turns out to be a smashing success, a juggernaut of an action-adventure saga that owes noithing to the past. To put it simply, thi is a home run. Read full review

A tense, taut and expert thriller that becomes something more than that, an allegory about an innocent man in a world prepared to crush him. Read full review

I've already seen The Fugitive twice. I'll probably see it again. Read full review

The Fugitive is the best movie of the summer and one of the best of the year. It's an action film that delivers everything a modern audience expects, and it's also a serious drama with strong characters and intense performances. [6 Aug 1993, p.C1]

The first 10 or 15 minutes of The Fugitive are so skillfully assembled they should be taught in film school. [6 Aug 1993, p.3E]

It's as powerful as it is bruising, with more surprises than "Jurassic Park" and more sheer energy than any action movie this season. Read full review

The Fugitive is hardly Hitchcock — it never taps our emotions in a way that threatens to transcend the action — but it’s a mainstream thriller made with conviction, intelligence, and heat. In Hollywood, that used to be called professionalism. These days, it’s rare enough to look like artistry. Read full review

A super-adrenalized stemwinder, a crisp and jolting melodrama that screws the tension so pitilessly tight it does everything but squeak. Read full review

A consummate nail-biter that never lags, it leaves you breathless from the chase yet anxious for the next bit of mayhem or clever plot twist. Read full review

Pure energy, a perfect orchestration of heroism, villainy, suspense and comic relief. Read full review

It's a pleasure to find a thriller fulfilling its duties with such gusto: the emotions ring solid, the script finds time to relax into backchat, and for once the stunts look like acts of desperation rather than shows of prowess. Read full review

Reimagined instead of recycled, an adaptation of a '60s old TV show emerges as a first-rate thriller. Read full review

A crackling, intelligent thriller. Read full review

The film is little more than a well-oiled machine that serves a strictly limited function, but like a precision timepiece, it is a thing to marvel at, even under close scrutiny. Read full review

A hugely entertaining adrenaline rush of a thriller that does a couple of simple things right. That's all it needs to do. First, it casts Harrison Ford in the title role of convicted wife-murderer Richard Kimble, ever scrambling forward, one step ahead of pursuing cops, while hunting the real killer. Second, it never stops. [6 Aug 1993, p.41]

There isn't much depth to The Fugitive, but you'll never know it (or care). In addition to a spectacular train/bus smashup and an exciting sewer chase, there's one of the funniest public confrontations since Cary Grant broke up the art auction in North by Northwest. Result: Warner Bros. has what it had last August with Unforgiven - a commercial movie with real class. [6 Aug 1993, p.1D]

Even with its faults, The Fugitive is an uncommon joyride among this summer's movies: a thriller that doesn't depend on bombs, bimbos or blue-screen effects to scare a smile onto your face. [6 Aug 1993, p.14]

A flurry of stunts, close shaves and deeds of desperate daring, it easily transcends its television origins to become a stylish pacemaker-buster. Read full review

The performances transform this otherwise orthodox cat-and-mouse movie into a gripping experience. Read full review

Though it's a good half hour too long, this belated, overblown spin-off of the 60s TV show otherwise adds up to a pretty good suspense thriller. Read full review

A fast and furious feature film that starts at a gallop and never stops to catch its breath. [9 Aug 1993, p.57]

"Innovative" is not a legitimate description of The Fugitive, but "entertaining" is. Read full review

The definition of a satisfying Hollywood action drama. Read full review

The Fugitive runs hard and true the whole way through. Read full review

If you can suspend your disbelief, The Fugitive is a raucous, rampaging adventure that's certain to thrill. If your eye gets caught on details, however, you'll be annoyed by plot twists that range from unlikely to unbelievable. For the most part, director Andrew Davis ("Under Siege") knits a fabulous story. [5 Aug 1993]

Jones brings the character around in a big, flashy performance, and there's not a moment when he isn't fun to watch. Not all of The Fugitive makes sense, though.[6 Aug 1993, p.G5]

Though not as memorable as the series on which it is based, it does the job as big-screen entertainment.

Ford is up to par for the strenuous stuff, but falls short on the grief, anxiety and compassion, allowing Tommy Lee Jones to walk away with the show as the wisecracking marshal on Kimble's trail. Read full review

The action varies from a show-stopping train/bus wreck of Schwarzeneggerian proportions, to some more ironically staged pursuits which throw a welcome dash of "Tom and Jerry" into the mix. Read full review

As far as the chase genre goes, there have been worse films (better ones, too). Read full review