The Fugitive (Davis, 1993) is streaming on Neon
It’s the 30th anniversary of a film that turned an unpromising production into one of the best loved action films ever made – Andrew Davis’ The Fugitive. It also started the trend of relentlessly mining corporate media intellectual property but there’s an argument that it has never been done better than this.
David Janssen starred as Dr. Richard Kimble for four seasons in the 1960s, becoming the model for stories where the hero passes through town, solves everyone else’s problems, but fails to solve his own (Kung Fu, The Incredible Hulk and later Quantum Leap are good examples). It was clearly well loved by an entire generation of Hollywood filmmakers.
The reboot was a long way from being a sure thing. Nobody had tried to reimagine old TV with any seriousness before, star Harrison Ford wanted to have a beard, the release date was set in stone and production had to start without a finished script – or even a clear idea who the villain was going to be.
Rolling Stone have just published a brilliant oral history of the film – featuring everybody except Ford – and it’s full of zingers, not least the fact that no one had any faith while they were making it:
Joe Pantoliano: We were lucky. Look, I’d be lying to you if I didn’t tell you that I think everybody thought this was going to be a real dud, except for Andy Davis.
Andrew Davis: Tommy thought this was going to end his career.
Daniel Roebuck: Harrison Ford said in front of me when we were in the water, so I can attest that he said it. He goes, “Oh, man, this is going to be my Hudson Hawk.”
Tommy Lee Jones: I remember being in the giant basement of that hotel, surrounded by hanging bags of laundry. I was standing there speaking out to Harrison’s character. And there was nothing there except big bags of laundry. And I remember thinking in the back of my mind, “I’ll never work again. This is never going to work. And the best thing I can do is be as clear, concise, and coherent as possible, deliver these lines as cleanly and dutifully as possible, and maybe I’ll get another job one day, somewhere down the line.”
Jeb Stuart: And I have to tell you — you may not hear this from other people — but I remember laughing about it with Harrison a lot. We didn’t really think we were going to ever work again after this movie.
Actors reading this will especially love the contributions from the great Joe Pantoliano, making sure he was always standing next to Tommy Lee Jones to ensure maximum screen time and then begging not be killed off:
Joe Pantoliano: I go running into Andy’s trailer. I go, “Andy, what the fuck? You can’t kill me.” He goes, “Why?” I said, “What if there’s a sequel?” He says, “All right, we won’t kill you. We won’t kill you.” We shot it before CGI. I was thinking, “I’m going to make it so they can’t make me dead.” And so I just started moaning and making lots of noise on the ground. Andy says, “Cut,” and all of a sudden I see these pair of blue jeans walk up to me, and I look up the leg like a closeup, and it reveals Harrison Ford staring down at me. He’s shaking his head. And I go, “What?” And he goes, “You should be dead.” I said, “What if there’s a sequel, Harrison?” He laughed, and then he looked down at me and he said, “Listen, there’s not going to be any sequel because I won’t be in it.” And I said, “Well, fuck you. Who needs you? We’ll just chase another 20-million-dollar asshole through the woods!” And he was on the floor laughing.
Daniel Roebuck: I remember Joey screaming, “There better be a shot of me alive at the end of the movie!” So they put that shot of him on the stretcher into the movie.
Anyway, read the whole thing. It’s a hoot. And then watch the film again. It’s streaming on Neon and it’s great.
Because it’s the 30th anniversary there’s a 4K frame-by-frame restoration and remaster on the way – and thanks to the strikes is looking like getting a theatrical re-release in the US at least – but I couldn’t wait for that. The version that’s out there is still pretty good.
