30 years ago, The Fugitive went from classic TV show to big screen blockbuster. It has since attempted to go back twice, but the movie The Fugitive has become the definitive iteration. Now that film classic gets the upgrade to 4K UHD as well.
It is really striking when the grainy ‘90s film goes to still photograph negative in the murder flashbacks. You’ll see the bus crash in the deep Chicago night, and Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford) running through the moonlit woods.
Bright daylight makes the outdoors and city streets look palpable. You can feel the cold and see the breath. The tunnel creates strong silhouettes of actors walking in and out of shadow. The green river on St. Patrick’s day is particularly vivid in 4K.
Surround sound puts the musical score’s stingers in the rear. The bus and train rumble. You’ll hear the clanking of roadside workers on the crash scene, pipes dripping as Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones) chases Kimble through them, circling helicopters and even laundry equipment in the finale.
Extras from the 20th anniversary Blu-ray still hold up. Actually, so do the DVD era extras as each have enough different material to make both worth a watch. The DVD one goes into more detail about the outlandish early drafts and unrealistic stunts they made more feasible.
Director Andrew Davis does most of the talking in his commentary track with Jones, sharing both scene-specific and general details. But, it’s clear The Fugitive won Jones’ approval, no easy task, and he chimes in.