There are many famous movies that I’ve never seen. One of those was The Fugitive which I watched for the first time about a month ago. I fell in love with the well made thriller and decided to pick up this 20th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray. What I found on this release was a mostly solid presentation with not too many great moments from the bonus features. It’s still worth picking up if you’re a fan of the film.
The Fugitive is the quintessential thriller. It’s suspenseful, mysterious, well written, has great performances, and is well shot. The cast and crew did a really great job with this film. After 20 years, the film holds up pretty well. You’ll laugh seeing a character pick up a gigantic cell phone and some of the music is pretty outdated but those never distract from this great picture.
The picture quality is mostly solid with crisp images. Unfortunately, The Fugitive isn’t consistent. Sometimes you’ll get an absurd amount of film grain (like the opening shots of Chicago) while the rest of the time you’ll get a solid picture. A little more effort would’ve been great but this is far from a bad presentation. The sound is pretty good as well although The Fugitive isn’t exactly a movie where the sound could shine.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOoOL9e_bOE#t=23[/youtube]
The NEW bonus features on The Fugitive Blu-ray are:
Behind the Scenes: The Fugitive: Thrill of the Chase (28 minutes) is a great set of interviews from Harrison Ford, Andrew Davis, Tommy Lee Jones, and co. talking about The Fugitive. This is what was expected from the 20th anniversary edition except the interviewees talk about the movie itself instead of looking back on the production of the film. It’s still nice to have but the interviewers should have asked better questions to make use of this 20th anniversary edition.
Short Feature: The Fugitive TV Pilot (45 minutes) is the pilot to the cancelled Fugitive TV show from the 2000’s. The pilot to the TV show which the movie is based on would’ve been preferable but this is still a pretty cool feature. The pilot isn’t that good and just makes you want to watch the movie instead but it’s still nice to have.
The OLD bonus features from the original Fugitive Blu-ray are:
Behind the Scenes: Introduction by Andrew Davis and Harrison Ford (2 minutes) isn’t really an introduction and is more of a quick interview with Davis and Ford (with a brief Tommy Lee Jones cameo via the phone). It’s nice to see Ford’s interview and the stuff with Davis and Jones was kind of fun but this feature really isn’t much of anything.
Commentary by Andrew Davis and Tommy Lee Jones is an unfortunately weak commentary. First off, Tommy Lee Jones is barely in it (only there for about 15 minutes out of the 2+ hour movie. Second, while Andrew Davis does give off some fun facts, he’s quiet quite a bit of the time. An updated commentary with other actors or crew members commenting on the 20th anniversary would’ve been nice.
Behind the Scenes: On the Run with The Fugitive (23 minutes) is a little more of the same we got from the Thrill of the Chase feature. This time we get some nice behind the scenes footage of the film which is a pleasure with some pretty good interviews. Worth checking out if you’re a fan of the film.
Behind the Scenes: Derailed: Anatomy of a Train Wreck (9 minutes) is a great bonus feature showcasing the spectacular train wreck scene from the movie. We get lots of great behind the scenes footage and interviews from the cast and crew. Well worth checking out.
We also get the Theatrical Trailer (2 minutes).
Overall, the bonus content was a little underwhelming. The 20th Anniversary Edition aspect of the release was only touched upon for a minute in the Thrill of the Chase feature and besides the pilot, there isn’t anything else new. The old bonus content is pretty great, but this is another missed opportunity of an Anniversary Edition.
THE VERDICT
The Fugitive is a fantastic thriller and one that I highly recommend. This 20th Anniversary Edition unfortunately falls with the other disappointing Anniversary Editions to have come out recently. The new bonus content isn’t anything special with the new feature repeating information that is already in the “On the Run with the Fugitive” segment which is actually better than the new one. The pilot to the TV show is just okay and the presentation itself could’ve used a boost. This Blu-ray is worth picking up if you don’t own The Fugitive on Blu-ray yet but it’s not the best way to spend the 20th Anniversary of this film.
For reviews and more from me, Petey Oneto, you can check out my blog but be sure to check back to Resident Entertainment for more of my posts in the future.