The Fugitive

"You find that man.. find that man.. find that man"

is a deeply burned phrase from this film into my head, mainly because I was a young boy when I first came across this golden oldie. It was a bit scarring too because I had recently lost the man that had taken on the responsibility of being a father figure to me, so this was one that stuck.

One thing of note is that 90's films always portrayed the police department full of old timers who thought they knew the lay of the land but really didn't. They were almost shoehorned into films in such a slapstick way that they were made out to be almost silly.

You can see this very well in this film with the conclusions they had come to. And the 90's where full of films with innocent men locked up, so I guess to make a believable false guilty film then you would have to have a perceived stupid Police force.

I grew up thinking American police were stupid as hell and not very bright, but when Internet video came along I got to see how dangerous they are and why most people obey the law.

Anyway.

The Fugitive was a golden oldie. It had all the hallmarks of an amazing film, great plot, in suspense until the end, is he going to make it or not? What's going to happen? And we all knew old Harrison Ford from the Indiana Jones films which were such a big hit back in the day.

It's one of my favourites from the 90's, and one that I'd actually think about watching again. Even although I'll say I've watched this film no joke over 200 times. You see, this was the film I'd watch (along with others) when I was skipping school. I wish I hadn't skipped school that much but we all have our wishes.

This was a film about a Vascular Surgeon, Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford) who came home one night to find that his wife had been killed by an unknown assailant. All that he knew was that he has a prosthetic limb. He told the police force this when he was being interviewed after his wife called 911.

The police didn't believe this though, and sent him down for murder because they assumed he did it for the money, even although his earnings were more in a month than the leading detective made in a year. But of course they just wanted to get a case under their belts.

Richard was sent to be executed in prison under state law and was sent to prison under a court of law. The evidence was overwhelming for the jury, and they heard his wife state that Richard was trying to kill her to the 911 operator, although the audience knew that she was calling out to Richard who had just entered the house at that moment in time.

Next we're set with a scene as Richard is being taken away by bus to state penitentiary to live out the rest of his short lived life a breakout happens on the bus and the prisoners start to wrestle with the guards. In the end Richard is the only one that escapes with his life and goes on the run.

From there he spends the rest of the film trying to piece together who murdered his wife and why.

It's an absolutely must watch for an oldie, and one that I'm probably going to watch myself in the next few days.