Overview: The chase is on...and as exhilarating as ever! For Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford), a wrongly convicted fugitive, the trail leads toward the one-armed man he believes murdered his wife.

For U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard (Academy Award winner Tommy Lee Jones), the hunt will end with the capture of escaped prisoner Kimble. Filled with tension, twists and an unforgettable train wreck, this critically acclaimed thriller remains one of the greatest cat-and-mouse pursuits of all time.

4K UHD Blu-ray Verdict: Warner Bros. Entertainment is expanding their 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray catalog offerings this month with the release of the highly-anticipated The Fugitive in the expansive 4K Ultra HD video format this November 21st, 2023.

For my money, this The Fugitive [4K UHD+BR] combo pack sharpness takes a fairly large step forward from others in their 4K Ultra HD catalog and even comes with HDR (High Dynamic Range) for the complete 4K Ultra HD experience, of course.

So, what we have is The Fugitive presented to us as a two-disc combo pack with a sheet for a Digital HD Copy. Other stand out points you should know are: Codec: HEVC / H.265 (67.29 Mbps), Resolution: Native 4K (2160p), HDR: HDR10, Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 and Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1.

Featuring Dolby Vision and HDR10 for brighter, deeper, and way more lifelike colors, as with most all 4K UHDs, everything that we watch features these qualities - but somehow, this film gloriously shines within them all.

Noticeably crisp with the overall clarity receiving an obvious boost here on this release, what is more is that it is enjoyably noticeable. For as well as some new nuances to the somewhat drab palette courtesy of Dolby Vision, we also get to witness sudden bright pops of color, which makes the eyes draw in, for sure.

One of those moments now being the introduction of Sykes, his escape from police surveillance, and his stalking of Kimble as he reconnects with his old hospital friends are all fantastic scenes. But the culmination of them is the most satisfying, so that’s what I’m going to highlight.

In a scene that feels almost like a nod to Alfred Hitchcock, The Fugitive manages to dial the suspense up to 11 by having Kimble sitting on a train nearby a passenger who is reading a newspaper with his mugshot on the cover. The man turns the newspaper around and looks at the mugshot, then glances up at Kimble who tries to smile.

The man doesn’t say a word, but we understand exactly what he’s doing when he stands up and walks to the next compartment to alert a waiting police officer.

Now highlighted even more in this most wondrous 4K UHD upgrade, is when Kimble and Nichols engage in a savage fistfight that brings them to the roof of a skyscraper. The trouble is that the Chicago police are urgently hunting Kimble because they think he’s a cop killer, so there’s a helicopter up there containing a sniper with orders to shoot Kimble on sight.

As Kimble and Nichols fight and try to escape detection by the police helicopter, Gerard slowly follows. He asks one of his men to call off the helicopter, especially when they start shooting. The only reason he gives for that request is that he doesn’t want to get shot himself!

That’s a brilliant touch because it keeps us from knowing Gerard’s true intentions. Even at this point in the movie when Kimble has led him down the right trail and given him all the clues he needs to prove his innocence, we still don’t know what Gerard believes and what he’s going to do. The last time he saw Kimble, he tried to shoot him. But now he’s trying to protect him from getting shot. What does it mean?

As for the audio, well we get the choice of: English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit), English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit), French (Canada): Dolby Digital 2.0, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0.

Overall, this is a very strong 4K HDR Blu-ray presentation, and, for the most part, the audio track remains fairly similar to its DTS-HD counterpart; with much of the action occupying the surrounds with outstanding directionality and placement where effects flawlessly pan between the sides and rears.

As for the story to hand, well, for my money, this was a mighty fine vehicle for Harrison Ford, made even more agreeable by a clever, somewhat tongue in cheek performance by Tommy Lee Jones as a US Marshall out to have a good time getting the bad guy. Even though the bad guy might not be so bad, which could make everything he does or says completely irrelevant, but hey, don’t think so much ... and just go get me some coffee and a chocolate donut with those sprinkles on top, ya hear?

This is also a Hollywood producer’s orgasmic dream with a chase scene beginning in the first reel and lasting throughout. It is based on the ’60s TV show of the same name, but gets its premise from a true crime story, that of Ohioan Dr. Sam Shepherd who actually went to jail for murdering his wife in the ’50s!

He too claimed to have fought off the real killer, but the forensic evidence and his personality were against him. Here we have Harrison Ford as the good doctor, and it doesn’t take a Hollywood genius to tell you that the most popular leading man of the late twentieth century ain’t about to play the kind of guy who murders his loving wife!

Ford does a stand-up, competent job, saving lives and patting kids on the head as he plunges through sewers and off the top of a towering waterfall, steals an ambulance, survives a bullet wound and a bus wreck, etc. His fans will be pleased, but Tommy Lee Jones steals the show (and got a Best Supporting Oscar for his trouble) as a clever, wise-cracking good ole boy who has a lot of fun leading the posse. I wonder if he or director Andrew Davis invented the spin he put on the role, because without it, this wouldn’t be half so good.

Special Features:
Introduction by Director Andrew Davis and Harrison Ford
Commentary by Andrew Davis and Tommy Lee Jones
The Fugitive: Thrill of the Chase
2 Exciting Documentaries: Derailed: Anatomy of a Train Wreck and On the Run with The Fugitive
Theatrical Trailer