Trailer
Plot summary
Dr. Richard Kimble is a vascular surgeon in Chicago. He comes home from work one night to find that his wife, Helen, has been killed, and a man with a prosthetic arm runs off before the police get there. At his trial, Helen's 911 call and a large life insurance policy count against him, and the court finds him guilty of her death. While he is being taken to prison, other prisoners try to break out; the driver is shot and the bus hits a train. Kimble drags a wounded officer away from the wreckage and then runs. Deputy US Marshal Samuel Gerard and his team begin hunting him.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Fugitive (1993)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Harrison Ford pursued the role of Richard Kimble partly out of a desire to grow a beard or mustache, something Warner Bros. chairman Robert A. Daly had repeatedly prevented on the grounds that he was "paying for Harrison Ford's face" and wished to see it unobstructed by facial hair.
- The train crash, which cost $1 million to film, was shot in a single take using a real train with a locomotive whose engine had been removed. The wreck took several weeks to plan and was preceded by several test runs with a boxcar and a log car.
- Andrew Davis had only 10 weeks to edit, mix and finish the film between the last day of shooting and the day it opened, so producer Peter MacGregor-Scott set up seven editing suites with editors cutting around the clock on different scenes. Each editor earned an Academy Award nomination.
- A number of actors were auditioned for the part, including Alec Baldwin, Nick Nolte, Kevin Costner and Michael Douglas. Nolte felt he was too old for the role, though he is only a year older than Harrison Ford, and Baldwin was cast when Walter Hill was attached to direct.
- The character of Dr. Charles Nichols was recast for Jeroen Krabbé after the original actor who landed the role, Richard Jordan, fell ill with a brain tumor. Jordan died three weeks after the film's release.
- The chase scene during the St. Patrick's Day Parade was filmed during the actual parade held on Wednesday, March 17, 1993, with Mayor Richard M. Daley and Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris briefly seen as actual participants.
