The Fugitive was one of the most popular and successful action films of 1990s and also represented surprisingly well-made remake of popular 1960s television series. When it was seven years later remade back into television series, results weren’t that impressive. Viewers in Croatia had the first glimpse of the series in the form of feature-length film, edited from first two episodes (“Pilot” and “The Hand of the Stranger”) and issued as DVD on home video.
The plot generally follows both the film. Dr. Richard Kimble (played by Tim Daly) is respected Chicago physician who has it all – material wealth, successful career and beautiful wife Helen (played by Kelly Rutherford) who is about to have a baby. But his life crumbles one day when Helen is attacked at their home and murdered by mysterious one-armed man (played by Stephen Lang). Authorities don’t believe Kimble’s story and think that he is a killer. He is arrested and sentenced to death. Circumstances, however, allow him to escape from prison and he tries to find the evidence that would exonerate him. In the meantime, Lt. Philip Gerard (played by Mykelti Williamson), police detective who arrested Kimble, is determined to bring fugitive behind the bars, even if it means pursuing him all across the America.
Idea of remaking popular film into drama series perhaps wasn’t that bad in light that the original incarnation of The Fugitive remained on air for five seasons with 120 episodes in total, with the series finale being becoming the most watched event in US television history and holding record that would hold for years. However, there was one huge difference between 1960s series and 1993 film. The latter had to wrap up its plot in feature film format, while the former was extending it in a way that many episodes began to resemble each other. In 1960s, with only three national broadcast networks at their disposal, audience didn’t have much of a choice. Early 2000s were rather different and it reflected on series’ ratings. Based on first two episodes, authors of new version of The Fugitive, had visibly lower budget than the film version, but also had inferior cast to the one in film. Tim Daly lacks charisma and likeability of Harrison Ford, while Mykelti Williamson can’t light a candle to Tommy Lee Jones in the role of Gerard. Even veteran character actor like Stephen Lang is forgettable as main villain. Kelly Rutherford in the role of unfortunate wife looks better than Sela Ward in the film version, but she disappears too early for the series to use this properly. While the series in first two episodes leave many question unanswered, resolution of those episodes feature unconvincing happy endings that are more in line with 1960s conventions of US television. The Fugitive, while trying to be more faithful to the original series than a film, tried to look differently, often using authentic locations during season with plots taking place all over America. Location shooting made it more expensive, leading to cancellation after one season and ending with unresolved cliffhanger.
RATING: 3/10 (+)
Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com
Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/
Leofinance blog https://leofinance.io/@drax.leo
Cent profile https://beta.cent.co/@drax
Minds profile https://www.minds.com/drax_rp_nc
Uptrennd profile https://www.uptrennd.com/user/MTYzNA
Unstoppable Domains: https://unstoppabledomains.com/?ref=3fc23fc42c1b417
Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax
Bitcoin Lightning HIVE donations: https://v4v.app/v1/lnurlp/qrcode/drax
Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax
1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e
BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG
ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
