Conference bookie::movies

    I may be completly off base but it seems to me that the coming
    attractions show off all the best scenes.  No, I haven't seen the movie
    but how many good scenes could they have? My experience says the more 
    they show in the coming attractions the worse the movie is??  This could 
    me a whole new note?
    
    			Bart

    I do not think it is fair to say the worst movies come out in August, I
    think that the more adult orienated(sp?) movies come at the end of the
    peak season.  The summer comes to a close, students get ready to go
    back to school and the main blockbusters tend to die down around this
    time. 
    

    The old series, The Fugitive, is shown in repeats daily on the A&E 
    cable channel. David Jannsen starred as Dr. Richard Kimball, the
    Harrison Ford role in the movie. Barry <mumble> played the Tommy Lee
    Jones role, the policeman determined to recapture Dr. Kimball. 
    
    The final episode of the series is available on video. Until the final 
    episode of MASH it held the record for number of viewers of a single 
    TV show. 
    
    Linda

    
    	Wonder why they went with the "role reversal" for these 2 guys,
    	seeing as they seem to be playing the role most associated with
    	the other.
    
    							GTI
    

    re .4, because The Fugitive, in this case, is still "the good guy"? 
    So, really, in this case, Harrison Ford is still playing the good guy,
    and Tommy Lee Jones is still playing the bad guy.  
    
    Lorna
    

    Linda, I recently called Columbia House Video's and they said
    they DO NOT have the series.....WHERE did you get the final
    episode of the series ?????!!!   Want to get this for my FOLKs!!!
    
    Marilyn

    I got the final episode at my local Blockbuster (Dallas) at a clearance
    sale for $5.00.
    
    Catherine
    

    I got mine at Suncoast Video in the Pheasant Lane Mall or Burlington
    Mall. It was about $15. 
    
    Linda

    As to who's the "good guy" and who's "the bad guy" - the classic thing
    about "The Fugitive" was that both of 'em were "good guys," the
    fugitive trying to stay free long enough to bring the killer to justice
    and clear his name, and the detective trying to bring (who he thought
    was) the killer to justice... made for a nice conflict. 
    
    [Interesting historical footnote: this story was based on a true
    incident, the trial of one Dr. Sam Shepard, who was accused of the
    murder of his wife. I don't recall how much of a fugitive he was, but
    eventually he wound up in jail - and then, years later, got a re-trial,
    in which he was found not guilty, thus apparently justifying his claims
    of innocence. *But*... later incidents, including his relationship with
    the woman he married after his acquittal, suggest that perhaps he
    wasn't so innocent after all... He died some years back, leaving some
    people convinced that there's still a mystery there.]
    
    None of this has to do with the movie, of course, which need not bear
    much similarity to the original story or to the TV series. Whether it's
    a good movie in its own right, we shall have to wait to find out...
    
    -b

re                       <<< Note 256.3 by 28236::GIBSON >>>
                      -< Can see the old series on cable >-

   > Barry <mumble> played the Tommy Lee
   > Jones role, the policeman determined to recapture Dr. Kimball. 

Barry Morse, I believe.
    

    NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MOVIE!!!!!  (had to say that..... sorry)
    
    I graduated from the same High School as Sam Shepard... and my maiden
    name was Shepherd.....
    
    He was many many MANY years ahead of me!!!!!  I was just a baby when he
    killed/didn't kill his wife!
    
    M-L

RE    <<< Note 256.10 by 8269::BARRIANO "choke me in the shallow water..." >>>

>   > Barry <mumble> played the Tommy Lee
>   > Jones role, the policeman determined to recapture Dr. Kimball. 
>
>Barry Morse, I believe.
    
  Yes, Barry Morse played Police Lt. Phillip Gerard who was chasing David
Janson as Dr. Richard Kimble.

  Anyone remember who played the one armed man? I forget.

  That was one of my all time favorite TV show.
  George

    Just called Suncoast in Nashua NH, they only can order the
    "pilot"  the actual 13 week?? series is STILL not available.
    But thank you for the info, I at least know where to call to
    find it in the next 4 or 5 months (they are thinking of releasing
    the whole series on tape for purchase)
    
    I barely remember details (was small at the time) but I remember
    David Janssen and the Cop and  loved this weekly show.

    I think the clerk has the pilot confused with the final episode. 
    They are good about ordering special films for you. 
    
    Linda

    re: .14
    
    Maybe not -- when I was there, they had both the final episode and the
    "pilot" (first episode) on tape available for purchase.
    

re:               <<< Note 256.12 by 25415::MAIEWSKI >>>
>>  Anyone remember who played the one armed man? I forget.
    
    
    That gentleman's name was Bill Raisch.  I was a fan of the show when it
    went into afternoon syndication (I was still in school, but was out
    sick and got hooked).
    
    Somewhere at home, I have his autograph.  My mother recognized him
    while shopping (kind of hard to disguise himself) and got the signature
    for me (There had to be some benefits to growing up in Los Angeles).
    
    tom

    Well, I saw this movie. It was very good. Make sure to see it in a
    Dolby theatre. The train wreck is a classic piece of special effects.
    By the way, the train wreck is not a miniature. They used REAL trains.

The train wreck was great. The acting was good and the plot was decent. They
turned the murder into a grand conspiracy of course.

Tommy Lee Jones was great as Gerard and Ford was decent as Dr Kimball. What I
didn't like was the incredible parallels to a book called Harmful Intent by
Robin cook that I'd just finished listening to on tape. Since both were about
Doctors being falsely accused I expected them to be somewhat the same but some
of the scenes are identical. Kimball was much more intelligent than the doctor
in the book though...

The fugitive was slower paced than I thought it would be which was good. They
didn;t feel the need to fill the whole 2 hours with chase scenes. It's apparent
halfway into the film who the "bad" guy is.


Metz

  We went to see the Fugitive this weekend and it was great. My expectations
were very high since the Fugitive TV series had been one of my all time
favorites so I had this feeling that the movie would have to be outstanding for
me not to be disappointed and it was. 

  To make the movie work they had to make some changes since Lt. Detective
Phillip Gerard chased Dr. Richard Kimble all over the country during the TV
series for what had to be several years of story time. In the movie we have
U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard chasing Dr. Richard Kimble through a story that fits
very well into a feature length slot. In general, they changed what they had to
change and kept the spirit of the series where they could and in doing that
they did an excellent job. 

  I agree the train wreck was outstanding. That alone is worth the price of the
film. Jay Leno had Harrison Ford on about a week ago and asked "How did you do
that train wreck? It looked as if you took a really big train and crashed it
into a bus". Harrison replied, "we took a really big train and crashed it into
a bus". 

  At times the chases did seem intense and I felt I was watching Dr. Richard
Kimble and the Temple of Doom, but that's ok, it was lots of fun. The action
was great, the writing was great, the story and direction were great and as I
said they did an outstanding job of borrowing from the old and inventing the
new. 

  Solid ****,
  George

    Outstanding movie! Everything I liked about it has already been said...
    
    The actor who played Sam Gerald also played (with equal style and
    flair) in several other good movies that I enjoyed, Black Moon Rising,
    Firebirds, JFK, I can't think of the others, but I've liked everything
    he's done, even when I DIDN'T like the movie......
    
    I liked Harrison Ford also in Regarding Henry, The Star Wars and
    Indiana Jones trilogys, etc.
    
    MBH

    Saw this last night, and I agree with all other replies. It was great!
    It was not my first choice of movie to see, but I was very pleasantly 
    surprised. 
    
    I found it very suspenseful, even though having seen the TV series back
    in the 60's/70's I knew what would probably happen. I was still 
    caught up until the last moment.
    
    Some spoiler notes follow:
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Spoiler:
    
    I especially liked the end, where Tommy Lee Jones (Gerard) takes off
    Kimball's handcuffs, and hands him the ice pack. All through the story
    you figure he really doesn't care (like he said in the tunnel), but at 
    the end, he isn't just a marshall, doing a job, he's a human being.
    
    This is one of the most symapathetic roles I've seen Jones play.

    I just saw this last night and I enjoyed it a lot.  Action type movies
    are not my favorite type of movie, but this one really caught and held
    my attention.  It was very fast paced, and the acting by both Harrison
    Ford and Tommy Lee JOnes was excellent.  It had been a long time since
    I had seen Harrison Ford in a movie and I had forgotten what a pleasant
    experience it can be.
    
    Lorna
    

    Saw this Saturday and loved it!!  Lots of action...loved the
    flash-back sequences...Haven't seen Tommy Lee Jones in a movie
    that I liked for a long time  and in this one he was terrific
    and of course, as always Harrison Ford was superb........
    Excellant, excellant flick
    

    Saw it over the weekend and definitely agree with all the positive
    reviews in here.  Harrison Ford is terrific, but Tommy Lee Jones is
    positively outstanding!  He added many layers to Gerard's character
    that (if my memory serves correct) never appeared in the TV show.
    
    9.5 out of 10
    
    NAZZ

    
    I saw it this weekend!  I was on the edge of my seat the whole time!
    I didn't even get to catch a breath.  All the actors were super!
    Tommy Lee was great..and of coarse Harrison..what can I say!  The
    sound, f/x everything was perfect.
    
    Lkp

Saw this last Friday, thought is was pretty good.  The two main characters were
excellent.  When Harrison Ford was wading/swimming in the river, looking
thoroughly p*ssed off, I thought now here's an actor who really works for his
money, unlike so many "actors" who just want to preen themselves
two-dimensionally in front of the camera.  The characters were convincing, well
suited to their roles and the overall story, and evolved well throughout the
film.

The story was good, and the pace was right: I guessed who the bad guy was at the
same moment as Harrison worked it out, which meant (to me, at least!) that
everything was flowing as it should.  Ther next few scenese were designed to
reinforce who the bad guy was, for those who'd fallen asleep, culminating in
(IMHO) the best line in the film from TLJ: "He lied to me.  Bring him in." (or
similar).

The only flaw was in the (few) shots of explicit violence.  The film didn't need
them, they seemed superfluous and out of place.  For example, when the cop gets
hit by the girder in the laundry; to begin with, why would there be a large
girder hanging from a sliding track in a laundry room?  Second, what purpose did
it serve?  None at all that I could see, other than providing a bit of
gratuitous nastiness (from their reaction, no-one in the cinema liked it, even
though it was very obviously a stuntman wearing a reinforced mask).  Then at the
end they showed the cop being carried out alive on a stretcher, as if
apologising for that scene and saying "It's OK, he's all right really".

But overall it was well put together, I agree with an earlier noter that the
flashback scenes worked well; so often that type of thing can look confusing and
muddled.  It's a good film to watch once, but I wouldn't make a point of staying
in to watch it when it's released for TV: once you know who the bad guy is, and
what the outcome's going to be, there's not much point watching the build-up. 
That's no fault of this film, just a "fact of life" with this genre of movie.

I have one question: the trailers in UK showed a scene where Harrison Ford is
fighting with the one-armed man.  Harrison gets the gun from the other man, at
which point the other man pulls off his false hand revelaing a large gun built
into his false arm.  This scene did not appear in the film itself.  Did this
scene appear in the US version of the film?

Scott

RE     <<< Note 256.26 by 46010::MARSHALL "Spitfire Drivers Do It Topless" >>>

>The only flaw was in the (few) shots of explicit violence.  The film didn't need
>them, they seemed superfluous and out of place.  For example, when the cop gets
>hit by the girder in the laundry; 

  Just to put things into perspective, don't get scared away by claims of
excessive violence. The thing with the girder was no more violent than what you
see on TV every night. The implication above sort of leaves you feeling that
effects were used to see his head get smashed or removed which is NOT the case.
As I recall, it was just your typical Hollywood "thunk" with a guy falling
down. 

  George

>> The implication above ...

Sorry, didn't mean to imply anything of the sort!  Yes, it was a standard
Hollywood/TV "thunk", but IMVHO that doesn't mean it was justified or added
anything to the film.  Resorting to blunt violence for cheap thrills, whether
they be thunks or gore, spoils otherwise good films for me...

To set the record straight, no the film doesn't have excessive violence.  The
small amount of violence. mostly gunshots, is handled in a calm, non-explicit
way, and is only there when necessary for the rest of the film (eg the bus
driver gets shot which is why the bus crashes and Harrison gets free).

The film is good enough not to need violence or any other tricks.  Compare to
Jurassic Park, which consists of good special effects, and the continual threat
of (plus occasional actual) dinosaurs chomping people, but nothing else.  Take
away those two and you're left with a ridiculous plot, naff script and
grotesquely stereotyped characters.

That's the true test of a good film (IMHO), which is why the Fugitive is so good
and why I made the comment that it didn't need the (seemingly compulsory these
days) embellishments of a few thunks here and there.

Scott

    
    Re. "violence" in The Fugtive
    
    	I seen this film a couple of weeks ago, and I prefered it to
    Patriot Games. Both films try to have an action film based on plot
    rather than visual violence, but I always felt that the end of Patriot
    Games implied that they didn't have enough confidence to totaly carry
    it off. The Fugitive, possibly because Patriot Games had already partly
    paved the way for the non-violent action film, seems to have the
    courage to take it further.
    
    	Both good films, but this one is better...
    
    Graham.

I just saw this movie and it was superb.

<spoiler following!!>

I'm not 100% certain why Helen, the wife, was the one who was murdered. It
seems to appear that the entire scheme was to frame Dr. Kimble so that he
wouldn't continue to interfere with the patent. However, they couldn't be sure
he'd get the death penalty, and even so he could still interfere during the
appeals phase (which could take years), and it would have been so much easier
just to kill Dr. Kimble.

Thanks,

Cb.

 

Re: .30


But it was Dr Kimble who was the target - the wife got in the way - the 
frame-up happened because it was Helen and not her hubby who got killed.

That was all established when he discovered that the liver samples had been 
exchanged.

    
    well no.......
    
    was'nt HF deliberately called away on his portable phone to do an
    operation in order that he was out of the house. Or at least that was
    what I thought.......
    
    Marvelous film. Loved HF and TLJ. Rather different from TLJ in JFK. OK.

    For those who've already seen it:
    
    If you enjoyed this on the big screen, consider renting the video some
    rainy day. It's worth a second look on TV. You lose a lot of the
    spectacle like the train wreck and the "YAH-HOO-Hoo-hoo-hoo" off the top
    of the dam, but you've already seen that once. Instead we got to know
    Tommy Lee Jones' group better and saw a number of "bits" we missed the
    first time around. Worthwhile.
    
      John

    Don't have to rent it, bought it from Fred Meyers for $14.99
    
    	Not a bad buy in my book!
    
    Michael
    

    
    I just watched this film the other day and I have to say that I really
    really enjoyed it. It wasn't predictable (in my book) until they wanted
    you to know who the bad guy was and Tommy Lee Jones played an EXCELLENT 
    part. He had great lines and delivered them perfectly (IMO). 
    
    The girder hanging in the Laundry room (which was refered to in earlier 
    replys) was really not totally out of place because by that point they
    had moved away from the laundry area and were weaving in and out of 
    maintenance areas and they were finishing off that room in the
    building.  The scene which was just prior to that was where I thought
    it was a little thin.
    
    
    
     When Kimble is running from the subway heading for the dinner party 
    and the subway cops are following him... 
    
     He actually had quite a bit head start on the subway cops and I
    would've thought that Kimble would've lost them. They had no reason to
    think that's where he was headed but they were right on his tail the
    whole time.  I could live with it though.... It was an excellent movie 
    in my book and under-rated last year (thanks to coming out too close to 
    Jurassic Park). 
    
    
    Rp
       

    
    Great film.
    
    I'm a Ford fan (Harrison, not the cars :^)) and Tommy Lee Jones is
    usually good for an interesting film. Both are outstanding in this
    film.
    
    Possibly Ford's best film after Witness, which still takes an awful lot
    of beating in my mind.
    
    Mark

    S_COLLINS
    
    DON'T FEEL BAD (.34 ) JURRASIC PARK WAS EXTREMELY BIG. IN FACT THE 2ND
    BIGGEST IN U.S. HISTORY. BUT REMEMBER "THE FUGITIVE" IS ANOTHER HIT IN
    THE LONG LINE OF BLOCKBUSTERS FOR HARRISON FORD. NOT TO SOUND LIKE AN
    OBSESSED FAN, BUT REMEMBER LIKE I HAVE SAID BEFORE IN OTHER TOPICS,
    HARRISON FORD IS THE NUMBER ONE BOX OFFICE STAR IN THE HISTORY OF
    MOTION PICTURES. I THINK SOMEHOW HE IS UNAPPRECIATED IN THE MEDIA.
    MAYBE BECAUSE HE IS A LITTLE PLAIN. BUT HIS PLAINESS WORKS FOR HIM.
    HE IS AN EVERYMAN. EVEN THOUGH HE WAS REWARDED THE "BOX OFFICE STAR OF
    THE CENTURY" AWARD FROM THE "NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF THEATRE OWNERS. HE
    IS EXTREMELY OVERDUE FOR AN OSCAR. 
    
    ANYWAYS THE FUGITIVE WILL STICK IN PEOPLE'S MINDS FOR YEARS TO COME AS
    WILL I THINK "SHINDLERS LIST", "PULP FICTION", "DANCES WITH WOLVES" AND
    "FORREST GUMP" AS THE MOST BELOVED AND RESPECTED AMERICAN MADE FILMS OF
    THE 1990'S.