The Fugitive 4K Blu-ray (30th Anniversary Edition) (original) (raw)

30th Anniversary Edition / 4K Ultra HD Warner Bros. | 1993 | 130 min | Rated PG-13 | Nov 21, 2023

| | | VideoCodec: HEVC / H.265 (67.29 Mbps)Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)HDR: HDR10Aspect ratio: 1.85:1Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1 Audio English: Dolby AtmosEnglish: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)French (Canada): Dolby Digital 2.0French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (more) English: Dolby AtmosEnglish: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)French (Canada): Dolby Digital 2.0French: Dolby Digital 5.1German: Dolby Digital 5.1Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 (less) Subtitles English SDH, French, German SDH, Italian SDH, Spanish, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish (more) English SDH, French, German SDH, Italian SDH, Spanish, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Swedish (less) Discs4K Ultra HDBlu-ray DiscSingle disc (1 BD-100) DigitalDigital copy expiredDigital 4KMovies Anywhere, VuduPackaging Slipcover in original pressingPlayback4K Blu-ray: Region free | | PriceList price: $19.61Amazon: $13.93 (Save 29%) New from: $13.93 (Save 29%) In Stock Movie rating 1304 ratings. **96%**popularity | | - | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |

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The Fugitive 4K Blu-ray Review

I care, Tommy Lee. 𝘐 care.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III, November 17, 2023

Now celebrating its 30th anniversary, Andrew Davis' endlessly watchable The Fugitive remains a true career highlight for all involved. It's a crackling thriller with an excellent cast, great cinematography, perfect pacing, and a fine original score by James Newton Howard. Warner Bros.' welcome new 4K UHD release ups the ante from their already-terrific 20th Anniversary Blu-ray, which paired a quality technical presentation with a handful of retrospective bonus features. This edition brings back most of those supplements and bolsters the A/V experience with a new director-supervised 4K transfer and Dolby Atmos mix, which makes this more of a total replacement than a companion disc.

For a synopsis and appreciation of The Fugitive, please see Michael Reuben's review of the 20th Anniversary Blu-ray linked above. I couldn't agree more -- this is top-tier entertainment from start to finish. Case in point: I last watched this movie just a week or two before the 4K release was announced and couldn't wait to pop it in yet again.)

The Fugitive 4K Blu-ray, Video Quality 4K

1080p

NOTE: This review's screenshots are sourced from the separately-available 20th Anniversary Blu-ray.

I'll admit to being skeptical of Warner Bros.' new 4K "restoration" of The Fugitive for two reasons: director-approved (and even cinematographer-approved) transfers occasionally take liberties with the source material's tone and texture, and this UHD release's almost monochromatic blue-tinted cover artwork hinted at a potential color regrade to align it with modern trends. I'm happy to report that its new 2160p, HDR-enhanced picture suffers from no such drawbacks*, with a very clean, stable, and organic appearance that plays nice and smooth on this triple-layered disc. And before you balk at my use of the word "smooth", let it be known that The Fugitive's original grain structure seems to be perfectly intact here: not only was this never a particularly grainy-looking production, but scans of the camera negative rarely yield high grain levels with the exception of specific film stocks and formats like nitrate or 16mm.

As such, The Fugitive's sporadically chilly and "urban naturalist"-style cinematography by Michael Chapman (outlined in Michael Reuben's review of the 20th Anniversary Blu-ray, linked above) is given full room to breathe here, as the newer scan of its source elements and efficient UHD disc encoding yield consistently satisfying results that appear authentic to what audiences may have seen during original theatrical showings. It's clean as a whistle but with higher levels of fine detail and tangible textures, both from the bump to 4K resolution and more careful treatment of those aforementioned grain levels. A few nighttime scenes and establishing shots are perhaps a bit overtaken by said grain and even a bit of noise, but for my money that's preferable to a scrubbed appearance that compromises its original look.

The 4K disc's HDR10 enhancement comes into play at specific but mostly important moments. Stronger color values such as the bold prison uniforms, police lights, and urban signage show a bit more variety and subtle gradient detail, while the better-managed contrast values reveal deeper shadows, brighter light sources, and bolster a few of the more expressively-shot moments while avoiding the almost inevitable blooming or black crush that might arrive with a less dialed-in SDR presentation. The Fugitive is not a particularly colorful or "showy" film during most of its luxurious 130-minute runtime -- opting for more of a natural and typically slightly cool Earth-toned palette in line with its setting and season, as mentioned above -- but these bolder pockets are appreciated, adding a bit of punch and visual interest to the visual proceedings without sticking out like a sore thumb or standing opposed to the late cinematographer's intent. Those with smaller displays might not be able to describe it as a night-and-day improvement over the earlier Blu-ray, but on the right setup fans will overwhelmingly enjoy The Fugitive's makeover to its fullest extent.

* - There are few very brief moments which appear slightly different in color from past editions; for example, the short flashbacks of Kimble's wife on that fateful night, which were previously close to true black-and-white but now look to be tinted slightly cooler. It's not distracting and in no way reeks of heavy color revisionism, but still worth noting.

The Fugitive 4K Blu-ray, Audio Quality

Even in its most ambitious moments, Warner Bros.' new Dolby Atmos mix doesn't offer a night-and-day improvement over its already-outstanding DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix which, to the studio's credit, is included here as a secondary audio option. But that doesn't make it any less of a demo-worthy track with a formidable sonic presence, strong use of the discrete channels, and a smoothly controlled sound stage that deftly mixes clean dialogue, crisp sound effects, and plenty of support for James Newton Howard's terrific original score. Sure, the Dolby Atmos obviously plays a bit tighter thanks to its object-based format as well as sparing but sensible use of the height channels for elements like helicopter flyovers, the rooftop climax, and towering ambiance within larger buildings (as well as a more robust low end, at least to my ears), but anyone not yet equipped for Atmos won't exactly be getting half the story as The Fugitive has always been a sonically impressive film that's not just impressive during that infamous train wreck. But the fact that we have two separate options, both of which are excellent, leaves room for no other score but a perfect 5/5.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during the main feature and most of the extras below.

The Fugitive 4K Blu-ray, Special Features and Extras

This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with new collage-style cover artwork, a matching metallic slipcover, and a Digital Copy redemption code. Its bonus features are mostly identical to the 20th Anniversary Blu-ray, although the 2000 TV pilot starring Tim Daly and Mykelti Williamson is not included this time around. For more information of all of them, please see both the linked review above and Marty Liebman's review of the 2006 Blu-ray.

• Introduction by director Andrew Davis, Harrison Ford, and Tommy Lee Jones (1:52)
• Audio Commentary with Andrew Davis and Tommy Lee Jones
• The Fugitive: Thrill of the Chase (28:21)
• Derailed: Anatomy of a Train Wreck (8:55)
• On the Run with The Fugitive (23:06)
• Theatrical Trailer (2:02)

The Fugitive 4K Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation

Andrew Davis' The Fugitive turns 30 this year but still feels fresh and engaging with great performances, a rock-solid pace, excellent cinematography, and of course a gripping story. I usually hate the phrase "they don't make 'em like this anymore" but the sturdy, back-to-basics approach works tremendously well here and helps The Fugitive remain a genre standout. WB's welcome 4K UHD edition replaces their already-fine 20th Anniversary Blu-ray with an across-the-board A/V upgrade and most of its existing bonus content. Highly Recommended to fans and first-timers alike.

The Fugitive: Other Editions

4K SteelBook1-discBest Buy	Blu-ray1-disc	Blu-ray1-disc**$8.53**

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The Fugitive 4K Blu-ray, News and Updates

• Reviewers: The Best of 2023 - Part 1

- December 22, 2023

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and all the good wishes that fall in between! With Amazon gift cards, checks from grandma and cash aplenty floating around, it's that time of year: a look at our reviewers' favorite titles of the year. A veritable Best of the Best ...

• The Fugitive 30th Anniversary 4K Blu-ray (UPDATED) - October 4, 2023

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will celebrate the 30th anniversary of Andrew Davis' The Fugitive (1993) with a brand new 4K Blu-ray release, which will be available for purchase on November 21.

• Warner Sends The Fugitive Back to the Big Screen - May 12, 2015

Warner Bros. is set to produce a new installment of The Fugitive, which will be based on a script by Christina Hodson (Shut In).

» Show more related news posts for The Fugitive 4K Blu-ray

Movie Discussions

| | Topic | Replies | Last post | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- | ------------ | | • The Fugitive Sequel/Reboot - WB Doing New Film in the Series | 47 | Jan 16, 2020 | | • The Fugitive (Remake starring Kiefer Sutherland) | 23 | Jul 24, 2020 | | • Harrison Ford Turns 80: From �TESB� to �The Fugitive,� His 10 Greatest... | 14 | Jul 14, 2022 | | • The Fugitive: Complete Series | 5 | Mar 31, 2015 | | • The Fugitive TV Series and issues with DVD releases | 0 | Jan 16, 2026 |

4K Ultra HD

North America Blu-ray Discussions

| | Topic | Replies | Last post | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------- | ------------ | | • The Fugitive (1993) (20th Anniversary Edition) (Official Thread) | 879 | Jul 27, 2023 | | • The Fugitive (Official Thread) | 61 | May 08, 2013 | | • WB: Outland Remaster Done - July 10 Review, The Fugitive Being Remaste... | 127 | May 16, 2013 | | • The Fugitive - Silent Re-repressing with VC-1 instead of MPEG-2? | 95 | Jun 24, 2011 | | • The Fugitive | 71 | Jan 31, 2014 | | • Total Recall, The Fugitive PQ? | 19 | Jan 09, 2009 | | • The Fugitive Kind (1960) | 9 | Aug 14, 2022 | | • Question about The Fugitive transfer... | 7 | Apr 14, 2012 | | • The Fugitive (1993) BD | 7 | May 06, 2011 | | • West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty (1979) | 4 | Jun 16, 2026 |

International Blu-ray Discussions

| | Topic | Replies | Last post | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------ | ------------ | | | • The Fugitive / U.S. Marshals (Fugitive IS remaster... (Official Thread) | 44 | Apr 23, 2017 | | | • The Fugitive (1993) | 10 | Sep 21, 2016 | | • Anyone have the Japanese release of The Fugitive? | 0 | Feb 24, 2009 | |

Packaging Discussions

| | $20.41 -$2.5841 min ago $12.99 -$3.1341 min ago $21.67 -$4.281 hour ago $6.99 -$31 hour ago $27.78 -$2.712 hours ago $26.99 -$5.292 hours ago Show new deals » | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |

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