The Making of The Fugitive was a Sh*t Show

Chasing Harrison Ford without a script is hard. Let’s talk about how difficult it was to make The Fugitive, from nearly every actor making up all their lines to VFX artists barred from talking about their effects work.

In the entertainment world, there are millions of dollars on the line and troubled productions are bound to happen. Whether it's big egos, bigger budgets, or just plain bad luck, we are going behind-the-scenes on these disastrous, never ending, and sometimes dangerous productions. From the creators of WTF Happened To This Movie?, It Was A Sh*t Show is a video essay/documentary/podcast series looking at some of your favorite films and tv shows, and why they were such a nightmare to make.

Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
00:24 - Historic Ratings of ABC's The Fugitive
01:19 - Arnold Kopelson Attempts Adaption
02:25 - Walter Hill and Alec Baldwin
03:25 - David Twohy Lays the Groundwork
04:34 - Jeb Stuart Helps Land Harrison Ford
05:54 - Andrew Davis' Under Siege
06:38 - Picking Chicago & Tommy Lee Jones
08:01 - Adding Julianne Moore & Michael Chapman
08:52 - ...and Cutting Julianne Moore
09:38 - Faking a Train Wreck
11:25 - Making a Trailer Before a Movie
12:17 - Ford Limps Throughout
13:24 - The Cast's Big Budget Improv
15:31 - Jones Refuses to Shoot
16:22 - Crashing the St. Patrick's Day Parade
17:10 - Finally Coming Up with a Finale
18:04 - R.I.P. Richard Jordan
18:44 - Editing the Film in 10 Weeks
19:48 - The Fugitive Releases August 6, 1993
21:05 - We Just Want Good Movies!

Sources:

Featured Footage:
48 Hrs. (1982)
The Addams Family (1991)
Air (2023)
Aliens (1986)
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Barbie (2023)
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
The Beverly Hillbillies (1993)
The Big Bang Theory (2007–2019)
Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020)
BlackBerry (2023)
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013–2021)
Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
The Arrival (1996)*
Deadpool (2016)
Die Hard (1988)
Dragnet (1987)
Extreme Prejudice (1987)*
Fantastic Four (2005)
Fearless (1993)
Flamin' Hot (2023)
The Fugitive (1993)*
Game of Thrones (2011–2019)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
Iron Man (2008)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
The Italian Job (2003)
Jaws (1975)
John Mulaney: The Comeback Kid (2015)
Jurassic Park III (2001)
Justice League (2017)
Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)
M*A*S*H (1972–1983)
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
The Mosquito Coast (1986)
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
Oppenheimer (2023)
Patriot Games (1992)
Platoon (1986)
Porky's (1981)
Quantum of Solace (2008)
Raging Bull (1980)
Red Heat (1988)
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Scrubs (2001–2010)
Streets of Fire (1984)
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Tetris (2023)
Under Siege (1992)
The Warriors (1979)
Wayne's World (1992)
Witness (1985)
*and special features

Music:
James Newton Howard - The Fugitive original soundtrack
Ryan Hudson - Sh*t Show Theme

#itwasashtshow #thefugitive #harrisonford

[patrickmullane]

I was one of the 16 assistant editors on The Fugitive. You brought up so many memories I forgot about. Thanks. It was a wild ride.❤

[cattysplat]

"70% of the dialog was improvised." Somehow I think this is what made The Fugitive such a great film, you get to see the essence of these actors for themselves!

[Minotaur_]

I can't believe this had a troubled production. This looks like a perfect movie, which had a solid plan

[delaware]

In the Operating Room scene, Harrison Ford enters and is greeted by the surgeon, played by Jim McKinsey MD. Ford and McKinsey knew each other, as Ford had observed McKinsey and Dr. Bruce Gewertz, both vascular surgeons, to research the part. In the movie, McKinsey greets Ford by calling him "Harrison" instead of the character's name, "Richard, " and they left it in the final cut. Listen carefully, and you can catch McKinsey's flubbed line.

[XOXOX]

Worked on the post crew - arrived on The Lot late May, introduced to a few people and then handed a stack of about 14 vhs tapes. Checked into my to my hotel and watched an almost 4 hour cut of The Fugitive. It was awesome.

Always wish Andy could put out a Director’s Cut showing that beast.
A few fairly substantial subplots were cut that were only winked at in order to make the 2 hour runtime.

Post was massive and lots of great people worked with only one weekend of break.
Outstanding experience.

The thrill of later watching it in a theater and when the audience was on it’s feet cheering as the train crashed... to have contributed to making something so powerful is amazing ....getting goosebumps writing this.

[kpsk]

Demanding a love interest for Kimble while he is mourning his murdered wife must be in the Top3 of "Dumbest studio mandates of all time".

[martijn_yt]

You watch the movie and think:
'Great script, very well written, beautiful natural dialog, very nice pacing, great tension arc, and a very satisfying ending.
They really thought this one and put a lot of effort in it'

...and then you see this video 😂

[hawnick]

This blows my mind because the movie is SO good. Props to the actors for coming up with fantastic dialogue on the fly.

[knightterror]

I still stand by that Jones deserved the Oscar that year. Due to the appropriately subdued nature of Ford's performance, Jones really had to bring a very jovial, sly, engaging performance to keep the film somewhat upbeat, or else it would quickly become a dull discouraging slog of Kimble being desperate and miserable. His performance in the film elevated what would have been a good movie into a great one.

[HartleySan]

This is amazing. I would have never guessed. The people pursuing Harrison Ford making up almost all of that dialogue is absolutely amazing. I love this movie even more now.

[MrHam]

The Fugitive is such a rewatchable movie. Might not be the greatest movie ever, but it’s certainly one of the most entertaining.

[ScottFairley]

The improvised dialogue, especially among the Marshals, is really what makes the movie so memorable. It'd still be good with more paint-by-numbers writing, but those scenes with the Marshals are actually entertaining as a result rather than just filling time between chase/action scenes.

10/10 film. Will drop everything to finish it if I ever catch it on TV.

[chrisklecker]

I always wonder why the dialog seemed so "pure" and authentic. That is you actually believe that each character was unique as if someone else wrote each of the character's lines. Now I see that each character just wrote their lines themselves and that's why the chemistry seems so solid.

[SpudSpudoni]

The shining achievement of The Fugitive is in its incredibly authentic banter between the US Marshalls. They feel real and the dialogue does a lot to break the tension and make you care for the characters. Ad-libing that dialogue makes sense, but its absolutely incredible that the actors were in a position to essentially create their own characters on the spot and roll with that through shooting.

[tswrench]

As a screenwriter, I've always felt that when a good movie is made, it's really nothing short of a miracle.

I loved this movie after paying to see it twice when it was released--and I love it even more now after having seen the miracle unfold throughout the making of it.

[anilachar]

30 years ago, a friend and I would watch this movie twice in the same theater, over two consecutive days!
One of the slowly dying genre of analogue action movies, where the script, tight direction, freezing Chicago grey weather and totally believable actors made it an instant hit, and still has a repeat watchable factor!

[benjaminfenty]

I never would've guessed The Fugitive had such a troubled production. The final product was a really good action movie with excellent performances. Great video my dude! 👍

[pawacoteng]

Very underrated aspect of The Fugitive - the score. Absolute gem.

[iantaylor]

Harrison Ford and Deforest Kelley’s performances inspired me to become a doctor. This film is one of my top 10. I had no idea it was such a struggle. Excellent video

[edbrewington]

The Fugitive was one of my favorite movies. I did not know they didn't have a script, but they sure proved that making it up as you go was absolutely entertaining.