The Fugitive (soundtrack)

The Fugitive is the film score composed by James Newton Howard to the 1993 film of the same name directed by Andrew Davis, starring Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, Sela Ward, Joe Pantoliano, Andreas Katsulas and Jeroen Krabbé. The score was released on August 31, 1993, under the Elektra Records label and featured 11 tracks from Howard's score. A complete expanded edition was released through La-La Land Records on December 1, 2009.

James Newton Howard composed the film's musical score with the Hollywood Studio Symphony.^[1][2] Howard had a difficult time scoring the film, recalling, "The Fugitive really kicked my ass. When I was hired for it, I was terrified." He became more despondent after listening to Jerry Goldsmith's work, which he had been using as placeholders for scenes that needed music. Howard was not confident that he could match the quality of those temporary cues, but he refused to quit, eventually conceding that his score would be a "quasi-failure". He was particularly dissatisfied with his work on the chase scenes, believing his string arrangements were too awkward.^[3]

Elektra Records released an album featuring selections from the score on August 31, 1993. La-La Land Records later released a two-disc, expanded, and remastered edition of the score, featuring over an hour of previously unreleased music, tracks from the original soundtrack, and alternate cues.^[4][5]

Jonathan Broxton of Movie Music UK wrote "Although James Newton Howard himself didn’t think his score was Academy Award material, The Fugitive has nevertheless gone on to be regarded as one of the quintessential action scores of the composer’s career. It’s a superb work that blends languid jazz and blues with aggressive, complicated, intricate action music – a perfect combination of his own developing stylistics, and appropriate acknowledgements of the film’s own 1960s TV roots."^[6]

Christian Clemmensen of Filmtracks wrote "The Fugitive represents Howard's thriller and action mode in its early development and it's difficult to sing the praises of a score that is ultimately efficiently mundane and little more. It remains a significantly underachieving effort floated more by a superior film than vice versa."^[7] Jason Ankeny of AllMusic wrote "With a scaled-down orchestra primarily emphasizing strings and woodwinds, the music lives or dies on its rhythmic intensity, and Howard does not disappoint."^[8]

Janet Maslin of The New York Times called Howard's score "hugely effective".^[9] Leonard Klady of Variety wrote "special note is due James Newton Howard’s score, which slips in just enough hints of the TV theme to bridge the years".^[10] Duane Byrge of The Hollywood Reporter wrote "composer James Newton Howard’s propulsive score makes one feel Kimble’s pounding heart."^[11] Glen Chapman of Den of Geek wrote "The score adds to the levels of tension, as it alternates between time signatures, with orchestral passages underpinning the score, and percussion very much the primary focus [...] Even with all of those elements, the score never goes over the top, with Howard showing a deft touch for creating suspense that would serve him well later in his career."^[12]

Credits adapted from liner notes:^[13]