James Newton Howard -- The Fugitive (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

5/10

Let me make something clear: the actual score that James Newton Howard composed for the now twenty-year old classic film, The Fugitive, is excellent. I love that film, and I love its music. You won't find a lot of it on Elektra's 1993 soundtrack release for the film, though. Portions of this album's paltry 40-minute run-time aren't even found in the film...I'm not even sure why they are included here. The weary theme that runs throughout the film? It gets briefly teased in track three, "Kimble Dyes His Hair," and then doesn't play in its entirety until the final track. Never mind the fact that variations of it run throughout the majority of the film. This disc does include some of the awesome saxophone and percussion work found in the film, but it is greatly condensed and without any context. I'm getting angry just typing about it.
Thankfully, La-La Land Records released a new version of the soundtrack that includes ALL of the music found in the film, properly sequenced. Unfortunately, though, it looks like a lot of people agreed with my assessment of this 1993 Elektra release--the newer soundtrack is already out of print. Bummer.
Harrison Ford deserves better!

1993 Elektra
1. The Fugitive (Main Title) 3:48
2. The Storm Drain 4:23
3. Kimble Dyes His Hair 4:21
4. Helicopter Chase 4:48
5. The Fugitive Theme 3:03
6. Subway Fight 2:27
7. Kimble Returns 3:08
8. No Press 4:56
9. Stairway Chase 2:29
10. Sykes' Apt. 4:17
11. It's Over 3:40