Trivia
A destination indicator on an EL train reads "Kimball" and the next shot tracks over a building that has a sign reading "Harrison" (These are two actual Chicago locations; in addition, there are both subway and EL stops on a Harrison Street).
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Spoilers (2)
A train was actually crashed for the movie, although Kimble jumping free was a superimposed image.
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Harrison Ford damaged some ligaments in his leg during the filming of the scenes in the woods. He refused to take surgery until the end of filming so that his character would keep the limp. The limp can be seen in any subsequent scene where Richard Kimble is running.
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The train scenes were filmed in Dillsboro, North Carolina. The engine used (which was not destroyed) now pulls a dinner train. During a ride on that train, props from the making of the film can be seen, including the prison bus and the shell of the engine that crashed into the bus. Dillsboro is next to the town of Sylva, where the local hospital was used for filming the hospital scenes in the beginning of the film and the ambulance get-away.
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Harrison Ford had never seen a single episode of the TV series The Fugitive, upon which the film was based.
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Richard Kimble was played by David Janssen in the original TV series The Fugitive. His mother, Berniece Janssen, is an extra in the courtroom scene. You can spot her behind Harrison Ford's head while they play the 911 call and when he is declared guilty. She is whispering with another woman.
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According to producer Roy Huggins, Gerard's line in response to Richard Kimble's claim of innocence ("I didn't kill my wife") was originally read in the script as, "That isn't my problem." But at the request of Tommy Lee Jones, it was changed to, "I don't care."
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Rather than having to come up with a disguise for Richard Kimble, director Andrew Davis had Harrison Ford start the film with a beard, then shave it off.
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The picture of Richard Kimble on the composite from medical school is actually Harrison Ford's yearbook picture from Ripon College. He (almost) graduated in 1964, nine years before the picture was said to have been from.
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Andrew Davis only had one chance to crash the train in the train scene and had to get it right, so he consulted an array of engineers, stunt doubles, the insurance company, to try to ascertain exactly what would happen. The train was expected to crash into his bus at a speed of 35 miles per hour, but the director was in error. The train came at a speed of 42 miles per hour. Nevertheless, the scene still went exactly as planned.
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Kimble's apartment is modeled after an actual doctor that Harrison Ford and Andrew Davis met in a Chicago bar shortly before filming. Ford felt that the doctor, somewhat eccentric and reclusive, was exactly how he wanted to portray Kimble and sent the art department to see his apartment. The doctor was also treated to a drink by Ford.
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The dam used in the exterior shots is Cheoah Dam, Tapoco, Graham County, North Carolina, USA. The dam can be viewed clearly from North Carolina State Highway 129, just north of Tapoco.
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Alec Baldwin was first choice to play Dr. Richard Kimble. When he dropped out, Andy Garcia was considered for the role. Harrison Ford had previously played a role first offered to Baldwin in Patriot Games.
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To date the only remake of a regular television series to be nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award. Earlier winner Marty was a remake of a television movie of the week. Later nominee Traffic was adapted from a television miniseries.
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According to the DVD commentary, the scene in which the Chicago police interrogate Richard Kimble (Ford) was improvised.
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Richard Jordan, who was originally cast as Dr. Nichols, actually filmed some scenes with Harrison Ford before he became ill and had to drop out of the picture. These scenes had to be re-shot with Jeroen Krabbé. If you look closely at Krabbé's first scene, Ford's beard looks different because he had to regrow it for the re-shoot.
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During the St. Patrick's Day Parade, the smiling African American man in the hat is Roland Burris, then Attorney General of Illinois, and later became the Junior Senator from Illinois who filled the seat vacated by President Barack Obama.
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Dr. Kathy Waylund (played by Jane Lynch) was considered as a love interest for Richard Kimble during production. However, their relation remained platonic, as it would have looked bad for Dr. Kimble to take a new lover while avenging the death of his wife. In addition, it was thought the love scenes would have added considerable length to the film and may have ruined the pacing and tension of the story at that juncture.
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Ron Dean and Joseph F. Kosala, who play Detective Kelly and Detective Rosetti, were together in other two films previously: Code of Silence and Above the Law.
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Walter Hill wanted to direct with Nick Nolte starring, but Nolte reportedly said he was tired with action movies and too old.
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The young boy Kimble treats at Cook County Hospital is played by Joel Robinson. His real name is used in the film, as Kimble refers to him as "Joel," and his full name can briefly be seen when Kimble inspects his chart.
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While filming this movie, Harrison Ford also filmed a cameo appearance on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. This gave George Lucas the idea of making another Indiana Jones film with Ford, set in the 1950s. The beard he had grown for this film resulted in Indy being bearded in that episode as well. Appropriately, the resulting film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull also ended up featuring Neil Flynn, who played a subway cop in this film.
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Julianne Moore's brief role landed her an interview with Steven Spielberg, who would later cast her in The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
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Harrison Ford was the first actor to sign on the the film in September 1992 and personally agreed with Andrew Davis directing the film after seeing Under Siege, and being very impressed with the results.
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A lot of the film's dialogue is improvised. Jeb Stuart was the final credited writer on the film and was on set during production making up new scenes as needed.
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Walter Hill and David Giler both collaborated on a script that was ready for filming in 1990 with Hill slated to direct, but the project was then put into turn around and Hill eventually dropped out of the project altogether soon after.
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The scene where Kimble is running through the St.Patrick's Day parade was not scripted. This was a later addition by Andrew Davis. Davis who is a native of the city, really wanted to capture the parade and was granted permission from the mayor's office to film the day of the parade. All shot with a hand held steady cam.
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Originally Julianne Moore's character had a bigger role in the film even after she exposes him briefly. Kimble was to have sought her out for help and eventually fall for her. These scenes were filmed and deleted from the final cut of the film. That is, however, at the same time her name is still credited as one of the main stars of the picture.
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The helicopter chase was twice as long in the original preview cut and was edited down about 97 different times for time and pacing.
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The film was shot in 73 days and had one of the fastest turn around post-production schedules as the film was pushed up to a release date in August 1993.
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The studio and the producers of the film were extremely happy with Andrew Davis' cut of the film, (this was before he finally edited it down to its final running time of two hours and eleven minutes) and told him "It's perfect, don't touch a thing", then Davis made another 1600 edits to the film for pacing and tightening up scenes that needed to be stronger.
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Michael Douglas was considered for the role of Richard Kimble in the film's early pre-production stages.
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The idea to film in Chicago was director Andrew Davis' and the studio give him their blessing and left him alone for the duration of the shoot.
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During flashbacks to the fund raiser early in the film, a sign for the pharmaceutical company Devlin McGregor mentions their work in pediatric care. In the original The Fugitive, Dr. Kimble had been a pediatrician.
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The character of Cosmo Renfro was supposed to die in the finale of the film. However, Joe Pantoliano successfully lobbied for his character to be spared so that he may appear in a potential sequel. Pantoliano indeed got to reprise the role of Renfro in the sequel U.S. Marshals.
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As of 2012, holds the record with the biggest number of film editors nominated for the Oscar with a total of six editors. Usually, one or two (three at the tops) are nominated.
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Kimble tells Girard he is in St. Louis, on the phone at an El station. When Renfro is discussing the El train with Sam Gerard and colleagues, he states that St. Louis doesn't have an El. This movie was released one week after St. Louis' light rail system, the MetroLink, first began operation.
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Spoilers
When Kimble calls Nichols to tell him that Devlin-McGregor is behind his wife's murder, Kimble is phoning from the lobby of the University of Chicago's science library (John Crerar Library). Crerar is known for its extensive biomedical texts collection.
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Before filming began and work was continuing on the script, Andrew Davis consulted his sister (who happens to be a doctor) as to what Kimble would do to get himself sent to jail. Her answer was a drug protocol. This was the essential part of the plot that is revealed briefly during the opening sequences prior to the murder of Helen Kimble (Sela Ward), as Ford meets one of the pharmaceutical moguls (MacGregor) involved with the project. Devlin the other mogul involved is only seen in photographs. This is finally brought to light once Kimble discovers the identity of the One Armed Man and eventually to his friend.
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