The Fugitive, Season Two Volume 1 - Reviews

Originally Posted by Carabimero

Regarding ESCAPE TO BLACK, that train was smoking along, man. Even if Gerard orders it stopped, that will take a minimum of at least 5 seconds for the order to be given and the cable pulled. It would then take several seconds for the train to slow enough for the cops to get off. They would be A LONG WAY from Kimble with no clue which way he's headed. Sure, Gerard could've tried it, but Kimble has escaped much tougher scrapes than that.

Gerard knows Kimble won that round.

Originally Posted by Paul Mavis

I've never posted here before, but I've always enjoyed reading everybody's opinions here. But since part of this post was directed at me -- with a tone of anger -- I thought maybe I should reply.

As I said in the forum post that accompanies my review (you can view it by clicking the "Discuss" button on the review), I don't like this situation any more than anybody else. I'm not "for" cutting out original music cues. Just because I don't mention those cuts -- specifically because I didn't have any concrete information on them when I wrote the review -- doesn't mean I endorse them.

If your point then is to somehow upbraid me for calling myself a "Fugitive fanatic" and not detailing the music cuts, that sounds more to me like a potential pissing contest on a forum, of which I'm all too familiar with from other reviews I've written. I've never said I'm an "expert" on the show. I haven't seen the episodes since they aired back in the early 90s on A&E. And I don't have an encyclopedic memory of each and every one of them. Far from it. In many ways, I feel like I'm rediscovering this series all over again -- and I want to share that enthusiasm with new viewers, as well.

Is it "right" or "fair" that the studios cut out this music? From an aesthetic standpoint, absolutely not. But from a financial one? I don't know; I don't know the facts in this particular case. I like to bitch about studio stupidity myself (I hate the split-seasons, and I say so in my reviews), but I also know that many of these decisions are strictly money-related. I know it feels good to demand that these studios do what we say, but that's not reality. And it wasn't reality when The Fugitive was first broadcast. Everybody who worked on that show did so to make money. Yours and my experience of the show may be outside that realization, but money certainly was -- and is -- the only factor driving television production. It's a nasty fact, but true. They didn't make The Fugitive first for "art's sake." They made it to sell soap.

And now they're selling it again on DVD -- for money. It may offend our aesthetic grasp of the show, to view it in those terms, but that's reality. We may want to say, "How dare you do this to a show I love?" and we may feel like something that was important to us was "ruined," but we don't "own" that experience alone. That "experience" of course was bought and paid for by moneymen. And they have the right to do what they want with that product. Often times, the tone of these posts is one of the studios doing this on purpose. I don't think so. They're businesspeople. They want to make as much money as possible, with as little outlay as possible. If they thought shelling out a lot of money for music rights would give them X-amount of dollars, they'd do so. Perhaps they can't in this situation; perhaps the rights to the music is tied up by a relative or copyright holder who is holding up the studio for more dough -- money that wouldn't be made back with the relatively small sales of The Fugitive as compared to the latest Hollywood blockbuster on DVD.

As I say in my review, the reverse of that is the power the consumer has: if you don't like it, don't buy it. I come down on the side of wanting as many people as possible to see this brilliant show -- even in a compromised format. Is it perfect the way it is? No. But enough is there that's valuable (and far better than anything on TV today), so people should see it. Especially people new to vintage TV, who may be resistent to watching "old black and white."

You mention The Beatles being supplanted with The Monkees on a CD. That's not an apt comparison at all here. There's more to The Fugitive than just music; you're watching, obviously, pictures, too. You're listening to well-crafted dialogue and watching exciting, moving performances. All of that would be lost if we just said, "Don't watch it; the music is different." As a film reviewer for over 25 years, I grew up watching classic motion pictures on TV -- regular broadcast TV, before cable, before VCRs -- with commercials and cropped images "ruining" films. We didn't know any better, but it certainly didn't "spoil" those experiences. It was still meaningful to watch them, even in their compromised form. And it gave me my love of movies.

If I take your argument to its logical conclusion, I could say that nobody should watch vintage TV shows in any format today...other than on an analog signal sent over the airwaves, to be received on your black and white tube-filled TV. No DVDs. No videos. And put the constant commercial breaks back, too. Because that's how The Fugitive was originally shown and viewed by its audience. If you really believe that absolute fidelity to the aesthetic experience is mandatory, than DVDs -- even those with complete episodes with no cuts -- are still a compromise to the original experience, and therefore, unworthy of anyone's time.

Obviously, I'm exaggerating to make a point, but not by much. If Paramount pulled the music from The Fugitive, it was for a reason -- financial, legal, who knows. I'm not sure they did it just to piss you off; otherwise, why go to all the trouble of restoring the picture? They could have saved even more money, and screwed you over there, too. So, perhaps, it was out of their control. Who knows. But one thing I've never seen in any of these forums bashing the studios, is anyone commenting on the composers or copyright holders who ask outrageous amounts for licensing fees, thereby assuring themselves of getting kicked off the DVDs? That does happen, and perhaps that happened here. Again, we don't know. But I think enough of what is on The Fugitive Second Season Volume I DVDs is important enough for viewers to see -- compromised or not.

Paul Mavis
DVDTalk.com
Online Film Critics Society

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein

Kylan,

Welcome aboard!

I am certain you found this thread very interesting.

You may find people's reactions to be "unbelievable" and may
not personally care about what was done to this release.

Just keep in the back of your mind that one day a favorite
show of yours may be affected in the same manner. This sort
of thing does not happen often, but when it does, we sympathize
with fans because all of us would hope that the studios would be
a little more forthcoming as to why changes had to be made. In
doing so, it at least leaves angry fans with some sort of explanation.

Originally Posted by TravisR

I feel bad for Gary "insert quote here" OS. The poor guy went on vacation just before this thread started and when he gets back and reads this thread, he's gonna need another vacation.

Originally Posted by TravisR

I feel bad for Gary "insert quote here" OS. The poor guy went on vacation just before this thread started and when he gets back and reads this thread, he's gonna need another vacation.

Originally Posted by Dave L (TSoD)

I think you speak for all of us, Cees. I haven't found ANYONE saying that this is a good situation. People are just reacting on different levels. The disagreement really seems to actually be about people who react in one manner, and getting upset because others aren't reacting the exact same way they are!

That goes both ways, by the way: I'm just as guilty for thinking that everyone ought to react the same "rational"-ish way I have. Naturally, everybody reacts according to their experiences and personalities. There needs to be tolerance and understanding of that. But I think we can also agree that some have taken their chosen methods too far, though. 'Nuff said about that.

Originally Posted by Harry-N

I've thought often of our friend Gary "insert quote here" OS as we've wound our way slowly through this thread. Hopefully, he'll be OK and make it through unharmed!

Harry

Originally Posted by Jeff Willis

Harry, Thanks on behalf of Gary

Originally Posted by chas speed

The studio has done a great job of covering it up. The reviews don't mention it and most online sites refuse to cover the story. The studio has also seemed to have struck gold with their current "email defense".