With 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, Harrison Ford’s Highest-Rated Movie Isn’t What You Think

There are countless roles you think of when you think of Harrison Ford, like Indiana Jones, Han Solo, President Red Hulk, or maybe even Dr. Paul Rhoades from Shrinking. Surprisingly, though, none of those come from Ford’s highest-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s not Star Wars, or any Indiana Jones movie, or even Captain America: Brave New World (okay, it’s obviously not that one). As a matter of fact, with a 96 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Ford’s highest-rated movie is actually The Fugitive.

Directed by Andrew Davis and released in 1993, The Fugitive was a huge hit when it came out. It made more than $350 million and earned a Best Supporting Actor award for Tommy Lee Jones at that year’s Oscars. It was even nominated for Best Picture, but it… didn’t even remotely stand a chance. The winner was actually a little Steven Spielberg picture called Schindler’s List, which remains the kind of cultural juggernaut that a movie like The Fugitive can't really compete with.

Who Does Harrison Ford Play in ‘The Fugitive’?

In The Fugitive (based on the ‘60s show of the same name), Ford plays Dr. Richard Kimble, a man who is arrested for killing his wife. Despite insisting that he didn’t do it and that the real killer was a one-armed man, he is convicted and sentenced to death. While being transported to jail, Kimble joins a group of escaping prisoners and goes on the run — but not before stopping to help an injured officer, laying the groundwork for the eventual reveal that he is, in fact, a good guy.

Tommy Lee Jones then comes in Deputy U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard, who launches an exhaustive manhunt for Kimble. In the film’s most iconic scene, Gerard chases Kimble through a storm drain that ends at a big opening over a steep dam. WIth his back against the proverbial wall, Kimble once again insists that he didn’t kill his wife, prompting Gerard to respond (in a line delivery that likely won Jones the Oscar): “I don’t care.” Then Kimble jumps.

Is ‘The Fugitive’ Connected to ‘U.S. Marshals’?

In 1998, film editor Stuart Baird directed U.S. Marshals, a sequel/spin-off of The Fugitive that focuses on Tommy Lee Jones’ character and features a handful of returning actors from the previous movie. There’s no Harrison Ford, but Wesley Snipes and Robert Downey Jr. join the cast, and they’re not so bad — though it’s worth noting that this wasn’t a particularly good era for Downey, who was in the relatively early years of a long and very public struggle with drug addiction at the time.

U.S. Marshals doesn’t have the same stellar reputation as The Fugitive and holds only a 31 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. It also made a lot less money than the first movie and effectively killed what could’ve been a Fugitive cinematic universe (imagine Robert Downey Jr. doing that sort of thing). Then again, “The FCU” is kind of an unfortunate acronym. Maybe it’s all for the best.