‘The Fugitive’

Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford, pictured) never rests, barely even stops to catch his breath. And neither does the film that capitalizes on his dilemma. This 1993 blockbuster, based on the ‘60s TV series, is a super-adrenaline stemwinder, a crisp and jolting melodrama that screws the tension so tight it does everything but squeak. Laced with breakneck chases and eye-widening stunts, “The Fugitive” succeeds because of its other qualities: intelligence and wit. Director Andrew Davis, working from a sharp script by Jeb Stuart and David Twohy, has paid attention to all the film’s characters, involving us all the more completely in the action. Tommy Lee Jones turns in an Oscar-winning performance as a fearsomely implacable and darkly humorous U.S. marshal (HBO Saturday at 8:45 p.m.).