Running Man

I remember renting this movie from a neighborhood video store back in 1987 or 1988. It was one of those movies that didn't interest me enough to see it when it was out in theatres. When I first saw it I thought it was fun and entertaining but too far fetched and too much gory violence. Its scary to watch it 32 years later and see how much has closer to home it hits now. An Alexa type system turns on TV and other appliances. The world economy has collapsed (Greece and other EU nations have faced similar economic crises in recent years) there are food shortages (Venezuela, the native country of Maria Conchita Alonso have empty grocery store shelves and unrest because of mass starvation). The U.S. government and the entertainment industry work in concert to keep the populace distracted by a savage reality TV show called The Running Man. Enemies of the state have no trial by jury they are merely turned over to the ruthless, scuzzy host of the show, played by Richard Dawson. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a member of the military who is railroaded by the State into participating on the show. (Keep in mind Reality TV wasnt even a concept until almost 15 years after this movie was made.) The Running Man is the #1 show on television with people caring more about the deadly cat and mouse game with the hunted actually being brutally killed on live TV with an enthusiastic studio audience cheering it on. (A chilling reminder of the desensitization of the culture in our current age of social media.) No interest in the constitution, freedom or human rights...free board games and household gadgets given away by Dawson to the audience is a much bigger draw. The movie even predicts millennial ignorance of classic TV (Gilligan's Island, is that the one with the boat? Who's Mr. Spock?)

The movie itself isn't brilliant film making or acting but 32 years on, it's not as much fun as it used to be because its too close to reality for comfort! I strongly recommend it, especially for younger viewers.

"The Running Man" is based on a story by Richard Bachman, a.k.a. Stephen King writing under pseudonym.

It takes place in the near future, where everything is run by the media and the government. Kind of like right now. In the future, there isn't much selection on television. All there is is "The Running Man"--hosted by Damon Killian (Richard Dawson, host of "Family Fortune" in real life)--a show that features convicts, or "runners" being chased by madmen, or "stalkers." It's a bit like a futuristic gladiator sport. No one ever, ever wins the show. But Schwarzenegger has yet to play. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Ben Richards, also known as The Butcher of Bakersfield, for firing upon a crowd of humans in a food strike. Only one problem. He's been framed--he never shot anyone. After Arnie escapes from jail, Damon Killian wants his hands on him for the show--so they hunt him down and bring him in. Damon offers Ben a deal--if he goes on the show, he'll let his friends from jail go free. But if he doesn't...he puts his friends on. So Richards agrees to play the game, only to find that Damon has put his friends-from-jail in the show anyway. Right before being launched in the arena, Ben Richards says to Damon, "Hey, Damon. I'll be back." There is a pause. "Only in a rerun," Damon says. Yeah, right.

This movie is about as action-packed and adrenaline-punched an action movie you're going to see in a while. We see an excuse for Schwarzenegger being thrown into an arena with killers, where he must use his brains, strategy, and most of all muscles, to kill the stalkers. But the thing is, the excuse for throwing Schwarzenegger in the arena is a good one. They didn't completely ignore the plot; they don't even throw him in the arena until at least a half hour into the film. They set up the plot first, which is nice.

Arnold proves his acting talent is not just in his muscles once again. Too many people make fun of Schwarzenegger's acting skills, but to tell you the truth, I prefer him over Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone any day. Bruce and Sly are mumblers, in my opinion. Anyway, I like Arnold in this movie, because unlike in "The Terminator" where he is an indestructible cyborg, he is a vincible human with emotions in this film. We see a different side to Schwarzenegger, and it's pretty nice.

Richard Dawson is surprisingly good as Damon. I love his charisma on screen. Of course he's good at playing a gameshow host--he himself was one--but he also has a very good acting talent. Check out the scene where he offers Arnold a deal for going on the show. Look how smug he is in that scene, and how well he delivers his lines. He envelops his character very well. An underrated actor if ever I saw one. He comes off slightly creepy and slightly likable.

This movie is good fun no matter how you slice and dice it. I've often noticed it has a bit of a weird vibe to it, but then I realized that's just the sci-fi/futuristic vibe of the film. I've felt it before when watching sci-fi films. There's something about them. When I watch a film, or a certain genre, I get different vibes. Sci-fi gives me a weird vibe that is undescribable. This film gives that vibe to me. It sounds weird, but I think a lot of people get "vibes" and don't realize it.

I recently viewed this movie twice in less than a day; once at night and once in the morning. It just goes to show how easy it is to watch. It is strictly a fun, action film with lots of imagination and charisma. Easy to watch with a high re-watch factor.

What would you rather do with 90 minutes of your life on a Friday night then watch Arnold Schwarzenegger get to knock some skulls together in a gladiator arena? Exactly.

4/5 stars -

This Arnie veichle made in his 80's heyday is one of his better ones, It's a movie based on a Stephen King book of the same name. It stars Arnie as a convicted killer (framed of course!)in the near future - Where TV is everything, He's forced to take part in a sadistic game show called 'The Running man' with an equally sadistic host played by real life game show host Richard Dawson in which convicted killers are chased by 'Stalkers' with Chainsaw's and flametorches who aim to kill the bad guys on National Live TV with the audience going wild and choosing which stalker will make their next kill to win board games and other crap, Stalkers have NEVER been killed on the show - Will Arnie & CO in their silly lycra pants kick the crap outta them? Of course they will

All in all a likeable if dated 80's Arnie Flick

My Rating 8/10

I hadn't seen "The Running Man" since it was released on VHS more than twenty-five years ago, and I decided to give it another look when I found it in my local library's DVD collection. Seeing it again, it struck me how dated it had become. Now, there are still a few good things about the movie. It's never boring, there are a few funny one- liners and gags, and there is a great performance by Richard Dawson. However, more than twenty-five years later it's surprising how much the movie resembles a 1990s direct-to-video futuristic actioner. There are precious few "wide" shots, with the camera more often than not crammed close to the actors. That's probably because much of the movie was filmed on vacant lots and abandoned warehouses with little redressing, and the few sets that were built look incredibly cheap and cheesy. And the movie is quite jokey in tone, maybe in an attempt to get the audience to laugh with (instead of at) the various going-ons. Still, I have to admit that I often have a fondness for direct-to-video movies, so all this stuff didn't concern me that much, and I found the movie entertaining. Your opinion of the movie will depend on if you find cinematic cheesiness tasty or not. If you don't, look for another movie.

The Running Man is a cult classic, a film that didn't do so well when it was originally release, but more popular now. The Running Man has a premise that was later used by Battle Royale and The Hunger Games and easily stands along other dystopias from films of the era like Escape From New York and Robocop. It was violent, cheesy and had lots of Arnie one-liners. The Running Man was meant to be a satire about game shows but it's satire is more prescient now with the world of reality TV, 24 hour TV, and deep fakes.