The Running Man (1987)

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Directed by Paul Michael Glaser.

Starring Maria Conchita Alonso, Richard Dawson, Yaphet Kotto, Jim Brown, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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Directed by former Starsky and Hutch TV star Paul Michael Glaser, this post-apocalyptic science fiction yarn satirized American entertainment, mocking pro wrestling, game shows, and law-and-order reality programming. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Ben Richards, a cop in the totalitarian America of 2019, framed for massacring rioting civilians during a famine. After escaping from jail, Richards tries to prove his innocence, but his efforts are thwarted at every turn by a regime in need of a scapegoat. Richards is captured along with an innocent civilian, Amber Mendez (Maria Conchita Alonso), and they are forced to participate in a violent game show called "The Running Man," hosted by the unctuous Damon Killian (Richard Dawson). The object of the game for Richards and Mendez: obtain freedom by staying alive against a gauntlet of skillful assassins like "Subzero" (Prof. Toru Tanaka) and "Captain Freedom" (Jesse Ventura), each armed with unique weapons like razor-sharp hockey sticks and chainsaws. With the help of some fellow "contestants," Richards is able to tap into government computers and prove his innocence. The Running Man was very loosely based on a short story by Stephen King, who wrote it under the name Richard Bachman. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

For the voyeur in you.
by scswngr in Film Obsessed

hasn't rated it.

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"Suprisingly, I liked the film Untraceable. Please refrain from laughing, no really, stop now. I too was critical going into a film about an "internet terrorist", as the film so bluntly puts it, but Untraceable doesn't try to be strikingly original and its refreshing. Instead, it is a film that very easily just lets you go, feeds you enough information to keep you interested, and then proceeds to the next step. While watching a film about the dark side of internet voyeurism you quickly become the become just that, a voyeur waiting to see the cleverness of the next killing. I could have done without the preachy rant at the end of the film by the criminal of the story, Owen, played by the masterfully cast Joseph Cross. Though Untraceable questions how far we are willing to go as a society much like the films Running Man and The Condemned did. Are we truly ready so detached from violence in our society? Don't we just want to have a peak at that car chase on the freeway, that dir ... " [More]

Re:They Got it Wrong
by myrdynn in The Film Library

lost interest.

"The worst I've seen are:-Lawnmower Man, which is truly horrible. Stephen King's story was SO much better.Running Man, the movie wasn't too bad, but completely missed the dark desperation in King's story. (Yes, I'm a big SK fan!)Starship Troopers, I actually liked the movie, then I read the book and wondered why they cut all the social commentary for the movie. The book is better, " [More]

They Got it Wrong
by TheWorkingDead in The Film Library

hasn't rated it.

"The flipside to my argument for modifying source material is that sometimes, well, that just doesn't work. Everyone interprets what they read differently, and based on their own biases and experiences will obviously get varying meanings from the same book. This backfires, sometimes, and makes it very easy to completely miss the mark. I think, honestly, the list of 'bad' adaptations would be quite a bit longer than the list of 'good' adaptations. One of the worst I can think of would have to be Breakfast of Champions, based on the book by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., who I rank as one of the best american novelists of our time, if not my own personal favorite. Robert Altman apparently wanted to film this book in the 70s, and I can only dream of what that movie would have been like. Altman's jumbled, cynical but humane sensibilities could have meshed perfectly with Vonnegut's bleakly humorous, but in the end compassionate writing style. Instead we had to wait until ... " [More]

Re: Videodrome
by Phantasma-gore-ia in Gorrible

liked it.

"Honestly, it's been a fair bit since I've seen it, but I do recall a few things, one of them being that it was extremely difficult to discern any "messages" at all. I've found Cronenberg films (with the distinguished due exception of Dead RIngers) to be characteristically pointless. Existenz was frustratingly inconclusive, meandering and underdeveloped; Naked Lunch was...everything (disorganized, complicated and impossible to follow and Videodrome: incomplete, convoluted and frustrating.So, as far as its messages on violence and its role in media and popular culture including television and film, more meaningful, direct and coherent stories on this, I reference The Running Man and, perhaps more to the point, the brutally fearless Series 7: The Contenders and The Last Horror Movie. They more purposefully address the issues concerned than Videodrome, and their stories are complete, fully thought out and provocative. " [More]

Re: Top 5 Guilty Pleasure films
by josephkuzma in Top 5

hasn't rated it.

"My list is more guilty pleasures as actors, not films. I could probably make Top 5 lists out of each of these people and more... but here goes: 1. Sylvester Stallone: Rocky II, III & IV. I don't include the first because it's a great movie and I am not ashamed of liking it. I didn't include V because it's crap. And I haven't seen Rocky Balboa so I can't say one way or the other. Also Cop Land.2. Arnold Schwarzenegger's 80s (and early 90s) catalog defines guilty pleasure over and over. I hate that I like Twins, Terminator, The Running Man, Total Recall, Predator. However, I will proudly say that I like T2. Now if only T3 had been watchable...3. Keanu Reeves - Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure/Bogus Journey, Matrix: Reloaded/Revolutions (the first wasn't a guilty pleasure in my book), Point Break , Feeling Minnesota, My Own Private Idaho, The Devil's Advocate, The Watcher.I could almost combine 4 - 5 and some of them probably aren't ... " [More]

Re: Top 5 Post-Apocalyptic Films
by AndyLaBryn in Top 5

loved it.

"Brian's got great choices.This is one of my favorite styles of movies, I kind of obsess about the apocalypse.5. 28 Days Later- Love this film, suprised the hell out me because I had heard nothing about it before watching it. I instantly fell in love with idea of the main waking up after civilizations crash. Little weary about this so called 28 weeks later. 4.Cherry 2000- Caught this randomly in my younger days, late night on skinemax or blowtime. Melanie Griffith played the sexy tough tracker with a bad ass car. B movie splendor.3. Children Of Men- This may climb my personal favorite list in time. It's here because I've only seen it once so far. Brilliant one take scene near the end as he walks through chaos, dodging destruction by inches. 2. Road Warrior- The basis for any modern car chase/battle movie. I believe it's unintentional brilliance. Could watch this once a week for the rest of my life. 1.Planet Of The Apes- When I think of post apocalyptica, I think of C ... " [More]

wtf?
by bishop in bishop Blog

hasn't rated it.

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"The Running Man got my copy from SPOUT today.I love this film. Everytime i watch it, i find something new.And this time was no exception. I definitely found something new on my freshly arrived DVD.There's a documentary on here listed as a "Special Feature."It's "Special", that's for sure.It's called "Lockdown on Main Street" and is basically a liberal anti-bush documentary on the current state of privacy in america. Its 100% anti-Patriot Act. Regardless of my personal political preference (which they - Artisan - have successfully offended), an action film is not the proper venue for political discussion. It's almost as if they had a desperate need to get this out there and this happened to be the most current release available. Or maybe its a poke at Republican Governor Ahnold. Anyway. I was a little upset. Fortunately there's enough good stuff on the DVD, that skipping this gave me great joy and satisfaction.Shame on Artisan for doing that.The DVD is still worth buying an ... " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

lost interest.

One of the better adaptations of novelist and short story writer Stephen King's fiction to the screen, this tongue-in-cheek science fiction-adventure ranks among the best of star Arnold Schwarzenegger's futuristic film efforts; its success likely influenced the tone of his later, quite similar Total Recall (1990). Screenwriters Steven E. de Souza and John Herzfeld take a jaundiced but delightfully jovial and cynically twisted view of the public's passion for professional wrestling, game shows, and bloody reality programming (all of which would become even more popular in the years after this film's release). The result is a vision of a dystopian future that will be familiar to fans of such 1970s fare as Logan's Run (1976) and Soylent Green (1973), but with a decidedly late '80s sense of humor. Schwarzenegger and his wrestling co-stars (including future governor Jesse Ventura) provide their usual qualities: hulking, muscle-bound menace. They do what they were hired to do, which is essentially smash the living heck out of each other, vehicles, walls, etc. The sole acting performance is a great one from former actor and game show host Richard Dawson, wickedly sending up his own image in a savagely funny fashion. The Running Man is definitely not the type of film to take home Oscars, but it's enormous fun for both those who "get" the film's sly lacerating of the modern zeitgeist and those who don't. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Tags: based-on-a-book , stephenking , charming , hardcore , hockeyfights
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