The Running Man Reviews

Based on a story written by Stephen King, choreographed by Paula Abdul, directed by Paul Michael Glaser, this criticism of television is simultaneously worst and better than it means to be, gaining a savoury cheesy feel in the process. Schwartzenegger is in his standard hero mode but its the late Richard Dawson as the smiling face of evil who makes this worth watching.

Probably the first Arnie vehicle I ever saw as a kid and even then I thought it was average. Yes I know this could be seen as heresy but I must confess to never thinking a great deal about this film despite being a life long Arnie fan.

We all know the score with this film by now. The plot is based loosely on a Stephen King novel which is all about America being a police or totalitarian state, huge divides between the rich and the poor and of course death and violence being a popular much watched sport on TV. So basically a futuristic view on the ancient Roman civilisation and their bloody culture.

If you think about it its the perfect role for Arnie and various other muscle men just like many other Arnie films, this film pretty much started that craze. Today this kind of story is completely unoriginal but back then it was almost the first of its kind. To be fair its a videogame adaptation all the way haha Arnie's character must face each 'stalker' one by one, each has their own unique skill or weapon and they all have their personal 'level' or stage as it were. Guess what 'Sub Zero's' stage looks like?

The 'stalkers' are pretty cliched and generic now when you look back, 'Fireball' 'Sub Zero' 'Dynamo' 'Buzzsaw' and 'Captain Freedom', not hard to figure out what they all do...accept for 'Freedom' perhaps. A pumped bunch to say the least, Ventura looks full on steroids with his silly wig whilst Brown has a ridiculous wig himself (I think). The other 'stalker' cast members aren't as famous accept for Charles Kalani Jr. perhaps but 80's female action sidekick regular María Conchita Alonso alongside Yaphet Kotto hold their own.

Of course the film is made by the excellent performance of Richard Dawson who takes a creepy direction on what was his current job at the time as a gameshow host. Not only does Dawson ham it up nicely but he adds a very eerie, sadistic, two faced approach to the role. Its actually quite fun to watch him crawl and grovel to the audience. A real slime ball deviously charming the gullible live audience, whilst virtually blackmailing them for their trust and ratings by lavishing easy prizes upon them with seemingly genuine generosity.
It did make you wonder if this was how real gameshow hosts behaved behind closed doors haha but I imagine that was the goal.

The film does look pretty cheap, it did even back then. Sets are not much more than big empty spaces with stark lighting effects and piles of rubble everywhere. Hell even the costumes look like they've been handmade by the cast themselves. Lots of spandex, a basic ice hockey uniform, lots of leather n chains for background thugs and the most bizarre concept for 'Dynamo' who is covered in what looks like Christmas tree lights stuck on transparent plastic body sections. Why does he sing opera? judging by his helmet its a homage or calling to 'Ride of the Valkyries' and the character is clearly trying to impose fear and terror on his pending victims as he rides his buggy thing into battle. Doesn't work too well though huh.

Quick one for you, who on earth knows what 'Captain Freedom's' outfit was suppose to do or be? looked like something out of 'He-Man'.

There's a lot more hinting at moments than actual visual sequences but there is the odd classic moment. I'm sure everyone recalls the infamous head explosion sequence, the ultra fast toboggan thing that transports Arnie down to the gauntlet game zone and Arnie slamming a pen into some scrawny pen pushing suits back...wince moment, 'ouch!'.

Its your classic dystopian futuristic 80's action flick obviously, with the classic update of gladiatorial battles for the blood thirsty masses. Many have copied it but clearly this borrowed from other sources also ('Escape from New York' visually). Jammed packed with all the Arnie one liners you could want, dancing big haired blondes, some good bloody moments and a perfectly sleazy performance by real ex-gameshow host Dawson as the manipulative gameshow host 'Killian' (nasty sounding name also).

Predictable of course but its fun to watch the audience and viewers slowly get behind 'Richards' as he defeats the 'stalkers' one at a time. Watching 'Killian' and his yes men squirm as they know 'Richards' is coming to get them. A bit silly how this one act of rebellion seems to bring down the whole corrupt system as the resistance starts to broadcast the truth and everybody just believes it straight away but hey...its an Arnie film.

'I told Killian I'd be back. I wouldn't want to be a liar'

I loved the idea behind this movie, but there have been many other better movies with the same idea, and the movie itself is predictable and much like Schwarzenegger's other films. Richard Dawson was perfect as the game show host, though, I really liked him. Overall, it's okay, but I wouldn't recommend it. A similar, but better movie: Deathrow Gameshow.

The Running Man can't capitalize on its cheesy premise. It doesn't make much of a satire either. The film comments on society's fascination with violence on TV, and how we're only interested in hearing stories about death and horrible events. But the commentary doesn't shock, doesn't inspire you to think. After all, it is an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. Watch Series 7: The Contenders if you want to see a real satire on the same subject.
The production of The Running Man screams 80s production. Over exposure on neon red lights, a never-ending synth pop soundtrack, and oh my God, what is up with the hair???
Oh, no wait! Did I say this was an Arnold movie? Or should I say Ahhhhnuld movie? Okay, all is forgiven. Cheesy one liners? Check. Arnold beats the shit out of people? Check. Great charisma? Awesome villains? Quick, brisk, pacing? Check. Check. And check. Oh, and the best line he's ever said is in this movie. "I'll live to see you eat that contract. But I hope you leave enough room for my fist because I'm going to ram into your stomach and break your goddam spine!"
Okay, you convinced me. I love this movie. This is proof that Arnold is in a class by himself. He doesn't make genre movies. He makes Ahhhhnuld movies!

decent sci-fi flick. it had a silly and unrealistic premise and arnold was a little too arnold, but it was entertaining. sort of a new take on tournament movies which i find strangly good.

I love the 80's.

Arnold Schwarzenegger brings his charisma to an otherwise average sci-fi adventure. Without him it would be so-so, but something about the combination makes this a great low budget action movie. The plot is pretty interesting, combined with Arnold's one-liners and encouragement it is near mezmorizing. There are some great visuals and vision, had there been more money involved i'm sure it would've become the world that Stephen King envisioned.

This was much better than I remembered it being. A good triple feature would be this, Robocop and Total Recall.

I miss Arnie on Screen.

Cool film, would love to see a remake of this but I?m not sure it should be done!

In the near future, Arnold stars as Ben Richards, a wrongly convicted man coerced into playing 'The Running Man', a deadly TV game show where people have to keep moving to try and escape brutal deaths at the hands of the 'Stalkers'. Of course, people are expected to die eventually and its up to Arnold to prove the system wrong.

I haven't read the Stephen King book, but this is a great film regardless, one of Arnold's best. He does what he does best in the action man role, delivering death with unforgettable one-liners. Classics are probably the 'He was a real pain in the neck' after strangling a guy with barb wire, and 'He had to split!', referring to whereabouts he just chain sawed someone vertically. Dawson is perfectly irritating as the TV presenter, and all the 'Stalkers' are suitably camp. The action is violent, but its an action film. That's the point. The film is fast paced, and at 90 minutes it doesn't overstay its welcome.

With Starsky and Hutch's Paul Michael Glaser at the helm, and made in the wake of the success of The Terminator, previously this film was probably seen as just another mindless action vehicle for Arnold, and very far fetched. But today, anyone who watches a lot of TV could see how the film is getting closer to reality. I wouldn't be surprised if I turn on the TV in the 'near future' and see a show not to far from this.

On that depressing note, I must however recommend 'The Running Man' to anyone who likes the 80s, Arnold, ridiculous acts or violence or just a good action film.

The opening credits are amazing! It starts with a great "swosh" sound effect and then angular formed men run in 3D. Then comes the movie title, where the font is very pixel like. 'The Running Man'!

Arnold Schwarzenegger's character, Ben Richards, is immediately shown as a good guy. He's a pilot who refuses to obey an order that would've resulted in the deaths of 1500 civilians. But the year 2019 is not like now, times are different and Arnie finds himself in a prison, named as the "Butcher of Bakersfield" with an explosive collar and a beard...

There are so many memorable and amazing scenes in the movie. One of my favourites are the one where Arnie helps the Buzzsaw stalker reach the high note by cutting him in half with a chainsaw. Who wouldn't wanna do that? Just kidding but these scenes are so written for Arnie.

"What happened to Buzzsaw?
- He had to split."

Steven E. de Souza, the screenwriter who reached the peak of his career in the 80's with such action classics as 'Commando', 'Die Hard', 'Die Hard 2' and the '48 hours' movies knows how to write dialogue that fit Arnie perfectly. One of the reasons why Arnie became such a macho idol is that films helped him become that. Like one scene in this movie:

"Oh yeah? But why should I?
- Because I'm going to say please."

Then Arnie rips up a fitness equipment that's bolted to the floor. Simple, effective and very macho. There's no arguing there.

It's funny to see that the world has changed but the clothing has stayed the same although it's the year 2019. People look and sound as people from the 80's. I don't mind that, I actually think it's funny.

Arnie performs well, of course. There's no reason to hide that I've always been a huge fan of his action movies. But 'The Running Man' also has one of my favourite, now pretty much forgotten, latin actresses of all time; Maria Conchita Alonso. There aren't that many films I've seen where she is one of the leads, 'Moscow on the Hudson' and 'Colors' come to mind now. Hope that she'll have some good roles in the future, it's just sad that women in their fifties have trouble finding them...

In over 20 years, the film has obviously lost some of its effectiveness. One of the films points is to show the impact of TV violence on people. Who knows, today these stupid reality TV shows are aiming to reach higher audiences with all kind of stupid topics, so if the world situation would resemble anything like in the movie in the distant future, a show similar to 'The Running Man' may hit the TV screen. Hope not.

'The Running Man', based on a Stephen King novel, is one of Arnie's films that never reached the same status as his most well known films like 'Predator', 'Terminator' etc. In my opinion, the film is simply a great piece of 80's action with cheesy dialogue, nice performances, beefed up males and a hot latino. Entertainment, that's all. Simple as that.

"Use my back, victim.
- Don't forget to send me my copy."

not a big fan of arnie but this is an alright film i liked the idea of a tv show that sort of decides whether you live or die and its a good movie action and blood and gore so watch it!

Perhaps I shouldn't watch 80's flicks. I found this movie really corny, unrealistic and just plain dumb.

No, it's not as good as the Stephen King short story (Ben Richards crashes a jetliner into the TV studio while holding his guts inside his belly) but it is a good flick to check out, mainly for Jesse "The Body" Ventura and the kissing bandit Richard Dawson.

Cool concept, bad screenplay.

This is your basic 80's action flick starring Arnold. In this one he shouts out a lot of one liners. And I do mean a lot. Basically after he kills every bad guy in the flick. It gets pretty cheesy. Over all the story is entertaining and the action isn't all that bad. This isn't his strongest flick though and it suffers from being a little one dimensional at times.
The music is classic 80's but I enjoyed the theme. It really has the mood of a story without a happy ending in the beginning as it sets the tone for the world we are about to spend time in.

Prodction values are a little cheesy by today's standards, but 20 years later, the story turned out to be more poignant than might have been expected.

The Big Bro show of the future, classic Arnie in this violent film where prisoners can play on a TV show for survival or end up dead!

Not bad, but not great. Best part was Richard Dawson as the evil gameshow host. He probably wishes he could have been that way some days on Family Feud.