The Running Man (1987)

[choochoo_the_wonder_slut 740]

A lot of cheese in here but the cage match to the death between two actual future Governors might be the most disturbing.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKM98fYPVuo

[LoCo 5]

I gotta bump this old one up. The Running Man just came on my tv now, and I think Paul, Jason, and June would have an amazing show dissecting this one!

[seanotron 2307]

As long as they do it in the spirit of Crank or Punisher, because this movie (ridiculous as it is) is super awesome.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

As long as they do it in the spirit of Crank or Punisher, because this movie (ridiculous as it is) is super awesome.

And it's directed by Paul Michael "Starsky" Glaser, who would be an awesome guest!

[PhillipMedoc 648]

Aaaahhh, I love this one, it's so much fun. Along with Total Recall, this has some of the best Ahnuld post-kill one-liners. Like after choking a guy to death, he smirks and says "Vat a pain in da neck." And when the TV host/bad guy explodes through that billboard(!?) at the end, he says "Dat hit da spot."

 

Maria Chonchita Alonso is gorgeous in this, and Ahnuld is a straight up asshole to her in almost every line of dialogue. I remember at some point he threatens to kill her in front of the camera because the audience thinks she's his girlfriend.

[seanotron 2307]

Plus, random appearance by Mick Fleetwood sort of playing himself!

[jarrycanada 2483]

I am with cat & beard on this one the running man is the second greatest movie ever made. so many great one liners in this movie. ok I will admit this film doesn't stand up very well to time. looking at the trailer it's sorta showing it's age. but it's still on cable tv and if i happen to fall on that channel I am watching it.

 

Wow if you type The Running Man into youtube you find some really strange Japanese game shows.

this is some messed up programming. they are breaking eggs at there heads trying to see who can break the most eggs at there head. 22mins into it.

 

RIP Spirit Bear- sorry to tell you this but your link is dead...

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

Plus, random appearance by Mick Fleetwood sort of playing himself!

And people in the near future not remembering Star Trek!

[seanotron 2307]

And people in the near future not remembering Star Trek!

 

Which Mick Fleetwood was also in!

[PatrickSwazysZombie 7]

A wrongly convicted man must try to survive a public execution gauntlet staged as a game show.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ceegnWSENQ

[seanotron 2307]

This movie is great! Classic 80s dystopian scifi.

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

I agree with seanotron. I legitimately adore this movie. It's out there and bonkers, sure, but it's entertaining and fun as hell. Richard Dawson plays a scumbag, Jesse Ventura is a guy named "Captain Freedom," and Arnold kills stuff real good. What's not to love?

[Joven 373]

What happened to Captain Freedom, he did his little fake ahnald kill, and then...what? Went home? Dont think you see him again for the rest of the movie, hes not there when they storm the studio. And before when he's all kitted out like a 'stalker' he has a bunch of useless crap stuck to his costume...why? Of all the stupid lame gimmicks they have for the other stalkers, what was his supposed to be? "Ladies and gentlemen, Captain Freedom is coming out of retirement to hunt down this menace...but was attacked by a cybernetic cheese grater which fused with him, now using its powers he has evolved into Grater Captain Freedom! Lets hope he doesn't ever need to move his arms folks, because they dont work, but at least his armor is incredibly flimsy."

 

And again with storming the studio, at the end, when Arnold kills Killian, Arnold busts in with like 20 guys and holding a big ass gun, but Killian goes from terrified bargaining to acting extra smug like he has the upper hand whenever steroidy-Jonathan Frakes comes in, alone and unarmed. Is he fucking bulletproof? Why was that one guy supposed to be such a big deal? After Frakes lets Killian know that hes gonna huskatusk some steroids and leaves, Killian is back to bargaining.

 

Also, should say, I've watched this like 20 times in the couple years because Blame Society Production (who does Chad Vader) has a really good rifftrax available for this - http://www.rifftrax.com/rifftrax-presents/running-man

[MichaelPeeples 2]

this movie definitely needs to be how did this get maded. if they did demolition man then they should do this one too.

[AprilFoolsRebel 457]

I re-watched this not long ago and it's crazy how much fun it still is! Richard Dawson in the role he was literally born for. Jim Brown as Fireball! Two future governors! Isn't Predator the only other movie that can boast that?

 

And don't forget Dweezil Zappa with the immortal line: "Don't touch that dial!"

 

 

[Bigwigge 1]

It would have been really topical to do the Running Man around the Hunger Games release, both movies share a lot of themes.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

I re-watched this not long ago and it's crazy how much fun it still is! Richard Dawson in the role he was literally born for. Jim Brown as Fireball! Two future governors! Isn't Predator the only other movie that can boast that?

 

And don't forget Dweezil Zappa with the immortal line: "Don't touch that dial!"

Actually, Ventura had a cameo in Batman & Robin as well!

[seanotron 2307]

As I recall, Stephen King whined that Hunger Games was a ripoff of Running Man, though I think that's a stretch.

[jimkiler 84]

I loved Running Man when it came out and then I tried to watch it years later and i could not believe how much of a piss poor performance every in it gives. But i still have good feelings for this movie even though it is not good. Apparently back in the day yours movies could suck eggs and still make lots of money and be considered good.

[seanotron 2307]

I loved Running Man when it came out and then I tried to watch it years later and i could not believe how much of a piss poor performance every in it gives. But i still have good feelings for this movie even though it is not good. Apparently back in the day yours movies could suck eggs and still make lots of money and be considered good.

 

[Blast Hardcheese 636]

"Killian. I'll be back!"

 

"Only in a rerun."

[HipGuide 196]

Paul said in his AMA with Heubel that this is "on the list".

[RyanSz 3140]

As I recall, Stephen King whined that Hunger Games was a ripoff of Running Man, though I think that's a stretch.

If anything, Hunger Games is a ripoff of Battle Royale. The only real shared trait between these two films is that its a battle to the death shown on national TV. The stories are completely different as the novella for The Running Man had the main character as a average Joe who signed up for the show to get medicine for his wife and kid. Then rather be put into various game zones to fight killers one-on-one, he is let loose in the US to run and hide for as long as he can while he is hunted by the police and mercenaries, where he can earn bonus cash for killing those hunting him. Then ending of the story is kinda a revolution message as the main character rises up against the Network, similar to how Katniss rises up against the Capital, but that's about it.

 

I fucking love this movie and would really hope that it gets covered by the show. Looking back on it, it does hold up pretty well and actually was a decent precursor to reality TV today and things like the Government having someone similar to the media/entertainment division of the Justice Dept. who handles the social media aspect of the government and things like Twitter accounts for elected officials. Also you have Richard Dawson who is a total boss in this movie, so of course you can't go wrong. I only wish that the other Richard Bachman stories had been adapted into films like The Running Man, Thinner, and Apt Pupil had. Stories like The Long Walk and Rage are amazing and would work great for film, though in today's social climate, a story like Rage which involves a student shooting his teacher and taking his high school class hostage would not be touched by any real movie studio with a twenty foot pole.

[sillstaw 414]

I only wish that the other Richard Bachman stories had been adapted into films like The Running Man, Thinner, and Apt Pupil had. Stories like The Long Walk and Rage are amazing and would work great for film, though in today's social climate, a story like Rage which involves a student shooting his teacher and taking his high school class hostage would not be touched by any real movie studio with a twenty foot pole.

 

Obviously "Rage" has no chance in hell of being made into a movie (if the author of "Cujo" has one of his books taken out of print, you know it's something he's really not proud of). Reportedly, Frank Darabont has the rights to "The Long Walk" and according to Wikipedia, wants to "get to it one day."

[RyanSz 3140]

 

Obviously "Rage" has no chance in hell of being made into a movie (if the author of "Cujo" has one of his books taken out of print, you know it's something he's really not proud of). Reportedly, Frank Darabont has the rights to "The Long Walk" and according to Wikipedia, wants to "get to it one day."

Well even with Cujo they changed the ending to allow the kid to live, same for Apt Pupil which has the main character basically become a serial killer who kills hobos and then gets gunned down by police as he takes a rifle and starts shooting at random people on the freeway. If this had been a few years earlier, I think Rage could have been made into a really good movie as the story wasn't so much about a shooting but rather a psychological study of teens in the 70s, basically the Breakfast Club in Hell. I hope Darabont makes The Long Walk because if done right it could be a fantastic movie, despite it basically being 100 teens walking for the entirety of the story.