Future Dystopia Meets 1980s Fashion

Set in a dystopian future where the United States is under a totalitarian regime, THE RUNNING MAN stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as Ben Richards. The government has taken control of all forms of entertainment. The masses are forced fed a media diet of violent reality shows not at all unlike the gladiatorial combat and arena pit patches of ancient Rome. Richards works for the government as a police officer, but after refusing to shoot a group of unharmed civilians participating in a food riot, he is restrained, arrested and sent to prison. A year and a half later Richards and two fellow inmates, Weiss (Marvin McIntyre) and Laughlin (Yaphet Kotto) escape from prison. Richards tries to escape the country with Amber Mendez (Maria Conchita Alonso), a woman who is now living in his brother's old apartment, but is caught. Instead of being executed, Richards is given the option to compete in the most popular television show in the country: "The Running Man." Of course, the odds are against Richard being able to survive, but if he is able to beat the Stalkers and outlast the hunt, he'll be granted a full pardon.

THE RUNNING MAN is loosely based upon the novel of the same name written by Stephen King. When I say loosely, I mean only Ben Richards name and the concept of a television show called "The Running Man" are the same. Everything else is different. The story that King wrote is about a common man swallowing his pride in an attempt to save his family, but becoming a national hero and taking down an oppressive government at the same time. King's story is far richer than anything in the movie and has a grand finale (it will probably never be re-made since 9/11).

The movie basically is a cheap and cheesy action filmed that was turned into a star driven picture for Arnold. The very basic idea of the original story remains the same, but that's about it. As for action pictures go, there's a great deal of footage of Arnold running around and throwing dummies around, but that's about it until the last fifteen minutes of the movie. Granted THE RUNNING MAN does attempt to deliver a couple of big messages, such as warning about the government's invasion of privacy and the dulling effect television can have upon the masses. Yet, these issues are done much better in many other movies, i.e. THE TRUMAN SHOW, EDtv, MINORITY REPORT, THX-1138, etc. Perhaps for me the best part is seeing Richard Dawson playing a sadistic version of himself.

Overall, THE RUNNING MAN isn't a great picture and is a horrible adaptation of a Stephen King work, but it is about average for an 80s action movie. If you're a fan of Schwarzenegger then it's a much-see movie, otherwise it's a fun film to blow some time away with on a rainy weekend.

The DVD includes a couple of commentaries, "meet the stalkers" feature about those specific characters in the movie, a short documentary entitled "Lockdown on Main Street" about privacy issues in the U.S. after 9/11, and another short documentary called "Game Theory" about the rise of reality tv as a popular form of programming. I found "Lockdown on Main Street" to be a little too biased and focused too much on The Patriot Act. However, being a huge fan of SURVIVOR and THE AMAZING RACE, I enjoyed "Game Theory".

Well I hope you've left enough room for Arnold's fist because he's going to ram you with it!

Running Man, staring Arnold The Great, is set in 2017. So, basically this means that we're only 10 years away from a totalitarian society that censors everything and makes the only option on tv a wierd game show that pits gladiators against each other in hopes of creating a fair justice system. Now, hopefully by 2017 Arnold will be able to forge documents proving he was born in the U.S. so he can be president and save us from this terrible fate. Because even criminals may not deserve to be sent to Jessie "The Body" Ventura in lieu of the electric chair.

Of course, in Running Man Arnold is wrongly accused and Richard Dawson forces him to fight in this sick game show. As we all know, the role of game show host is one of only two roles Dawson can play. The other? Perenial to catch a predator all-star. Now, let's get to the concept of the future in this movie. Apparently in 10 years, we will all be reverting back to 80's hair and wearing costumes that look like we strapped a lite-brite to our chest. For the dress alone, this movie is a classic. But what put Sid the Elf over the top on this one, you ask? No, not Arnold in a spandex singlet, but the surprising number of quality soundboard lines. This flick provides a great abundance of what makes Arnold the Great...great. His hillarious speech patterns!

So, if you love Arnold as much as Sid does, watch Running Man. He kicks butt all over the place and is hillarious as usual. That's why Arnold is on his way to the all-time record of movies with the Sid the Elf seal of Approval.

Did any of the good reviewers even read the book?

This movie SUCKS! Period. I read the book by Stephen King and it rocked. This disasterpiece trashed, wrecked, and destroyed the book. You want to see Arnold in a real film? See Terminators 1 and 2. Ignore this rubbish and stick to the book.