Running Man, The

1987 · Taft Entertainment/Keith Barish Productions
Running Man, The — Movie Review by Karthik
Rating
8 out of 10
Directing Credits
Paul Michael Glaser
Writing Credits
Screenplay by Steven E. deSouza; Based on the novel by Richard Bachman (Stephen King)
Starring
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Conchita Alonso, Richard Dawson, Marvin J. McIntyre, Yaphet Kotto, Jesse Ventura

The Review

A less-popular Schwarzenegger movie that is still an entertaining action film (certainly better than some of his recent releases) The Running Man is set in 2019, where Ben Richards (Schwarzenegger) breaks out from a high-security prison along with his friends Weiss (Marvin J. McIntyre) and Laughlin (Yaphet Kotto).  The three are all part of a small resistance movement that wants to break the oppressive government - which manipulates society as it sees fit.  In fact, Richards was once a police officer who refused to fire upon a crowd of innocent civilians - so the government framed him as a mass murderer and threw him in prison.

In this futuristic society, the most popular show on television is the ICS Network's The Running Man, hosted by Damon Killian (Richard Dawson), a game show where convicts and criminals are allowed a chance at freedom.  They are thrown into an underground game zone, to be hunted down by "stalkers", for the entertainment of the viewers.  Of course, the TV network and the justice department are all run by the government, so there is really no such thing as a fair chance for any of the contestants.

After Richards's break out, Killian pulls a few strings and has him and his friends become contestants on the deadly game show.  Soon, Amber Mendez (Maria Conchita Alonso), an innocent woman who tried to find out the truth about Richards, is also made a contestant on the show, with lies about her told to the audience.  This time however, the game is going to be a little different.  The stalkers (colourful people like Buzzsaw - a dude who cuts up people with his chainsaw, Dynamo - a stalker who shoots out bolts of electricity, etc.) have never come up against an opponent as formidable as Schwarzenegger, and the runners also have another goal - to find the relay station of the ICS network in the game zone, so that they can take control of it for the resistance.

An entertaining futuristic movie, with imaginatively created scenarios.  There is lots of violent action, and lots of satiric humour to go along with it.  The movie is also flashy and colourful, and has nice music too.  It's a movie worth watching, and if you are a Schwarzenegger fan you will not want to miss it.

More Details

Running Time: 100 minutes | Country: US | Genre: Action

Ratings Info

I rate all movies or game add-ons on a scale of 1 to 10 points.  1 is the lowest score, 6 is barely above average, 8 is good, and 10 is excellent (this score doesn't indicate something that is perfect in every way — it just means that I enjoyed it a lot).  You'll find that I tend to give ratings of 8 and above often (that's only because I enjoy whatever I'm reviewing!).  Reviews are updated as felt necessary.  Of course, everything said in these reviews is my humble opinion only.
Review Date 19 Feb 03
Recent Comments
Recent Posts
Latest Doom Map
Dark Fate 2 — a Doom II map by Karthik Abhiram

Dark Fate 2 is a singleplayer level for Doom II, replacing MAP01.  It's a small-sized hellish level — and there's a walkthrough video as well.

Popular Videos
Other Destinations
Favourite Posts
Some Statistics
  • news posts two · 173
  • news posts one · 301
  • comments · 1168
  • drawings · 77
The Author
Karthik

Karthik Abhiram

27-year old Taurean (birthday 15-May-82), Assistant Manager - HR at Tata Consultancy Services Ltd in Hyderabad, India.  Previously, did Post Graduate Diploma in Management from T A Pai Management Institute (2003-05) and before that, Computer Science Engineering from Sree Nidhi Institute of Science and Technology (1999-2003).

Email: karthik82 -AT- gmail -DOT- com
orkut profile
Facebook profile
YouTube channel
deviantART page
Google Reader Shared Items

Disclaimer: The views expressed on this site are purely my own.

Warning: This site occasionally contains profanity.

Creative Commons License