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.

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