The Running Man (1987) TriStar/Sci-Fi-Action RT: 101 minutes Rated R (language, strong graphic violence) Director: Paul Michael Glaser Screenplay: Steven E. de Souza Music: Harold Faltermeyer Cinematography: Thomas Del Ruth Release date: November 13, 1987 (US) Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Conchita Alonso, Richard Dawson, Yaphet Kotto, Jim Brown, Jesse Ventura, Erland Van Lidth, Marvin J. McIntyre, Gus Rethwisch, Professor Toru Tanaka, Mick Fleetwood, Dweezil Zappa, Karen Leigh Hopkins, Sven-Ole Thorsen, Eddie Bunker, Kurt Fuller, Dey Young, Franco Columbu, Lin Shaye, Wayne Grace, The Solid Gold Dancers. Box Office: $38.1M (US)
Rating: ****
Try to forget The Running Man is an adaptation of a novella by Stephen King using the pseudonym Richard Bachman and accept it as a vehicle for action behemoth Arnold Schwarzenegger instead. If you do, you’ll love it.
Schwarzenegger plays Ben Richards, an ex-cop/escaped convict forced to participate in a deadly game show called The Running Man. In then-future 2017, the world economy has collapsed and America has become a totalitarian police state where most forms of entertainment are outlawed. Police helicopter pilot Richards disobeys a direct order to gun down a group of unarmed protesters who just want more food than the government provides them. He’s neutralized by his fellow officers and made to look guilty of mass murder by way of altered footage.
He’s sent to a prison labor camp from which he manages to escape with help of two fellow inmates, Laughlin (Kotto, Alien) and Weiss (McIntyre, Short Circuit). The two men are part of an underground resistance group whose goal is to bring down the current government and put an end to The Running Man, currently the most popular game show in the world. In it, criminals run for their lives from vicious armed gladiators. If they manage to successfully outrun their pursuers, they receive a full pardon for their crimes. If they lose, there is no consolation prize.
Show host Damon Killian (Dawson, Family Feud) sees the footage of Richards’ escape and wants him on the show. It could mean big ratings. He’s captured while trying to flee with a hostage, ICS network employee Amber Mendez (Alonso, Predator 2). He’s brought to ICS where Killian makes it clear he has no choice but to be a contestant.
Richards will be going up against some truly heinous killers, known in the game as “stalkers”. They are Subzero (Tanaka, An Eye for an Eye) who goes after players with his razor-sharp hockey stick and exploding hockey pucks, Dynamo (Lidth, Stir Crazy) who shoots bolts of electricity at his opponents, Buzzsaw (Rethwisch, The Scorpion King) whose weapon of choice is a chainsaw and Fireball (Brown, The Dirty Dozen) whose uses a flamethrower. As an added bonus (and unpleasant surprise), Killian has Laughlin and Weiss captured and forced to join Richards in the game zone. They’re later joined by Amber after she’s caught looking at restricted network files- i.e. the unaltered footage of Richards not firing into the crowd.
I love The Running Man even if it isn’t faithful to its original source. It isn’t the first film adaptation to deviate nor will it be the last. It’s the nature of the Hollywood beast. Originally, Christopher Reeve was supposed to star with Andrew Davis (The Fugitive) slated to direct. As we all know, change is one of the only constants in life and Hollywood. Davis was fired after two weeks and replaced by Paul Michael Glaser (Band of the Hand). Schwarzenegger was brought in when Reeve bowed out. That’s when the whole premise of the film changed. It was a dark allegory about an ordinary man taking part in a violent game show for a 30-day period in order to feed his family. It became a humorous Ah-nuld action movie that went through fifteen script drafts before it went in front of the camera.
Thankfully, those involved with the film got it right. The Running Man is great! It not only depicts a dystopian future that could believably come to pass, it gives Arnold a chance to beat up and/or kill a lot of bad guys while getting off signature lines like “I’ll be back.” Dawson is great, I repeat, GREAT in a role originally intended for Love Connection host Chuck Woolery. His sociopathic game show host nearly steals the show from Arnold, no easy feat. He oozes malevolence from every pore with tongue planted firmly in cheek. Alonso ranks right up there with Rae Dawn Chong and Elpidia Castillo as one of Arnie’s best female sidekicks. It’s cool how she finds her inner tough girl fighter once she’s put in a position where she needs to fight for her life.
The Running Man also benefits from an awesome supporting cast that also includes WWF fighter Jesse Ventura (Predator) as retired stalker-turned-commentator Captain Freedom. He’s great! Rockers Mick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac) and Dweezil Zappa (Frank’s son) show up as resistance leaders while Arnold’s good buddy Sven Ole-Thorsen (Conan the Barbarian) makes his customary appearance, this time as a network security guard. It’s always great to see blaxploitation legend Jim Brown. And let’s not forget the Solid Gold Dancers strutting their stuff as the Running Man Dancers.
Glaser gives The Running Man a satirical edge with plenty of in-jokes about audience members receiving a home version of the game and Dawson’s signature move on Family Feud- i.e. kissing all the female contestants. Ah, the halcyon days of pre-AIDS American TV. None of this takes away from the film’s true raison d’etre, ACTION! There’s plenty of it here. Glaser knows how to expertly stage action sequences. All of them are well executed. The screenplay by writer Steven E. de Souza (Commando) is intelligent, witty and exciting. Harold Faltermeyer’s (Beverly Hills Cop) score is a perfect fit. I love John Paar’s theme song “Restless Heart (Running Away with You)”. In short, The Running Man is brilliant. It has everything a Schwarzenegger flick needs. What more could you ask for?
