Review of The Running Man (1987) by Sam P — 11 Apr 2012

The Running Man when I was younger was an old favorite, despite the fact it is not wonderfully written, and has one or two cheesy moments, action wise it is fascinating. For me the draw in was always the battle with the Stalkers.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was magnificent as Ben Richards, the wrongly imprisoned former soldier who is forced to participate in the Running Man. He has as back-up two male friends and a female friend, but the problem is that none of the three are really that well written, so they have no emotional impact or interest. However, you really are watching it for the awesomeness that is Arnold.

The Stalkers are really just overweight dressed up characters, akin to the old â~80â(TM)s wrestlers, however, if you go along with it, you get so much fun. Buzzsaw is a classic villain, as is Sub Zero, these are probably the two that you remember most. However, the best character is Killian, played by Richard Dawson, a truly smarmy, selfish host of the Running Man, who I really wish appeared in more films.

However, what you will probably remember most is some of the magnificent one-liners, my own personal favorite being the following:

âYou cold-hearted bastard! I live to see you eat that contract, but I hope you leave enough room for my fist because Iâ(TM)m going to ram it into your stomach and break your god-damn spine!â?