Review of The Running Man (1987) by Jason D — 23 Nov 2008

Based on a terrific story by Richard Bachman, The Running Man takes place in a futuristic world where all things good (art, music, etc.) are banned and the only joys people get in life are their TVs which show government lies and propaganda, not to mention sadistic game shows where the majority (and by majority, I mean all) of contestants meet their deaths.

One show in particular is the famous Running Man show, where criminals are forced to survive through deadly quads where celebrity gladiators await to tear them a new one. The movie starts the infamous Arnold Schwarzenegger (in one of his HUGEST one-liner infested roles) whose a government helicopter pilot that gets framed for killing mass amounts of innocent people (which he tried to save in all actuality).

Forced into the game along with two prison buddies and the token female love interest (Maria Conchita Alonso), the 4 of them battle all sorts of crazy ass gladiators, including WWF wrestlers Professor Taru Tanaka and Jesse "The Body" Ventura.

We also have appearances by former NFL player/Bare-knuckle Brawler Jim Brown, Frank Zappa's kid Dweezil, and Mick Fleetwood from Fleetwood Mac (wtf?). Rounding out the villain portion of the film is game show host Richard Dawson, who plays.

..erm...game show host Damon Killian, whose hell bent on getting his ratings no matter what the cost, or whose lives are lost. If you get past the 80's cheese of the film, and momentarily forget how far off this film deviates from the original novel, you are given a pretty good actioner.

Schwarzenegger is absolutely hilarious in this, but fun to watch, as is the rest of the cast. Good film for any "dude" or "brah" or nerd (like me).