Amazon.com: In this action thriller based on an early story by Stephen King, Los Angeles in the year 2017 has become a police state in the wake of the global economy's total collapse. All forms of entertainment are government controlled, and the most popular show on television is an elaborate game show in which convicted criminals are given a chance to escape by running through a gauntlet of brutal killers known as "Stalkers." Anyone who survives is given their freedom and a condominium in Hawaii, so when a wrongly accused citizen (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is chosen as a contestant, all hell breaks loose. Cheesy sets and a slimy role for game-show host Richard Dawson make this violent mess of mayhem a candidate for guilty pleasure; it is the kind of movie that truly devoted Arnold fans will want to watch more than once. And check those credits--choreography by Paula Abdul! --Jeff Shannon
A surprisingly timely sci-fi adventure movie Arnold Schwarzenegger is a game show contestant in which the stakes are his life. Framed for a crime, he must literally run from his life from "stalkers" that are cheered on by an in person audience of thousands and a TV audience of millions. These assailants could pass for Marvel Comics supervillians. "The Running Man" is a game show has a contract with the government to place people convicted of major violent crimes on its show and satisfy people's desire to see these criminals hunted down. Full pardons are supposedly available to those who survive. Although this government is totalitiarian and is not big on free speech, they do allow "The Running Man" because it satisfies a poor and hungry population and serves as a valuable distraction.
The movie features Richard Dawson as the game show host, someone who was also a game show host in real life. It also has Jesse Ventura, long before he was governor of Minnesota, as one of the stalkers.
The scene in which Schwarzenegger is running in loud colored tourist garb from police who are chasing him to get close enough to shoot a net over him is hilarious.
This is an example of what I call political science fiction. It features a possible future social political scenario that is dramatic and far fetched. Unlike traditional science fiction, this movie is not concerned with technology or speculations of what scientific discoveries and inventions will have been made by a particular point in the future.
Although our government is a far cry from "totalitarian", it is amazing how much in The Running Man has come true. We do indeed have a government that has encroached more on our privacy and our civil liberties. I generally agree with the DVD's special feature on civil liberties, but I would like for them to have given some examples of what they are talking about. We also have contest shows that border on exploitation, courtesy of broadcaster that will put anything on TV for ratings. The recent glut of reality TV is an example of this, as confirmed by another special feature on this DVD. The set for "Climbing for Dollars", a TV show which Amber is watching in her apartment, eeriely resembles the set of "Fear Factor."
Who would have guessed that this 1987 movie would be able to tell us so much about our world today?
good value for money and quick delivery.G It was a very quick delivery (within two weeks) and very cheap for two dvd's. Fantastic movie.
A great film full of the usual Arnie action and with an interesting premise. When I first saw this movie, I looked at it as, well, another 1980's action flick with Arnold Schwarzenegger literally devouring his enemies. It was entertaining, but it had something of a pro-wrestling mentality. It's a pretty good movie. It does recreate the look and feel of many of the WWF superstars, and it also includes former pro-wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura. It seemed to me that it was pure entertainment, as was pro-wrestling itself. However, something changed my mind. It was near the beginning of summer, when the news came that wrestler Owen Hart died of an accident at a wrestling event. His death shook me up, and it was hard for me to like wrestling anymore. After something like that, you realize that in some ways, "The Running Man" is true to life! It's about people fighting for their lives on a game show. The audience cheers for death and for blood. The more people are killed on the show, the higher the ratings go. Killian, the show's host, is a poke at WWF owner Vince McMahon, who, for the sake of ratings, has taken his wrestling federation farther than what anyone has ever seen before. Back then, it used to be Hulkamania, which was decent entertainment. Now, it's loaded with sex, violence, and blood.
What went wrong? I don't know but reviewer Main Man can tell you all about it due to his high knowledge of wrestling. It's been close to a decade since I seen wrestling and the last straw was when Owen Hart lost his life over a stunt to please the fans!
Aside from that, "The Running Man" actually tries to tell something important about the television entertainment we are having nowadays. If we take a quick look at some of the most daring and wretched ones of today's game shows we can note that even though they don't slaughter people yet they do almost everything else to keep the audience happy - no matter how immoral it might get. Here's a futuristic vision of a show called "The Running man". It still looks a pretty absurd and ridiculous from today's point of view but we're certainly heading to that direction. Slowly, perhaps, put that's the course.
This movie can be seen as what it also is: excellent action movie and alongside with "Conan the Barbarian - Collector's Edition", "The Terminator", "Commando (Director's Cut)" and "Predator (Widescreen Collector's Edition)" it's one of the greatest Schwarzenegger classics of the 80's. He celebrated his 40th birthday in 1987, everybody found him a believable man of action, people loved him and actually took him and even his amusing Austrian accent seriously. If I look at "The Running man" and compare it to Schwarzenegger's most recent films this one makes me very nostalgic. He's so soft nowadays. But then again, 80's are in the past. In "The Running man" we have lots of cruel and brilliant fights, exciting and funny chases, maniacal bad guys with interesting weapons and among many other good things Arnie's famous "I'll be back" -one liner. Yes sir, I like it.
this is a "so what" kinda film This is a pretty run of the mill formula flick, with nothing whatsoever to add to the genre of dystopias that are fragile enough to be destroyed by a single toughie. While I admit that I used to enjoy these films for the action and explosive violence as a kid, I have seen so many as an adult that they bore me to no end. Arnold isn't so bad, it is just that the story is unbelievably banal.
Not recommended, unless you want to waste 2 hours, which at times is exactly what I would want to do, that is, with a good movie.
Ben He and his friends, and the girlfriend he didn't know he had, are going be on TV. They just busted out jail, and they are being croucted game show host.
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