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The Running Man (1987)

post #1 of 68
1/16/09 at 4:47pm
Thread Starter 
Watched this for the first time in full last night. Loved, loved, loved this flick. Probably my second or third favorite Arnold film. Am I wrong for thinking some parts of it were brilliant, even if the acting was a little bland in some spots?
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post #2 of 68
1/16/09 at 4:55pm
HaloFan1, Arnold in a movie in which he spends the bulk of the time outrunning and and outgunning, Richard Dawson's...EEEEEvil Henchmen in a game of death, whilist being joined by Maria Concheta Alonso (who looks alluring in the yellow spandex she wears), make...The Running Man a classic film.
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post #3 of 68
1/16/09 at 5:03pm
This was one of the R rated movies I ever saw. Loved it then, love it even more now, just totally classic Arnold.
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post #4 of 68
1/16/09 at 5:07pm
My favorite sports film.
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post #5 of 68
1/16/09 at 5:10pm
While I love the movie, the short story that this is based on is great in its own way. In the book, the competition doesn't take place in an arena but rather out in the general public and it's quite common that civilians get murdered along the way. Plus, the sweet conclusion involves the guy flying a plane into the broadcasting network's main skyscraper/broadcasting center killing the executives and himself.

Still, for pure Arnold greatness I love the movie version. If I ever sign a document by writing on someone's back I'll be hard-pressed not to stab them with the pen afterward.
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post #6 of 68
1/16/09 at 5:13pm
It's been said dozens of times but it bears repeating, this film manages to both be kitschy 80s popcorn fare and remain stunningly relevant.

Dawson steals the damn show. You can sense the relish he approached his role with, savoring the chance to twist his Family Feud persona into the kind of creep we're all getting used to seeing on tv for real nowadays.

Faltermeyers score is a force to be reckoned with. Glorious in it's conflation all things musically 80's, all the while managing a serious sense of the dramatic. One of the few electronic scores from the decade than is easily listened to from start to finish. "Mick's Broadcast" is a particular favorite for the car.

Agreed, Maria Conchita Alonso is shit hot. I may be alone in this, but I consider Ventura's character to be deceptively poignant. Kudos to 'The Body' for generating so much sympathy Captain Freedom.
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post #7 of 68
1/16/09 at 5:16pm
Dawson steals every scene that he's in.

Damon Killian: Yes, I know a stalker died! It had to happen sooner or later!
[pause]
Damon Killian: Well, it is a contact sport, okay? You want ratings. You want people in front of the television instead of picket lines. Well, you're not gonna get that with re-runs of Gilligan's Island.
[pause]
Damon Killian: Gilligan's Island.
[hums the theme song]
Damon Killian: Yeah, the one with the boat.

The old lady calling Ben a mean motherfucker got HUGE laughs in the movie theater.
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post #8 of 68
1/16/09 at 5:33pm
Love the hell outta this movie. Arnold's one-liners are in rare form here.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Judas Booth View Post
The old lady calling Ben a mean motherfucker got HUGE laughs in the movie theater.
It's cliche' but that line still gets a laugh from me.
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post #9 of 68
1/16/09 at 5:50pm
it was one of Arnold's better movies and Richard Dawson's does steal the show.
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post #10 of 68
1/16/09 at 6:07pm
I haven't see Running Man in years, but those one-liners still come to mind easily. My personal favorite, "He was sub-zero. Now he's plain zero."

Vintage, no apologies, Arnold.
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post #11 of 68
1/16/09 at 6:11pm
'You look pissed off, Ben'.
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post #12 of 68
1/16/09 at 6:17pm
Thread Starter 
"That hit the spot."
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post #13 of 68
1/16/09 at 6:31pm
Don't forget Captain Freedom's workout.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LazUZz3K6IY
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post #14 of 68
1/16/09 at 6:32pm
Also much love for the fact that the resistance somehow finds a cigar for Arnold to chomp on for the final assault on the network.
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post #15 of 68
1/16/09 at 8:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dontEATnachos View Post
While I love the movie, the short story that this is based on is great in its own way. In the book, the competition doesn't take place in an arena but rather out in the general public and it's quite common that civilians get murdered along the way. Plus, the sweet conclusion involves the guy flying a plane into the broadcasting network's main skyscraper/broadcasting center killing the executives and himself.

Still, for pure Arnold greatness I love the movie version. If I ever sign a document by writing on someone's back I'll be hard-pressed not to stab them with the pen afterward.
Yeah, this is a remake I could definitely get behind if they truly adapt the book, controversially ending and all. The Arnold movie is fun but it's the WWF version of this story.
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post #16 of 68
1/16/09 at 8:44pm
"Get me Justice...Entertainment division."

I really need to sit down and watch this. I've only seen bits and pieces. That and always knowning this was the movie that created MANHUNT.
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post #17 of 68
1/16/09 at 8:46pm
Doesn't hold up as well as a lot of Arnold's other movies, but I blame that more on Starsky than anyone. It's still fun to watch for Arnold, Dawson, and Ventura. Really wasted Jim Brown though.

Dawson being kind to that old man janitor and then immediately demanding he be fired is one of the all-time classic prick moves in film.
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post #18 of 68
1/16/09 at 8:50pm
I just revisited my dvd a few days ago, and it's still one of my favorite flicks ever. Arnold was really on a roll with the one-liners and the action is awesome

"Don't forget to send me a copy."

More love for the Faltermeyer score. It's got immense replayability.
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post #19 of 68
1/16/09 at 8:58pm
The kiss at the end is classic awkward-Arnie.

It's a fantastic flick.
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post #20 of 68
1/17/09 at 7:09am
"He had to split."
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post #21 of 68
1/17/09 at 8:46am
I am stunned by the love professed for this movie, which, outside of Dawson's admittedly awesome performance, is a festering sore.

It looks cheap. Cheap. Cheap. Cheap. The fat guy in the lite-brite suit is the stupidest villain of all time. Arnold's one-liners are worse than his Mr. Freeze-isms, which are at least esconced in an entertainingly bad movie. Name ONE exciting, well-done action set piece from this movie: there aren't any. The Subzero "fight" is the closest we come and even that is fairly boring and, again, looks cheaper than Clerks. As noted above, a complete waste of Jim Brown. Maria Conchita whatever is about as sexy as herpes. The plot is beyond retarded, even for an Arnold movie. Every Arnold action movie that isn't Red heat is better than The Running Man.

Fuck. This. Movie.
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post #22 of 68
1/17/09 at 9:05am
I disagree with you, BrianM.
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post #23 of 68
1/17/09 at 9:20am
It appears that on this point, many do. Which, as I said, puzzles me to no end but there you go.
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post #24 of 68
1/17/09 at 11:14am
The cheapness of everything is one of the positives for me, but not in a kitschy way. The light suit probably looks really cool from a distance on tv, but like most tv dressing, you can't get close to it. Behind the glitz of everything, it's all done as cheap as possible. Same thing with the fight scenes, the awkwardness works.

Plus, Yaphet Kotto in a bodysuit? Sold!
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post #25 of 68
1/17/09 at 11:35am
Yea this really had the high budget concept with a very low budget down pat. It seems like all the money was spent getting the big names, but the production design was laughable.

Arnold carries the movie (like he does all movies) brilliantly though. Dawson is an excellent foil...and maybe one his greatest movie villains (top 5 at least, he ain't no Bennett)

I can't believe no one has brought up the most ludicrous one(kinda two) liner of arnold's career though...

"I hope you left room for my fist, because I am going to ram it into your stomach, AND BREAK YOUR GOD DAMN SPINE!"
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post #26 of 68
1/17/09 at 12:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Guttenberg Fan Club View Post
The cheapness of everything is one of the positives for me, but not in a kitschy way. The light suit probably looks really cool from a distance on tv, but like most tv dressing, you can't get close to it. Behind the glitz of everything, it's all done as cheap as possible. Same thing with the fight scenes, the awkwardness works.
It never occurred to be that this film's cheap look wasn't supposed to be a reflection on lousy TV production values. Director Paul Michael Glaser spent the vast majority of his pre- and post-RUNNING MAN career working in TV either acting or directing. Sure, they probably would have spent more money if they had it, but since they didn't, why not at least try and flip that weakness into a strength?
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post #27 of 68
1/17/09 at 1:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dontEATnachos View Post
Plus, the sweet conclusion involves the guy flying a plane into the broadcasting network's main skyscraper/broadcasting center killing the executives and himself.
...and his intestines are hanging half-way down the aisle.
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post #28 of 68
1/17/09 at 2:26pm
I'm fighting a battle I cannot win, I realize this. But can someone explain to me how the movie is exciting in any way? This is ostensibly and action movie, but the "action" is boring, generic, and/or poorly shot. I didn't know the director was mostly a TV guy but that makes sense.

And the whole "it is supposed to look cheap as a commentary on cheap tv shows" argument? Please. That might work for the show sets and spandex suits (and DOES come into play with the crappy tin suit the show tries to get Ventura's character to wear) but from Dawson's office to the rebels' HQ this is a cheap-ass movie.

I'd watch a youtube of the funniest Arnold lines plus Dawson's bits, but to waste two hours on this piece of dreck? Bleh. And just so we're clear, this is coming from someone who has seen Commando more times than I can count, and I'll watch most other pre-Eraser Arnold action flicks any old time.
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post #29 of 68
1/17/09 at 8:52pm
I'm kind of with Brian on this one, although I even like Red Heat more than this. It's second-tier Arnold at best. Especially considering this came right on the heels of his arguably best film Predator.
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post #30 of 68
1/17/09 at 9:40pm
I'm also with Brian on this. Even as a youngster I could recognize Running Man as nothing but wasted potential. It's a Paul W.S. Anderson movie made before Paul W.S. Anderson was ever directing.
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post #31 of 68
1/17/09 at 9:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ratty View Post
I'm kind of with Brian on this one, although I even like Red Heat more than this. It's second-tier Arnold at best. Especially considering this came right on the heels of his arguably best film Predator.
Having recently watched Red Heat for the first time in years, I can imagine scoliosis as a much more pleasant experience. For me, Running Man is near the bottom of Schwarzenegger's CV, but even within it's limited capacity, it has loads more personality than Red Heat, which is quite possibly one of the awkward and stilted "buddy action" movies ever. Schwarzenegger playing the Terminator playing an Austrian in disguise as a Russian cop, with James Belushi doing...nothing.
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post #32 of 68
1/18/09 at 3:19pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Abbott & Prospero View Post
It's a Paul W.S. Anderson movie made before Paul W.S. Anderson was ever directing.
That just ruined this movie for me, and I realize I'm the one who started the thread.
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post #33 of 68
1/18/09 at 3:25pm
Pretty good movie but man what a missed opportunity as far as adaptations go. If the movie was anything like the book it was based on, it would be a true classic. Let's hope somebody makes the real version one day.
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post #34 of 68
1/18/09 at 3:33pm
Agreed. The source story is also a much better commentary on the non-existent(at the time) reality TV craze. That would make one hell of a movie in the right hands.
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post #35 of 68
1/18/09 at 4:00pm
It's a Paul W.S. Anderson film if Paul W.S. Anderson had balls big enough to create orbital rotation. If that guy made The Running Man it would easily be the ultimate pinnacle of his career; as it is, he's no where close.

It seems to me that the movie is more about media manipulation than anything else. To that end, the more relevant corollary is Iraq, not reality TV.
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post #36 of 68
1/18/09 at 4:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zhukov View Post
It's a Paul W.S. Anderson film if Paul W.S. Anderson had balls big enough to create orbital rotation. If that guy made The Running Man it would easily be the ultimate pinnacle of his career; as it is, he's no where close.


We must have seen a different Running Man. Is there another film adaptation of the book that I'm not aware of?
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post #37 of 68
1/18/09 at 5:50pm
Schwarzenegger was in more good, thoughtful films than a typical 80s action star had any business of being in...Stallone had First Blood, but that's the only other example I can think of.
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post #38 of 68
1/18/09 at 6:16pm
I think you're forgetting the classic rumination on anarchy, police power, and the slippery slope from justice to facism entitled COBRA.
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post #39 of 68
1/18/09 at 7:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianM View Post
I'm fighting a battle I cannot win, I realize this. But can someone explain to me how the movie is exciting in any way? This is ostensibly and action movie, but the "action" is boring, generic, and/or poorly shot. I didn't know the director was mostly a TV guy but that makes sense.

And the whole "it is supposed to look cheap as a commentary on cheap tv shows" argument? Please. That might work for the show sets and spandex suits (and DOES come into play with the crappy tin suit the show tries to get Ventura's character to wear) but from Dawson's office to the rebels' HQ this is a cheap-ass movie.

I'd watch a youtube of the funniest Arnold lines plus Dawson's bits, but to waste two hours on this piece of dreck? Bleh. And just so we're clear, this is coming from someone who has seen Commando more times than I can count, and I'll watch most other pre-Eraser Arnold action flicks any old time.
Oh, it is a cheap movie. This wasn't a budget-busting film, but it actually works here to highlight the bullshit-ness of TV. Whether or not it was done on purpose is meaningless to the interpretation. Besides, if you're someone who can't watch a sci-fi or action film unless the sets are immaculate, I don't know how you got by in the 80's at all. This was less of an action film than it was sci-fi philosophy about the power of the media and the stupidity sports fans (okay, hardliners of any sort, but they're represented by sports fans here). If you can't be bothered with it because the filing cabinets looks like they're made out of plastic, than you're probably in the wrong state of mind.
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post #40 of 68
1/18/09 at 7:46pm
Oh, and it's funny as hell, too.
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post #41 of 68
1/18/09 at 10:05pm
I'd rather rewatch RED SONJA than this.
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post #42 of 68
1/18/09 at 10:50pm
The Running Man almost became a real show.....
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post #43 of 68
1/19/09 at 9:01am
Anybody else digs Harold Faltermeyer's score? (especially the action cue of the prison escape and final showdown, so 80's and cheesy but yet so good, they don't do stuff like this anymore!)
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post #44 of 68
1/19/09 at 10:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JacknifeJohnny View Post
Having recently watched Red Heat for the first time in years, I can imagine scoliosis as a much more pleasant experience. For me, Running Man is near the bottom of Schwarzenegger's CV, but even within it's limited capacity, it has loads more personality than Red Heat, which is quite possibly one of the awkward and stilted "buddy action" movies ever. Schwarzenegger playing the Terminator playing an Austrian in disguise as a Russian cop, with James Belushi doing...nothing.
Red Heat was directed by Walter Hill. That alone makes it better than Running Man.
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post #45 of 68
1/19/09 at 10:10pm
I just cannot abide any hate for the continuum of awesome that begins with The Running Man (written by Richard Matheson, aka Stephen King), evolves into The Running Man (starring Arnold in a movie that ends with him crushing the TV host with a fucking bobsled . . . also fantastic), and ends up as 'SmashTV'.

I love that shit. You cannot convince me that Paul WeakSauce Anderson has produced anything approaching that film. It's cheap, we all agree . . . but damned if I don't find it infinitely more watchable than, say, Commando (Ooooooh!).
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post #46 of 68
1/19/09 at 11:08pm
I'll stick with my assertion that if Paul W. S. Anderson were given a time machine, went back in time, decided he still wanted to direct movies and was given the Running Man by a studio and an Arnold straight off of a hit like Predator, and then told to make a movie out of it, he would make something as bland, shitty and as wasteful of an interesting premise and action star as what Paul Michael Glaser managed to deliver.
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post #47 of 68
1/20/09 at 2:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zhukov View Post
(written by Richard Matheson, aka Stephen King)
Is this another alias of Kings, or are you having a brain fart? All I knew was Bachman.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zhukov View Post
I love that shit. You cannot convince me that Paul WeakSauce Anderson has produced anything approaching that film. It's cheap, we all agree . . . but damned if I don't find it infinitely more watchable than, say, Commando (Ooooooh!).
Commando is pure terrible/awesome joy. The Running Man is moments of goodness.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Abbott & Prospero View Post
I'll stick with my assertion that if Paul W. S. Anderson were given a time machine, went back in time, decided he still wanted to direct movies and was given the Running Man by a studio and an Arnold straight off of a hit like Predator, and then told to make a movie out of it, he would make something as bland, shitty and as wasteful of an interesting premise and action star as what Paul Michael Glaser managed to deliver.
I agree. The main thing would be the studio bringing Anderson a great script that follows the short story closely, then Anderson asking if he could rewrite it, and being allowed to do whatever the hell he wanted.

That said, as lame as The Running Man is, it's still more entertaining than most of Paul W.S. Anderson's movies(I still love 2/3 of Event Horizon).
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post #48 of 68
1/20/09 at 4:00am
I had so much hope for this thread when I saw the title ... alas, twas not to be.

If anything, Running Man's over-the-top reality show presentation has become more hysterically relevant as the years go by. And the one-liners and "characters" are a riot.
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post #49 of 68
1/20/09 at 6:43am
And I thought the Armageddon people were delusional. Jesus H. Christ. At least a few of you are fighting the good fight for common sense here. I salute you.

Oh, and Zhukov, Richard Matheson was a real writer (a very good one, in fact). You're thinking of Richard Bachman.

Let me know when somebody actually decides to adapt the story, though. I'll watch that.
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post #50 of 68
1/20/09 at 6:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg David View Post
And I thought the Armageddon people were delusional. Jesus H. Christ. At least a few of you are fighting the good fight for common sense here. I salute you.
Who knew Running Man was so polarizing? I'd expect people would either like it, or be buddhist-ly indifferent rather than shrill.
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