The Running Man (1987)

Watched 20150308 (Netflix, Instant)
The Running Man (1987) Paul Michael Glaser. 101 min [botnotsn (1982) by Richard Bachman (Stephen King)]


Relevant Links:
The Running Man (1987 film) (Wikipedia.org)
The Running Man (IMDb.com)
The Running Man (novel) (Wikipedia.org)
The Running Man (RottenTomatoes.com)

Ben Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger) has been framed and placed into a game show called The Running Man where contestants win by making it to the finish line without being killed.


However, there may be more at stake than just staying alive.

20150308:
I watched Total Recall (1990) yesterday and so I decided to watch another Arnold Schwarzeneggar movie today. While I had previously seen parts of Total Recall, I had no recollection of ever seeing a scene from The Running Man.

After finishing the movie, I found the underlying story of The Running Man to be more grounded than that of Total Recall. There's also a greater sense of action in The Running Man than that of Total Recall.


Both, however, only mildly touch on their core themes and really focus on letting the action drive the plot. Had Total Recall and The Running Man focused more on their themes (what is reality and censorship/media, respectively), perhaps they would be more like The Matrix (1999) and The Hunger Games (2012), respectively.

Instant Comments:
So it seems like Arnold's character starts out on the force side, with a conscience
Head blows. Though how the explosion just goes upwards is a bit strange.
Oh, another guy was activating it in response to the deactivation.


Lol. That exercise video in the background.
"CLIMBING for DOLLARS"
I'm surprised even the girls are cheering wildly for the dancers.
Haha. "You're lucky he didn't kill you, too. Or rape you, then kill you. Or kill you, then rape you."
Lol. Jabs the pen into him. "Don't forget to send me a copy."
The power of media.
WTF. They boo until he's stripped and shown in costume. At that point, they stand and cheer.


"Killian, I'll be back." "Only in a rerun."
Subzero
It's like a brutal, deadly version of American Gladiators.
The look on everybody's faces.
"Its a good thing we took care of Subzero." "Yeah, he was a real pain in the neck."
Gilligan's Island.


"That's alright. Keep it."
18 24 61 B 17 17 4. Ah. So hopefully she remembers.
"Hey Lighthead! Hey Christmas Tree!" "Follow me, Lightbulb!"
"Flight of the Valkyries"
Oh, I couldn't tell what happened, but the car simply couldn't make the ascent.
"Oh God, God. Somebody help me. Go to commercial! Jesus Christ!"

"You cold-blooded bastard! I'll tell you what I think of it: I live to see you eat that contract, but I hope you leave enough room for my fist because I'm going to ram it into your stomach and break your god-damn spine!"
She chooses Ben Richards!
"Me and my big mouth. We should have taken the trip to Hawaii." "I had the shirt for it, but you fucked it up."
"Where did you hide that?" "It's none of your business." ;)
"Who's Mr. Spock?" Ha.


The old lady from before. "Bullshit!"
I was about to ask, "How could no civilians get hit?" And then a soldier kills one of the civilian.
"Well that hit the spot."
Near the end of the credits, an announcer gives his thanks to various product sponsors. One of them is for the cola and the motto (which was also shown during the film, but I forgot), has to do with hitting the spot. Hence, Arnold's final quip to Killian.

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