Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bob Ladewig, Dave Colan

A wrongly-convicted man must try to survive a public execution gauntlet staged as a TV game show.

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61% liked it

60,311 ratings

Critics

63% liked it

32 critics

R, 101 min.

Directed by: Paul Michael Glaser

Release Date: November 13, 1987

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DVD Release Date: May 25, 1999

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Flixster Reviews (2,862)


  • September 25, 2009
    Cool film, would love to see a remake of this but I?m not sure it should be done!
  • July 27, 2009
    In the near future, Arnold stars as Ben Richards, a wrongly convicted man coerced into playing 'The Running Man', a deadly TV game show where people have to keep moving to try and escape brutal deaths at the hands of the 'Stalkers'. Of course, people are expected to die eventuall...( read more)y and its up to Arnold to prove the system wrong.

    I haven't read the Stephen King book, but this is a great film regardless, one of Arnold's best. He does what he does best in the action man role, delivering death with unforgettable one-liners. Classics are probably the 'He was a real pain in the neck' after strangling a guy with barb wire, and 'He had to split!', referring to whereabouts he just chain sawed someone vertically. Dawson is perfectly irritating as the TV presenter, and all the 'Stalkers' are suitably camp. The action is violent, but its an action film. That's the point. The film is fast paced, and at 90 minutes it doesn't overstay its welcome.

    With Starsky and Hutch's Paul Michael Glaser at the helm, and made in the wake of the success of The Terminator, previously this film was probably seen as just another mindless action vehicle for Arnold, and very far fetched. But today, anyone who watches a lot of TV could see how the film is getting closer to reality. I wouldn't be surprised if I turn on the TV in the 'near future' and see a show not to far from this.

    On that depressing note, I must however recommend 'The Running Man' to anyone who likes the 80s, Arnold, ridiculous acts or violence or just a good action film.
  • May 25, 2009
    The opening credits are amazing! It starts with a great "swosh" sound effect and then angular formed men run in 3D. Then comes the movie title, where the font is very pixel like. 'The Running Man'!

    Arnold Schwarzenegger's character, Ben Richards, is immediately shown as a good g...( read more)uy. He's a pilot who refuses to obey an order that would've resulted in the deaths of 1500 civilians. But the year 2019 is not like now, times are different and Arnie finds himself in a prison, named as the "Butcher of Bakersfield" with an explosive collar and a beard...

    There are so many memorable and amazing scenes in the movie. One of my favourites are the one where Arnie helps the Buzzsaw stalker reach the high note by cutting him in half with a chainsaw. Who wouldn't wanna do that? Just kidding but these scenes are so written for Arnie.

    "What happened to Buzzsaw?
    - He had to split."

    Steven E. de Souza, the screenwriter who reached the peak of his career in the 80's with such action classics as 'Commando', 'Die Hard', 'Die Hard 2' and the '48 hours' movies knows how to write dialogue that fit Arnie perfectly. One of the reasons why Arnie became such a macho idol is that films helped him become that. Like one scene in this movie:

    "Oh yeah? But why should I?
    - Because I'm going to say please."

    Then Arnie rips up a fitness equipment that's bolted to the floor. Simple, effective and very macho. There's no arguing there.

    It's funny to see that the world has changed but the clothing has stayed the same although it's the year 2019. People look and sound as people from the 80's. I don't mind that, I actually think it's funny.

    Arnie performs well, of course. There's no reason to hide that I've always been a huge fan of his action movies. But 'The Running Man' also has one of my favourite, now pretty much forgotten, latin actresses of all time; Maria Conchita Alonso. There aren't that many films I've seen where she is one of the leads, 'Moscow on the Hudson' and 'Colors' come to mind now. Hope that she'll have some good roles in the future, it's just sad that women in their fifties have trouble finding them...

    In over 20 years, the film has obviously lost some of its effectiveness. One of the films points is to show the impact of TV violence on people. Who knows, today these stupid reality TV shows are aiming to reach higher audiences with all kind of stupid topics, so if the world situation would resemble anything like in the movie in the distant future, a show similar to 'The Running Man' may hit the TV screen. Hope not.

    'The Running Man', based on a Stephen King novel, is one of Arnie's films that never reached the same status as his most well known films like 'Predator', 'Terminator' etc. In my opinion, the film is simply a great piece of 80's action with cheesy dialogue, nice performances, beefed up males and a hot latino. Entertainment, that's all. Simple as that.

    "Use my back, victim.
    - Don't forget to send me my copy."
  • May 7, 2009
    Now this is dated, the look and feel is pretty old nowadays but in a way television is slowly getting towards this now. Its still an Arnie classic, the costume he wears, the head explosion escape scene, the baddie stalkers etc.. its very cliche but still fun despite looking very ...( read more)cheap.
    Thing is, its not really very sci fi even though its billed as that.
  • May 1, 2009
    The Running Man can't capitalize on its cheesy premise. It doesn't make much of a satire either. The film comments on society's fascination with violence on TV, and how we're only interested in hearing stories about death and horrible events. But the commentary doesn't shock,...( read more) doesn't inspire you to think. After all, it is an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. Watch Series 7: The Contenders if you want to see a real satire on the same subject.
    The production of The Running Man is weak too. Over exposure on neon red lights, choppy editing, and unsatisfying action sequences make this a movie to miss,
    Oh, no wait! On the plus side, I have to give this movie an extra star for Arnold. The best line he's ever said is in this movie. "I'll live to see you eat that contract. But I hope you leave enough room for my fist because I'm going to ram into your stomach and break your goddam spine!" Classic.
  • November 19, 2009
    The weirdest part was the fact that we had to watch this in grade 11 English class... the reason? Still don't know.
  • November 7, 2009
    Bom filme de ação sci-fi,
  • October 30, 2009
    One of my very favorite Arnold movies.
  • October 15, 2009
    It is good. A lot of running. ;)
  • October 5, 2009
    One of Arnie's better movies. This twisted take on entertainment culture is certainly worth one or two viewings.

Critic Reviews


January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The movie's problem is that all of the action scenes are versions of the same scenario. full review

View more The Running Man reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • sportboy
    February 21, 2008
    I quite enjoyed it it weren't much happening in some bits but overall the movie was quite good.
  • silverchairdude
    December 12, 2006
    The running man is awesome.

    "Jesus christ!"

    "Guess again!"

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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The Running Man Trivia


  • Which of the following films is based on a short story by Richard Bachman?  Answer »
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