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The Running Man (1987 film)
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Wikipedia article
'The Running Man' is a 1987 American dystopian action film directed by Paul Michael Glaser and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mara Conchita Alonso, Richard Dawson, Yaphet Kotto, and Jesse Ventura.
The film's story about a television show where convicted criminal "runners" must escape death at the hands of professional killers is very loosely based on the 1982 novel of the same name written by Stephen King and published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. A lawsuit determined the movie was plagiarized from the French movie 'Le prix du danger' (1983) which was made after Robert Sheckley's 1958 short story "The Prize of Peril", just like the 1970 German TV movie 'Das Millionenspiel'. The 1987 US film is set in a dystopian United States between 2017 and 2019.
'The Running Man' was a moderate box office success in the United States, grossing $38 million on its $27 million budget, but opened to mixed reviews from critics. A new movie adaptation of the novel, announced in early 2021, is in development at Paramount Pictures, with Edgar Wright directing and Michael Bacall writing the script.
Plot
By 2017, the United States has become a corrupted totalitarian state following a worldwide economic collapse and the recent election. The government placates and pacifies the populace through violent TV programs; its most popular being 'The Running Man'; a broadcast game show, where criminals and government dissidents flee from armed gladiators ("stalkers"), to earn a pardon and tropical relocation.
After refusing to open fire on them, Ben Richards, a police helicopter pilot, is framed for massacring 60 people in a food panic riot, in Bakersfield, California. He is subdued by his colleagues and sent to a prison labor camp. Eighteen months later, he leads a bloody prison escape with two underground resistance fighters, Harold Weiss and William Laughlin. Taking temporary refuge with them, their elderly leader, Mic, removes their explosive prison neck-shackles.
The resistance group look to hijack the ICS broadcast network's satellite uplink to expose the government's tyranny and lies. Richards declines to help, opting to flee Los Angeles completely. He heads to his brother's LA high-rise apartment, only to find it is now occupied by corporate composer Amber Mendez and that his brother has been sent to a "re-education" camp. With her security/travel pass, Richards takes Mendez hostage, hoping to flee to Hawaii, but is arrested at the airport, when she alerts security.
Meanwhile, Damon Killian, the charismatic, amoral host of the deadly Los Angeles 'The Running Man' game show becomes enamored by Richards physical prowess and now notorious reputation as a murderous ex-cop. Killian coerces Richards to participate in the show, in exchange for leniency towards Weiss and Laughlin. Meanwhile, news reports claim Richards shot a cop and civilians at the airport, which Mendez knows is untrue. As the game begins, Killian betrays his promise, sending Weiss and Laughlin into the game-show arena with Richards. In this now abandoned, 1997-earthquake disaster-zone, they are first stalked by Professor Subzero and his bladed hockey-stick in the former LA Kings ice arena. However, Richards manages to garrote SubZero with a section of razor wire fencing, the first time a stalker has been killed on the show.
Now suspicious, Mendez locates the raw, unedited footage of the Bakersfield food-riot massacre in the ICS video archives. However, she is caught and publicly humiliated as she too is sent into the Running Man arena. Joining the other 3 "contestants", Killian now deploys two stalkers at once, Buzzsaw and Dynamo, to hunt down the four "runners".
Weiss realizes the ICS TV satellite uplink that the rebels have been searching for is located within the game-show arena. Dynamo electrocutes Weiss, just as he cracks the satellites security, but Mendez has memorized the access code. Buzzsaw mortally wounds Laughlin, but Richards bisects Buzzsaw with his own chainsaw. Dynamo is incapacitated by Richards, who spares the now helpless stalker live on air, creating public sympathy for Richards. Laughlin tells Richards that the resistance has a hidden base in the arena before dying from his wounds.
Off the air, Killian now offers Richards a lucrative contract as a "stalker", which the enraged Richards vehemently declines.
Next hunted by Fireball, a stalker with a jetpack and flamethrower, Mendez finds the corpses of the show's alleged, past "winners", revealing that the show's promises of pardon are empty. Richards saves Mendez and incinerates Fireball by sabotaging his fuel supply and setting him alight with a road flare. Immediately afterwards, the pair stumble into the rebels' command center.
With the viewership now cheering for Richards, Killian insists former stalker and fan favorite Captain Freedom join the hunt. When he honorably refuses to fight armed, the network doctors old TV footage to depict Richards and Mendez being killed by (Capt. Freedom). Mendez and Richards see this on TV, convincing Richards to lead the assault on the ICS control room. Using the access codes, they broadcast the original footage of the Bakersfield massacre and the deceased runners to expose Killian and the government's tyranny. As the resistance fighters battle ICS security forces, Dynamo tries to rape Amber. However, her gun fire triggers the building's sprinkler system, which electrocutes the huge, half naked man.
Richards confronts Killian, who desperately pleads that the show appeases the public's lust for violence, but Richards jettisons him into the gaming zone, fatally crashing through Killian's own billboard image. As the audience celebrates, Richards reunites with Mendez, departing the studio as the ICS broadcasting network goes down.
Cast
Production
Christopher Reeve was once attached to play Ben Richards. In a 2015 interview about the film, Paul Michael Glaser says that he was originally approached to direct the film but declined because he felt that the pre-production period was insufficient. Director Andrew Davis was hired instead but fired after just two weeks, because the production was one week behind schedule, so Glaser was now hired. Schwarzenegger has stated this was a "terrible decision", as Glaser "shot the movie like it was a television show, losing all the deeper themes." L.A. Weekly stated that the film's tone changed from a dark allegory to a humorous action film with the change of the film's star. With Reeve, 'The Running Man' was about an unemployed man who goes on a violent game show for a thirty-day period to feed his family. With Glaser and Schwarzenegger, the protagonist became a condemned, but innocent, criminal forced into a three-hour gladiator-style game show by the justice system. Screenwriter Steven E. de Souza wrote fifteen drafts of the script over the course of the film's development.
Pop star Paula Abdul choreographed the pre-show dance sequences. This was her second film credit, though she had already choreographed four Janet Jackson videos as well as videos by ZZ Top, Duran Duran, and Debbie Gibson. The music used for the pre-show entertainment was composed by Jackie Jackson and was dubbed "Paula's Theme" in her honor.
The film's release was postponed from summer 1987 until Thanksgiving due to the producers desire for the film to be the only action thriller released during the holiday season. The film opened on 1600 screens on November 13, 1987, to moderately positive reviews.
Unfortunately, 6'6" 340lb Erland Van Lidth died of heart failure on September 23, 1987 at age 34, 3 weeks before the film opened.
Music
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack was composed by Harold Faltermeyer and includes music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Richard Wagner, Jackie Jackson, Glen Barbee and John Parr, who performed the main theme of the film called "Restless Heart (Running Away With You)", written by John Parr and Harold Faltermeyer and produced by Faltermeyer and played during the final scene and end-credits. A expanded Deluxe Edition, featuring the full score along with source music and previously unreleased alternate cues, was released in 2020.Release
Home media
Artisan Entertainment released the film on DVD in 2002, and again in 2004. The 2004 release includes new special features, audio commentaries and sound mix. In 2010, Lionsgate released the film on Blu-ray.Olive Films (under licence from Paramount, who owns the film due to having the Taft Pictures library) made a second Blu-Ray release on February 19, 2013. Paramount also owns the TV and streaming rights.
Reception
Box office
In 'The Running Man's opening weekend, it was released in 1,692 theaters and grossed $8,117,465. The film's total domestic gross was $38,122,105.
Critical response
Roger Ebert of the 'Chicago Sun-Times' gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, complaining that "all the action scenes are versions of the same scenario", but praised Dawson's performance, stating that he "has at last found the role he was born to play." Vincent Canby of 'The New York Times' wrote that the film "has the manners and gadgetry of a sci-fi adventure film, but is, at heart, an engagingly mean, cruel, nasty, funny send-up of television. It's not quite 'Network', but then it also doesn't take itself too seriously."Canby, Vincent (November 13, 1987). [https://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/13/movies/film-schwarzenegger-in-the-running-man.html "Film: Schwarzenegger In 'The Running Man'".] 'The New York Times'. C10. 'Variety' wrote that the film "coarsens the star's hitherto winning formula" and "works only on a pure action level," calling the satire "paperthin and constantly contradicted by the film wallowing in the sort of mindless violence for the roller derby-addicted masses it is supposedly criticizing.""Film Review: The Running Man". 'Variety'. November 11, 1987. 12. Dave Kehr of the 'Chicago Tribune' gave the film two stars out of four and wrote, "It's a format all right, but it may be too much of a format for a feature-length film. With Arnold Schwarzenegger, a former state security officer framed as the perpetrator of a notorious public massacre, sitting in as victim-of-the-week, 'The Running Man' has little to do but run through the game's four stages."Kehr, Dave (November 13, 1987). [https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1987-11-13-8703250633-story.html "'Running Man' retreads a worn-out story".] 'Chicago Tribune'. Section 7, Page B, D. Michael Wilmington of the 'Los Angeles Times' declared, "'The Running Man' is, by far, Schwarzenegger's best vehicle since 'The Terminator'not such high praise if you recall what came in betweenand it suggests that his Frank Frazetta frame shows best in these fantasy sci-fi settings ... For the right audience, it'll be fun. It's for action fans with a taste for something off the beaten trackbut not too far."Wilmington, Michael (November 13, 1987). "'Running Man': A Show of Satire and Savagery". 'Los Angeles Times'. Part VI, p. 10-11. Rita Kempley of 'The Washington Post' called the film "a fast-paced, futuristic pure of 'Beat the Clock', Max Headroom, professional wrestling and 'The Most Dangerous Game'. Pumped and primed for self-parody, the burly star proves as funny as he is ferocious in this tough guy's commentary on America's preoccupation with violence and game shows."Kempley, Rita (November 13, 1987). [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/therunningmanrkempley_a0ca3c.htm "'Running': Arnold Pumps Irony".] 'The Washington Post'. D1.On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a score of 67% based on reviews from 45 critics, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The site's critical consensus states, "'The Running Man' is winking sci-fi satire with ridiculous clothes and workmanlike direction". On Metacritic the film holds a score of 45 out of 100 based on reviews from 12 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
On the film's 30th anniversary in 2017, 'The Running Man' was cited by a BBC journalist as having made accurate predictions about life in 2017, including an economic collapse, and offering a critique of American television culture. The film's writer Steven de Souza himself reinforced these predictions in a podcast interview with 'Vice Magazine's "Motherboard" section. Reed Tucker of the 'New York Post' said in 2019 that the film "correctly predicted ... the widening gap between the rich and poor", depicting homeless shantytowns and skyscrapers for the wealthy resembling the real New York City and Los Angeles, and societal obsession with reality TV. De Souza said one of the producers of 'American Gladiators' sold his show with clips from 'The Running Man', telling the network "We're doing exactly this, except the murdering part".
Other media
Video game
In 1989, a video game based on the film was released for the MSX, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Amiga, and Atari ST. The game was developed by Emerald Software and published by Grandslam Entertainments.
The 1990 video game 'Smash TV' was inspired by 'The Running Man'.
Remake
On February 19, 2021, Paramount Pictures announced that it would make a new film adaptation of the novel, one that would be more faithful to the source material. Edgar Wright will direct and reimagine the story with Michael Bacall, the latter of whom will pen the screenplay. Simon Kinberg and Audrey Chon will produce through Kinberg's Genre Films banner, alongside Nira Park from Wright's Complete Fiction banner.References
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