Saturday 27 November 2010

Review: The Running Man (1987)

Richard Bachman is one of the world's great story tellers. He's a true master of his craft, and there seems to be no end to his extraordinary imagination. I know what you're thinking. "Who the heck is Richard Bachman?" Perhaps I should tell you his real name. You see, Richard Bachman is a pseudonym used by an acclaimed horror writer, called Stephen King. This movie's plot's beginning to make a little more sense to you now, isn't it?

The Year is 2017, and the world has become one miserable place to call home. After the collapse of the global economy, America has become a heavily censored, totalitarian police state. Nice, right? Anywho, the protagonist of our story is Ben Richards, a former military pilot sent to prison for something he didn't do. After escaping from a labour camp, Richards attempts to leave the United States. Upon being caught at the airport, he is selected to be a contestant on "The Running Man", the most popular show in the history of television. "The Running Man" is a game show that gives prisoners the chance to walk free... If they can escape from The Stalkers, a group of armed, highly trained hunters with only one objective: to kill the contastants.

"Don't touch that dial!"

As a child, this movie freaked me out. I was 10 years old the first time I saw The Running Man, and I remember it vividly (Thanks Dad!). Yes, the first time I saw it, I wasn't a fan... However, that was a long time ago. I now really like this movie. Funny how time changes things, uh?

"The Running Man" is an incredibly disturbing idea for a game show. The idea that we, as humans, could one day look forward to watching people brutally killed on live television is awful, and I certainly can't imagine it occuring in my lifetime. Having said that, it does make a terrific idea for a film. The movie The Running Man is very entertaining, though, at times, a little horrific. I mean, pretty much any time a chainsaw appears in film, you know it's not going to be pleasant, but The Running Man's basic plot is actually quite enjoyable.

I find films that are set in the future to be rather interesting. It's always cool to see someone else's view of what the future could be, but the future that is dipicted in The Running Man is just dreadful. It's a very dark, extraordinarily cruel place to be. I would sooner die than live there.

"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!"

One thing I love about movies set in the future that were made in the past is that they are so completely outdated. Take computers, for example. I'm sure that back in the day (1987), the computers featured in The Running Man looked all high tech and glorious, but now they just look like big boxes with buttons on them. I suppose they still look fairly sophisticated, but they've got nothing on the computers of today.

One bone I do have to pick with this movie is/are the videos that the game show uses to show the crimes the contestants have commited. How did they obtain them? Are they telling me that in the future, everything, and I do mean everything, is recorded? I highly doubt that. Especially considering that Richards' so-called crime took place in a helicopter, high in the sky. Ahh, well... Just thought I'd point it out. It doesn't exactly ruin my viewing.

"Who loves you and who do you love?"

Arnold, Arnold, Arnold... Ahh, do I love him. But you already know that. Needless to say, I enjoyed seeing him in this film. Someone else I enjoyed seeing in The Running Man was game show legend Richard Dawson, who plays Damon Killian (aka an extreme variation of himself). I love watching re-runs of "Family Fortunes" with Dawson as the host, and his casting in this movie was very clever. Well done to whoever came up with that.

Now that I think of it, Arnie has actually done a lot of these futuristic-type films. There're The Terminator movies (1984, 1991, 2003), Total Recall (1990), The 6th Day (2000)... Man likes the future, I guess.

The Running Man is a rather violent, rather enjoyable movie, that features some of Arnie's best lines. What more could you want?  8/10

Trivia: There are a decent amount of dance sequences featured in The Running Man, all of which were choreographed by former "American Idol" judge, Paula Abdul.

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