THE RUNNING MAN (1987)

In the Escape From New York-esque future, America has become a police state, with the unruly masses being contained through militaristic control and government-controlled entertainment. The most popular TV show is The Running Man a sadistic combination of game-show, violent Gladiators-like contest, and reality TV. Enter Ben Richards (Schwarzenegger) a soldier framed for a massacre he tried to prevent. He has just become the next contestant on “The Running Man”, a game where no participent has ever beaten the shows brutal ‘stalkers’. Until now...

This is a fun Arnie flick with some interesting commentary about society’s bloodlust, naiveté and TV addiction that speaks more to audiences today than it did back in 1987. True, it’s a somewhat surface-level treatment of the subject, but what an enjoyable surface! Arnie is perfectly cast as Ben Richards, a soldier framed and turned into a running victim on a deadly reality TV show where he and a few comrades (including the supremely annoying Maria Conchita Alonso, a cross between Julie ‘Marge’ Kavner and Penelope Cruz- not a good combo, and she’s got the limited acting ability of Valeria Golino to boot) try to survive the onslaught of the show’s ‘Stalkers’, merciless gladiators whose win-loss record does not give our small band of heroes and our main man Arnie much of a chance. But this is Big Arnie we’re talking about, and unlike what I’ve heard about the original Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King) novel, Arnie ain’t no average Joe.
The film is at its best when showing the reactions of the crew and audience members as Arnie keeps bumping off the Stalkers, with the blood-thirsty but duped audience simply stunned, and the crew scrambling to rig the show to cover up the rather unsettling developments. The film is as amusingly satirical as the underrated Stallone-Snipes sci-fi action comedy Demolition Man. Some of the technology used in the film to rig the show is probably fantastical, but the themes of manufacturing and manipulating what the audience sees is a very topical one today.

Aside from the well-placed Arnie, the casting is supremely weird; The stalkers in particular are an eclectic bunch, with former pro football legend (and one of my favourite blaxploitation stars and Dirty Dozen cast member) Jim Brown playing quietly sinister blow-torch wielding Fireball, hefty former wrestler and opera singer (!) Erland van Lidth (The Wanderers) as the grotesque and rather cowardly, electrically-charged Dynamo, the crazy-eyed Bernard ‘Gus’ Rethwisch (seriously, they are the most evil-looking eyes I’ve ever seen) as Buzzsaw who is very close to his weapon of choice (and probably gets one of my favourite lines regarding said saw), the smiling sumo (and former wrestler) Prof. Toru Tanaka is terrific as the gleefully destructive maniac hockey player Subzero, the first Stalker Arnie competes against. We also have former Minnesota Governor, former wrestler, former wrestling commentator and occasional Arnie co-star Jesse Ventura as the disgruntled Captain Freedom, a retired Stalker turned commentator, in a very funny performance. Sadly, these guys aren’t given much depth, which is my only real gripe with the film, Brown and Ventura in particular should’ve been given more screen time. Then we come to Yaphet Kotto, a superbly talented character player and sometime lead who plays one of Arnie’s comrades. Sadly, he too is given little to do and doesn’t have the gimmick factor of the Stalkers. That said, all of the people above do excellent work with what they have been given (look out for musician Mick Fleetwood and Dweezil Zappa as revolutionaries), and their characters are still fun.