[3.5] Killian is lying to you
Picture this. Ben Richards (Schwarzenegger) is on chopper patrol when an order comes through to fire into an area where inoccent citizens stand. The order of course is obsured, and Richards declines, aborting the mission when his superior passes on orders to Richards' co-pilots to take control of the craft and resume the mission. In a struggle to do what is right, Richards attempts to to keep his co-pilots away from the controls, but fails in doing so as he is simply outmaned. About a year or two later, enter the game show "The Running Man." On the screen in front of a large live audience, we see the events that night of Richards aboard the chopper. The order comes through to not fire, as there are simply too many innocents in the area. Richards defies orders and proceeds to shoot down a number of innocents and destroy that particular area of town. This is just one of the twisted setups for the most famous form of televised entertainment in the year 2017, hosted by David Killian (Richard Dawson).

Running Man was released in 1987, taking place in 2017. It's pretty much an established fact that any 80's film taking place in the future usually looks like an even more 80's future. No different here, Running Man is filled with cheesy costumes, lots of neon flashly lights, and a dowtown Los Angeles that looks nothing like the city today. And like many movies set in the future, it's not a happy place. The economy is bust, and the living conditions we see are pretty downright nasty. Unless you are Richard Killian, who's gameshow has probably made him the most famous (and a very rich) man in America. Little does the majority know that "He is lying to you". Killian's choice of contestants are whoever he can get his hands on, however, his audience thinks these are scumbag criminals who deserve to die at the hands of the "Stalkers" - the guys who chase those contestants down and do the killing, in style of course. Richards catches Killian's eye, and he has no difficulty getting ahold of him. Along with his two buddies and a girl he meets along the way (Maria Conchita Alonso), Richards is caught in the deadly game show dueling it out with all types of Stalkers.

The story is almost non-existent, but the idea behind the film is rather entertaining. The game show scenes are packed with excitement and screaming fans, and Richard Dawson given his real life experience makes an excellent host (though he's a bit more evil in the movie's role). The dialouge and acting, as expected, is well below par, but the Arnie one-liners just keep on coming. "Hey Christmas Tree. Follow me light bulb." I mean, only Arnold could say something like that. The action scenes are fun too, with Stalkers dressed up in ridiculous costumes (the guy really does look like a Christmas tree) they also each have their own abilities, such as being armed with a chainsaw, a deadly hockey stick, or even the ability to shoot electricity (huh?) Yes you heard right, but I'm telling you, it's fun. Especially when we get to see the battle of the govenors. Though it's not an actual fight (you'll see what I mean) Arnold takes on Jesse Ventura aka Captain Freedom...."No pain, no gain!"

It's a downright guilty pleasure. Arnold fans must add to their collection. It has all the weaknesses of a B-movie, but carries all the positives as well. As silly as it is, Running Man is a good hour and half of mindless fun.

Acting - 2.5
Action - 4
Characters - 3.5
Story - 3
Overall - 3.5

The running man DVD
i have been wanting to get hold of the this copy of the DVD starring Arnold Schwarzenegger since i was a young boy.However, where I am staying I cant find this dvd at all and I have been searching for this movie for years.Finally,i came across this website and I found what I was looking for.I purchased it immediately.I eventually arrived at my doorstep.
The only issue was the dvd case had cracks on it,must be due to the ship handling but the 2 disc edition dvds were perfectly fine.

I watched the movie and I was amazed at it special features,extras.So i decided to purchase for 2 other movies from amazon.I am now waiting for them to arrive and I am a happy customer wanting to buy more from amazon again.The one stop place for the huge database of movies.The Running Man (Special Edition)

A surprisingly timely sci-fi adventure movie
Arnold Schwarzenegger is a game show contestant in which the stakes are his life. Framed for a crime, he must literally run from his life from "stalkers" that are cheered on by an in person audience of thousands and a TV audience of millions. These assailants could pass for Marvel Comics supervillians. "The Running Man" is a game show has a contract with the government to place people convicted of major violent crimes on its show and satisfy people's desire to see these criminals hunted down. Full pardons are supposedly available to those who survive. Although this government is totalitiarian and is not big on free speech, they do allow "The Running Man" because it satisfies a poor and hungry population and serves as a valuable distraction.

The movie features Richard Dawson as the game show host, someone who was also a game show host in real life. It also has Jesse Ventura, long before he was governor of Minnesota, as one of the stalkers.

The scene in which Schwarzenegger is running in loud colored tourist garb from police who are chasing him to get close enough to shoot a net over him is hilarious.

This is an example of what I call political science fiction. It features a possible future social political scenario that is dramatic and far fetched. Unlike traditional science fiction, this movie is not concerned with technology or speculations of what scientific discoveries and inventions will have been made by a particular point in the future.

Although our government is a far cry from "totalitarian", it is amazing how much in The Running Man has come true. We do indeed have a government that has encroached more on our privacy and our civil liberties. I generally agree with the DVD's special feature on civil liberties, but I would like for them to have given some examples of what they are talking about. We also have contest shows that border on exploitation, courtesy of broadcaster that will put anything on TV for ratings. The recent glut of reality TV is an example of this, as confirmed by another special feature on this DVD. The set for "Climbing for Dollars", a TV show which Amber is watching in her apartment, eeriely resembles the set of "Fear Factor."

Who would have guessed that this 1987 movie would be able to tell us so much about our world today?

good value for money and quick delivery.G
It was a very quick delivery (within two weeks) and very cheap for two dvd's. Fantastic movie.

A great film full of the usual Arnie action and with an interesting premise.
When I first saw this movie, I looked at it as, well, another 1980's action flick with Arnold Schwarzenegger literally devouring his enemies. It was entertaining, but it had something of a pro-wrestling mentality. It's a pretty good movie. It does recreate the look and feel of many of the WWF superstars, and it also includes former pro-wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura. It seemed to me that it was pure entertainment, as was pro-wrestling itself. However, something changed my mind. It was near the beginning of summer, when the news came that wrestler Owen Hart died of an accident at a wrestling event. His death shook me up, and it was hard for me to like wrestling anymore. After something like that, you realize that in some ways, "The Running Man" is true to life! It's about people fighting for their lives on a game show. The audience cheers for death and for blood. The more people are killed on the show, the higher the ratings go. Killian, the show's host, is a poke at WWF owner Vince McMahon, who, for the sake of ratings, has taken his wrestling federation farther than what anyone has ever seen before. Back then, it used to be Hulkamania, which was decent entertainment. Now, it's loaded with sex, violence, and blood.

What went wrong? I don't know but reviewer Main Man can tell you all about it due to his high knowledge of wrestling. It's been close to a decade since I seen wrestling and the last straw was when Owen Hart lost his life over a stunt to please the fans!

Aside from that, "The Running Man" actually tries to tell something important about the television entertainment we are having nowadays. If we take a quick look at some of the most daring and wretched ones of today's game shows we can note that even though they don't slaughter people yet they do almost everything else to keep the audience happy - no matter how immoral it might get. Here's a futuristic vision of a show called "The Running man". It still looks a pretty absurd and ridiculous from today's point of view but we're certainly heading to that direction. Slowly, perhaps, put that's the course.

This movie can be seen as what it also is: excellent action movie and alongside with "Conan the Barbarian - Collector's Edition", "The Terminator", "Commando (Director's Cut)" and "Predator (Widescreen Collector's Edition)" it's one of the greatest Schwarzenegger classics of the 80's. He celebrated his 40th birthday in 1987, everybody found him a believable man of action, people loved him and actually took him and even his amusing Austrian accent seriously. If I look at "The Running man" and compare it to Schwarzenegger's most recent films this one makes me very nostalgic. He's so soft nowadays. But then again, 80's are in the past. In "The Running man" we have lots of cruel and brilliant fights, exciting and funny chases, maniacal bad guys with interesting weapons and among many other good things Arnie's famous "I'll be back" -one liner. Yes sir, I like it.