The Running Man (thoughts)

The Running Man (thoughts)

I remember watching this movie on video way back in the day. While it does hold up as well as some of Arnold's other movies from that era, it still has that 80s charm to it. It feels part WWF and part video game. Some of that gets abandoned half way through the stage with Arnold meeting up with resistance. The last portion of the third act falls apart for me. It felt like they didn't know what to do with the concept of The Running and just folded it into a resistance fight.

Also, for everything they get right with the future setting, there are things that have held up as well technology-wise. The workout equipment and the TV screens just don't work.

Overall, it is still fun to watch an R-rated Arnold movie from the 80s.

No comment.  I got nothing to say...

-Maria Conchita Alonso : Damn she is fine in this movie. I remember she was the go to latina lady in Hollywood. Her 80s shoulder padded dresses don't hold up though. I don't think those dress suits are ever going to come back.

Yaphet Kotto : Hey, I am attached to movies just to die. If you need a black guy to die in interesting ways, get Kotto. He has died in everything. James Bond, an Alien and this villain from this movie has killed him. He's the black Sean Bean.

- Richard Bachman as King: Later publications listed Stephen King as the proper writer of the story that movie is based on. The movie credits list it as Bachman. King used Bachman for some of his sci-fi works. I remember King being hot during the late 80s. Why not sell it as King movie? From what IMDB says, no one knew Bachman was King. That's pretty amusing.

-IMDB says that Richard Dawson was pretty much like his character in the movie, that being a major prick. I really like Dawson's character because he was such an asshole. Best line, “Only in re-runs”.

-I had no idea Rob Cohen was a producer on this film. Given this movie is better than most of the movies he's directed himself that's saying a lot. Rob Cohen has made a lot shit over the years.

-Pen to the back: I always laugh when Arnold jams the pen into the back of the wormy lawyer. The actor really sells the pain and shock of having a pen embedded to his back.

-Second best line: “ Killian, here's your Subzero, now plain zero. ”

-Dynamo (the fat one) is a total perv: Yeah, he tries to rape the leading lady in the hallway in third act. He tries to do this during the freaking riot when all hell is breaking loose. Why? This is one of things that doesn't hold up and comes across as just down right wrong to put in the movie. By the way, in the second act, he shocks Maria through her boobs. I am not making this up watch it again. Why did they animate the energy that way?

-Ben Richards (Arnold) is kind of a jerk compared to most of Arnold's roles. He really isn't a hero and forces Maria to go along with his deception in the first act. I really like that he's such a prick to everyone in the story, like the lawyer/agent guy or Dawson at the end.