Running Man

Overview : The Running Man is a movie directed by Paul Michael Glaser, and was released in 1987. It takes place in 2027: the government controls everything, even entertainment: the biggest TV show is a sort of sadistic contest, where the participants have to survive through fights against professional gladiators...The show allows the population's thirst for violence to be quenched, turning them into obedient folks...

Plot (Spoilers) : Ben Richards is a helicopter pilote, and works for the national police: he has never contested his government, and does some good job...Until one day, his superior orders him to fire on unarmed and starved civilian, manifesting for food. He refuses, and his partners attack him: Ben looses the fight, and is put in jail. With a couple of mates, he escapes from jail: only three of them suceed, and they have to part, because the government will be looking for them. Ben comes back to his old flat, where he finds a young woman: his flat has been given to someone else by the government. This woman, Amber, is afraid of Ben because she has heard on the daily news that he is a murderer (the government held him responsible for the death of the civilians that he refused to slaughter...). By using strength, Ben convince Amber to go with him to an airport, where they will fly to Hawaï. But Amber manages to get rid of his grip, and yells in the airport that Ben Richards is kidnapping her. Ben runs desperatly, but the security catches him... Damon Killian is the host of the TV show the Running Man: the first time he appears on screen, we see him watching a monitoring record with Ben running. His decision is soon taken: Ben will be the next participant in the running man contest. Ben is brought to Damon, he listens to his proposition, and refuses. But the TV guys shows him the friends with who he escaped: they will enter in the contest with him, or they will die. Ben has no choice: he must join the show. After being brutaly prepared, Ben and his two friends are about to be sent into the arena (which is a huge deserted area, with dilapidated old buildings...), and guess who Ben run across in a corridor of the TV building? Amber: she works for this TV show. Ben and his friends are sent to the arena by some kind of bobsleighs, extremely dangerous. As soon as the scary descent is over, some bikers ride towards them, and make them run straight forward. The find shelter in a old building, but here, they meet the first gladiator: a huge hockey player, who tries to kill them with his hockey stick...But thanks to a good team work, the three men can get ride of him. On the TV stage, the audience is shocked: they had never seen a gladiator lose a fight. The group moves on: they try to find an exit from the arena. Meanwhile, in the TV building, Amber enters a restricted zone, where she finds the original record from what happened in the chopper: she finds out that Ben is not a killer...But she is caught, and sent in the arena as a punition for her curiosity. She joins the three men right before they're attacked by a psycho with a chainsaw. One guy dies, but Ben manages to kill Buzzsaw (that's the gladiator's name...). Ben's other friend dies later, killed by another gladiator: ben and Amber kill some more gladiator, with freaky costumes (that's part of the show I guess). On the stage, Damon is a little lost. In the street, where the show is released on huge screen, everybody wants to bet on Ben (people usually bet on gladiators, to guess who will make the next kill). Damon makes a private call to Ben, who talks to him via a camera in the arena: Damon wants Ben to join the TV company, to work as a gladiator, but Ben refuses and keeps killing some more gladiators. The TV guys decide to end this mess: they use a computer simulation to show the artificial death of Ben and Amber. The wrestler supposed to kill them is named Captain Freedom...While the fake video is released, Ben and Amber are trapped in a building: some railings moves and imrpison them. No doubt the TV guys are behind this! But a railing open, and two guys appear: they introduce themselves...They are some rebels, hiding in the arena! They take Ben and Amber to their secret hiding: a lot of computers, weapons...and men. They explain to Ben that he had given hope to all the oppressed: everybody is the mood to start a revolution tonight. A rebel guy hacks the antena that broadcast the show: Amber gives him the original record that she has stolen, so that the population can discover the truth about the running man show. Ben and Amber chat up a little for the first time, and they follow the rebels and secretly enter the TV building, while the show is pirated. There is a battle on the stage, between the rebels led by Ben and the security: the audience flee, the rebels take control of the whole building (Amber knows well the place, it helps them a lot). Ben sends Damon in the arena, where he crashes with his bobsleigh and dies. In the street, the population has gone nut: people sing, dance. The government has lost the battle, and Ben seems to be the revolution hero. In the very end, he kisses Amber while the population cheers in front of the huge screens...

Cast :

• Arnold Schwarzenegger Ben Richards
• Maria Conchita Alonso Amber Mendez
• Yaphet Kotto William Laughlin
• Jim Brown Fireball
• Jesse Ventura Captain Freedom
• Erland van Lidth Dynamo (as Erland Van Lidth)
• Marvin J. McIntyre? Harold Weiss
• Gus Rethwisch Buzzsaw (as Bernard Gus Rethwisch)
• Professor Toru Tanaka Subzero
• Mick Fleetwood Mic
• Dweezil Zappa Stevie

Themes : Well, the whole movie is about a TV show: so the main theme is TV, and how it controls people. In 1987, the movie was not a big hit, but now it has a deeper meaning: think about TV shows such as "Fear Factor", "Survivor",...These shows works because the audience loves to see other guys in danger on the screen. Beyond TV shows, the movie tried to make us think about TV in general: it is probably the best way to control a population. In countries rules by a dictatorship, the TV channels are rules by the government, and this is not a coincidence. There's also a message about hope, since Ben makes possible the discovering of the truth. Remember the rebels who helped him? Well, these guys are cyberpunks, in a way. They fight for the freedom of information, and pirate public medias...

Inspiration : This movie is based on a Stephen King short story, published under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman. It is said that the book was far better than the movie: it was less based on pure action, it has more reflexion,...

Is it a good movie? Err, not really. The idea is excellent, but the realisation is not. Here are the main critics: -Repetitive action: the participants of the contest kill the gladiators one by one. It's fun for the first two of them, but it becomes swiftly boring. -The characters are not developped enough. -A lot of things are left behind: for exemple, how did the government react after Ben and the rebels attacked the TV building? -Some costumes are so cheesy...and so is the music. In fact, it could have been a really good movie, because of the idea. But the plot didn't exploited it enough, concentrating mainly on action. However, this movie is a must-see if you enjoy a lot TV show like 'Fear Factor': it will make you think about the power of the medias and the danger of reality TV. I think that this movie deserves a remake, with clear references to reality TV shows (in fact, the movie has already one big reference: the guy who played Damon was a real TV show host...but it was in 87).