TRASH IN MY EYE No. 40 of 2025 (No. 2046) by Leroy Douresseaux
The Running Man (1987)
Running time: 101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)
Rating: MPAA – R
DIRECTOR: Paul Michael Glaser
WRITER: Steven E. de Souza (based on the novel by Richard Bachman)
PRODUCERS: George Linder and Tim Zinnemann
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Thomas Del Ruth (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Mark Roy Warner, Edward A. Warschilka, and John Wright
COMPOSER: Harold Faltermeyer
SCI-FI/ACTION
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Richard Dawson, Maria Conchita Alonso, Yaphet Kotto, Jim Brown, Jesse Venura, Erland van Lidth, Marvin J. McIntyre, Mick Fleetwood, Professor Toru Tanaka, Dweezil Zappa, and Sven-Ole Thorsen
The Running Man is a 1987 American dystopian science fiction-action film and black comedy directed by Paul Michael Glaser and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The film is based on the 1982 novel, The Running Man, from author Richard Bachman (a pen name of Stephen King). The Running Man the movie focuses on a wrongfully convicted policeman who gets a shot a freedom if he participates in television game show where he must avoid death at the hands of professional killers.
The Running Man is set in a world where the United States has become a totalitarian police state following a worldwide economic collapse in the year 2017. The U.S. government now maintains control of the population through state television propaganda and through sanctioned entertainment such as the TV show, “The Running Man,” the nation's most popular show. Hosted by the slick-talking Damon Killian (Richard Dawson), “the Running Man” features convicted criminals who are “runners” and who must avoid death at the hands of lethal professional killers known as the “stalkers.”
One of the latest runners is Benjamin A “Ben” Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger). He was a police officer, and he was wrongfully accused and convicted for an incident called the “Bakersfield Massacre,” in which Ben allegedly killed 60 men, women, and children during a “food riot.”
Now known as “the Bakersfield Butcher,” Ben is joined by two comrades, Laughlin (Yaphet Kotto) and Weiss (Marvin J. McIntyre), and the trio has three hours to escape to freedom by running through four quadrants. Standing in their way are such stalkers as “Professor Subzero” (Professor Toru Tanaka), “Dynamo” (Erland van Lidth), and “Fireball” (Jim Brown). And the stalkers have weapons, while Ben and his fellow “running men” don't.
I remember not liking whatever amount of The Running Man I had seen in the past. I decided to watch it in its entirety in anticipation of the director Edgar Wright's remake, The Running Man (2025), starring Glen Powell. I was shocked to find out how much I really enjoyed watching the 1987 film. Truthfully, The Running Man can still pop its 80s action movie coochie, and it's still running strong. Also, the extent to which the authoritarian U.S. government in the world of this film goes to maintain control is comical. In its bid to watch and to control everything and everyone, They inevitably miss something and some people – with comical results. The Running Man is genuinely a funny black comedy.
There are also a number of things that make The Running Man charming and likable. Before she became a right wing harpie, actress Maria Conchita Alonso, who plays Ben's sidekick (more or less), “Amber Mendez,” hit her peak in the mid to late 1980s. I find her to be a delight in The Running Man, and her star quality, though short-lived as it turned out to be, is obvious.
The late, great film and television actor, Yaphet Kotto (1939-2021), gave the films and TV series in which he appeared a little more credibility, which he also does in The Running Man as “Laughlin.” However, actors and pop culture figures, Jesse Ventura and the late NFL legend, Jim Brown (1936-2023), make appearances in this film, in which they are woefully underutilized.
The late actor Richard Dawson (1932 to 2012) was best known for two things. First, there was his role as con man, safe cracker, and thief, “Corporal Peter Newkirk” in the former CBS sitcom, “Hogan's Heroes” (1965-71). Next, was his stint hosting the American game show, “Family Feud,” from 1976 to 1981 and again from 1994 to 1995. Dawson brings the best of those two performances to his role as the host of “The Running Man,” Damon Killian. It is standout performance mixing the charming rogue that was Corporal Newkirk with the roguish charm Dawson showed on “Family Feud.”
Despite mouthing a basket of deplorable one-liners and quips, Arnold Schwarzenegger is still Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Running Man. What can I say? He truly is a real Hollywood movie star and is really a true cinematic icon. I believe there are other actors who could have played Ben Richards in a contextually different version of The Running Man. However, in The Running Man that we did get in 1987, only Arnold Schwarzenegger could have saved this film from becoming straight-to-cable, late night trash. Only Arnold could have made it an 80s action movie that won't go away.
6 of 10
B
★★★ out of 4 stars
Thursday, November 13, 2025
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