The Running Man (1987) - 5/10

I’ve seen clips from The Running Man over the years, even had an eye on a good 20 minutes of it once in a hotel room, but this is my first full watch and truthfully I’m only giving it that in preparation to watch the Edgar Wright remake. It’s interesting to see how different decades depict the future, the 80’s often goes with a somewhat scuzzy dystopian darkness, which is probably quite on the money. Here we’re faced with a police state, that censors art, controls television, on which it broadcasts gamified blood sports including a popular barbaric gameshow, The Running Man, with convicts as contestants. Ben Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a policeman who is not onboard with this totalitarian rule, revolts, get’s banged up, insights a riot and makes some revolutionary friends in a big brother styled Los Angeles, all while the opening credits roll. After a convoluted detour to introduce some bit-part characters, Ben finds himself detained once more, but this time he’s introduced to the director and host of the title show, Damon Killian (Richard Dawson), who forces him to compete, as he’s fired down a high velocity chute, out into a demilitarised zone, where they’re hunted by comically named gladiatorial ‘Stalkers’. It’s all a bit cheap and throwaway in typical American style, with a Harold Faltermeyer score for good measure. Partially knowingly so, but not that successfully. Ben, wrongfully vilified by TV propaganda, has the world against him and the game is rigged, but Ben is no ordinary competitor. Along with those friends he made quickly at the start, like Amber (Maria Conchita Alonso) and with a ton of action and pithy one-liners, they set about saving themselves and destroying state control by winning over the masses. It’s sci-fi action movie, with a hefty dose of satirical comedy that’s its only real redeeming factor, but it’s not clever enough to make it good. The acting is terrible, but its cult status is fair, with it easily hitting the so bad it’s good bar. I mean it’s got Mick Fleetwood playing a revolutionary ringleader, what more could you want. Only loosely based on King’s original text and clearly lacking for it, I’m looking forward to see how Wright approaches the same material.

5/10