The Running Man (1987) * * *

Directed by:  Paul Michael Glaser

Starring:  Arnold Schwarzenegger, Richard Dawson, Maria Conchita Alonso, Jim Brown, Yaphet Kotto, Jesse Ventura, Mick Fleetwood, Erland von Lidth, Professor Toru Tanaka

The Running Man is set in a bleak, totalitarian futuristic society of 2019.   The favorite program on state-run television is The Running Man, in which convicts battle sadistic killers called "stalkers" on live TV.   If the convicts win, they are granted their freedom.   If they lose, well, they die.   The network manages to find ways to ensure the convicts don't win.    For the record, it is 2019 now and the country doesn't look anything like the dark, foreboding society depicted here thirty years prior.    We aren't a totalitarian state yet, although if the President has his way maybe that will change (kidding--sort of).   It would be refreshing to envision a future which is a lot like the present, with maybe a few more newer, cooler cell phones. 

The Running Man is one of the many 80's Arnold Schwarzenegger films which were turn-your-mind-off joys to behold.    They didn't make a lot of sense, even while you were watching them, but you'll have a pretty darn good time for the ninety or so minutes they last.   And they were anchored by Arnold Schwarzenegger, pre-California governor mode, who threw punches, kicks, and one liners with equal zeal.    He was an action star with a sense of humor about himself and the material he was starring in. 

In The Running Man, Arnold is Ben Richards, a state cop framed for murdering civilians after he refuses to fire on them from his helicopter.    He is thrown into a prison where the inmates break apart rocks in a chain gang, and manages to escape.    But, he is soon apprehended at the airport, and sentenced to be this week's contestant on The Running Man, produced by and hosted by the sleazy, sadistic, and selfish Damon Killian (Dawson).    Before you simply assume Dawson is riffing on his Family Feud hosting gig, let's not forget he was a character actor long before taking over that job.    He is convincing as an oily game show host who schmoozes up to the audience shamelessly while introducing which stalker will be sent out to off Richards.    We hope he gets his just desserts, and if he doesn't, we are simply watching the wrong movie.

Richards and his cohorts from prison, plus a network worker (Alonso) who turned in Richards at the airport, but suspects he may be innocent, are all thrown into the game to battle the baddies who all use deadly weapons with glee.   One has a hockey stick which decapitates people, one a flamethrower, one a chainsaw, and one who likes to sing opera before decimating his victims.    It is not a spoiler alert to suggest they meet their fates in gruesome ways.    It is also not a spoiler to state that the audience which vociferously cheered the stalkers soon find themselves cheering for Richards, even without knowing he is actually an innocent man.    Arnold and pal Sly Stallone were always trying to playfully one-up each other in their movies back then.    Maybe this was Arnold's way of trolling Sly for the audience's about-face in Rocky IV.    Or maybe I'm putting way too much thought into this.