The Running Man: Special Edition

-Artisan (1987)

Summary:

The bad techno music is blaring, your yellow jumpsuit is creeping up your crotch…. no one is safe… on the RUNNING MAN!

My Thoughts:

It's no secret that here at Digital Monkey Box that we are huge fans of Arnold Schwarzenegger. The guy is everything any man has ever wanted to be; strong, rich, powerful, has living skin covering a metal skeleton, and he’s able to grope whoever he wants. We love his films just as much as we do him. The Running Man is one of the best examples of a perfect 80s big muscle action flick that was helmed by the almighty Arnold. It's heavy on sci-fi, action, and horrible one liners, just the way we like it.

The Running Man is very loosely based on a Steven King Story, which bares little or no resemblance to the film. The year is 2017 and the world is awful because George Bush was President for 8 years and we didn't listen to the U.N. I'm guessing that's what happened anyway. The government has almost unlimited powers, and helping maintain its iron grip is television. Like any good oppressive government, it uses TV. as a means of pacification with shows like the mega popular The Running Man game show.

Our hero, Ben Richards, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, is in command of a helicopter that's monitoring a food riot. The choppa crew receive orders to fire on the crowd, but being the big hero he is, Arnold refuses. So he's sent to a work camp and forced to wear a fake beard. The great thing about the work camp is that the prisoners wear these cool collars that will make your head explode if you run outside of an invisible fence. Well, the one nerdy prisoner deactivates the collars, but not before we are treated to an exploding head scene. Arnold, now on the lam, goes to his brother's apartment for help, only to find some sexy Latin girl working out in lingerie. I wish more girls would work out in sexy underwear; I'd never have a problem motivating myself to go to the gym ever again.

Arnold learns from her that his brother was sent to a re-education camp, so he decides to use the woman named Amber Mendez, played by Maria Conchita Alonso, as a hostage. She thinks Arnold is a killer, because the government lied and spread word that it was his idea to fire on the crowd against orders, so it’s not a surprise that she doesn’t really feel like helping him. The two get to an airport where Arnold is about to board a plane and escape, but Amber gives him away at the last minute. That’s why I never trust a woman when I take her hostage.

After Arnold is taken prisoner he’s sent to be a contestant of The Running Man, the game show that everyone is addicted to. The goal is simple; all you have to do is survive. The problem is a tough one, really goofy assed killers try to terminate your existence. For the rest of the film Arnold kills a bunch of badly dressed 80s villains, while spouting horrible one liners such as, “here's your Subzero, now plain zero!” Great stuff, really.

The "acting" is simply atrocious. I don't think I've ever seen Arnold Schwarzenegger as wooden in any other film. I guess that’s not really important though, since the fun of the film is on all the action. I must mention that Richard Dawson plays the asinine Damon Killian like he was born for the role. There’s also an appearance by Jesse Ventura, and the guy that played Tank from Captain Power so its as close to a Predator reunion you’re ever going to get.

This is one of the few editions I’ve come across that features a DTS ES 6.1 track for all those technophiles, but for everyone else on Earth that has a decent surround system there’s the very loud and spectacular Dolby Digital 5.1 EX mix. The picture quality is one of the better DVD presentations I’ve seen in awhile, which is a great bonus considering that the film is rather old.

As you’ll read bellow this edition is kind of a let down in the extras area, but if you are looking for a great version of The Running Man in widescreen with an exciting surround mix, this is the edition to get.

Extras:

The Running Man is one of the most disappointing 2-disc special editions I’ve ever seen. It lures you into thinking its going to be one hell of a features loaded happy fun time with its snazzy looking cover, but it fools you because there’s hardly anything to look at. You see, the problem with this edition is that the first disc contains the widescreen version and the second contains the crappy full frame version. On each disc is only a smattering of extras, thereby fooling anyone who might think they were buying a decent two disc presentation.

As mentioned above, Disc One contains the widescreen version, and two of the commentary tracks. The first commentary features director Paul Michael Glaser and Tim Zinnemann in one of the most boring snooze fests I’ve ever experienced. The second commentary track features executive producer Rob Cohen. It was a million times better than the other track, because Cohen relates the troubled history of the film in great detail. It’s funny to hear how The Running Man went through no less than four directors before all was said and done.

This first disc also features a documentary entitled “Lockdown on Main Street,” which is nothing more than a leftist view of post 911 government. Yay! Liberal propaganda on my DVD!

Disc Two is the ugly full frame version of the film. For special features there’s a full frame theatrical trailer (blah), and another documentary entitled “Game Theory.” “Game Theory” delves into the popularity of reality shows in our society while comparing and contrasting them to The Running Man. Don’t worry, this one has less of a political agenda.

“Meet the Stalkers” is a fun little extra that profiles the killers from the game show, even showing details of their costumes, and comments from the audience.

Score:

Film: 8

Extras: 6

Edition: 7

-Paul