The Running Man
45
metacriticBased on 12 Critics
70
Based on 18 Users

Release Date: 1987

DVD Release Date: December 9th, 1997

R |1 hr 41 min

Plot Summary

In the year 2019, America is a totalitarian state where the favorite television program is "The Running Man" -- a game show in which prisoners must run to freedom to avoid a brutal death. Having been made a scapegoat by the government, an imprisoned Ben Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger) has the opportunity to make it back to the outside again by being a contestant on the deadly show, although the twisted host, Damon Killian (Richard Dawson), has no intention of letting him escape.

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Conchita Alonso, Richard Dawson, Yaphet Kotto, Jim Brown, Jesse Ventura, Mick Fleetwood, Dweezil Zappa

Director: Paul Michael Glaser

Genres: Action , Science fiction

Production Co: TAFT Entertainment, Home Box Office (HBO)

Keywords: Pursuit, Deception, Survival, Escape, Intense, Los Angeles, 2010s, Dark

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Ratings & Reviews

  • 25
    Hal BoedekerMiami Herald

    Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest, The Running Man, is a septic tank of a movie. This atrocious futuristic drama forms a dumping ground for bad acting, derivative writing and stomach-churning violence. The movie stinks. [13 Nov 1987, p.D1]

  • 63
    Roger EbertChicago Sun-Times

    The one element in the movie that is not standard and that does have some energy is the TV show itself, with Dawson's performance as the egotistical, sleaze-bag host. show more

  • 50
    Dave KehrChicago Tribune

    Dawson, though, burrows into his role with all the zeal of a perennial second banana recognizing the opportunity of a lifetime. It's the one naturalistic performance in this cartoonish film, carrying with it the implicit authority of years of firsthand experience shaped, perhaps, by some late-night introspection. [13 Nov 1987, p.B]

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