The Running Man [Blu-ray]

Description

The year is 2019. Television is now ruling people’s lives. The most popular "audience participation” game show is "The Running Man”-- where convicts can win pardons instead of ”parting gifts” by defeating murderous henchmen known as "stalkers.” The stalkers haven’t had much of a challenge lately...until Ben Richards (Schwarzenegger) comes along. Wrongly convicted of slaughtering 1500 innocent people, Richards is the next contestant to fight for his life...and his freedom. When ”Running Man” host Damon Killian (Dawson) says, "Come on down!”, be prepared to pay with your life! But Ben Richards isn’t going down without a fight. Off Richards goes into the burned-out sections of Los Angeles to face four of Killian’s ace stalkers: Subzero, wielding his razor-sharp hockey sticks; Buzzsaw, the mechanical motorcycle- riding slasher; Dynamo, practicing his deadly electric shock treatment; and Fireball with his mighty flame-throwing arsenal. Now, the entire country is glued to the tube in a heart-pounding "sudden death” battle!

In-Depth

In this action thriller based on an early story by Stephen King, Los Angeles in the year 2017 has become a police state in the wake of the global economy's total collapse. All forms of entertainment are government controlled, and the most popular show on television is an elaborate game show in which convicted criminals are given a chance to escape by running through a gauntlet of brutal killers known as "Stalkers." Anyone who survives is given their freedom and a condominium in Hawaii, so when a wrongly accused citizen (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is chosen as a contestant, all hell breaks loose. Cheesy sets and a slimy role for game-show host Richard Dawson make this violent mess of mayhem a candidate for guilty pleasure; it is the kind of movie that truly devoted Arnold fans will want to watch more than once. And check those credits--choreography by Paula Abdul! --Jeff Shannon

Actors