‹ All movies
The Running Man poster

The Running Man

year 1987decade 80sdirector Paul Michael Glasergenre Science fiction / Action

101 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Arnold Schwarzenegger Ben Richards
María Conchita Alonso Amber Mendez
Yaphet Kotto William Laughlin
Richard Dawson Damon Killian
Jim Brown Fireball
Jesse Ventura Captain Freedom
Marvin J. McIntyre Harold Weiss
Gus Rethwisch Buzzsaw

The Running Man | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Kyle Brandtproducer Craig Horlbeck
Explore episodeClose episode

Casting What-Ifs

Christopher Reeve was attached to play Ben Richards in a darker, book-faithful version; Andrew Davis began as director; Chuck Woolery was wanted for Killian before Richard Dawson.

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:08Read transcript
  • Christopher Reeve was attached when the story focused on an unemployed man surviving a violent show for thirty days to feed his family.
  • Andrew Davis was fired as director after two weeks, a decision Arnold later called terrible.
  • Chuck Woolery was unavailable for Killian, and Arnold reportedly suggested his friend Richard Dawson.
  • Christopher Reeve is endorsed as a plausible mid-eighties action lead with the physique and ability to deliver the one-liners.
  • The film is judged likely to have been better with Andrew Davis directing.
  • Chuck Woolery’s acting experience is questioned, although his cool television persona suggests potential for an evil character if he could perform the role.

Half-Assed Internet Research

The screenwriter completed fifteen drafts, Arnold named his campaign bus The Running Man, Paula Abdul choreographed the dancers, American Gladiators drew inspiration from the film, and the body count is thirty-two.

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:11:24Read transcript
  • Screenwriter Stephen E. DeSuzza reportedly wrote fifteen drafts.
  • Arnold named his campaign bus The Running Man while running for governor.
  • Paula Abdul choreographed the game-show dancers during her rise from Laker Girl to pop star.
  • American Gladiators is said to have been inspired by the movie’s game-show premise.
  • The episode gives the movie a body count of thirty-two.

Picking Nits

The hosts question Ben Richards’s generic name and sentence, the stalkers’ past dominance, the deepfake quality, the easy return to the studio, betting odds, Amber’s sudden transformation, and the impossible camera angles and labeling of the raw massacre footage.

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 01:15:51Read transcript
  • Ben Richards is called an implausibly generic name for Arnold.
  • A man accused of murdering sixty people receives detention rather than a death sentence.
  • The show’s previously dominant stalkers all lose to Richards in one episode.
  • The fabricated Amber-and-Richards murder footage exceeds even current deepfake capability.
  • Richards returns from the underground game zone to the television studio implausibly fast.
  • Richards receives 100-to-1 odds even after defeating multiple stalkers.
  • Amber transforms from terrified captive into an armed action hero and romantic partner within the last minutes.
  • The supposed raw helicopter footage includes impossible exterior and point-of-view camera angles.
  • The archive labels the evidence Bakersfield Raw Massacres with implausible bluntness.
  • A speculative response is that Captain Freedom began as a runner, killed stalkers, and accepted Killian’s offer to become one himself.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Questions cover whether a deadly show could exist, remake casting for Fireball, the game-show set, Amber’s hiding place for the raw footage, a speculative actor relationship, and whether Ben and Amber went to Hawaii.

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:22:34Read transcript
  • The earlier question of whether a show like this could ever happen is revisited.
  • Marshawn Lynch, Ray Lewis, and Aaron Donald are proposed for Fireball in a remake, with Lynch preferred and Donald also suggested for Richards.
  • The game-show set is guessed to be downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood, or CBS Radford.
  • Amber’s hiding place for the raw massacre video is treated as an intentionally crude mystery.
  • They ask whether Arnold and Maria Conchita became intimate during filming but say they do not know.
  • Whether Ben and Amber actually went to Hawaii is answered no, though a beach epilogue is imagined.