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diff --git a/content/reviews/movies/running-man-1987.md b/content/reviews/movies/running-man-1987.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..aefa070 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/reviews/movies/running-man-1987.md @@ -0,0 +1,63 @@ ++++ +title = "Running Man (1987)" +author = ["Michał Sapka"] +date = 2024-06-24T23:45:00+02:00 +categories = ["reviews"] +draft = false +weight = 2004 +reviewSection = ["Movies"] +image_dir = "reviews/screenshots" +image_max_width = 765 +abstract = "My review of the Schwarzenegger's classic" +image = "reviews/covers/running-man.jpg" +rating = 3.0 +aliases = ["/brain-rot/american-scifi/running-man-1987/"] ++++ + +I never got into 80s action packed ultra-manly movies. +I was never fan of them, as action scenes bore me. +There was, however, quite a few of them in SciFi setting so this site will force me to finally get to know them. + +So, _Running Man_ is a 1987 SciFi movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger based on Stephen King's story. +In the not-so-distant future of 2017 the world faced an economic cryis and America became a totalitarian state. +Captain Ben Richards (played by Arnold) is a police officer who refuses to massacre unarmed civilians. +He finds himself to be government's scapegoat and, as a result, is jailed. +After a prison break, he is once again captured - but this time he is given a chance. +If he participates in _Running Man_, an ultra-violent TV show, he may regain freedom. + +There is a _bit_ more to the story, but not much. +What is there, however, was a surprise! +There is a plot and there is commentary about risk of fascist state, of controlling crowds through entertainment, and about controlling the narrative by those in power. +_Running Man_ is _1984_ if Orwell wasn't so talented. +The entire world building happens in the first half an hour of the movie. +The rest is an hour-long series of Richard's fights against _stalkers_, professional killers who star in the show. +And I **have** to be sincere here: I hated the second part much less than I anticipated. +Yes, it's over-the top and mindless, but it has nice gore. + +But mostly because of the montage. +I remember watching the second _Avengers_ and absolutely hating it. +Most of the movie was random characters fighting without any order. +One _cool_ scene after another. +In _Running Man_, on the other hand, I was able to follow the plot of the fight. +I knew not only what was going on, but I also had a vague understanding of where the fights were and where characters were in relations to another. + +{{< image class="centered" source="https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/this-one-would-be-a-big-dream-the-remake-of-the-only-stephen-king-and-arnold-schwarzenegger-team-up-edges-closer-to-reality/" alt="Face of a white, bearded man lighting a cigarette" file="running-man-1.webp" >}} +Typical prison beard +{{< /image >}} + +{{< image class="centered" source="https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/this-one-would-be-a-big-dream-the-remake-of-the-only-stephen-king-and-arnold-schwarzenegger-team-up-edges-closer-to-reality/" alt="White man wearing a bright yellow, shining, one-piece suit" file="running-man-2.webp" >}} +The most offensive thing here are the costumes +{{< /image >}} + +So, this movie is not a completely mindless fight scene. +I should have hated it (like the aforementioned _Avengers_), but I did not. +I haven't _loved_ it, or even truly _liked it_. +Furthermore, I don't feel like I lost anything by not watching it when it was played on repeat on TV. +But it's not offensive[^fn:1], it's not even boring. +I _enjoyed_ it, but I will never watch it again. +It's not one the great Schwarzenegger's movies. + +[^fn:1]: Enjoyment-wise. + The movie is very offensive with its sexualization of women. + But this very nicely matches the metaphor in the story. + This, however, would not be made with modern sensitivity. |