+++
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.