The Running Man

This movie was always once of my favorite Arny movies from the 80s. It had it all. Arny’s infamous one-liners, a cool if implausible plotline, some decent effects, rinkie-dink co-stars, but fun to watch, violence, Richard Dawson from the Family Fued (??) and a pretty solid pace.

Watching it again after all these years, I couldn’t help but be somewhat dissapointed with how the film held up, since many of its effects weren’t that impressive anymore, Arny’s one-liners were extremely, and I mean, EXTREMELY corny (but still, somehow…humorous– “He had to split!”) and the soundtrack was that typical “80s pop” garbage.

For those of you who don’t know the premise, it’s actually quite topical nowadays. Set in the future, one of the most popular TV shows is called THE RUNNING MAN, and it features con men running away from these over-the-top manufactured villains (Buzzsaw, Dynamo, Subzero, etc…). And let’s not forget Captain Freedom, played by Senator Jesse Ventura himself. The bad guys are there to kill the ex-cons, and eventually, Arnold himself ends up in the “game”.

But will Arny actually be one of the first people to turn the tables on the villains instead? One guess.

Anyway, the fun of the movie is really in its premise, its cool confrontations between Arny & villains, the cheezy one-liners and Maria Conchita-Alonso in tights!!! Growl!!

Remember her? She was the 80s version of Salma Hayek. Whatever happened to her? She was quite the hottie!

Anyway, overall I would say that this film did entertain me still, but not as much as I remembered it doing in the days. But it was still a pretty fun ride and I would recommend anyone who hasn’t seen it, watch it just to see what the “real” Arny was like in his salad days. Oh yeah, you also get to see Arny in a beard for once.

PS: For anyone who doesn’t know, the Arny to whom I’m referring above is none other that Arnold Schwarzenegger…

(c) 2021 Berge Garabedian