Movie: The Running Man (1987)
Director: Paul Michael Glaser
Rating: 2.4/5 Stars **'
I finally watched this one! I had been searching at movie stores overseas for ages and never came across it. Finally I moved back to the USA and it was Netflix to the rescue. In a futuristic world of shortages and conflict exists military states. In this one there is a gladiator-esque gameshow in which prisoner-contestants fight for their lives against super-gladiators who try to kill them, and often do, on live television. All to act as a distraction for people who would otherwise be rioting and over-running the power structure that served only the elite few. Shades of the Roman empire, and when empires collapse I suppose. Check this one out, although don't expect much other than the typical Schwarzenegger action-adventure formula, and sort of a rushed conclusion.
A rushed conclusion? I think they just ran out of over used one-liners so they stopped filming. This was classic 80’s action cheese though, with a twist of lime. These were the movies that my generation grew up with; I think I saw every Arnie film when it came out, and several times since. Not because they are good, but they are cheesy and hilarious to watch. Like the never ending AK-47 clip in Commando, or the Porsche in Commando. I have always found it funny they have him doing some form of manual labor to show off his muscles in these movies, but I guess they have to make something look on the film or they wouldn’t let them make another one. I recently signed up for the blockbuster @ home package, and much to my wife’s chagrin, we are watching Arnie for a while. I mean I checked all the streaming channels we get with the plan first, and they weren’t there, so I had to queue up all the Arnie flicks so I can have the guys over and we can enjoy our cheesy 80’s flicks.
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