Podcast 71: The Running Man

July 27, 2022 Jon S Movies, Podcasting 01:27:06124MB 0 Comments
The Running Man

The 3 Guys Podcast

Recorded on 7/21/2022

Hello cutie pie, one of us is in deep trouble. In this podcast, we review the 80s action classic The Running Man, directed by Paul Michael Glaser, based on characters by Stephen King and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, María Conchita Alonso, Yaphet Kotto and Richard Dawson. WARNING: There will be SPOILERS!

The 3 Guys Rating

3/5

Notes From The Show

  • Quick Synopsis

  • Released: November 13, 1987

    Directed By: Paul Michael Glaser

    Screenplay By:  Steven E. de Souza

    Based On The Book:  The Running Man by Stephen King (under the pen name Richard Bachman)

    Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, María Conchita Alonso, Yaphet Kotto, Richard Dawson and a bunch of other actors.

    Plot:  In a dystopian America, a falsely convicted policeman gets his shot at freedom when he must forcibly participate in a TV game show where convicts, runners, must battle killers for their freedom.

    Tag Line: The year is 2019. The finest men in America don’t run for President. They run for their lives.

    How did this movie do?
    Budget: $27 Million
    Box Office: $38 Million

  • 80s Action Cuts

    • Body count: 32 confirmed, 14 by Richards, 2 by Amber. There is also an unidentified number killed in the massacre, and three former contestants who were claimed as survivors of the show but killed before the film’s events.
    • Top One-Liners
      • Ben Richards: Killian, here’s your Subzero, now plain zero.
      • Ben Richards: [after strangling Sub-Zero with barbed wire] Yeah, he was a real pain in the neck.
      • Ben Richards: I had the shirt for it, but you fucked it up.
      • Ben Richards: [to Killian] Hello cutie pie, one of us is in deep trouble.
      • Ben Richards: I don’t do requests
      • Ben Richards: Killian! I’ll be back!
      • William Laughlin: [his last words] Don’t let us down. I don’t want to be the only asshole in heaven, Ben.
      • Ben Richards: Well, that hit the spot.
      • Ben Richards: What a hothead.
      • Ben Richards: [after a brief struggle Richards successfully positions the saw between Buzzsaw’s legs] That’s alright. Keep it!
      • Ben Richards: Women. Can’t live with ’em, can’t live… with ’em.
      • Damon Killian: [chuckles] You’re a brilliant conversationalist, Ben. A trifle limited, but brilliant.
      • Richards: See you guys at the 10-year prison reunion.
      • Ben Richards: It’s showtime.

  • Book Differences

    • The year is 2025…the world’s economy is in shambles and America has become a totalitarian dystopia.
    • Richards is 28 years old, an impoverished resident of the fictional Co-Op City, is unable to find work, having been blacklisted from his trade.
    • Richards in the book, was very scrawny with no muscles. Compared to the movie version, King stated Richards is “as far away from the Arnold Schwarzenegger character in the movie as you can get.”
    • Richards has a family. His gravely ill daughter Cathy needs medicine, and his wife Sheila has resorted to prostitution to bring in money for the family.
    • Richards signs up for The Running ManIn out of desperation to get money for his family.
    • Dan Killian, the executive producer of the program. Fred Victor is the director of the show. Bobby Thompson is the MC and host.
    • In the show contract The contestant earns $100 per hour that he stays alive and avoids capture, an additional $100 for each law enforcement officer or Hunter he kills, and a grand prize of $1 billion if he survives for 30 day.
    • The show makes contestants an enemy of the state, rewarding anyone who turns in info on the contestant, and allows the contestant to run to anywhere in the world.
    • The contestant must videotape two messages and mail them back to the studio for broadcasting, or they lose the prize money, stop accumulating money and will be hunted indefinitely.
    • Stalkers are called Hunters.
    • The movie ends VERY differently than the movie…no spoilers here.

  • Trivia

    • Paul Michael Glaser, the director, is an American actor and director best known for his role as Detective Dave Starsky on the 1970s television series, Starsky & Hutch.

    • When Rob Cohen purchased the rights to the Richard Bachman novel “The Running Man”, he had no idea that Bachman was actually a pseudonym for Stephen King.

    • Many people who worked with Richard Dawson on the game show Family Feud (1976) say that in real life Dawson was more like his character Damon Killian in his handling of underlings.

    • When Arnold Schwarzenegger ran for governor, he rode around in a campaign bus and named it after this film.

    • Although credited as simply Subzero, the character is introduced as Professor Subzero by announcer Phil Hilton. Professor Subzero is played by Professor Toru Tanaka. It is worth noting that Tanaka’s title of Professor is not from a post-doctorate academic rank, but rather from the wrestling name the actor went under in his wrestling career from the 1960’s through the 1980’s (sometimes shortened to Professor Tanaka).

    • Erland van Lidth (“Dynamo”) was a classically trained Helden baritone opera singer, so in his introduction when Dynamo is singing an aria from “The Marriage of Figaro”, it actually is van Lidth singing.

    • The film inspired TV’s American Gladiators (1989) as well as the plot and settings of the Williams arcade game Smash TV (1990).

    • The footage of the attacking helicopters is from King Kong (1976).

    • When Killian is sending Fireball into the game, he says, “There he goes, the leading rusher.” Fireball was played by Jim Brown, the NFL’s all-time leader in rushing yards until the mid-’80s.

    • Although Arnold Schwarzenegger hates Richard Dawson onscreen, in real life they were lifelong friends.

    • Originally scheduled for a July 1987 release, it was moved back four months by Tri-Star to avoid competition with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s other summer film, Predator (1987), which was released in June.

    • It’s hinted that Mic Fleetwood plays himself in the movie. In the film, the resistance leader’s name is Mick and he is British and when Mick meets Richards to remove his explosive collar from around his neck he says to him “You’re one of the cops who locked up all my friends, burned my songs.”

    • Producer George Linder sold his company, Quadra Wheelchairs of Westlake Village, California, to help finance The Running Man (1987).

    • John McTiernan intentionally kept Jesse Ventura out of any close up shots with Arnold Schwarzenegger in Predator (1987) because of Venturas immense size (6’5, and almost 300lb). The director didn’t want Schwarzenegger looking small in comparison, which is evident during the fight scene in The Running Man (1987) when Ventura almost dwarfs Schwarzenegger.

    • Paula Abdul was the film’s choreographer. Many of the dancers were friends of hers from the Laker Girls.

    • Richard Dawson only agreed to be in the film provided he was not expected to use any profanity in his dialogue.

    • The character “Mick,” the leader of the underground, is played by drummer Mick Fleetwood of the super group Fleetwood Mac. His compatriot in the movie, a character named “Stevie” and played by Dweezil Zappa (the son of legendary musician Frank Zappa) is an obvious homage to Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac.

    • Four actors from the “Predator” film franchise appear in this film. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jesse Ventura and Sven-Ole Thorsen all appear in the original feature film Predator (1987), while Maria Conchita Alonso appears in the sequel Predator 2 (1990).

    • The film takes place from 2017 to 2019.

    • “The Running Man” suit that the contestants wear bears an Adidas logo at the hip and right arm.

    • Arnold Schwarzenegger (trademark): “I’ll be back!”

    • Prior to Paul Michael Glaser being hired as director, executive producer Rob Cohen had hired four other directors in his attempts to make the movie. The first was George P. Cosmatos, who had impressed Cohen with his work on Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985). However, when Cosmatos announced that he wanted to relocate the entire film to a shopping mall, Cohen let him go, feeling that Cosmatos was taking the script in an unacceptable direction. Cohen next offered the project to German director Carl Schenkel, having been impressed with Out of Order (1984), but Schenkel turned him down as he didn’t feel comfortable taking on such a large project. Next, Cohen hired Ferdinand Fairfax, based upon his work on Savage Islands (1983). Like Cosmatos, however, Fairfax began to take the screenplay in a direction which Cohen disliked, so once again, he let him go. Cohen then turned to Andrew Davis, having enjoyed Davis’ movie Code of Silence (1985). Davis actually got the project off the ground and into production, but only eight days into the shoot, he was already $8 million over budget and four days behind schedule. As such Cohen let Davis go, and ultimately hired Glaser, whom he had worked with on the first season of Miami Vice (1984).

    • The character of Mrs. McArdle, whom host Damon Killian states is the shows number one fan, is an homage to Mrs. Miller, a long-time fixture of many series’, including The Merv Griffin Show. Her entire claim to fame was that she showed up to the tapings almost every day. The real Mrs. Miller (who was not a young woman) actually parlayed her notoriety into several ventures, including recording an album entitled “Mrs. Miller Sings”. It’s an album which today is only heard on Dr. Demento-type shows.

    • 1hr 23 minutes into the film: As Killian is congratulating his production team he is standing next to a TV that is rolling credits for the show. The credits are quite easy to read on a large screen and are: THANK YOU: TIM GEORGE GARY PAUL ROB KEITH YOU ME US THEM ~ WHAT NEXT: I DON’T KNOW ~ TITLES: TYPE M WRONG ~ MAKE UP: PAINT YOUR FACE ~ PROPS: PROPERTY ~ LOCATIONS: BY TO LONG HERE ~ ART DIRECTOR: RED G. BLEU AND PRIMARY COLOURS ~ MUSIC: DO RAY ME ~ CATERING: [scene ends]

    • Features two actors who went on to be the governor of a US state: in November 1998 Jesse Ventura was elected Governor of Minnesota; in October 2003 Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected Governor of California.

    • The red car that drives Killian (Richard Dawson) in front of the TV studio is a Maserati Quattroporte III stretch limo.

    • Kurt Fuller provided the voice of the Dispatcher who orders Richards to kill the unarmed civilians in the Bakersfield riot.

    • Dweezil Zappa, son of legendary American composer/singer Frank Zappa, has only two lines in the movie: “Don’t touch that dial!”, being one of his father’s most famous lyrics from the song “I Am the Slime” (from the album “Over-nite Sensation”, 1973); and “Psst . . . you guys wanna buy a hot stereo? . . . Laughlin!, glad you guys made it” at the beginning of the film.

    • Mic’s Star Trek reference gag was Mick Fleetwood’s idea, as he was a huge fan of the original 1960s series (this film was in production a year before The Next Generation television series started filming). However two years after this film was released Fleetwood got to achieve a lifetime ambition by having a cameo in Star Trek: The Next Generation season two episode ‘Manhunt’.

    • “The Running Man” game show seen in the film was based upon an early 1980s Japanese game show called “Trans American Ultra Quiz”, in which contestants were tortured in various ways. The prize went to whichever contestant could stand the pain/humiliation the longest.

    • The exterior view of the resistance HQ is the same as the one used by the resistance in V: The Final Battle (1984) (note the tunnel and the building on the right).

    • Final film of Richard Dawson & Erland van Lidth.

    • Dolph Lundgren and Christopher Reeve expressed interest in starring in the movie, and Patrick Swayze had also been considered.

    • In Killian’s office there is a poster for a fake TV show called “Hate Boat.” In real life, Richard Dawson appeared as a guest star in an episode of the TV series The Love Boat (1977).

    • Yves Boisset, writer and director of The Prize of Peril (1983) sued Twentieth Century Fox for copycat because The Running Man (1987)’s screenplay was exactly the same as his own film. Some documents of the case were lost in a plane crash in the New York bay.

    • A. Times called the movie “The best Schwarzenegger movie since The Terminator”.

    • 1:35 The coordinates shown on the helicopter’s monitor ranges from N30°35′ W119°29′ to N34°12′ W119°11′ (which corresponds to Santa Clara Elementary School at 324 South E Street in Oxnard, California). The total distance flown comes out to 245 miles (390Km) in only 5 seconds. The helicopter hovers and begins the massacre at N45°04′ W119°04′

    • Kurt Fuller later starred in Wayne’s World (1992), in which he played a similar role to his character in The Running Man (1987). In Wayne’s World (1992), Garth Algar (Dana Carvey) hacks a satellite so he can transmit a live broadcast of the Wayne’s World TV show into the TV of Frankie Sharp’s limo.

    • The satellite up-link code is 18-24-61-B 17-17-4.

    • The code to get into Ben Richards’ brother/Amber’s apartment is 4-4-5-5-6-6.

    • The main plot about people being forced to compete in a fight to the death game show would later be reused for the novel series The Hunger Games and would become a hit film series 25 years later.

    • Ben Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger) says to Killian, “to hell with you!” He says the same while praying to Krom in Conan the Barbarian (1982).

    • The code to deactivate the Sonic Deadline (the explosive neck collars) is “653-9X”.

    • Actor Erland van Lidth, who plays ‘Dynamo’ in this film, died of a heart attack two months before this film was theatrically released. He was only 34 years old.

    • In the scene after the prisoners remove their neck collars, Schwarzenegger says that “he is not interested in politics, he’s interested in survival.” Schwarzenegger later became a politician when we was elected Governor of California.

Released: November 13, 1987

Directed By: Paul Michael Glaser

Screenplay By:  Steven E. de Souza

Based On The Book:  The Running Man by Stephen King (under the pen name Richard Bachman)

Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, María Conchita Alonso, Yaphet Kotto, Richard Dawson and a bunch of other actors.

Plot:  In a dystopian America, a falsely convicted policeman gets his shot at freedom when he must forcibly participate in a TV game show where convicts, runners, must battle killers for their freedom.

Tag Line: The year is 2019. The finest men in America don’t run for President. They run for their lives.

How did this movie do?
Budget: $27 Million
Box Office: $38 Million

  • Body count: 32 confirmed, 14 by Richards, 2 by Amber. There is also an unidentified number killed in the massacre, and three former contestants who were claimed as survivors of the show but killed before the film’s events.
  • Top One-Liners
    • Ben Richards: Killian, here’s your Subzero, now plain zero.
    • Ben Richards: [after strangling Sub-Zero with barbed wire] Yeah, he was a real pain in the neck.
    • Ben Richards: I had the shirt for it, but you fucked it up.
    • Ben Richards: [to Killian] Hello cutie pie, one of us is in deep trouble.
    • Ben Richards: I don’t do requests
    • Ben Richards: Killian! I’ll be back!
    • William Laughlin: [his last words] Don’t let us down. I don’t want to be the only asshole in heaven, Ben.
    • Ben Richards: Well, that hit the spot.
    • Ben Richards: What a hothead.
    • Ben Richards: [after a brief struggle Richards successfully positions the saw between Buzzsaw’s legs] That’s alright. Keep it!
    • Ben Richards: Women. Can’t live with ’em, can’t live… with ’em.
    • Damon Killian: [chuckles] You’re a brilliant conversationalist, Ben. A trifle limited, but brilliant.
    • Richards: See you guys at the 10-year prison reunion.
    • Ben Richards: It’s showtime.
  • The year is 2025…the world’s economy is in shambles and America has become a totalitarian dystopia.
  • Richards is 28 years old, an impoverished resident of the fictional Co-Op City, is unable to find work, having been blacklisted from his trade.
  • Richards in the book, was very scrawny with no muscles. Compared to the movie version, King stated Richards is “as far away from the Arnold Schwarzenegger character in the movie as you can get.”
  • Richards has a family. His gravely ill daughter Cathy needs medicine, and his wife Sheila has resorted to prostitution to bring in money for the family.
  • Richards signs up for The Running ManIn out of desperation to get money for his family.
  • Dan Killian, the executive producer of the program. Fred Victor is the director of the show. Bobby Thompson is the MC and host.
  • In the show contract The contestant earns $100 per hour that he stays alive and avoids capture, an additional $100 for each law enforcement officer or Hunter he kills, and a grand prize of $1 billion if he survives for 30 day.
  • The show makes contestants an enemy of the state, rewarding anyone who turns in info on the contestant, and allows the contestant to run to anywhere in the world.
  • The contestant must videotape two messages and mail them back to the studio for broadcasting, or they lose the prize money, stop accumulating money and will be hunted indefinitely.
  • Stalkers are called Hunters.
  • The movie ends VERY differently than the movie…no spoilers here.
  • Paul Michael Glaser, the director, is an American actor and director best known for his role as Detective Dave Starsky on the 1970s television series, Starsky & Hutch.

  • When Rob Cohen purchased the rights to the Richard Bachman novel “The Running Man”, he had no idea that Bachman was actually a pseudonym for Stephen King.

  • Many people who worked with Richard Dawson on the game show Family Feud (1976) say that in real life Dawson was more like his character Damon Killian in his handling of underlings.

  • When Arnold Schwarzenegger ran for governor, he rode around in a campaign bus and named it after this film.

  • Although credited as simply Subzero, the character is introduced as Professor Subzero by announcer Phil Hilton. Professor Subzero is played by Professor Toru Tanaka. It is worth noting that Tanaka’s title of Professor is not from a post-doctorate academic rank, but rather from the wrestling name the actor went under in his wrestling career from the 1960’s through the 1980’s (sometimes shortened to Professor Tanaka).

  • Erland van Lidth (“Dynamo”) was a classically trained Helden baritone opera singer, so in his introduction when Dynamo is singing an aria from “The Marriage of Figaro”, it actually is van Lidth singing.

  • The film inspired TV’s American Gladiators (1989) as well as the plot and settings of the Williams arcade game Smash TV (1990).

  • The footage of the attacking helicopters is from King Kong (1976).

  • When Killian is sending Fireball into the game, he says, “There he goes, the leading rusher.” Fireball was played by Jim Brown, the NFL’s all-time leader in rushing yards until the mid-’80s.

  • Although Arnold Schwarzenegger hates Richard Dawson onscreen, in real life they were lifelong friends.

  • Originally scheduled for a July 1987 release, it was moved back four months by Tri-Star to avoid competition with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s other summer film, Predator (1987), which was released in June.

  • It’s hinted that Mic Fleetwood plays himself in the movie. In the film, the resistance leader’s name is Mick and he is British and when Mick meets Richards to remove his explosive collar from around his neck he says to him “You’re one of the cops who locked up all my friends, burned my songs.”

  • Producer George Linder sold his company, Quadra Wheelchairs of Westlake Village, California, to help finance The Running Man (1987).

  • John McTiernan intentionally kept Jesse Ventura out of any close up shots with Arnold Schwarzenegger in Predator (1987) because of Venturas immense size (6’5, and almost 300lb). The director didn’t want Schwarzenegger looking small in comparison, which is evident during the fight scene in The Running Man (1987) when Ventura almost dwarfs Schwarzenegger.

  • Paula Abdul was the film’s choreographer. Many of the dancers were friends of hers from the Laker Girls.

  • Richard Dawson only agreed to be in the film provided he was not expected to use any profanity in his dialogue.

  • The character “Mick,” the leader of the underground, is played by drummer Mick Fleetwood of the super group Fleetwood Mac. His compatriot in the movie, a character named “Stevie” and played by Dweezil Zappa (the son of legendary musician Frank Zappa) is an obvious homage to Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac.

  • Four actors from the “Predator” film franchise appear in this film. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jesse Ventura and Sven-Ole Thorsen all appear in the original feature film Predator (1987), while Maria Conchita Alonso appears in the sequel Predator 2 (1990).

  • The film takes place from 2017 to 2019.

  • “The Running Man” suit that the contestants wear bears an Adidas logo at the hip and right arm.

  • Arnold Schwarzenegger (trademark): “I’ll be back!”

  • Prior to Paul Michael Glaser being hired as director, executive producer Rob Cohen had hired four other directors in his attempts to make the movie. The first was George P. Cosmatos, who had impressed Cohen with his work on Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985). However, when Cosmatos announced that he wanted to relocate the entire film to a shopping mall, Cohen let him go, feeling that Cosmatos was taking the script in an unacceptable direction. Cohen next offered the project to German director Carl Schenkel, having been impressed with Out of Order (1984), but Schenkel turned him down as he didn’t feel comfortable taking on such a large project. Next, Cohen hired Ferdinand Fairfax, based upon his work on Savage Islands (1983). Like Cosmatos, however, Fairfax began to take the screenplay in a direction which Cohen disliked, so once again, he let him go. Cohen then turned to Andrew Davis, having enjoyed Davis’ movie Code of Silence (1985). Davis actually got the project off the ground and into production, but only eight days into the shoot, he was already $8 million over budget and four days behind schedule. As such Cohen let Davis go, and ultimately hired Glaser, whom he had worked with on the first season of Miami Vice (1984).

  • The character of Mrs. McArdle, whom host Damon Killian states is the shows number one fan, is an homage to Mrs. Miller, a long-time fixture of many series’, including The Merv Griffin Show. Her entire claim to fame was that she showed up to the tapings almost every day. The real Mrs. Miller (who was not a young woman) actually parlayed her notoriety into several ventures, including recording an album entitled “Mrs. Miller Sings”. It’s an album which today is only heard on Dr. Demento-type shows.

  • 1hr 23 minutes into the film: As Killian is congratulating his production team he is standing next to a TV that is rolling credits for the show. The credits are quite easy to read on a large screen and are: THANK YOU: TIM GEORGE GARY PAUL ROB KEITH YOU ME US THEM ~ WHAT NEXT: I DON’T KNOW ~ TITLES: TYPE M WRONG ~ MAKE UP: PAINT YOUR FACE ~ PROPS: PROPERTY ~ LOCATIONS: BY TO LONG HERE ~ ART DIRECTOR: RED G. BLEU AND PRIMARY COLOURS ~ MUSIC: DO RAY ME ~ CATERING: [scene ends]

  • Features two actors who went on to be the governor of a US state: in November 1998 Jesse Ventura was elected Governor of Minnesota; in October 2003 Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected Governor of California.

  • The red car that drives Killian (Richard Dawson) in front of the TV studio is a Maserati Quattroporte III stretch limo.

  • Kurt Fuller provided the voice of the Dispatcher who orders Richards to kill the unarmed civilians in the Bakersfield riot.

  • Dweezil Zappa, son of legendary American composer/singer Frank Zappa, has only two lines in the movie: “Don’t touch that dial!”, being one of his father’s most famous lyrics from the song “I Am the Slime” (from the album “Over-nite Sensation”, 1973); and “Psst . . . you guys wanna buy a hot stereo? . . . Laughlin!, glad you guys made it” at the beginning of the film.

  • Mic’s Star Trek reference gag was Mick Fleetwood’s idea, as he was a huge fan of the original 1960s series (this film was in production a year before The Next Generation television series started filming). However two years after this film was released Fleetwood got to achieve a lifetime ambition by having a cameo in Star Trek: The Next Generation season two episode ‘Manhunt’.

  • “The Running Man” game show seen in the film was based upon an early 1980s Japanese game show called “Trans American Ultra Quiz”, in which contestants were tortured in various ways. The prize went to whichever contestant could stand the pain/humiliation the longest.

  • The exterior view of the resistance HQ is the same as the one used by the resistance in V: The Final Battle (1984) (note the tunnel and the building on the right).

  • Final film of Richard Dawson & Erland van Lidth.

  • Dolph Lundgren and Christopher Reeve expressed interest in starring in the movie, and Patrick Swayze had also been considered.

  • In Killian’s office there is a poster for a fake TV show called “Hate Boat.” In real life, Richard Dawson appeared as a guest star in an episode of the TV series The Love Boat (1977).

  • Yves Boisset, writer and director of The Prize of Peril (1983) sued Twentieth Century Fox for copycat because The Running Man (1987)’s screenplay was exactly the same as his own film. Some documents of the case were lost in a plane crash in the New York bay.

  • A. Times called the movie “The best Schwarzenegger movie since The Terminator”.

  • 1:35 The coordinates shown on the helicopter’s monitor ranges from N30°35′ W119°29′ to N34°12′ W119°11′ (which corresponds to Santa Clara Elementary School at 324 South E Street in Oxnard, California). The total distance flown comes out to 245 miles (390Km) in only 5 seconds. The helicopter hovers and begins the massacre at N45°04′ W119°04′

  • Kurt Fuller later starred in Wayne’s World (1992), in which he played a similar role to his character in The Running Man (1987). In Wayne’s World (1992), Garth Algar (Dana Carvey) hacks a satellite so he can transmit a live broadcast of the Wayne’s World TV show into the TV of Frankie Sharp’s limo.

  • The satellite up-link code is 18-24-61-B 17-17-4.

  • The code to get into Ben Richards’ brother/Amber’s apartment is 4-4-5-5-6-6.

  • The main plot about people being forced to compete in a fight to the death game show would later be reused for the novel series The Hunger Games and would become a hit film series 25 years later.

  • Ben Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger) says to Killian, “to hell with you!” He says the same while praying to Krom in Conan the Barbarian (1982).

  • The code to deactivate the Sonic Deadline (the explosive neck collars) is “653-9X”.

  • Actor Erland van Lidth, who plays ‘Dynamo’ in this film, died of a heart attack two months before this film was theatrically released. He was only 34 years old.

  • In the scene after the prisoners remove their neck collars, Schwarzenegger says that “he is not interested in politics, he’s interested in survival.” Schwarzenegger later became a politician when we was elected Governor of California.

About The Movie From IMDB

The Running Man | November 13, 1987 (United States) 6.6
Director: Paul Michael GlaserWriter: Stephen King, Steven E. de SouzaStars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Conchita Alonso, Yaphet KottoSummary:

Photos


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Videos


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Cast

Arnold Schwarzenegger
...
Ben Richards
Maria Conchita Alonso
...
Amber Mendez
Yaphet Kotto
...
Laughlin
Jim Brown
...
Fireball
Jesse Ventura
...
Captain Freedom
Erland van Lidth
...
Dynamo
Marvin J. McIntyre
...
Weiss
Gus Rethwisch
...
Buzzsaw
Professor Toru Tanaka
...
Subzero
Mick Fleetwood
...
Mic
Dweezil Zappa
...
Stevie
Richard Dawson
...
Damon Killian
Karen Leigh Hopkins
...
Brenda
Sven-Ole Thorsen
...
Sven
Edward Bunker
...
Lenny
Bryan Kestner
...
Med Tech
Anthony Pena
...
Valdez
Kurt Fuller
...
Tony

See full cast >>
Countries: United StatesLanguages: English, Italian, JapaneseBudget: $27,000,000 (estimated)
Source: imdb.com
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6.6
The Running Man | November 13, 1987 (United States)
Director: Paul Michael GlaserWriter: Stephen King, Steven E. de SouzaStars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Conchita Alonso, Yaphet Kotto
Summary: In a dystopian America, a falsely convicted policeman gets his shot at freedom when he must forcibly participate in a TV game show where convicts, runners, must battle killers for their free... Read all
Countries: United StatesLanguages: English, Italian, Japanese
Source: imdb.comDisclaimer: This plugin has been coded to automatically quote data from imdb.com. Not available for any other purpose. All showing data have a link to imdb.com. The user is responsible for any other use or change codes.

Quotes

Damon Killian: There are still two crack stalkers out there. Dynamo and Fireball. Who do you think will make the next kill?

Elderly Lady: Oh, boy. That's a tough one.

Damon Killian: Come on. You can do it. Who do you think?

Elderly Lady: Okay, I think the next kill will be made by... Ben Richards.

Damon Killian: Agnes, Richards is a runner. You gotta pick a stalker.

Elderly Lady: I can pick anyone I choose. And I choose... Ben Richards. That boy's one mean motherfucker.

Ben Richards: Killian, here's your Subzero, now plain zero.

Ben Richards: [after ripping the surveillance monitor off the wall] You cold-blooded bastard! I'll tell you what I think of it: I'll live to see you eat that contract, but I hope you leave enough room for my fist because I'm going to ram it into your stomach and break your god-damn spine!

[Smashes monitor on the floor]

Amber Mendez: Me and my big mouth. We should have taken the trip to Hawaii.

Ben Richards: I had the shirt for it, but you fucked it up.

Ben Richards: [to Killian] Hello cutie pie, one of us is in deep trouble.

[Sven enters]

Damon Killian: [laughs] Sven, do you wanna talk to Mr. Richards?

[long pause]

Damon Killian: Well?

Sven: I've got to score some steroids.

[Sven leaves]

Damon Killian: You look pissed, Ben. Believe me, you got every right to be. But hey, will you just let me explain. This is television, that's all it is. It's nothing to do with people, it's to do with the ratings. For fifty years, we've told them what to eat, what to drink, what to wear... for Christ's sake, Ben, don't you understand? Americans love television. They wean their kids on it. Listen. They love game shows, they love wrestling, they love sports and violence. So what do we do? We give 'em *what they want*! We're number one, Ben, that's all that counts, believe me. I've been in the business thirty years.

Ben Richards: Well, I haven't been in show business as long as you have, Killian. But I'm a quick learner. So I'm going to give the audience what *I* think they want.

Damon Killian: [Ben shoves Killian into the rocket sled and the restraints automatically lock in place] You bastard. Drop dead!

Ben Richards: I don't do requests

[Ben launches the rocket sled into the game zone tunnel which later crashes into a billboard with Killian on it, exploding and killing him]

Ben Richards: Well that hit the spot

Ben Richards: Killian! I'll be back!

Damon Killian: Only in a rerun. GO!

Amber Mendez: I'm warning you, I get sick. Air sick, car sick. I'm gonna throw up all over you.

Richards: Go ahead. Won't show on this shirt.

Amber Mendez: [after Richards cut Buzzsaw in half with a chain saw] What happened to Buzzsaw?

Ben Richards: Aw, he had to split.

Ben Richards: Uplink, underground! Uplink, underground! If you guys don't shut up, I'm gonna uplink your ass, and you'll be underground!

Dynamo: Thought it was pretty funny out there in the zone. What's the matter now, bitch? Why aren't you laughing?

Amber Mendez: Because there's nothing funny about a dickless moron with a battery up his ass.

Ben Richards: [trying to get Dynamo's attention] Hey, Lighthead! Hey, Christmas Tree!

[Referring to dead bodies]

Amber Mendez: They're running men. Last season's winners.

Fireball: No. Last season's losers.

Damon Killian: Huh? I... I know a stalker died! Well, it had to happen sooner or later!

[pause]

Damon Killian: Look, it is a contact sport, right? Yes, but you see, you guys at Justice. You cannot have it both ways. You want ratings. You want people in front of the television instead of picket lines. Well, you're not gonna get that with re-runs of Gilligan's Island.

[pause]

Damon Killian: Gilligan's Island.

[hums the theme song]

Damon Killian: Yeah. Yeah, the one with the boat.

Mic: Mr. Spock, you have the conn.

Underground Tech: Who's Mr. Spock?

Agent: Mr. Richards, I'm your court-appointed theatrical agent.

Agent: [Richards is signing a contract given to him by the agent] Here, here! Use my back, victim.

Ben Richards: [Richards signs the contract on the agent's back and then stabs him with the pen, yelling out a painful scream] Don't forget to send me a copy.

Agent: [Runs screaming in pain while trying to get the pen out of his back]

Damon Killian: You bastard! Drop dead!

Ben Richards: I don't do requests.

Amber Mendez: [seeing Fireball enter the game] Jesus Christ!

Ben Richards: [seeing Fireball discharge a burst from his flamethrower] Guess again!

Ben Richards: Now I'm gonna untie you, and then you're gonna get dressed, and then you're gonna come with me.

Amber Mendez: Oh yeah? Why should I?

Ben Richards: Because I'm gonna say "please"...

[Arnold tears up the bench Amber is tied to from the floor it was bolted to]

Amber Mendez: Well, why didn't you say so?

Damon Killian: Hi, cutie pie. You know one of us is in deep trouble. You know who I am?

Ben Richards: I've seen you before. You're the asshole on TV.

Damon Killian: That's funny. I was going to say the same thing about you.

Ben Richards: I'm not into politics. I'm into survival.

Ben Richards: [after strangling Sub-Zero with barbed wire] Yeah, he was a real pain in the neck.

Amber Mendez: They think I'm your girlfriend.

Ben Richards: I can straighten that out. See that camera up there? I'll strangle you in front of the whole audience.

Damon Killian: [after incriminating footage is shown on the studio screen] Ladies and gentlemen! Ladies and gentlemen! If you'll please bare with us, we're experiencing technical difficulties!

Elderly Lady: Bullshit!

Ben Richards: I told Killian I'd be back. I wouldn't want to be a liar.

Damon Killian: What's the matter? Steroids make you deaf?

William Laughlin: [his last words] Don't let us down. I don't want to be the only asshole in heaven, Ben.

[Ben had just killed Subzero]

Ben Richards: [to Damon] Hey, Killian! Here's Subzero! Now... plain zero!

Damon Killian: [sadly] Ladies and Gentlemen, this is... just horrible. Words can't express what we're all feeling at this very moment. A great champion has fallen. We'll be back right after these important messages.

Ben Richards: I'll be back!

[after killing Damon Killian]

Ben Richards: Well, that hit the spot.

Ben Richards: [to a trapped Dynamo] No. I won't kill a helpless human being. Not even sadistic scum... like you.

Tony: The Justice Department's calling every ten minutes.

Damon Killian: Just give them an evasive answer. Tell them to go fuck themselves.

[Amber is being introduced to the audience as a special guest 'runner']

Phil Hiton: ...Later, she cheated on college exams. Had sexual relationships with two, sometimes three different men in a year. And then she met Mad Dog Ben Richards, her *Confederate*, her LOVER!

Amber Mendez: That was a lie!

Damon Killian: Dear, dear, dear. Let's reunite these little lovebirds! GO!

[audience cheers]

Damon Killian: [Amber is sent down to the game zone]

Damon Killian: Brenda, if that ass hole is mopping the floor tomorrow, you'll be mopping it for the rest of the week. Let's go!

Fireball: [Richards rips his fuel line] My gas line! My gas line! Go to commercial! Go to Commercial!

Ben Richards: [lights a flare] How about a light?

Fireball: [Fireball screams and then explodes]

Ben Richards: What a hothead.

Buzzsaw: Richards, I love this saw. This saw's part of me and I'm going to make it part of you.

Ben Richards: [after a brief struggle Richards successfully positions the saw between Buzzsaw's legs] That's alright. Keep it!

[Richards begins slicing him through the crotch]

Ben Richards: [Buzzsaw screams in agonizing pain as people are watching with shock]

[Ben Richards finds a mortally-wounded Laughlin]

William Laughlin: I'm going somewhere, but not with you. Buzzsaw took care of my traveling arrangements.

[Damon Killian is talking to the operator on the telephone]

Damon Killian: Hello, this is Killian. Give me the Justice Department, Entertainment Division. No, no, hold that, Operator? Get me the President's agent.

Ben Richards: Women. Can't live with 'em, can't live... with 'em.

Damon Killian: And that's why I'd like you to volunteer to appear on tomorrow night's episode of The Running Man.

Ben Richards: [beat] Fuck you!

Damon Killian: [chuckles] You're a brilliant conversationalist, Ben. A trifle limited, but brilliant.

Damon Killian: I want a kiss, now, a big kiss, but remember... no tongues.

Damon Killian: Who loves you and who do you love?

Amy: You're lucky he didn't kill you, too. Or rape you, then kill you. Or kill you, then rape you.

Damon Killian: [after the introduction of Dynamo] Oh, thank you. You're beautiful. Well, it's been an exciting show so far, right? We've had shocks. We've had surprises. And we thought, why not one more surprise?

[Killian laughs]

Damon Killian: Will you please help me welcome our mystery contestant: Miss Amber Mendez!

[Amber is dragged onstage by Sven and his other two guards; audience applauds]

Amber Mendez: Let me go!

Damon Killian: Amber. Amber! Now I understand that you're single, Amber, and that you live on the West Side. And not surprisingly, she's flaunted the law and traditional morality all of her life.

Amber Mendez: Go ahead. Tell some lies about me now.

Damon Killian: We don't lie. Phil, tell us all about her.

Stevie: Don't touch that dial!

[last lines]

Phil Hiton: *The Running Man* has been brought to you by: Breakaway Paramilitary Uniforms, Ortopure Procreation Pill, and Cadre Cola; it hits the spot! Promotional considerations paid for by: Kelton Flame Throwers, Wainwright Electrical Launchers, and Hammond & Gage Chainsaws. Damon Killian's wardrobe by Chez Antoinne: 19th-Century craftsmanship for the 21st-Century man. Cadre Trooper and studio-guard side arms provided by Colchester: the pistol of patriots. Remember: Tickets for the ICS studio tour are always available for Class-A citizens in good standing. If you'd like to be a contestant on THE RUNNING MAN, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: ICS Talent Hunt, care of your local affiliate, and then go out and do something really despicable! I'm Phil Hilton! Good night, and take care!

Ben Richards: If you're not ready to act, give me a break and shut up!

Richards: See you guys at the 10-year prison reunion.

Mic: What is it?

Amber Mendez: It's the original video from the Bakersfield massacre, before they edited for broadcasting.

Ben Richards: Where did you hide that?

Amber Mendez: It's none of your business.

Damon Killian: We have one hell of a show for you tonight. Phil, please, if you will, introduce tonight's guest runner...

Damon Killian: [to Mrs. Agnes McArdle and the audience] ... and watch that screen.

[an CGI falsified version of the actual events of the Bakersfield massacre is shown; the police heilcopter is flying over the city]

Phil Hiton: Our star runner tonight needs no introduction. He's Ben Richards, the brutal slayer of 60 men, women, and children in the Bakersfield massacre.

Ben Richards: Food riot in progress. Approximately 1,500 civilians. Moving in.

Dispatcher: [to Richards] Yankee-nine-niner, the crowd is unarmed. Repeat, unarmed. Abort attack. Acknowledge, Yankee-Nine-Niner.

Ben Richards: [to dispatch] The hell with you.

Dispatcher: Lieutenant Sanders, take command. Detain Richards and return to base.

[Ben attacks Sanders and the crew; Thousands of shanty residents, the audience, and the guests in the locker room, including Captain Freedom, are watching the shocking events infolding]

Dispatcher: Acknowledge, Yankee-Nine-Niner! Acknowledge! Return to base! Those are innocent, unarmed people down there! Cease fire! CEASE FIRE!

[Ben starts shooting at the crowd with an automatic machine gun and laying waste to the entire city using rocket launchers; The audience and the residents watch in sheer horror]

Damon Killian: Well, we all know the aftermath: Grieving parents, orphaned children, and a nation shocked to its very core. Here he is, ready to pay the price for our home audience. In person, the Butcher of Bakersfield!

Damon Killian: It's all part of life's rich pattern, Brenda, and you better fucking get used to it.

Airport announcer: Flights to Tutuville and Mandelaburg are arriving on time...

Damon Killian: [gets thrown into the turbo slide by Ben and the restraints lock in place] You bastard! Drop dead.

Ben Richards: I don't do requests.

Damon Killian: Don't touch the hair!

Ben Richards: It's showtime.

Dispatcher: Proceed with plan alpha. Eliminate anything moving.

Ben Richards: I said the crowd is unarmed. There are a lot of women and children down there. All they want is food for God's sake!

Dispatcher: As you were, Richards. Proceed with plan alpha. All rioters must be eliminated.

Ben Richards: The hell with you. I will not fire on helpless people. Abort mission. We return back to base.

Dispatcher: Lieutenant Sanders, do you copy?

Damon Killian: [Killian is explaining the rules of the game] Once inside the zone, the runners have three hours! They gotta go through all four game quads! Three hours or less and they're gonna need every second! Cause you know who's on their tail?

Audience members: The stalkers!

Damon Killian: Who?

Audience members: The stalkers!

Damon Killian: And you know what happens then!

Audience members: Anything goes!

Damon Killian: What?

Audience members: Anything goes!

Damon Killian: Right! Without further ado, it's time to start... RUNNING!

[first lines]

[a helicopter is flying at night]

Man: [over radio] Yankee-nine-niner, what are your coordinates?

Ben Richards: 0-2-0, flight level 1-5. We're above release point Echo-Bravo-one.

Man: [over radio] Move in and check it out.

Ben Richards: Roger. Moving in.

Harold Weiss: We can jam the network once we find the uplink to the satellite. Then we'll broadcast the truth.

Ben Richards: Truth? Hasn't been very popular lately.

Damon Killian: They want ratings. l can get 10 points for his biceps alone.

William Laughlin: Well, there's your ride. lt's all set.

Ben Richards: Nothing like first class.

Opening Narration: By 2017, the world economy has collapsed. Food, natural resources and oil are in short supply. A police state, divided into Paramilitary Zones, rules with an iron hand. Television is controlled by the state and a sadistic game show called "The Running Man" has become the most popular program in history. All art, music and communications are censored. No dissent is tolerated and yet a small resistance movement has managed to survive underground. When high-tech gladiators are not enough to suppress the people's yearning for freedom... more direct methods become necessary.

Captain Freedom: [on the TV commercial] Are you ready for pain? Are you ready for suffering? lf the answer is yes, then you're ready for Captain Freedom's Workout.

Phil Hiton: Yes, it's America's own Captain Freedom, 10-time national champion, the greatest stalker to ever play the game. All right, now, all you runners, ready, get set, go!

Dynamo: Come to me, my love.

[electrocutes Weiss]

Amber Mendez: [Fireball arrives in the game zone by jetpack] Jesus Christ!

Ben Richards: Guess again.

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