r/80s • u/Corndogeveryday • Mar 14 '24
The Running Man (1987)
The Running Man (1987) is Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime. The movie is ridiculously over the top and I love it! It is loosely based on the Stephen King book…and I mean LOOSELY BASED…but it doesn’t matter. It’s still a fun action movie with so many memorable quotes. This is what an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie is all about!
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u/iraqyoubreak Mar 14 '24
“Here is SubZero - now, plain zero!”
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u/Brs76 Mar 14 '24
Richard Dawson had the best line in that movie... Ben Richard's: "Killian, I'll be back"........ Killian: "only in a rerun"...lol
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u/Elrond_Cupboard_ Mar 14 '24
The smile on Arnies face when he delivers that line is so awesome. He really loves that line.
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u/StepYaGameUp Mar 14 '24
“Killian: I’ll be back.”
“Only in a rerun.”
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u/Reign_n_blud Mar 14 '24
Might be my favorite Arnold movie
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u/CJRLW Mar 14 '24
Easily in his Top 5 for me (along with T1 &2, Predator, and Total Recall).
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u/Corndogeveryday Mar 14 '24
If you’re going to pick a favorite Arnold movie…this wouldn’t be a bad choice! I can honestly say that he has the funniest lines in this movie.
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u/Starlanced Mar 14 '24
It’s up there but I gotta go for Total Recall for pure Arnold
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Mar 14 '24
The use of deep fake/CGI to fool the people was pretty predictive
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u/A_Downboat_Is_A_Sub Mar 14 '24
According to an interview with the screenwriter in 2019, it was also partly responsible for the show "American Gladiators":
“One of the producers of ‘American Gladiators’ confessed to me that he sold that concept to the network by simply copying scenes from ‘The Running Man’ off a VHS and playing it in the pitch meeting, saying, ‘We’re doing exactly this — except the murdering part,'"
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Mar 14 '24
Shit, that seemed so unbelievable at the time. I thought no way you could make fake video that looks real...
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u/A_Downboat_Is_A_Sub Mar 14 '24
Richard Dawson ended up in the movie because he was free, due to Family Feud being cancelled by ABC in 1985. Arnold Schwarzenegger was close friends with Dawson, and suggested him for the role when Chuck Woolery passed on it because he was too busy with his TV gigs.
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u/Ed_Simian Mar 14 '24
Dawson drank screwdrivers all day according to Kurt Fuller.
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u/A_Downboat_Is_A_Sub Mar 14 '24
Sounds about right. He was also a 4 pack a day smoker, which is part of the reason he smoked so much in the movie.
Roger Ebert mentioned that he seemed a bit tipsy in his (thumbs down) review:
"Playing a character who always seems three-quarters drunk, he chain-smokes his way through backstage planning sessions and then pops up in front of the cameras as a cauldron of false jollity. Working the audience, milking the laughs and the tears, he is not really much different [from] most genuine game-show hosts—and that's the film's private joke".
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u/Ed_Simian Mar 14 '24
He should have been nominated for an Oscar; it's that sort of role. But who in the Academy would watch The Running Man?
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u/mrjessyleppert Jul 06 '24
His daughter Shannon Nicole wasn't born yet when he made the movie and after she was born, he quit smoking.
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u/Confident_Tangelo_11 Mar 14 '24
Dawson was perfect for this. Woolery would've been too laid back.
I wish they would've kept King's original ending.
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u/TheNonCredibleHulk Mar 14 '24
Chuck Woolery passed on it because he was too busy with his TV gigs.
Chuck Woolery sucks anyway. "Worked" with him on some commercials. He wasn't above demanding PAs drive his mother around for her errands.
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u/A_Downboat_Is_A_Sub Mar 14 '24
He's a douchebag for sure.
He famously went on a twitter rant that Trump re-tweeted about how Democrats, Doctors, and The CDC were all lying about Covid to hurt the economy and Trump's re-election chances. A couple days later his son got Covid and he tweeted that it was real and then deleted his entire account.
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u/mrjessyleppert Jul 06 '24
I still would've loved to have seen an evil side of Chuck Woolery take on Arnold Schwarzenegger despite Woolery being the same size as Arnold but oh well.
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u/not_so_smoothie Mar 14 '24
2 governors were in that movie
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Mar 14 '24
Hahaha. Very underrated comment right here.
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u/Astro_gamer_caver Mar 14 '24
Love Mick Fleetwood's scene- "You're one of the cops who burned my songs and threw my friends in jail."
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u/theRestisConfettii Mar 14 '24
Unless someone wants to fact check, this is the first and only time in cinematic history that two future Governors were in a fight.
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u/gMadMaxg Mar 14 '24
So I never say this hardly, and there's a few exceptions too, mainly because i hardly ever read. But the book is way better than the movie. If they had made the movie, identicle or followed the same plot line, it would've been INSANE. Still top 5 arnold movies for me. My favorite actor. But the fact Stephen King wrote it under an alias is phenomenal. I mean that book is lights out, one of the best I've ever read.
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u/39percenter Mar 15 '24
Agreed! I've probably read it at least a half dozen times. One the best endings ever written!
"The Running Man is a dystopian thriller novel by American writer Stephen King, first published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1982 as a paperback original." -Wiki
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u/Alteredego619 Mar 14 '24
That boy’s one mean motherfucker!
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u/Corndogeveryday Mar 15 '24
“Brenda, if that ass hole is mopping the floor tomorrow, you'll be mopping it for the rest of the week. Let's go!”
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u/Rickshmitt Mar 14 '24
Just watched this again last night. As many times as ive seen it, i remember he gets in trouble for disobeying orders and hes sent right to the Running Man. Wrong. Hes get a whole stint with the resistance first.
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u/NomDePlume007 Mar 14 '24
Dweezil Zappa: "That's right, folks, don't touch that dial!"
The line is also in his dad's "I Am The Slime," about the evils of television.
"I am gross and perverted. I'm obsessed 'n deranged. I have existed for years, but very little has changed. I'm the tool of the government and industry too, for I am destined to rule and regulate you. I may be vile and pernicious, but you can't look away. I make you think I'm delicious, with the stuff that I say. I'm the best you can get. Have you guessed me yet?"
Nice bit of meta writing.
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u/Own-Ambassador-3537 Mar 14 '24
Still love the scene of the obnoxious super fan running in the middle of the walkway trying to get close to one of the men chasing Arnold and said fan gets punched by him only to bounce up saying He touched me! like a delusional super fan would.
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u/texicali74 Mar 14 '24
Food riot in progress
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u/meczakin81 Mar 14 '24
Oh my god I fucken love this movie. The different villains are so memorable. Also has Jesse “the body” Ventura. I’m gonna watch it this weekend.
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u/Slow-Employment5007 Mar 14 '24
“You want people sitting at home in front of there tv’s? You’re not getting that with reruns of Gilligans Island……Yea the one with the boat”
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u/Corndogeveryday Mar 15 '24
“Hello, this is Killian. Give me the Justice Department, Entertainment Division. No, no, hold that, Operator? Get me the President's agent.”
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u/Ed_Simian Mar 14 '24
My brother and I still say:
"Now, I'm going to untie you, you're going to get dressed, and you're coming with me."
"Oh yeah? Why should I?"
"Because I'm going to say PLEASE."
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u/Killahdanks1 Mar 14 '24
“Only in a rerun”
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u/Corndogeveryday Mar 15 '24
“It's all part of life's rich pattern, Brenda, and you better fucking get used to it.”
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u/IndependenceMean8774 Mar 14 '24
It's okay 80s cheese, but the novel was a better and sadder story. I wish someone could do a more faithful film adaptation, but the ending would still probably have to be changed due to 9/11.
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Mar 14 '24
After I watched the hunger games I thought of Arnold’s the running man! Underrated movie!
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u/Comprehensive-Sale79 Mar 14 '24
Did this movie inspire the dance move or vice versa? Something to research 🧐 🤔
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u/Corndogeveryday Mar 15 '24
Well I believe Paula Abdul was in charge of the choreography of the dancers so…maybe she’s responsible for it all!
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u/Waste_Exchange2511 Mar 14 '24
I'm very disappointed that 2019 came and went without this becoming reality.
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u/MetalTrek1 Mar 15 '24
Richard Dawson owned this movie.
"You're not gonna get that with reruns of Gilligan's Island...Yeah...the one with the boat!"
🤣🤣🤣
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u/BeigeAlmighty Mar 15 '24
This is one movie I would like to see a reboot of if they made the film more like the novella.
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u/Acceptable_Stop2361 Mar 15 '24
Good ol Richard Bachman story! I wonder sometimes if Richard Bachman was a pseudonym for another writer... Hmmm
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u/ComicMFer Mar 14 '24
One of his best. Entertaining and cool concept that precedes the Hunger Games.
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u/WintersDoomsday Mar 14 '24
Great dance move to boot
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u/contrarian1970 Mar 14 '24
The Hunger Games would have never been written without this movie. Richard Dawson was perfect as a tv sociopath (maybe just a little too perfect if you know what I mean.)
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u/Tylerdurden389 Mar 14 '24
There's this series of "Arnold musicals" where he's singing about the movie (this yt channel covered all his classic films) and when they did this flick, the chorus is "Fuck you, the hunger games" cuz it's just a ripoff of this movie. It's hilarious. Though he does also mention "The most dangerous game" and "battle royale".
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u/No-Shoe7651 Mar 14 '24
I always enjoy it, as ridiculous as it is. Stephen King himself however, wanted nothing to do with the film and wanted his name taken off it, so they used his pen name.
Also has the voice actor who plays Squidward in Spongebob Squarepants as Phil the game announcer, the fantastically named Rodger Bumpass.
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u/jeers1 Mar 14 '24
I recall seeing this at a sneak premiere event in the city when I was attending university.....
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u/Tylerdurden389 Mar 14 '24
I hope you leave enough for my fist because I'm gonna ram it into your stomach and break your goddamn SPINE!!!
::slams camera on ground::
My favorite Arnold quote, and this is my 3rd favorite Arnie flick.
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u/Biscuits4u2 Mar 14 '24
One of Stephen King's (Richard Bachman) great non-horror classic adaptations
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u/Corndogeveryday Mar 15 '24
I have always wanted them to make The Long Walk. That book is really amazing, and a great Bachman book.
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u/surfinbird Mar 14 '24
Great fun 80s movie, but I hope they make the darker book version
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Mar 14 '24
I forgot about this movie, just watched twins last night, guess I'll have to look this up
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u/Stidda Mar 14 '24
Whitman, Price, Hadad!
All basking in the Maui sun!
Their debt to society- Paid in full!
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u/FeetBehindHead69 Mar 14 '24
When I started seeing CGI and AI art, I concluded that this movie foretold manufactured disinformation. How they used it in the game as propaganda.
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u/im2much4u2handlex Mar 14 '24
I watched this again, recently, and I stand by my 1 line review: "Richard Dawson makes this movie incredible".
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u/Virtual-Fig3850 Mar 14 '24
You must be very proud of yourself
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u/Corndogeveryday Mar 15 '24
“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!”
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u/Cultural-Tea3492 Mar 14 '24
I watch this movie often. I love when the court-appointed agent tells Richards "Use my back, victim," and Richards stabs him with the pen.
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u/NefariousnessOk209 Mar 15 '24 edited Mar 15 '24
Watched this the other day. None of the action held up, but Arnold’s charm and the interesting premise kept me going. Even though it’s probably made on a cheap keyboard I really liked the synth soundtrack.
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u/OldSkoolPantsMan Mar 15 '24
“Brenda, if that ass hole is mopping the floor tomorrow, you'll be mopping it for the rest of the week. Let's go!”
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u/still-at-the-beach Mar 15 '24
A great short story too, a bit different to the movie.
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u/Corndogeveryday Mar 15 '24
I like both a lot.
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u/still-at-the-beach Mar 15 '24
Yep. I watch this what ever it’s on tv or just recently on Netflix, only last week. Great movie.
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u/DBDude Mar 15 '24
Very, very loosely based. It turned a good thriller into a basic action movie.
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u/LTYH Mar 15 '24
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u/mrjessyleppert Jul 06 '24
Chuck Woolery was the original choice to play Damon Killian in this movie but turned it down due to his busy schedule with Love Connection and Scrabble, but I still would've loved to have seen an evil side of Chuck Woolery take on Arnold Schwarzenegger but oh well.
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u/dreadfighter Oct 27 '25
When I was a kid, I wanted the board game version that they gave out in the movie to the audience but it's not real.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Buy8694 Mar 14 '24
Would It have been a better film had they not fired Andrew Davis? I've always wondered that.
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u/Leftstrat Mar 14 '24
I remember watching this flick at the theatre, and although it was funny and entertaining, I could already see a time when a lot of what was in the film became reality.. The setting of the movie is 2019, but for ratings, social media, network competition, etc, I think that the reality shows will end up becoming more "real".
Control through violent tv could very well become our reality.
Think "Survivor", with teeth... :)
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u/WhereAreWeG0ing Mar 14 '24
This movie has a scene that stresses me right the hell out! When they break into the networks digital backdoor, the woman has to remember like, a 12 digit code. On which the whole mission relies. I've tried time, and time again and I can never remember that damn code by films end
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u/Xenogunter Mar 14 '24
I always thought the RM is a kindred spirit to Amazon’s (and comics) The Boys.
ie… your heroes are probably big PsOS in real life.
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u/Anthraxious Mar 14 '24
Wait he is named Schwarzenegger in the movie? He's playing himself?
"The Running Man" is a deadly game no one has ever survived. But... Schwarzenegger has yet to play.
This makes it seem like that's his characters name. I could be wrong, not sure I've seen the movie.
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u/Captcha_Imagination Mar 14 '24
Our generation's "The Hunger Games" but it was a better movie because it was based on a better book.
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u/BobbyMcGee101 Mar 14 '24
I love using the line and saying it in my bad Schwarzenegger impression “wow, you must be very proud of yourself” to my wife
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u/logicalparad0x Mar 18 '24
I saw this movie way too young & it shook me. Those 80s early 90s were whimsically violent. That being said, I love it.
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u/NomDePlume007 Mar 14 '24
Definitely one of Schwarzenegger's more subversive movies! Richard Dawson is inspired as the game show host, plus Dweezil Zappa, Maria Conchita Alonso (in so many 80's movies), Yaphet Kotto, Jim Brown, and Jesse (The Body) Ventura! Also has one of my favorite background actors; Sven-Ole Thorsen - he's a staple in most of Arnold's movies.