Special Report · Film year 1987
The Running Man (1987)
- Special Guests
- Steven E. de Souza, Kurt Fuller, George Linder, Rob Cohen
- Guest Co-Hosts
- Andrew Nette, Aaron Peterson
Show notes
Set in the distant year of 2017, The Running Man (1987) is set in a dystopian world where reality television rules the airwaves and the most popular show pits criminals against muscle-bound, spandex-clad "stalkers". Based loosely on a novella by "Richard Bachman" (AKA Stephen King (opens in a new tab)), the film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger (opens in a new tab) as Ben Richards, a man framed as "The Butcher of Bakersfield" and thrown Running Man game, hosted by Killian (Richard Dawson), and featuring a cadre of killers including Jesse Ventura (opens in a new tab), Jim Brown (opens in a new tab), Professor Toru Tanaka, and more.
Andrew Nette (opens in a new tab) and Aaron Peterson (opens in a new tab) join Mike to discuss the film, its odd production history, and the resonance to today's world. We also discuss the work of Robert Sheckley (opens in a new tab) and his influence on "people hunting people" films including The Million Game, The Price of Peril (opens in a new tab), The Tenth Victim (opens in a new tab) and Freejack (opens in a new tab).
Labels: Aaron Peterson Andrew Nette Arnold Schwarzenegger Harold Faltermeyer Kurt Fuller People Hunting People Rob Cohen Robert Sheckley Steven E. DeSousa Sven Ole Thorsen Yaphet Kotto
Watch
Links & resources
- Buy The Running Man on DVD (opens in a new tab)
- Buy The Running Man by Stephen King / Richard Bachman (opens in a new tab)
- Buy The Running Man soundtrack by Harold Faltermeyer (opens in a new tab)
- Read more about Rob Cohen's The Hurricane Heist (opens in a new tab)
- Listen to the Remake this Movie Right! podcast (opens in a new tab)
- Buy books from Andrew Nette (opens in a new tab)
- Listen to the interview with Harold Faltermeyer on the Beverly Hills Cop episode (opens in a new tab)
- Battle Royale (opens in a new tab)
- Death Race 2000 (opens in a new tab)
- Series 7: The Contenders (opens in a new tab)
- Rollerball (opens in a new tab)
- Freejack (opens in a new tab)
- Punishment Park (opens in a new tab)
Related episodes
Episodes that share keywords with this one.
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Shared: Composer Harold Faltermeyer, Harold Faltermeyer, Steven E. DeSousa
Daniel Petrie Jr., Steven Berkoff, Ronny Cox, John Ashton and others
Commando (1985)
Shared: Writer Steven E. de Souza, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steven E. DeSousa
Steven E. de Souza, Richard Tuggle, Ti Singh, Chris Stachiw
Tango & Cash (1989)
Shared: Composer Harold Faltermeyer, Edward Bunker, Harold Faltermeyer
Randy Feldman, Peter MacDonald, Lizzie Bassett, Chris Winterbauer
Hudson Hawk (1991)
Shared: Writer Steven E. de Souza, TriStar Pictures
Daniel Waters, Stephen Scarlata, Jamey Duvall
So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993)
Shared: TriStar Pictures
Cary Woods, Rob Fried, Amy Nicholson, Mike Sullivan
Comments (3)
Lee Yates Series 7: The Contenders was a very cool little movie that I don't think I ever would have seen if Mike hadn't mentioned it in this episode. Thanks for that.Mike White Yay! So glad you dug it. We did a fun episode on this a while back. Be sure to check it out!
Anonymous This was an EPIC episode. Made my day. Thanks guys.