The Running Man (1987)

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Overview

Loosely based on a Stephen King (pennamed Richard Bachman) novel by the same name. The Running Man tells the story of Ben Richards who is wrongfully accused of opening fire on a crowd of peaceful protesters is forced to compete in a futuristic television game show that resemble the gladiatorial days in ancient Rome. Screenplay by Steven E. de Souza and directed by Paul Michael Glaser.

Plot Summary

The year is 2019 and America has been reduced to a totalitarian police state, where all culture is spoon fed through government produced game shows. One of these shows is called The Running Man in which convicted criminals, runners are given the chance to fight for a pardon by evading "stalkers" and death. The show is hosted by the ruthless Damon Killian.

Then a police pilot, Ben Richards, was convinced of firing upon an unarmed group of protesters in which he actually refused to do. He escape from a labor camp with several other inmates and flees to a shanty town just beyond the Los Angeles border. While the other escapees decide to join a resistance force, Richards seeks boarding at his brother's apartment. He instead finds Amber Mendez, a composer for the ICS, the network that broadcasts The Running Man. Richards attempts to flee to Hawaii with Mendez as his hostage, but when she alerts airport securityhe is taken to the ICS studios.

There Killian tells Richards that if he does not participate in The Running Man that he will make two of his escapee friends, Laughlin and Weiss, compete in his place. Richards accepts Killians' offer but finds out when the show begins that Laughlin and Weiss are already runners in the game zone.

Inside the game zone, Richards and Weiss encounter their first stalker, Subzero, a man who dresses in hockey gear and uses his hockey stick to kill. Richards and Weiss eventually kill him and surprise the in-studio and at-home audiences. While trying to evade stalkers, Richards and Weiss start to look for the network uplink facilities in order to get back to ICS Studios.

At the same time. Mendez starts to question the media's ferocity after she sees the falsified reports on Richards' capture at the airport. When she discovers the truth about the massacre involving Richards, she is captured and sent into the game zone. There she encounters the other runners, then they are forced to split up while stalkers track them down.

Richards and Laughlin are attacked by the stalker Buzzsaw who's specialty is in the name saws. Laughlin is mortally wounded before Richards has the chance to kill Buzzsaw.

Meanwhile, Weiss and Mendez are successful in finding the uplink facility and figure out the access codes. Weiss is electrocuted by the stalker Dynamo. Richards finds his way to them and flips Dynamo's buggy with him still in it. Richards continues to shock the audiences when he says that he will not kill a helpless man, and leaves Dynamo trapped.

Before Weiiss dies h tells Mendez and Richards that there is a resistance group hidden in the game zone. Back at the ICS studio, Killian is seeing how Richards' popularity is rising and off-camera offers Richards a job on the show as a full time stalker; Richards declines the offer.

Then the last stalker, Fireball, begins his hunt for Richards and Mendez. When Fireball herds them into an abandoned factory where they stumble upon the previous season's "winners" of The Running Man (who were supposedly pardoned) but were burnt to a crisp. Richards kills Fireball. This infuriates Killian who uses a computer generated Richards and Mendez to fight a falsified battle against the retired stalker, Captain Freedom, and lose.

In the game zone, Richards and Mendez are captured by the resistance that has taken up refuge there. Inside the hideout, Richards and Mendez learn about their fake deaths. Using the access codes provided by Mendez, the resistance takes control of the ICS satellite. Richard leads the resistance fighter in taking over the ICS studio. Richards storms the studio and surprises the audience. Mendez confronts Dynamo in the hallway and electrocutes him. Richard has his final showdown with Killian in The Running Man studio; Killian admits to creating the show for the ratings. Richards sends Killian into the game zone via the special made rocket sled, which bounces of the track into a billboard of himself and explodes. The movie ends unanimous cheer and Richards and Mendez's kiss.