The Running Man | | Cast : | Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Conchita Alonso | | Director : | Paul Michael Glaser, Andrew Davis | | Studio : | Lions Gate Home Entertainment | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound | | Released Date : | November 13, 1987 | | DVD Released Date : | March 16, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 03, 2005 | | Summary | One Star is for the bonus Features. | Content
 | Like the other reviewers, I can only reccomand the DVD because of the movie itself, It is finally on widescreen and the sound and picture quality are great. The extras I can not say much about, because they are really lousy put together. "Lockdown on Main Street" is too much of a Michael Moore take on private rights in the post 9/11 world. In other words it's sick and mostly unamerican.The other extra comparing this movie with the rise of reality based TV is also off base. If this movie was made today, it would make fun of or condem reality TV shows in it's own way. In 1987, when this movie was made, they were making fun of network Tv (mostly in the form of game shows, TV adds, the Soap Opera, and the TV suits who ran out of ideas for shows years ago). As shown by Richard Dawson's character, the point of the movie was to make fun of the networks and the rather lame way they make and market shows. While the film is a satire of sorts, it is also another take on the society that abandons idelogy more for coperate gain and the bottom line is all that counts (much like ths society Ripley fought against in the Alien movies). The ending sees hope that this society is at last freed of this one sided view of things. Perhaps this was also a shot at 24 hour news networks and how they do not ever cover the full story....Perhaps so. As for the casting, Arnold actually does a good job of being both serious and then doing his one liners. Maria Alonso also is good. She can be sexy and funny at the same time. A great break from the useual clich air head roles that often come in these movies. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 22, 2005 | | Summary | One Of The Best Of Govinator Shwartzennegger's Movies | Content
| This is one of my favourite Arnie movies. Set in the future Arnie is a soldier who refuses to open fire on a crowed of innocent civilians as ordered by his commander... he is knocked out and put into rehabilitation (slave jail) and is framed by the army who tell the public it was his idea to kill the innocent crowed, giving him the nickname, "the butcher of Bakersfield"
18 months later he is with a group in the prison who have worked on a plan to escape... they do so, and become fugitives. Meanwhile a reality game show on TV called the Running man will do anything for ratings, and when Arnie makes the news for trying to get out of the country, the host of the show wants Arnie on his game show. The running man is the name of the show and it's a game where they send the runners out into a field and then send stalkers after them.
Along the way is action, suspense, comedy and fun. It's a battle of survival and there running for there life from guys that look like something from the World Wrestling Federation.
A great action movie, if you haven't seen it, give it a rent.. Apparently the Special Edition on DVD isn't worth bothering with, so I'll stick with the VHS for now.
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| Rating | | | Date | March 07, 2005 | | Summary | Wild and thrilling adventure! | Content
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In the near future of 2019, Television and the media has taken over the lives of many people as they watch the new century's most popular TV show which is a deadly game show entitled " The Running Man", in which sadistic gameshow host Killian ( Richard Dawson) is forced to have convicts in a large urban maze to reach the goal but sends fiendish troops called " The Stalkers" who murder the contestants off the air. However, Ben Richards ( Arnold Schwartzenger) is a former police officer accused of a major crime he didn't commit is on the loose so he can prove that he has been framed, however he is now a contestant on the cruel game show as he must battle the stalkers, prove his innocence, reach the goal and try to expose the truth of the show and how TV is controlling everyone.
Fascinating and entertaining futuristic action-packed Science Fiction adventure that has gained a cult following since it's 1987 release and is based on a Steven King novel. Schwartzenger delievers hard as Richards along with Yaphett Kotto ( Alien) co-starring, there is some satire on the media, this is definitely one of my all time favorite movies.
The 2-Disc DVD is a major improvement over the original release with better sound & Picture that is just great, it's extras are very good such as two featurettes on " Reality Show beginnings" and " about privacy issues in today's 9/11 society", two commentaries, trailer and info about the stalkers.
I highly recommend this movie to lovers of cult movies, Sci-fi, action and fun movies!
Also recommended: " The Fifth Element", " Battle Royale", " Dark City", " Total Recall", "Death Race 2000", "Rollerball ( Original)", " The Lawnmower Man", "1984", " Blade Runner", " The Matrix Trilogy", " Commando", " Predator 1 & 2", " The Terminator Trilogy", " Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky", " Surviving the Game", " Con Air", "The Warriors", "Assault on Precinct 13 ( both versions)", " Starship Troopers", " Big Trouble in Little China", " Escape from New York", "Escape from L.A.". |
| Rating | | | Date | February 23, 2005 | | Summary | Why the Politically Biased "Extra"? | Content
| The Special Edition of "The Running Man" is FANTASTIC! Although not true to the Richard Bachman (Stephen King) book it really is a good flick! The picture and sound mastering are great, and the movie itself is escapism at its best! Perfect direction by Paul Michael Glaser keeps the picture truckin', Arnold is good as the smart-alec hero, Richard Dawson is perfect as the sleazeball gameshow host and Maria Conchita Alonso gives a great performance as the love interest! So why the two-star rating? One of the extras, as noted by other reviewers is about "reality TV" and its impact on the American culture. Using scenes from "The Running Man" coupled with scenes from today's "reality shows" could have been interesting, but the material as presented ended up BORING (nice for catching a few Z's after all the movie action). The other extra mentioned by a lot of other reviewers is entitled "Lockdown On Main Street." I don't consider myself political, but this was just way too much. It is a one-sided, offensive piece of "documentary" that I guess is supposed to awaken the sleeping masses over The Patriot Act and the destruction of individual rights. I am offended not so much by the content of this "extra," but rather by the fact this "extra" was slipped into a DVD that I bought for simple, honest, innocent enjoyment. What is that you say? If I don't like it, just don't watch it? The point is that I did not intend to spend money to have this skewed view of American politics forced down my throat during an afternoon of movie enjoyment. If Artisan feels they must include political comment in their DVDs, they must realize not everyone shares this point of view. I recommend that Artisan recall this Special Edition DVD not for the sake of removing and censoring this garbage, but for the sake of balance by adding another point of view. Personally, after viewing "Lockdown On Main Street," I felt used and ripped off. Torqued jaws? You bet! Artisan, just how much of the money plunked down by your customers for this DVD go to the company that produced this biased commentary? Fortunately, "Lockdown On Main Street" is on one of the two discs in this set. I am considering sending my copy of the offending disc back to Artisan and let THEM dispose of this junk. Talk about the Big Brother-types trying to influence your life. . . Do your blood pressure a favor and buy one of the other editions of "The Running Man." |
| Rating | | | Date | February 04, 2005 | | Summary | Running Arnold | Content
| This DVD is one of my favourite Ahhnold movies :o) so possibly the review is biased!!!
I am somewhat disappointed that this DVD has not come out in Australia, I have waited along time (in the mean time I have got the rest of the Arnold DVD's) for it to come out in Region 4 but still nothing, I saw it on Amazon (region 1: I believe this is American). Picture qulity is great, sounds is great and it has I high amount of Arnolds one liners! "Where is Buzzsaw"? "He had to split"!! haha - great!!! |
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