RUNNING MAN, THE (MOTION PICTURE)
Summary
A motion picture based on the novel of the same name about a man in a dystopian future forced to participate in a deadly game show.
A prologue explains that the year is 2017, and that the world economy has collapsed and that the United States has become a police state. As a result, television has become a state-controlled enterprise and the most popular program is “The Running Man,” a game show featuring spectacular and lethal combat amongst its “hi-tech gladiator” contestants (mostly composed of criminals or people labeled “enemies of the state”). Most other media is censored or limited in some way, and a resistance movement has arisen to oppose the oppressive government regime. Ben Richards, a police helicopter pilot, responds along with his crew to a food riot in Bakersfield, California. He is ordered to open fire on a large crowd of unarmed protestors, but he refuses to do so. His subordinate is ordered to assume command and a fight breaks out on board the helicopter among Richards and his crew. Richards is imprisoned in the Wilshire Detention Zone and sentenced to hard labor. Eighteen months later, Richards helps stage a fight as part of an escape attempt, attempting to deactivate the perimeter which would detonate any prisoner trying to leave the compound via bomb collars. After a bloody gunfight, the escape attempt is successful, albeit with several casualties.
The prisoners convene in a shantytown on the edge of Los Angeles and get their bomb collars removed by Mic, leader of the resistance. They plan to hijack the omnipresent network broadcasts and reveal the truth about the despotic government to the people. Some of them are reluctant to include Richards in their midst; they blame the police for the dystopian state of the world and refer to Richards in particular as “the Butcher of Bakersfield.” Richards, for his part, feels that their efforts are pointless and takes his leave of them, getting a ride into Los Angeles proper. Damon Killian, the famous host of “The Running Man,” collaborates with his staff, who inform him that their ratings have recently plateaued. Richards attempts to visit his brother at his apartment, but finds it inhabited by a young woman. He hides and only reveals himself after the woman sees a news report on television calling for Richards’s capture for killing civilians at Bakersfield. He demands to know who she is, and the woman, Amber Mendez, says she recently moved in after the last tenant was taken away for “re-education.” He pins her down and tries to explain that he was framed, and they engage in a struggle.
Killian attempts to find new contestants for “The Running Man,” and he sees a news report about Richards. He becomes interested in him and asks his staff to get him on the show. Richards ties up Amber and roots through her apartment; she explains that she writes theme songs for television programs for a living. He finds a box containing several items of contraband and a cache of money. He orders her to accompany him on a flight to Hawaii using her travel pass as a means of escaping the law. They arrive at the airport posing as a tourist couple, although Amber keeps trying to escape. They manage to bluff their way past a security checkpoint, but Amber takes an opportune moment to escape his grasp and shout for help, revealing his identity. Security forces chase Richards through the airport and manage to capture him with a net gun. He is brought to the headquarters of ICS, the network that produces “The Running Man,” and is placed in a cell, visited by Killian. Killian says he used his influence to secure custody of him and wants him to “volunteer” to be a contestant on “The Running Man.” At first Richards refuses, but Killian reveals that he is holding several of Richards’s former prison mates Weiss and Laughlin in custody, threatening to kill them if Richards does not comply. This coerces Richards into taking Killian up on his offer.
In preparation for the show, a barium tracer solution is injected into Richards’s bloodstream to keep track of him at all times. He is given several other injections and is gassed into unconsciousness. Amber sees a news report on television about Richards’s capture at the airport, which uses out-of-context footage to make it seem as though Richards brutally murdered several of the guards pursuing him. Amber, having witnessed the entire chase, knows that this is untrue and feels guilty about aiding in his capture. The next day, “The Running Man” begins its broadcast and Richards is brought to the set. One of the show’s recurring champions, nicknamed “Buzzsaw,” enters the set as well. Richards is led through a hallway to the set, and passes Amber on the way. She uses her pass to enter the “Running Man” control area. Killian introduces the show and brings out Richards as the “guest runner,” accompanied by video footage of the Bakersfield riot edited to seem as though Richards opened fire on the protestors.
Richards is brought out amid a hostile reaction from the studio audience. Killian introduces the game; should Richards be successful he would be given leniency and possibly a full pardon. Richards is cuffed to a chair and Killian reveals that Laughlin and Weiss will also be participating as runners, thus going back on his promise to Richards. Amber sneaks into the tape room and sifts through the archival footage tapes. Killian gives the signal for the game to begin and Richards, Weiss, and Laughlin are rocketed through a long chute, depositing them in an elaborate battle arena created out of an abandoned section of the city. Meanwhile, Amber finds a tape containing the unedited footage of Richards at the Bakersfield riot. She is discovered in the tape room and captured. Killian has an audience member select a “stalker” to go to the arena and hunt down Richards, Weiss, and Laughlin. She picks “Professor Subzero,” a man armed with a powerful blade weapon shaped to resemble a hockey stick. Richards, Weiss, and Laughlin run around the first “quad” of the arena, chased around by ICS men on motorcycles. They are herded into an enclosed ice rink, where Subzero attacks them on ice skates. He imprisons Weiss in a cage trap similar to a hockey net and attacks Richards by launching exploding hockey pucks at him. Richards manages to kill Subzero by tricking him into skating into a length of barbed wire, wrapping it around him. The studio audience and many viewers of “The Running Man” are shocked at this development.
Killian argues with the justice department on the phone; this incident marks the first time that a stalker has been killed on “The Running Man.” In response to Subzero’s death, Killian sends two stalkers after Richards and his party: Buzzsaw and “Dynamo,” an opera-singing stalker dressed in an outfit covered with blinking lights which gives him the ability to project bolts of electricity as an attack. In addition, Killian brings out Amber as a “mystery contestant,” hoping to kill her for attempting to obtain the Bakersfield footage; the show’s announcer claims that she has been a lifelong criminal and was working as a “confederate” with Richards. Weiss finds a broadcast relay in the arena and explains that he wishes to use it to interfere with the network broadcast uplink, thus accomplishing his goal of hijacking the broadcast. Richards believes they are wasting their time but reluctantly agrees to help them. Amber is launched into the arena and chased in, soon meeting up with Richards and his party. Buzzsaw and Dynamo arrive and try to cut them off. Weiss and Amber try to approach the broadcast tower while Richards and Laughlin break off and try to find a hiding spot. Buzzsaw comes upon them and rushes at them on his motorcycle, injuring Laughlin with a chainsaw. He then lassos Richards and drags him along behind him as he rides by. Richards manages to send Buzzsaw careening off his motorcycle, thus killing him.
Weiss finds a control panel for the broadcast tower and starts hacking into it. He manages to decode the password for the uplink just before Dynamo arrives and attacks them both with electricity, killing Weiss. Dynamo takes Amber away and Richards confronts him, goading him into chasing him around the arena in his car. Richards tricks Dynamo into overturning the car, leaving him helpless. Richards refuses to kill him and the audience disapproves; Killian tries to keep the show together and calls for another stalker, “Fireball,” to enter the arena. Richards and Amber try to recover Laughlin, but he is dying from the injuries he sustained from Buzzsaw. Amber tells him that Weiss managed to give her the uplink code before he died. Laughlin urges Richards to finish their task and he dies. Killian speaks to Richards via a screen, congratulating him and explaining that their conversation is not being aired. He offers Richards a lucrative contract as a stalker for “The Running Man,” but Richards vehemently refuses and swears to get vengeance on Killian personally.
Fireball enters the arena, armed with a powerful flamethrower and a jetpack. He lands near Richards and Amber and attacks them, chasing them through a series of corridors. Richards holds Fireball off by throwing barrels at him, ordering Amber to run on ahead. Richards attempts to set Fireball on fire by igniting a barrel of oil under him, but discovers that his costume is fireproof. Amber finds a locker room containing several desiccated corpses; Fireball corners her and reveals that the bodies belong to the “winners” from the previous season of “The Running Man;” the network lied about their whereabouts, claiming that they had won their freedom. He attempts to kill Amber but Richards ambushes him and kills him by disconnecting his flamethrower’s fuel line and igniting it with a road flare, causing it to explode. Killian orders the former “Running Man” champion, “Captain Freedom,” to report in, but Captain Freedom refuses to cooperate, dissatisfied with the gimmicky armor he is forced to wear. He rants about a “gladiator’s code” and claims he could kill Richards with his bare hands. Killian argues with him and he quits.
Using digital editing technology, Killian’s editor is able to superimpose Richards’ image onto a stunt double, making it appear that he and Captain Freedom are fighting in an actual broadcast and allowing them to “kill” Richards on-camera. Richards and Amber are imprisoned by metal gateways, but are broken out by Mic and his men. He takes Richards and Amber to a hidden television studio the resistance has established within a secret corner of the game arena. Killian announces that Captain Freedom is entering the arena, and the digitally manipulated footage shows him killing both Amber and Richards in a cage match. Amber is relieved, believing that they are free now that the public thinks they are dead, but Richards believes that the police and army will hunt them down and kill them. Richards has a change of heart and offers to help Mic storm the broadcast tower and prevent the network from launching another satellite when the first one fails. Amber comes along as well and reveals that she kept the tape of unedited footage from the Bakersfield massacre, and suggests that they broadcast it to the public once they hijack the upload signal.
Richards leads Amber and Mic’s men, storming the broadcast tower. They manage to successfully hijack the signal, broadcasting a tape exposing Killian’s various lies; it displays footage of the corpses of the “Running Man” “winners” and the unedited Bakersfield footage. The studio audience is bewildered by this, and Mic’s men burst into the “Running Man” control room and hold its personnel hostage. Richards leads a squad into the “Running Man” set and engages in a heated gun battle with security personnel, sending the audience into a panic as they evacuate the building. Amber encounters Dynamo in a hallway and fights against him. During the fight her gun triggers the emergency sprinkler system, causing his electric uniform to short out and kill him via electrocution. Eventually the studio completely empties out except for Richards and Killian. Killian’s bodyguard Sven enters but refuses Killian’s orders to apprehend Richards. Killian frantically tries to justify what he has done, claiming that he and others in the television industry are only catering to the public’s insatiable demand for violence and death. Richards sends Killian rocketing into the arena, where he collides with a billboard and explodes. All this is broadcast live over the network, and viewers everywhere rejoice at Killian’s death. Richards and Amber reunite and share a kiss. Commercials deleted.
(This version of the film is not the theatrical release; it is a version broadcast on television. It has been edited for television; some content has been altered or removed.)
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:31:28
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 119361
- GENRE: Drama, fantasy/science fiction
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, fantasy/science-fiction
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV, 1994
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Keith Barisch … Executive Producer
- Rob Cohen … Executive Producer
- Tim Zinneman … Producer
- George Linder … Producer
- Paul Michael Glaser … Director
- Steven E. de Souza … Writer
- Richard Bachman (See also: Stephen King) … Based on the novel by
- Harold Faltermeyer … Music by
- Paula Abdul … Choreographer
- Kerry Brennan … Dancer
- Paula Brown … Dancer
- Megan Gallivan … Dancer
- Suzie Hardy … Dancer
- Debby Harris … Dancer
- Melissa Hurley … Dancer
- Marlene Lange … Dancer
- Morgan Lawley … Dancer
- Cindy Millican … Dancer
- Andrea Moen … Dancer
- Mary Ann Oedy … Dancer
- Karen Owens … Dancer
- Sharon Owens … Dancer
- Pamela Rossi … Dancer
- Mia Togo … Dancer
- Arnold Schwarzenegger … Cast, Ben Richards
- Maria Conchita Alonso … Cast, Amber Mendez
- Yaphet Kotto … Cast, William Laughlin
- Jim Brown … Cast, Fireball
- Jesse Ventura … Cast, Captain Freedom
- Erland Van Lidth … Cast, Dynamo
- Marvin J. McIntyre … Cast, Harold Weiss
- Bernard Gus Rethwisch … Cast, Buzzsaw
- Professor Toru Tanaka (See also: Toru Tanaka) … Cast, Subzero
- Mick Fleetwood … Cast, Mic
- Dweezil Zappa … Cast, Stevie
- Richard Dawson … Cast, Damon Killian
- Karen Leigh Hopkins … Cast, Brenda
- Sven Thorsen (See also: Sven-Ole Thorsen) … Cast, Sven
- Eddie Bunker … Cast, Lenny
- Anthony Penya (See also: Anthony Pena) … Cast, Valdez
- Kurt Fuller … Cast, Tony
- Kenneth Lerner … Cast, Agent
- Dey Young … Cast, Amy
- Roger Bumpass (See also: Rodger Bumpass) … Cast, Phil Hilton
- Dona Hardy … Cast, Mrs. McArdle
- Lynne Stewart … Cast, Edith Wiggins
- Bill Margolin … Cast, Leon
- Anthony Brubaker … Cast, Soldier #1
- Joel Kramer … Cast, Soldier #2
- Billy Lucas … Cast, Soldier #3
- George R. Wilbur … Cast, Lieutenant Saunders
- Tom Rosales Jr. … Cast, Chico
- Sondra Holt … Cast, Suzie Checkpoint
- Daniel Celario … Cast, Barrio Foreman #1
- Mario Celario … Cast, Barrio Foreman #2
- Sidney Chankin … Cast, Custodian
- Kim Pawlik … Cast, Newscaster
- Roger Kern … Cast, Travel Pass Guard
- Barbara Lux … Cast, Elderly Lady
- Franco Columbu … Cast, 911 Security Officer #2
- Lin Shaye … Cast, Propaganda Officer
- Boyd R. Kestner … Cast, Yuppie Yeller
- Wayne Grace … Cast, 911 Security Officer #1
- Charlie Phillips … Cast, Teen-Age Punk
- Greg Lewis … Cast, Manager Locker Room
- John William James … Cast, Barrio Better
- Jon Cutler … Cast, Underground Tech