The Running Man (1987)

Director:

Paul Michael Glaser

Writers:

Stephen King (novel)
Steven E. de Souza (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 November 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

The year is 2019. The finest men in America don't run for President. They run for their lives.

Plot:

A wrongly-convicted man must try to survive a public execution gauntlet staged as a TV game show.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Prison | Police State | Framed | Massacre

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	Ben Richards
Maria Conchita Alonso	...	Amber Mendez
Yaphet Kotto	...	William Laughlin
Jim Brown	...	Fireball
Jesse Ventura	...	Captain Freedom
Erland van Lidth	...	Dynamo (as Erland Van Lidth)
Marvin J. McIntyre	...	Harold Weiss
Gus Rethwisch	...	Buzzsaw (as Bernard Gus Rethwisch)
Professor Toru Tanaka	...	Subzero
Mick Fleetwood	...	Mic
Dweezil Zappa	...	Stevie
Richard Dawson	...	Damon Killian
Karen Leigh Hopkins	...	Brenda
Sven-Ole Thorsen	...	Sven (as Sven Thorsen)
Edward Bunker	...	Lenny (as Eddie Bunker)
Bryan Kestner	...	Med Tech
Anthony Pena	...	Valdez (as Anthony Penya)
Kurt Fuller	...	Tony
Ken Lerner	...	Agent (as Kenneth Lerner)
Dey Young	...	Amy
Rodger Bumpass	...	Phil Hilton (voice) (as Roger Bumpass)
Donna Hardy	...	Mrs. McArdle
Lynne Marie Stewart	...	Edith Wiggins
Bill Margolin	...	Leon
Tony Brubaker	...	Soldier #1 (as Anthony Brubaker)
Joel Kramer	...	Soldier #2
Billy D. Lucas	...	Soldier #3 (as Billy Lucas)
George P. Wilbur	...	Lieutenant Saunders
Thomas Rosales Jr.	...	Chico (as Tom Rosales Jr.)
Sondra Holt	...	Suzie Checkpoint
Daniel Celario	...	Barrio Foreman #1
Mario Celario	...	Barrio Foreman #2
Sidney Chankin	...	Custodian
Kim Pawlik	...	Newscaster
Roger Kern	...	Travel Pass Guard
Barbara Lux	...	Elderly Lady
Franco Columbu	...	911 Security Officer #2
Lin Shaye	...	Propaganda Officer
Boyd Kestner	...	Yuppie Yeller (as Boyd R. Kestner)
Wayne Grace	...	911 Security Officer #1
Charlie Phillips	...	Teenage Punk
Greg Lewis	...	Manager Locker Room
John William James	...	Barrio Bettor
Jon Cutler	...	Underground Tech
Kerry Wall	...	Dancer (as Kerry Brennan)
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 Hermansen	...	Dancer
Karen Owens	...	Dancer
Sharon Owens	...	Dancer
Pamela Rossi	...	Dancer
Mia Togo	...	Dancer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Maureen Flaherty	...	(uncredited)
Sandy Holt	...	Woman in Airport (uncredited)
Jeff Jensen	...	(uncredited)
Jon McBride	...	Locker Room Viewer (uncredited)
Mel Scott-Thomas	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Paul Michael Glaser

Writing credits
Stephen King		(novel) (as Richard Bachman)
Steven E. de Souza		(screenplay)

Produced by
Keith Barish	....	executive producer
Rob Cohen	....	executive producer
George Linder	....	producer
Tim Zinnemann	....	producer

Original Music by
Harold Faltermeyer

Cinematography by
Thomas Del Ruth		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Mark Warner		(as Mark Roy Warner)
Edward A. Warschilka
John Wright

Casting by
Jackie Burch

Production Design by
Jack T. Collis

Set Decoration by
Jim Duffy

Costume Design by
Robert Blackman

Makeup Department
Frankie Bergman	....	hair stylist
Jeff Dawn	....	makeup department head (as Jefferson Dawn)
Nina Kent	....	makeup artist
Steve LaPorte	....	makeup artist
James Lee McCoy	....	makeup artist (as Jim McCoy)
Richard Miranda	....	special makeup effects artist
Bunny Parker	....	hair stylist
Richard Snell	....	makeup artist
Peter Tothpal	....	key hair stylist

Production Management
Gary Daigler	....	unit production manager (as Gary D. Daigler)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bennie E. Dobbins	....	second unit director
Brian Fong	....	dga trainee
Richard Peter Schroer	....	first assistant director
Barry K. Thomas	....	second assistant director
Robert Grasmere	....	additional second unit director (uncredited)
Robert S. Mills	....	second second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Richard Berger	....	set designer
Ken John Borland	....	construction grip (as Kenneth Borland)
Max E. Brehme	....	set dresser
Robert L. Clark	....	paint foreman
Tom Cranham	....	storyboard artist (as Thomas Cranham)
Mike Cunningham	....	assistant property master
Dennis DeWaay	....	construction coordinator (as Dennis DeWay)
Joseph E. Hubbard	....	assistant art director
Eric A. Hulett	....	lead man
Petko D. Kadiev	....	storyboard artist
Frank Leasure	....	propmaker
Nick Navarro	....	set designer
Gene Nollman	....	assistant art director
Joe Olsen	....	assistant property master
Nancy Patton	....	set designer
Mark Rappaport	....	sculptor
Michael Ross	....	property master
John Cassel	....	propmaker (uncredited)

Sound Department
Paul Timothy Carden	....	co-supervising sound editor
Larry Carow	....	sound editor
James Cavarretta	....	sound recordist
John S. Coffey	....	boom operator
David DeGeus	....	assistant adr editor
Mike Dobie	....	sound editor
Dean Drabin	....	foley mixer
Louis L. Edemann	....	sound editor
Carl Fischer	....	boom operator
Richard C. Franklin	....	supervising sound editor (as Richard C. Franklin Jr.)
Richard Bryce Goodman	....	production sound mixer
Gary A. Hecker	....	foley artist (as Gary Hecker)
Timothy A. Hoggatt	....	adr mixer
Spike Allison Hooper	....	assistant sound editor
Alan Howarth	....	sound processing
Jack Keller	....	sound recordist
David Kern	....	sound editor (as David J. Kern)
Rick Kline	....	sound re-recording mixer
Bobbe Kurtz	....	adr editor
Donald O. Mitchell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Chuck Neely	....	sound editor
Mel Neiman	....	sound processing
Alan L. Nineberg	....	supervising adr editor
Bob O'Brien	....	apprentice sound editor
Kevin O'Connell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Thomas J. O'Connell	....	adr recordist
Charleen Richards	....	adr mixer
Bruce Richardson	....	sound editor (as Paul Bruce Richardson)
Rod Rogers	....	assistant adr editor
Larry Singer	....	supervising adr editor
Stephanie D. Singer	....	assistant sound editor (as Stephanie Dawn Singer)
Alicia Stevenson	....	foley artist
Andrew Torres	....	adr editor
Claus Wedemann	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby (as Claus Wiedemann)
Bill Wilner	....	assistant adr editor
Samuel C. Crutcher	....	sound editor (uncredited)
Nils C. Jensen	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Michael Arbogast	....	special effects
Lawrence J. Cavanaugh	....	special effects coordinator (as Larry Cavanaugh)
Kenneth C. Clark	....	special effects
David Domeyer	....	special effects
Manuel S. Epstein	....	special effects (as Manuel Stuart Epstein)
David Fletcher	....	special effects technician
William Lee	....	special effects
George Paine	....	special effects
Kevin Quibell	....	special effects
R. Bruce Steinheimer	....	special effects supervisor (as Bruce Steinheimer)
Ken Tarallo	....	special effects crew
Dick Wood	....	special effects (as Dick Woods)

Visual Effects by
Syd Dutton	....	matte shots
Robert Grasmere	....	video effects supervisor
Gary Gutierrez	....	visual effects supervisor
Sam Nicholson	....	additional photography
Bill Taylor	....	matte shots
James Valentine	....	rotoscope

Stunts
Tony Brubaker	....	stunts: Fireball (as Anthony Brubaker)
Al Cleland	....	stunts: Subzero
Erik Cord	....	stunts: Killian
Bennie E. Dobbins	....	stunt coordinator
Jeff Jensen	....	stunts: Buzzsaw/Dynamo
Joel Kramer	....	stunts: Ben Richards
Shawn Lane	....	stunts: Weiss (as Shawn Patrick Lane)
Karen Price	....	stunts: Amber
Mel Scott-Thomas	....	stunts: Laughlin (as Mel Scott Thomas)
Bruce Paul Barbour	....	stunt driver (uncredited)
Bruce Paul Barbour	....	stunt performer (uncredited)
Kenny Bates	....	stunts (uncredited)
Art Camacho	....	stunt performer (uncredited)
Phil Chong	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tom Elliott	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gene Hartline	....	stunts (uncredited)
Larry Holt	....	stunts (uncredited)
Peter Kent	....	stunt double: Arnold Schwarzenegger (uncredited)
Joel Kramer	....	assistant stunt coordinator (uncredited)
Paul M. Lane	....	utility stunts (uncredited)
Lane Leavitt	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gene LeBell	....	stunts (uncredited)
Roberto Martín Márquez	....	stunt player (uncredited)
Debra Mazotti	....	stunt performer (uncredited)
Robert Mazotti	....	stunt performer (uncredited)
Branscombe Richmond	....	stunts (uncredited)
Joseph Michael Roth	....	stunts (uncredited)
John-Clay Scott	....	stunts (uncredited)
Michael M. Vendrell	....	fight choreographer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jamie Anderson	....	camera operator
Michael J. Bailey	....	lamp operator
Douglas E. Beal	....	second assistant camera
Marc Brickman	....	theatrical lighting designer
Doug Byers	....	electrician
Billy Clevenger	....	first assistant camera (as William B. Clevenger Jr.)
James M. Cox	....	lamp operator
Gary R. Dodd	....	key grip
George Dunagan	....	lamp operator
Walt Fraser	....	second assistant camera (as Walter B. Fraser)
Dave Friedman	....	still photographer
Steve Hastings	....	electrician
Ronald E. High	....	first assistant camera (as Ron High)
James Keys	....	lamp operator (as James J. Keys)
Jan Koshay	....	dolly grip (as Jan S. Koshay)
Kevin J. Lang	....	rigging gaffer
Michael Maley	....	gaffer
Jerry L. Mandley	....	lighting technician
Steven C. McGee	....	best boy electric (as Steve McGee)
Monte Swann	....	video playback operator
Gary Tandrow	....	gaffer
Dave Turpin	....	best boy grip
Reynaldo Villalobos	....	director of photography: additional photography
Kenneth Zunder	....	camera operator
Albert Hood	....	lighting technician (uncredited)

Casting Department
Billy DaMota	....	casting assistant
Robert Lansing Parker	....	extras casting (as Lansing Parker)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Henry Baghdassarian	....	Dynamos costume engineer: Propmakers Inc.
Dan Bronson	....	men's costumer
Francine Jamison-Tanchuck	....	costume department supervisor
Michael J. Long	....	men's key costumer
Frank Perry Rose	....	men's costumer (as Frank Rose)
Buck Skelton	....	costumer: men
Betty Jean Slater	....	women's costumer

Editorial Department
John A. Amicarella	....	assistant editor
Donah Bassett	....	negative cutter
Destiny Borden	....	assistant editor
Vaune Kirby Frechette	....	assistant editor (as Vaune Kirby)
David Jansen	....	assistant editor
Bob Noland	....	color timer
Steven Ramirez	....	first assistant editor
Yôko Seto	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Bob Badami	....	music editor
Bill Bernstein	....	assistant music editor
Brian Reeves	....	music scoring mixer

Transportation Department
Lyle Christensen	....	shotmaker driver
Robert K. Johnson	....	picture car mechanic
Tim Roslan	....	transportation captain
Kenny Searle	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Paula Abdul	....	choreographer
Michael Grasso	....	firearms advisor
Michael Grasso	....	law enforcement
Alison Howard-Smith	....	production secretary
Jerry Irvine	....	propulsion specialist
Merle L. Jackson	....	production office coordinator
Carlton Jones	....	assistant choreographer
Luca Kouimelis	....	script supervisor
Greg Lazzaro	....	key location manager
Solomon J. LeFlore	....	production financing
Andrew Lipschultz	....	publicity coordinator
George G. Miller	....	first aid
Margaret Mitchell	....	production accountant
Mark Rappaport	....	puppeteer
Mike Revell	....	assistant production accountant
Ken H. Rosen	....	location manager
Robert Schroer	....	production assistant
Marina Simpson	....	stand-in
Pam Trzaska	....	first aid (as Pamela Trzaska)
John R. Woodward	....	location manager
Jack E. Herman	....	extras set coordinator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Braveworld Productions
• Home Box Office (HBO)
• Keith Barish Productions
• TAFT Entertainment Pictures

Distributors

• TriStar Pictures (1987) (USA) (theatrical)
• Image Entertainment (1988) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Vestron Video (1988) (USA) (VHS) (pan and scan)
• Finnkino (1989) (Finland) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1990) (USA) (TV)
• Oy Europa Vision AB (1990) (Finland) (VHS)
• TV3 (1991) (Finland) (TV)
• Live Home Video (1994) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Astro Distribution (1997) (Germany) (video) (laserdisc)
• Live Home Video (1997) (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Artisan Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Future Film (2000) (Finland) (DVD)
• RCV Home Entertainment (2000) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• RCV Home Entertainment (2002) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Alliance Atlantis Home Video (2004) (Canada) (DVD)
• Artisan Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Atlantic Film (2004) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Nelonen (2004) (Finland) (TV) (2005)
• IDA films (2009) (Spain) (video)
• Lionsgate Home Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Columbia Pictures of Canada (1987) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Roadshow Film Distributors (1987) (Australia) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (USA) (laserdisc)
• Flashback Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Flashstar Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Home Video Hellas (HVH) (1989) (Greece) (VHS)
• J&M Entertainment (1987) (worldwide) (all media) (sales)
• Olive Films (2012) (Canada) (DVD) (DVD and Blu-ray)
• Olive Films (2012) (USA) (DVD) (DVD and Blu-ray)
• VIDEO 2000 (19??) (Hungary) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Burman Studio, The (special effects makeup)
• Colossal Pictures (special visual effects)
• Illusion Arts (matte shots)
• USFX (special visual effects)

Other Companies

• Mi Casa Multimedia  new restoration 5.1 and 7.1 DVD/BD
• Atmosphere Agency  extras casting
• For Stars Catering  catering
• Oasis Recording Studios  music post-production
• Pacific Title  end titles
• Pacific Title  opticals
• Propmasters Inc.  Dynamo's costume engineered by
• Video Image  main titles
• Video Image  video and graphics design
• Warner Hollywood Studios  post-production facilities

Also Known As:

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Australia:R | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Ireland:18 | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R (f) | West Germany:18 | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (2003) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:16 | Australia:MA (Cable Rating, cut) | Singapore:M18 | Brazil:12 | Portugal:M/16

Filming Locations:

Belmont Tunnel - 1304 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Braveworld Productions

Trivia:

The character "Mick," the leader of the underground, is played by drummer Mick Fleetwood of the super group Fleetwood Mac. His compatriot in the movie, a character named "Stevie" and played by Dweezil Zappa, is an obvious homage to Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: During the aerial attack on Bakersfield, the helicopter's computer shows the Bakersfield coordinates as Lat 45.04 N, Long 119.06 W. These coordinates are actually in the area of Umatilla National Forest of northeastern Oregon, just west of the 395 near Dale. Bakersfield, California is actually Lat 35.37 N, Long 119.02 W. Someone might have typo'd the 35 to 45, but even then, the coordinates are south of the Maricopa Highway, on Snapp Road!

Quotes:

Ben Richards:Uplink underground, uplink underground. If you say that one more time, I'll uplink your ass, and you'll be underground!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Bad Movie Beatdown: Gamer (#3.24)" (2011)

Soundtrack:

The Death March

He Said He'd Be Back..."The Running Man" is Fun No Matter How You Slice and Dice it...

"The Running Man" is based on a story by Richard Bachman, a.k.a. Stephen King writing under pseudonym.

It takes place in the near future, where everything is run by the media and the government. Kind of like right now. In the future, there isn't much selection on television. All there is is "The Running Man"--hosted by Damon Killian (Richard Dawson, host of "Family Fortune" in real life)--a show that features convicts, or "runners" being chased by madmen, or "stalkers." It's a bit like a futuristic gladiator sport. No one ever, ever wins the show. But Schwarzenegger has yet to play. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Ben Richards, also known as The Butcher of Bakersfield, for firing upon a crowd of humans in a food strike. Only one problem. He's been framed--he never shot anyone. After Arnie escapes from jail, Damon Killian wants his hands on him for the show--so they hunt him down and bring him in. Damon offers Ben a deal--if he goes on the show, he'll let his friends from jail go free. But if he doesn't...he puts his friends on. So Richards agrees to play the game, only to find that Damon has put his friends-from-jail in the show anyway. Right before being launched in the arena, Ben Richards says to Damon, "Hey, Damon. I'll be back." There is a pause. "Only in a rerun," Damon says. Yeah, right.

This movie is about as action-packed and adrenaline-punched an action movie you're going to see in a while. We see an excuse for Schwarzenegger being thrown into an arena with killers, where he must use his brains, strategy, and most of all muscles, to kill the stalkers. But the thing is, the excuse for throwing Schwarzenegger in the arena is a good one. They didn't completely ignore the plot; they don't even throw him in the arena until at least a half hour into the film. They set up the plot first, which is nice.

Arnold proves his acting talent is not just in his muscles once again. Too many people make fun of Schwarzenegger's acting skills, but to tell you the truth, I prefer him over Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone any day. Bruce and Sly are mumblers, in my opinion. Anyway, I like Arnold in this movie, because unlike in "The Terminator" where he is an indestructible cyborg, he is a vincible human with emotions in this film. We see a different side to Schwarzenegger, and it's pretty nice.

Richard Dawson is surprisingly good as Damon. I love his charisma on screen. Of course he's good at playing a gameshow host--he himself was one--but he also has a very good acting talent. Check out the scene where he offers Arnold a deal for going on the show. Look how smug he is in that scene, and how well he delivers his lines. He envelops his character very well. An underrated actor if ever I saw one. He comes off slightly creepy and slightly likable.

This movie is good fun no matter how you slice and dice it. I've often noticed it has a bit of a weird vibe to it, but then I realized that's just the sci-fi/futuristic vibe of the film. I've felt it before when watching sci-fi films. There's something about them. When I watch a film, or a certain genre, I get different vibes. Sci-fi gives me a weird vibe that is undescribable. This film gives that vibe to me. It sounds weird, but I think a lot of people get "vibes" and don't realize it.

I recently viewed this movie twice in less than a day; once at night and once in the morning. It just goes to show how easy it is to watch. It is strictly a fun, action film with lots of imagination and charisma. Easy to watch with a high re-watch factor.

What would you rather do with 90 minutes of your life on a Friday night then watch Arnold Schwarzenegger get to knock some skulls together in a gladiator arena? Exactly.

4/5 stars -