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The Running Man (1987)
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This week on the Everything Actioncast, Zach and Chris tune into everyone's favorite dystopian game show, The Running Man, as the new Edgar Wright-directed take on the Stephen King novel hits theaters.
Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Ben Richards, who is wrongfully imprisoned when he refuses to fire on unarmed civilians during a food riot and is dubbed "The Butcher of Bakersfield" when the footage is doctored to make it seem like he killed numerous civilians. Escaping prison, Richards is recaptured and forced to be a contestant on The Running Man, a game show hosted by the devious Damon Killian (Richard Dawson), where "Runners" must try to escape from the top killers called "Stalkers." Zach and Chris discuss how great Richard Dawson is in basically his only major film role, the practicality of fighting in full hockey goalie pads like Sub-Zero (Professor Toru Tanaka), Mick Fleetwood possibly playing himself, the nonsensical Arnold one-liners, and more.
You can watch The Running Man on Paramount+. Next week, we're discussing another dystopian competition with Robot Jox, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary.
We want to hear your comments and feedback. Send them all to contact@everythingaction.com. Also, let us know your suggestions for movies for us to discuss.
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Transcript
Introduction and Film Discussion
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Everything Action Cast, the official podcast of EverythingAction.com.
00:00:18
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Everything Action Cast podcast week of November 10th, 2025. I'm your host, Zach. I'm your co-host, Chris. And this week we are tuning in to everyone's favorite dystopian game show, The Running Man. We're talking about the 1987 classic because obviously the new Edgar Wright Glenn Powell movie is out in theaters right now, which is a more faithful take on the the book, The Running Man.
00:00:44
Speaker
um But and they one of one of our favorites, right, Chris? Oh, yeah. Running Man is one of those movies I shouldn't have seen as a kid, but like. All the adults loved it.
00:00:55
Speaker
So it was just on TV. And then even TV in like 1992 censored the like this
80s Film Violence and Censorship
00:01:03
Speaker
movie. And you there's like certain scenes they just censored and that's it. Like the movie still plays well.
00:01:09
Speaker
So it's not, I mean, probably at the time it was like, well-earned R, but by today's standards, if you remove like just some of the blood scenes, it's just PG-13.
00:01:22
Speaker
Especially compared to other R1 movies, like Total Recall or Predator that came out the same year as this movie, Predator is like way more insanely violent than this one. It is, but like you could censor those movies back then.
00:01:35
Speaker
You just cut away, or you just don't show things, and then you don't... You just blur out one curse word. Yeah, I think i think like the he there's head explosion. It's like the most probably the gruesome thing in this movie.
00:01:50
Speaker
In the beginning? and the beginning, yeah. I think um it's funny because i think I saw The Running Man first on TBS growing up. So one of the core memories of this movie is the totally censored version.
00:02:07
Speaker
So the head scene is like, oh yeah, I forgot that happens.
00:02:14
Speaker
And a lot of, like, the gunfire is a lot of just that, like, Western, they shoot and someone just falls. Yeah, there's no there's no squibs or anything. It's just like, oh, and like, oh, okay. Like, it's so funny to think that they focus more on the hand-to-hand combat and, like, just the, ball like, violence that you could probably do to someone with, like,
00:02:37
Speaker
everyday objects or just common objects than you can with a future machine gun of 2017. thousand and seventeen Yeah, movie takes place in the far off 2017.
Past Predictions and Stephen King's Influence
00:02:51
Speaker
Which is funny because I think the book takes place in 2025.
00:02:56
Speaker
But I guess in the movie they're like, ah, it's too far. like oh It doesn't really matter in the year as long as it's like not in that 20... one maybe not in the 15 year time span.
00:03:07
Speaker
That's like a good caliber. When a movie from the current time is imagining the future, it has to be like, especially nowadays, technology moves so quick that it's always kind of like 25 years in the future.
00:03:24
Speaker
And then, you know, 25 years in the future happens and you're like, well, where the hell is half that thing? Yeah. So that would have been 30 years from running man when it came out like this is what this is what the future be like 30 years from now well i think the running man was 1982 the book oh yeah the book was 82 uh well the book was 82 yeah so and then yeah also this is one of those secret steven king books that he didn't like want to mention until like later
00:03:59
Speaker
Well, yeah, it's a it's a Richard Bachman book, which there's he wrote for those under Richard Bachman because um he he wanted to publish more books a year, but he didn't want like his like he didn't want to like oversaturate the mark with like Stephen King-labeled books, so he created his alter ego of Richard Bachman.
00:04:19
Speaker
So he yeah, it's a Running Man, also like The Long Walk, which you came out this year as movie, is also a Richard Bachman book. And then i think and then people but then it was like, yeah, you made four and people were like, oh, this is this Stephen King right in these?
00:04:34
Speaker
i think Finner was the the last one that was like a under like the Richard Bachman name. I wonder if the Richard Bachman name is like something you can buy now and I could be Richard Bachman.
00:04:46
Speaker
Maybe. I'm wondering what's the legal thing where I call myself Richard Bachman. It's like you can't. It's like Stephen. That's Stephen King. But like Stephen King's not Richard Bachman. That's an alias. Like, are you legally able to buy aliases?
00:05:00
Speaker
Like the, like the, I mean, it's Stephen King, so I think, I mean, he owns the rights to like, he owns the rights to his alter ego. I don't know, man. Who
Connections to Stephen King's Universe
00:05:10
Speaker
knows? It's a wacky time in the 1980s, so gotta see if he owns that.
00:05:14
Speaker
Well, can't you just, can't doesn't Stephen King give you the rights to the book things for like a dollar?
00:05:20
Speaker
I remember something like that. There's like weird claws, but that's just like a Stephen King weird thing. To like to like help like indie filmmakers and stuff, he'll hey, yeah you yeah you could like some my thing for like a doubt you could like some of my things for a dollar.
00:05:32
Speaker
I think only if it like he approves. I think have to like show him a complete script and everything. It'd be weird if it's like some art house student. I like to make Cujo, but instead of a dog, it's a metaphor for like recycling.
00:05:47
Speaker
Like, what? Yeah. Yeah.
00:05:51
Speaker
um But yeah, The Running Man, just... it There are certain details about the book version that totally make sense, where the they were like, this is a Stephen King book, isn't it?
00:06:07
Speaker
So, you don't get it from the movie, but this also takes place in the, like, Darby universe. Because they reference, like, Darby, because they use, like, their airport.
00:06:18
Speaker
Derry? Yeah. I don't know why i say Darby. I'm so used to saying Darby. Yeah, he flies into... like ah Apparently Darius is an airport, and then he flies into that.
00:06:29
Speaker
so it's it's It's all like it's like he's running around Maine and stuff. Yeah, and that's a crazy thing, because this movie looks like it just looks like Detroit and l L.A. came together and made a terrible city.
00:06:41
Speaker
Yeah, don't I don't think they ever say specifically where the Running Man, the Arnold movie, takes place.
00:06:49
Speaker
I mean, I guess he's the butcher of Bakersfield. I guess it is like California, like Los Angeles, kind of like that. I would assume like the running man takes place in like, they're filming it in like LA maybe.
00:07:03
Speaker
But they they mentioned there was like an earthquake, like a big earthquake, and that part of like the arena got like destroyed, so they used that destroyed section as like the arena.
00:07:17
Speaker
Which, like, in the movie, they just don't show that. Like, they... It's something where um that's, like, a catalyst, but in the movie, they really just, like, skip that
Media Manipulation and Dystopian Themes
00:07:28
Speaker
massacre. You don't even see it unfold until the last, like, news clip of it, and then...
00:07:33
Speaker
It just looks so heavily edit that it just looks like a low-budget movie, like, happening. Oh, like the opening like, Arnold in the helicopter? Well, no, no, not that. bad Like, where they show you the actual quote-unquote massacre.
00:07:46
Speaker
Oh, yeah. I could even tell you, like, if that actually happened or not. Or, like, did... It's like super unclear. I know the book it's probably more fleshed out, but in the movie ah it's Arnold ignoring the order to like fire upon the rioters, right?
00:08:07
Speaker
For people trying to get food. um You don't see that because he stopped really early on. And then at the end they like show you the footage or like they show a doctorate I guess like a recreation or something?
00:08:26
Speaker
It's great because Arnold's like, he's refusing to orders and he's just like, to hell with you! he just called the Conan like to hell with you. But then they edited that to be like, Richard, stop!
00:08:37
Speaker
Don't shoot don shoot those people! He's just like, to hell with you I'm going to kill everyone! like how they barely had enough footage to like show the action and...
00:08:50
Speaker
There's a lot of creative cuts in that footage from the first act where if they had to show you the, I guess, onboard cameras, it's cinematic. Like it's, it jump cuts from like the same perspective we're watching it and it jumps to like Arnold's perspective. Like it.
00:09:06
Speaker
Yeah. They have, they have like, they have the film footage. Yeah. They have the footage of the movie. It's like Spaceballs. So that that was weird. I thought it would be more from like the ground perspective or it would be something where you see clips of the massacre played in the beginning like throughout the movie and you see like what the media is actually editing but you don't even see the full massacre until the third act.
00:09:34
Speaker
and And even then you can't even tell if that was intentional or not. That was the actual massacre. don't know, my gripe business is, like, that's the big catalyst for Ben Richardson's sort of, like, imprisonment.
00:09:45
Speaker
Yeah. For 18 months. Mm-hmm. Where, uh, they gave already, like, a jacked dude more work to look more jacked. So, you know, pick these giant beams up and carry them around in, like, this... i don't know, what what are they doing? Like, they're just, like... It looks like already they're in the zone.
00:10:06
Speaker
and this whole movie takes place in four locations. And one of them happens to be like scrap yards. Well, I'm trying, I, it's hard to get a grasp on what the kind of the state of the, like the world is because they the opening crawl says, you know, the economy collapsed.
00:10:24
Speaker
Like they, the government is now like, you know, dystopian government. They use propaganda. They control all the media. Um, and, ah It's like everything's state run now.
00:10:38
Speaker
But then, and then people are like, like a bunch of people are living in like shantytowns with like and like, it looks like a post apocalypse, but other people are like going to like the running man and having a great time. So I don't know how it's just like, some people are living like great, like low normal lives. And some people are living like, like they're in like apocalyptic wasteland.
00:10:54
Speaker
I think that just shows you the economy. is that like It's like the disparity of between the rich and the poor. like The poor living in shanties and like the rich who are in league with the government or like working for the government or like fine with the government or like get like go to champagne parties watch The Running Man. but Except for... like There is still a middle class because Amber is not the super elite rich because she has like a very humble apartment that guess...
00:11:23
Speaker
It doesn't give her the like city affordability, because anyone could just break into her home like Arnold did? Well, should probably change her locks, because she never changed the locks when she took over the apartment from Arnold's brother.
00:11:38
Speaker
is it because crime doesn't really exist? Because it's such an authoritarian, dystopian future where almost all the crime is just sort of punished with Running Man?
00:11:50
Speaker
and or Or climbing for dollars? Yeah.
00:11:54
Speaker
i don't know if that I don't know if that show gets convicts or that show is anyone signs up for. That's like that. Climbing for dollars is like if you're just like poor and you want money and you are you're like risking getting torn apart by dogs. You go on climbing for money.
00:12:12
Speaker
I mean, everything's a metaphor for capitalism in this movie. yeah there's whole there's I kind of wish we saw a little bit more of like some of the other shows, kind of like Robocop style. We got some of like you know the commercials and stuff of the Robocop world.
00:12:27
Speaker
we see You see a little bit Climbing for Dollars. and You can see you see Jesse Ventura's workout show. like His aerobics show. That's awesome. Captain Freedom. yeah Captain Freedom is just so like, I'm going to show your pain. And he's doing aerobics. and're like are you You want to feel pain?
00:12:42
Speaker
You want to feel tortured? Here we go. it Work those abs. It's funny to think that we, like, no one figured out to do that in fitness stuff. Like, wouldn't it some crazy, like, jacked marine, a US marine from today, who then releases online just a bunch of fitness videos?
00:13:04
Speaker
Like, not even, like, a streaming platform. Like, you have send in a check, a mail order to a company to get, like, a DVD, a Blu-ray of a workout. Like, that's completely gone now.
00:13:17
Speaker
Like, that whole ah trying to send away for a workout routine is just gone.
00:13:25
Speaker
But back then, man, that was just what people did. They came home, they worked out for half an hour with, like, an instructor on a TV. Some people still do it I mean it's better than nothing. But it's like...
00:13:38
Speaker
The dude running the program is not doing that exercise. Like, Jesse Ventura didn't get that big by, like, doing aerobics. No. I mean, I get it's good for your cardio health, but it's just, like, lift some weights if you want to like Jesse.
00:13:54
Speaker
Especially Jesse Ventura.
00:13:59
Speaker
But there's there's other there's other, like, you see posters for other shows in the background, and, like, one of them iss like the hate boat. So that there's they're showing like parodies of old TV shows.
00:14:12
Speaker
I wouldn't say parodies. i think I would say it's evolutions of shows. Do you see the hate boat is also like ah like a weird like game show or reality show or something? i think it's just the next like after so many... Because it's 2017. So it's like by then they're like, alright, we rebooted at the show. But now instead of like love, it's hate.
00:14:31
Speaker
well Because cause there's a's so a recurring bit, like Richard Dawson and Mick Fleetwood both make references to old TV shows and people don't know what they're talking about. Well, because you think about it... Because they're cause they're older, they remember like what it was before economy collapsed.
00:14:45
Speaker
Because if you think about it, if they were in 19... nineteen in
00:14:53
Speaker
So they were born in like the 40s, like 1940. So like they watched TV from 1940 to 2017. If they were like, let's just say in their like 50s, 60s.
00:15:09
Speaker
and But in that time frame. So like, yeah, up until a certain point, it's good. And then we don't know what caused America to just go totally dystopian government. ah economic worldwide economic collapse and resource scarcity.
00:15:23
Speaker
Oh yeah, there's like an opening crawl that sort of just dumps so much on there. You're like, did you read that? Good, here's our own helicopter.
00:15:35
Speaker
Go.
00:15:40
Speaker
But yeah I guess like they're still referencing it because those were like the good times back in like the 60s, if you think about the frame of reference. And also because I guess... the screenwriter was still living in the 80s. So that was only 20 years ago to them.
00:15:59
Speaker
Well, yeah, because like, because like a big thing, it makes like a Spock joke and then the guy's just like, what? Who else Spock? I also don't think they're showing Star Trek. No, future no it's it's all
Character Analysis and Plot Development
00:16:11
Speaker
it's all just like whatever. It's it's it's all just government approved television shows.
00:16:16
Speaker
So it makes sense that one guy's reference to like probably contraband shows because it's like, you know, Star Trek at the time was very progressive and a lot of good ideas. But that would be banned.
00:16:28
Speaker
That kind of show, even today, it's like hard for Star Trek shows to be on major networks all the time.
00:16:39
Speaker
but yeah But yeah, so ar yeah Arnold is falsely ah falsely accused of of like a a massacre. he becomes he becomes the Butcher of Bakersfield, which they reference constantly.
00:16:51
Speaker
and then yeah he gets thrown in the weird steel-lifting prison, whatever or whatever they're doing. ah sparks factory The spark like out yeah like an outdoor Sparks Factory. Like labor camp. but And then he's got two buddies with him. He's got Yafet Kota as Laughlin.
00:17:12
Speaker
And then, was it Marvin J. McIntyre as Weiss? Who's like the team nerd? Like, you he wants to hack the signal of like the network. he's He's the yeah the team nerd, but... Didn't he say like he was a teacher or something?
00:17:31
Speaker
I think Laughlin was a teacher, like Yafakoto was a teacher, because he like he's like, um um many many when they are separating it, first time he's like, oh yeah, go go teach the kids about the constitution.
00:17:43
Speaker
Oh, okay. Man, how awesome of a teacher was like, Yafakoto, just like some early dude, just teaching you science or something.
00:17:55
Speaker
Also, this movie is, like, almost every other character is prepared to fight.
00:18:02
Speaker
Like, for a prisoner that probably got thrown into prison for probably teaching contraband ideas, that's probably what happened, guess, at Koda. And then hacking probably sends you to, like, prison camp.
00:18:13
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:18:20
Speaker
And they're they're in therere in the prison has ah like Suicide Squad style like neck bombs. like If you try if you try like you break through the ah the barrier, you get your head explodes.
00:18:32
Speaker
It's funny to think that that actually was before Suicide Squad. That was a... Well, especially blow-up collars. That's... Well, this came first, I think, because that got reinvented in Battle Royale.
00:18:49
Speaker
but I like that there is a radio signal. There's a whole like technology that they have for this one scene and then they don't bring it up again.
00:18:59
Speaker
Yeah. Like, yeah, there's this is, yeah, it's not, it's not incorporated into like the running man game at all. It's just, it's just, just, just the prison has this like, like ultrasonic barrier that have to like disable.
00:19:14
Speaker
And they do. It's like, it's not like a whole thing where, um, the second or third act still has the bombs and it's like, okay, well, we have to keep playing this game or else our collar explodes.
00:19:26
Speaker
Yeah, that would make sense. It's probably like the running manual. It's like, oh, if you if you don't finish the game in three hours, we blow you up. but Not even. It's like, if you don't, if you refuse to play, refuse to play.
00:19:39
Speaker
If you don't, if you give up like on TV, so it's not exciting. So they can kill you to get you re so the show can move on. Like, You know what mean? like So it's not just watch this guy um be sad on TV and start spewing the propaganda that they don't want to show. Because, I mean, unless they edited stuff, which they can, so that's like, whatever, but the collar would help them.
00:20:02
Speaker
like The collar that they have that in case something goes wrong, which in the Running Man show, you know, throughout the movie, a lot of things that they were trying to plan go wrong. Yeah. So the collar would have the better backup instead of doing...
00:20:16
Speaker
everything else that they did. The whole, like, faking things and hiding things. throw Throw your bodies at the problem. Just like, throw throw more guys at them. Yeah. ah We'll get into, like, the the, like, terrible network decisions that, um, I don't know why they did that.
00:20:34
Speaker
But, yeah, I don't want to it just yet. ah Uh... So, Richard Dawson, uh, Arnold and his gang escape. that they all They all split up. But then,
00:20:45
Speaker
um like oh yes he he that's he He goes to his brother's apartment because his brother's going to to sneak him out of the country, like I think, or something? No, no, you're mis-memoring. So, what happens is the group of them go to the underground yes that that happens to establish to reestablish like what they need to do, and then Arnold encounters them going, okay, hey, I don't need any part of this.
00:21:10
Speaker
You guys do what you need to do I'm going to find my brother and then get the hell out of the country. yeah the The limitations of just this, you know, it's just the networking government. like Well, it's like in partnership because the U.S. government loves this like TV you show.
00:21:32
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's the propaganda arm. It keeps the like the you know the poor people in line. They're obsessed with that. If they're watching the show, then they're not trying to like... Uprise. Uprise. Yeah, it's keeping them, like, sedated. It's like, it's the classic, like, bread and circuses ah the like of the, you know, the Roman Empire. Mm-hmm.
00:21:49
Speaker
Just, like, if you keep giving them games to watch, then they won't realize how, like, screwed they are. Yeah, because it's like, well, at least I'm not a running man. least I'm not, like, a guy getting killed by stalkers.
00:22:01
Speaker
Or, you know, hey, at least I'm here in the crowds st drinking wine and eating dirt bread than fighting a lion. like Yeah. Yeah. yeah it's weird how like that hasn't changed and no one's pointed that out even today's society who knows next year would be like hey man our economy is terrible but like at least we're not in the robot wars like it's just basically um battle bots but there's like a random human in there just like punching like everything
00:22:35
Speaker
Well, I love there's like a... There's like a true bit for like... Like Stevie DeSouza, who wrote The Running Man. um he was like He was talking about like... He found out that like... American Gladiators was basically just like... They used... When they're pitching that show, they basically just used clips from the Running Man. said, we're gonna do this, but no murder. That's how they pitched to like American Gladiators.
00:22:55
Speaker
It's like, it's The Running Man, but no murdering.
00:22:59
Speaker
i mean, again... Gladiator in the title is already like something. i'm pretty I'm pretty shocked that... they didn't use the word gladiator in the running man instead of stalkers.
00:23:10
Speaker
Yeah. Stalkers is a weird term for like the, the guys. Cause they don't really stalk them. It's just like you get dropped in the arena and then you fight this person to the death. That's more of a gladiator thing.
Game Show Mechanics and Audience Engagement
00:23:22
Speaker
Yeah. well i think, I think the book and the new movie called them hunters. Yeah. That makes sense because you have to chase the person. Yeah, they're hunting them across the country. That makes more sense. That makes complete sense.
00:23:33
Speaker
i guess i mean stock I guess they're stalking them through the arena, but it's just... The zone? Yeah. Which they kind of hype up, but it's also in its own bubble. like It's not the same if if they're running, and they're running through like the regular city.
00:23:48
Speaker
You know, like they do in and the novel and in the new movie. And basically... it's all these tactics to hide in plain sight or even kill when you need to.
00:24:01
Speaker
Uh, and this is just like, you're in bright, you're the only people here, you know, like you're the only, it's like you and the stalker and a vast emptiness of a city or of a waste area.
00:24:14
Speaker
Well, in the first in the first area, there's like a ah crowd down there, which I guess, I don't know if those are poor people. That's like the the middle tier between being like out in the street and but and or like in the in like the studio audience. It's well you can't afford to me to see your audience but you can you can like can be in like the entrance the like the entry point and like if you're in it it's all like it's all like weird bikers and stuff That's true. I kind of forgot that.
00:24:44
Speaker
Because later on, they redo that that rocket cart thing, but no one's there. like yeah It's almost like a different exit.
00:24:56
Speaker
I mean, every yeah, everyone's got to come unless there's like different exit points for that tube. like ever Everyone seems to come at the same spot.
00:25:04
Speaker
Because they have to quickly like move like each person out the way before us start the next car like ah rocket sled is coming down. It's gonna slam it to them. Yep. so Or... I mean, this spoils for the end.
00:25:17
Speaker
I don't understand what happened to the last rocket cart that happens, and it just sort of jettisons into like a whole different area. You know, like there's nothing like on the rocket cart that's on the driver to help you do anything. You're not really driving. You're not really driving. You're just strapped in and like, oh god, right?
00:25:36
Speaker
Yeah. But... Compared to the end, that first few rocket cards like land nicely. It just skits and that's it. like, alright, cool. There's also there's a net that catches them, which I guess is enough to stop like ah a rocket-powered sled from careening off the... oh yeah, there's a net.
00:25:55
Speaker
but then yeah But then the last one, there's no there no one's there with a net to catch it, so i guess it just keeps going and flies to a billboard. We'll get into that but at the end, but just think about that. I was like, wait, what was the break? The break is hoping that someone sets up a net? What if they just forgot? you know like what if Or what if the the gamblers wanted to rig the game? They just take the net down. That's it. The game's over.
00:26:18
Speaker
Yeah, because like cause Richards and the other guys, they't there's no like lever you pull to stop yourself. You're just like hanging out for dear life, and then you just slam it into a net at the end. I just feel like the net should always be there.
00:26:31
Speaker
Probably. Why is that net portable? Why are the guys holding a net? Just have it be a permanent like setup. Yeah. Because it's not like the zone keeps changing. It's the same zones.
00:26:48
Speaker
It's not like there's a different exit. Unless, okay. Again, I'm just nitpicking. if it chooses the zone to start from, that makes sense, right?
00:27:00
Speaker
Then it's like you could start here, here, or here, you know, like different zone exits. Well, you know what and know what doesn't make sense about that, though, is because um they they let like like the ah studio audience pick like who is the stalker that goes in, and they end up in...
00:27:17
Speaker
a hockey arena, the only hockey stalker is Sub-Zero. it's like, if they if if if they didn't choose Sub-Zero, they would just send Buzzsaw into a hockey arena?
00:27:29
Speaker
Who just doesn't have like ice skates? yeah Do you think because they chose Sub-Zero, they quickly assembled? Or or is it or was like different paths, like they like blocked off a path and forced them into like a hockey arena?
00:27:45
Speaker
That kind of makes sense, and I can see why someone's like, all these questions would be answered in American Gladiator.
00:27:54
Speaker
Right? Doesn't that make more sense? American Gladiator is like, you just pick the zone and the random Gladiator shows up, but it's like, never themed that Gladiator. Yeah. Sub-Zero is very restricted to that one arena. that's all That's the only place he can show up in. Yeah, his only superpower was... Hockey. Hockey.
00:28:13
Speaker
Yeah. Professor Tanaka is awesome in that role because you just never see a giant Japanese sumo guy being a hockey player.
00:28:25
Speaker
Like, I played hockey. I was not a goalie. Actually, my brother was a goalie. We just never made the connection of Sub-Zero stuff. I don't know. would Would, like, full goalie pads, would that be, like, a... like a like, effective combat gear. No. I want, you want to be, like, a slimmer, like, slip like not as many padding.
00:28:49
Speaker
Like, ah football player is more agile in their padding, because you need to be mobile, and you need to protect it from, like, full body hits. Goalies are basically wearing bomb disposal unit, like, padding.
00:29:02
Speaker
Yeah. And then you don't really, like, drop your elbows, or, or like, your shoulders down. Like, you can't, like, You can't be... at least okay Mind you, this is 80s goalie technology. Not modern day tech where they can basically put like ballistic padding in all the joints so you can bend easy.
00:29:23
Speaker
um I played hockey back in the 90s where like they just got to bendable padding. Because before then you were basically strapping on like armor.
00:29:35
Speaker
You were basically putting on riot gear and just like trying to skate with that. um So goalie equipment back then was just basically, yeah, like a cross between a bomb disposal unit suit and like early Disney character mascot, like fluff.
00:29:55
Speaker
Yeah, it definitely seems if you want, like like, an agile, like, hunter on the ice, you don't want them in, like, full goalie pass. It is crazy. Yeah. it It would make sense to that. you're If you're going to have a hockey player, like, be ah an opponent, he would be, like, a defenseman gear or... or like a offenseman someone with speed and agility that you now see in movies usually if there's like someone figure skating or even doing hockey related things god damn it i'm thinking of argyle argyle where they had that one fake hockey kind of sequence in oil yeah um she was like basically like the flash like right in that sequence
00:30:38
Speaker
yeah And here, he is just like a hockey player. They basically got like an NFL, an NHL player just went, all right, you're in a movie now.
00:30:48
Speaker
just give Just give him some, like, like spiky shoulder pads or something, and be like and then and then just normal like hockey gear. Not knock a good goalie outfit. I'll do you one better. Just take rollerball.
00:31:00
Speaker
Just take a rollerball guy and just throw him in there. Were rollerblades, like, don't think rollerblades were a thing yet, were they? um no, they were. 87? Yeah, man, like, you're you're thinking this is the peak error of...
00:31:15
Speaker
Almost what you think of like the Barbie and Ken rollerblading time. Okay. they Rollerblading started in 87.
00:31:27
Speaker
Around this time where they were um based based on roller skates. Where they were like, alright, we need to make that blade design. But yeah, no. Rollerball was like they were using roller skates.
00:31:41
Speaker
And now here comes rollerblading. Because that would make him much more like versatile stalker. like He could go other places besides a hockey arena. Yeah, yeah. Man, I... Again, I... Because I played hockey, I also roller skated it, and I roller bladed it.
00:31:59
Speaker
um Which, now I'm paying for it because my ankles hurt. ah The tech back then was terrible. like you It was basically... roll like where Whatever heaviest boot you own in your home, now make that with wheels.
00:32:14
Speaker
They were not comfortable yet. and Unflexible plastic, and and then you ratchet it down with plastic straps. And then if someone hits you, if you're playing roller skate, like fucking Mighty Duck style, like, yeah, man, your ankle's going one direction, your body's going the other.
00:32:32
Speaker
So, yeah, I mean, you could do that. You could have a dude roller skating, because, um, like, I mean, you remember Shutsu Raid 2 with, like, Skate?
00:32:45
Speaker
Yep. Just have a guy, like, Skate. I mean, granted, it wasn't... Not a child, but, like... Screw it. It's Stephen King. Just make him a child. I mean, I guess it was... Do you do you remember... Did you see in, like, the background of, like, when Richard Dawson's trying to choose, like, the contestants and one of them is a baby?
00:33:05
Speaker
Was it? They're flipping through because like theyre their the rings have like this whole thing where like the rings were running back kind of plateaued. They're not going down, but they're not going up either.
00:33:16
Speaker
they're looking for like a new something to shake up like the rings. That's when Killian sees the footage of Richard escaping. And just like, look at, damn, look at that sexy machine. ah Makes sense A lot of the like criminals were just basically like criminals. Like, you know, underground or like either underground resistant members or i imagine just like people contrabanding clothes.
00:33:45
Speaker
but we yeah But they're scrolling through like possible contestants and one of them is a little bit like a literal baby. imagine they're like, wouldn't it be messed up if he had stalker babies and stalker, like, ah running men babies? Running babies?
00:33:58
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:34:02
Speaker
But yeah, but... this Yeah, he sees... Killian sees Ben Richards, like, get me get that yeah him on the show! It's gotta be a special request because he's, like, a military... He was, like, a military prisoner or something. They normally don't have... They only have, like...
00:34:17
Speaker
ah like non-military prisoners. He to call like the government is like government liaison. He pull favors to get Richard on the show. Which is the downfall.
00:34:28
Speaker
Like I said, a lot of like things this network does terrible. so So Richard's attending a military prisoner.
00:34:38
Speaker
Why is he put into regular prison camp?
00:34:46
Speaker
Or was that, yeah, was but was there everyone there a military criminal? Because I don't think they were. i think Lawson was in the military. So it's like... And I think, was Richard a cop or was he a like military person?
00:35:00
Speaker
I think he was a cop. cause cause Because Mick Fleetwood calls him a cop. i yeah that mi I don't think Mick Fleetwood read the script correctly. and there's one right He just said cop, whatever.
00:35:11
Speaker
We'll keep him. listen Mick Fleetwood. And also, was he heavily prosthetic in this? Because he looked old then. And it turns out he like was only in like 40-something. He looked old.
00:35:29
Speaker
i think i think they yeah they might have done so maybe juiced it up a little bit or something. I don't know.
00:35:35
Speaker
I think it's ah it's also funny that like he's like it's kind of implied that he's playing himself, because his name in the movie is Mick. Yeah, yeah. So i was like... i And then he's like... Wander into this movie? And he's like, yeah you you locked all my friends and I burned all our music. So it's like... Is he applying like Fleetwood Mac got arrested? And like they destroyed all the Fleetwood Mac songs?
00:35:58
Speaker
I mean, Mick Fleetwood's still alive. And he looks pretty good for like his 80s. And the thing is... he looks exactly the same as he did in Running So that's why I'm like, what? yeah
00:36:12
Speaker
And yeah then you also have Dweezil Zappa is is along with side Mick as like a second command. Yeah, and it's funny because there's he also does like a one-liner and think he even says like something like hold that dial or something. Yeah, don't don't change that dial or something. Don't change that channel whatever. Yeah, just...
00:36:33
Speaker
And knowing his father, or Frank Zappa, who hated capitalism and commercialism, it's sort of funny. Mm-hmm. Yeah, this movie is like stacked with a whole bunch of like character actors and and like early appearances by actors who would go on. Like, Lin Shay's in this movie? Yeah.
00:36:57
Speaker
like It's one of those IMDB cast and it's just like Lin Shay. You know who I and ah it never noticed until this rewatch is that um the woman that chooses Sub-Zero to be the first stalker is Lin-Marie Stewart.
00:37:15
Speaker
Yep.
00:37:18
Speaker
It's so funny because I didn't know. I like i looked that up too and I was like, whoa.
00:37:24
Speaker
I noticed this time, and I was like, is that Charlie's mom? it's like is that Miss Yvonne? It's like, yeah oh, it is. but also that's Yeah, Miss Yvonne.
00:37:37
Speaker
Oh my god, forgot that. Wow, so if you think about it, 87. but right Was that right before Pee-Wee's Playhouse? I feel like right before. Pee-Wee's Playhouse was like 1989? Yeah, I think is probably. So...
00:37:53
Speaker
Because that came out after the movies. And then Pee-wee's... Pee-wee's adventure was like 88?
00:38:07
Speaker
Oh, Peewee's playoffs was 86. So the year before... like It started the year before this movie. ah so she she So she probably it showed up in that. Do you know what year but pewe the Peewee movie came out?
00:38:19
Speaker
I think it was like 84 or something. Wow, I thought it was later. Damn, I gotta... That's a rewatch later for me.
00:38:28
Speaker
Okay. 85. 85. All
00:38:32
Speaker
and also And also, it's it's another, like, kt Kurt Fuller is, like, one of, like like, Killian's kind of, like, Weasley, like, assistant. And, like like, he had a run of, like, it was, like, so Holds Barred, this, in and Wayne's World. It's, like, yeah always playing, like, the Weasley, like, executive, TV executive.
00:38:54
Speaker
Yeah, he's he's, like, perfect for that kind of role. Mm-hmm.
Notable Performances and Choreography
00:39:04
Speaker
it's It's also crazy crazy that like this is like Richard Dawson's like only like kind of like film role. He's awesome. and He's so fucking awesome in it.
00:39:15
Speaker
I mean, obviously obviously it's like it's like a you know ah he's playing up his, like doing like the inversion or like kind of like a super exaggerated version of like his family a feud hosting style, but like
00:39:27
Speaker
and like like There's like you know non not him not on set or not on the air. like He's doing like awesome, great like villain ah like work.
00:39:41
Speaker
like like Like that scene where the guy like Janner accidentally hits him with mop. He's like, if he's here the end of the day, you're going be mopping that floor.
00:39:54
Speaker
But then when he goes on when he on the air, he's just like, you know, super charming, like a game show host. Everyone loves him. i mean, that's playing up the Family Feud like thing about him.
00:40:06
Speaker
i I would love if basically ah to be in that... I wonder if like behind the scenes is like they were watching Family Feud and like, you'd be funny if we had Richard Dawson in our movie playing like the villain.
00:40:20
Speaker
Well, originally they were they were looking at Chuck Willery. That's who they wanted to play Killian. But then he he was he was hosting Love Connection and i guess there was like ah like a TV version of Scrabble.
00:40:33
Speaker
So he was too busy. And then Arnold and Richard Dawson are apparently like were like cute like lifelong friends. like They're like BFFs. Arnold's so that' earn's like get I'll get Richard in here.
00:40:46
Speaker
have his number. It'd be pretty funny. And then... Yeah, just imagine that conversation. It's Richard, would you like to play an evil version of you?
00:40:58
Speaker
Yeah, play play like like an eat that evil version of yourself. of You get to kiss babies and women, and then you get to send people down a tube. he does he He does still kiss a couple women, so he that he gets to do that in this movie.
00:41:12
Speaker
Because he he was infamous for that in Fairly Feud.
00:41:17
Speaker
And there's like super cuts of him just like making out with like every woman on the film. Oh yeah, it's like 20 minutes long. I think I saw that and I was like, oh, we don't really see that anymore.
00:41:32
Speaker
Is it just like a thing back then? and Like the host just gets said yeah just like is someone's wife. The freewheeling 70s. You
00:41:41
Speaker
you know another thing that I kind of forgot too is like that like there's way more dancing in this movie than you think of there's going to be. So I did write that there are a lot of interpretive... Extended dance scenes. I think all choreographed by Paul Abdul.
00:41:57
Speaker
Wow.
00:42:01
Speaker
But yeah, you get the... I guess that, like, the Running Man opens every show with just, like, a ah giant dance number. For, like, the Running Man like ladies. The Running Man ladies. Yeah.
00:42:14
Speaker
Yeah, uh...
00:42:17
Speaker
The budget, I guess, it's like in the in this company, it's like, okay, well, we have our dance troupe, we have our set designers, we have our weapons team. like It's a full-blown production.
00:42:29
Speaker
And, you know, like again, I would love to have seen... It's like Jurassic Park, where you just kind of want to see it functional like, for like the whole thing to get an idea of how how it works normally.
00:42:44
Speaker
Yeah, because this is the first time... goes wrong. A stalker ever dies, they're like, oh shit, killed a stalker? Someone killed a stalker? Like, ever? In the whole season?
00:42:54
Speaker
The entire history of the show? Yeah. I guess they never had anyone competent.
00:43:02
Speaker
who Yeah, who had like military training? That's like the difference, I guess. And who was Billingart old...
00:43:12
Speaker
yeah But yeah, yeah he manages to kill Sub-Zero by like wrapping his neck in barbed wire and then strangling him. And then we get the first, I think we get the first of like the many Arnold one-liners that are kind of like, they're iconic but also kind of terrible.
00:43:31
Speaker
Where he's like, Killian Luke! Sub-Zero! Now plain Zero! wonder if Arnold wrote his own lines. Maybe.
00:43:43
Speaker
He's like, alright. He hasn't like learned to be funny yet. You know what i kind of noticed is that like when he's on camera, they're terrible, but then like off camera, he kind of has like normal one-liners.
00:43:55
Speaker
because Because when they're running off away from Sub-Zero, it's like, oh, it's where's Sub-Zero? It's like, oh, he had a pain in neck or something. Or he was a pain in the neck. Or later on with like Fireball, he's like, oh, he was a hothead.
00:44:09
Speaker
yeah. yeah I've noticed that too. where but He's like we's not like on camera on on the Running Man. has normal one-liners.
00:44:21
Speaker
mean The craziest one is that ah like that like like basically it's like a one-liner monologue. When Killian just tries to say like like offer him to be like, hey, you're you're doing awesome down there. should You should be a stalker. Oh, the freakout scene? Yeah. yeah I like how ah in the new Running Man movie, they basically recreate that.
00:44:40
Speaker
Mm-hmm. but I like it. It was a good freakout. Like, I'll rip out your... I live to see you eat that contract! Yeah, well, like, then punch it down your spine or something. Yes. It's like, I live to see you eat that contract, and you better save room for my fist, because I'm going ram to your stomach, rip out your goddamn spine!
00:44:57
Speaker
um it's ah It's a great freakout, because it's like a POV shot, and then he tosses the TV and you follow it. He rips a can like a drone camera. Which, another thing in this movie does, like, but lot of like drone cameras, like robot cameras...
00:45:10
Speaker
Because like people like down there filming the Running Man. Yeah, that's pretty advanced thinking to show that in 87. that like That's why there's no camera crew and they're able to capture all this amazing footage.
00:45:21
Speaker
is that There's probably like ah be like a weird satellite camera floating there. I'm surprised it's got enough power to keep basically live streaming it.
00:45:35
Speaker
But yeah, he like like rips one off its base and is like it's like holding it and is screaming at Killian.
00:45:43
Speaker
we didnt And that's after he kills Buzzsaw and then faces off against Dynamo, the second two stalkers.
00:45:54
Speaker
Buzzsaw is just like ah like a crazed maniac with a buzzsaw a chainsaw.
00:46:01
Speaker
And then... Well, it's funny because it's like he doesn't have a buzzsaw. He has chainsaw. Yeah. So shouldn't his name be Chainsaw? Probably.
00:46:13
Speaker
Do you think that the book he actually has buzzsaw? And then, like, they're like, alright, I don't know. I don't think in the book there is a change. I don't think in the book there is a buzzsaw. I think all these guys are just made up for the movie. Ah. They're, like, way more, like,
00:46:27
Speaker
cartoonish here. Everyone kind of looks like a superhero. Like an evil or a supervillain. you know Yeah, I mean, yeah, 100%. Especially Dynamo is just like absolute nonsense.
00:46:39
Speaker
Oh no, it's he's an opera singer, electrician, um he's like he's electro, and then and he's just like a rapist. like it so So many problems with Dynamo.
00:46:51
Speaker
And he drives like ah like ah like a little like mini go-kart thing. A dune buggy? A dune buggy thing, yeah. That doesn't have its own electric power? That can't can't go but it can't go up a slight hill.
00:47:05
Speaker
Like, he chases armhole up a hill and then like it flips over. That's like it's defeated. and also, like you find out later his weakness is water. which that never came up before. Like, no one never like it never rained, or never like he never got water on his costume. and they like because it's It's like, oh shit, water! just gets electrocuted.
00:47:25
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like that suit needs to be insulated against water. Like, whatever electrical panel that he's able to do, just cover with some plastic, seal Yeah, it's like, yeah, your your power is shooting electricity.
00:47:38
Speaker
ah Maybe you should worry yeah worry about water. Listen, so a lot of the stalkers have obvious flaws to do with their weaponry. Even Fireball has that, where it's like... His gas line is just an easy thing you just unplug.
00:47:52
Speaker
yeah His power comes from gas and fire.
00:47:58
Speaker
Dynamo, like even Buzzsaw. Buzzsaw's big thing is what happens if someone has the saw. What happens if he faces someone equally as strong as strong as him or more strong stronger than him?
00:48:09
Speaker
That can like force his buzz saw chainsaw on his crotch.
00:48:14
Speaker
That's probably the most brutal kill Arnold does, like, cutting chainsaw up to the crotch with his chainsaw. I like how this movie also does the little sound effect where it's like, oh, his balls were affected? Let's tweak the voice.
00:48:27
Speaker
Yeah, yes. Just to show that, basically, how much the balls control the vocal depth, which I don't think it does. like it Like, his scream you like like is is scream like goes high-pitched at the end as he's dying.
00:48:42
Speaker
That's not how that works.
00:48:46
Speaker
but then he But then he shows Mercy the Dynamo because he's like, I'm not go i'm not going to kill a helpless man even when even like when like this creep... He really should have.
00:48:58
Speaker
Probably, yeah.
00:49:03
Speaker
but in the And by that point, like ah like Amber has been into the arena, too. I forgot that she kind of just forced to join. oh other do we like about like so I think we mentioned that she was in like the apartment that Barbara breaks into.
00:49:16
Speaker
um and And he like kidnaps her to force her to like take him Honolulu or Hawaii it like it to try to escape. Because she has like a trail pass, and then that's when he gets caught.
00:49:32
Speaker
We get to classic we get think we had the classic Arnold in a Hawaiian shirt disguise. Yeah, it's just like more Commando references. Yeah, he even runs on like ah like ah on like the... ah ah Like, tarmac. like like Just like a Commando, he's ready to get you to the plane, or like running away from the plane.
00:49:54
Speaker
So, it's so funny to think that... they do reference this scene, that scene later, where he's like, oh, I wanted to go. like I was dressed. Why do you think I was ready for like Hawaii or whatever?
00:50:06
Speaker
He says to Amber. But this movie has a lot of costume changes for Arnold. I actually wrote him down.
00:50:15
Speaker
So he wears the soldier pilot gear. prisoner outfit, fake instruction worker, holiday outfit. Fake instructor worker is hilarious. He's running... He's got a tiny plastic helmet, and then he's got a gold gold gym shirt.
00:50:36
Speaker
And then suspenders. He looks like a stripper. He looks like yeah ah cast a party city stripper outfit. Okay, so... He's got the running man yellow suit and he's got his commando. His discount commando.
00:50:53
Speaker
He has seven costume changes in this movie. Yeah, that's a lot. That's a lot for a movie about a running man. And also, it's unlike in the book where he has to keep changing the skies and and like it's a multi-day hunt.
00:51:10
Speaker
ah This is only like one night.
00:51:13
Speaker
The running man game show is like Killian says it he has three hours to get through the all four zones. All this was four hours? Or three hour hours? Yeah, apparently.
00:51:25
Speaker
it feels like the next day between the third act. I mean, don't they don't actually finish the I mean, they don't finish the entire game because they know they get they escape and meet the resistance and then they the network does the deep fake. Yeah.
00:51:41
Speaker
but i guess But yeah, like a normal Running Man show is like three hours, apparently. or or student or guess I guess quicker, depending on whenever contestants are killed.
00:51:56
Speaker
yeah There's a lot of costume changes for Arnold. Mm-hmm. Yeah, Amber, let's go back to her apartment. ah But we did mention that she was working out, gets kidnapped, gets forced onto a vacation. She's working out in, like, lingerie.
00:52:11
Speaker
That's your workout gear? i mean, the future? Who knows? Who knows what it was in 2017 fashion? Maybe. you think about, like, eds workout gear, it was sort of impractical.
00:52:22
Speaker
There was a little bit of, like, um like everything was just, like, Or fashion more than form. Like, you know, like, functionality. Like, you just sweat and basically leotards.
00:52:34
Speaker
I'm fine with that. That's not what I'm eating. um It's just not like, all that sweat would just stick to you. Because it's not like performance wicking or like any of the modern day fabrics. Like, that shit was polyester and cotton.
00:52:49
Speaker
And guess what? Absorb most of the moisture. All of that.
00:52:54
Speaker
So maybe the next step in home workout clothing was just lingerie. why Why even bother making it wicking if you're just kind like, you're wearing basically a nightie and you're doing like crunches.
00:53:08
Speaker
I do love when like Arnold ties through like the exercise equipment. The bow flex. The bow flex and it like lifts it It's like bolted to the floor and he lifts it off the floor like rips the bolts out. it's I don't think like,
00:53:21
Speaker
Well, I'm pretty sure like it's to show him that he's got superhuman strength, which I get. yeah um But yeah, I think that's just a shitty like home equipment gym setup that she installed herself.
00:53:33
Speaker
I wonder if Arnold's brother left that at the apartment she just kept there. It's like, oh, okay, I'll keep this. That was the brother's workout equipment. Because the brother gets... She tells Arnold that that his brother got sent away for like re-education.
00:53:46
Speaker
And then she got then she took over the apartment like a month ago or something. the you I like how Arnold is totally like, okay, that sucks. and Never mention again. No urgency to find his brother. no Doesn't even tell the underground like what's up. does No demands to get his brother back. Just sort of, okay.
00:54:05
Speaker
they should have done it. They should have had Lou Ferrigno be his brother. Just show up. It's like, my brother! i don't know, man. like I don't think they're like friends anymore.
00:54:17
Speaker
Yeah. It would have been ah it would and weird if his brother was basically like like Danny DeVito. Oh my god, that's where it starts. Yeah, just completely different.
00:54:31
Speaker
Yeah, because I think this is before any other team-ups, right? Or like when the Twins come out. The next year. so that yeah Really? nice Yeah, So yeah, this is the year before we started getting like the Arnold-Danny team-ups.
00:54:47
Speaker
The late 80s and early 90s is like a confusing time for me. because it's like I always think Total Recall an 80s movie, but it's a 90s movie. Yeah. ah yeah I'm thinking like it it would have been funny to see a ah relative of Arnold's. Almost in all the movies, we never see Arnold's brother. in anything Yeah, he never has, like, siblings or anything. Most of these days, he has children.
00:55:19
Speaker
Yep. But we never see a relative. Mm-hmm. I think one of my first memories of Arnold as, like, a dad was Jingle All The Way. Oh, no. Sorry. Commando? See his kid.
00:55:31
Speaker
No wife. Mm-hmm.
00:55:37
Speaker
What's that zombie movie that he was in? Maggie, I think? Maggie, yeah. Child. No relative. Yeah, a wife too.
00:55:49
Speaker
Yeah, he's either a full family man or a single dad. Even single dad, just like no family single dad. They all left me because I was too focused on my job or something else. I didn't get them the detention they needed.
00:56:10
Speaker
Or like, they were already kidnapped in previous movies.
00:56:17
Speaker
All my former foes kidnapped them.
00:56:22
Speaker
Actually, that'd be fun to see a Commando prequel where it's like, what happened to his wife? A different movie.
00:56:32
Speaker
Yeah, we're getting that Rainbow prequel. maybell Maybe do like ah some sort of Arnold movie prequel. Yeah.
00:56:40
Speaker
yeah John Matrix. Actually, that's not a bad idea. And then it sort of shows the how his, how, like, that squad he was part of. Yeah, you see, ah like, just cast all, like, like just get a crazy cast of, like, like ah yeah, like... Expendables, basically.
00:56:57
Speaker
But, like, they're the Commandos, and then... my god, haven't got a title. It's called The Command.
00:57:06
Speaker
Commandos. Because it's a sequel. No, no, we want the prequel.
00:57:14
Speaker
It's the command, and the commando, and then commandos. There you go i made a trilogy. I made the the Matrix trilogy. Yeah, I call it John Matrix just to like match like the Rambo thing.
00:57:27
Speaker
Yeah, but like... I call it the character name. Well, I thought the character name comes with the sequel.
00:57:34
Speaker
Well, Rambo did Rambo, and now now now they're going back to... John Rambo? John Rambo is the prequel movie. So weird. But anyway, back to the running man. Yeah.
Plot Revelations and Technology
00:57:44
Speaker
back to so So Amber gets thrown into arena because she digs through like the ah the files and finds the unedited Bakersfield footage.
00:57:55
Speaker
But then she gets caught looking at it. And so they throw it into the arena to get rid of her. But she but shes somehow kept it. She kept the unedited footage and hid it somewhere.
00:58:07
Speaker
and then pulls it out later. Yeah, that's a convenient plot twist. They're like, where'd you put it? She's like, I got my ways. And they're like, oh, that was in her butt.
00:58:17
Speaker
Somewhere, yeah. Or she swallowed it. You know, for like a music composer, she is just crafty.
00:58:26
Speaker
Or she's done this before.
00:58:31
Speaker
She she kind of takes immediately to like being like a commando. ah She's like, she dresses up like the commando, she's like, I got a machine gun now, I'm ready to go.
00:58:42
Speaker
all so Let's not dwell so much on her, because let's we gotta get to the point where we talk about, like, sort of how the stalkers are ramping up, and then they keep bringing in, like, older stalkers to come fight.
00:58:58
Speaker
Well, yeah, Killian's solution to stopping Richard's... When negotiating with him to turn him into a stalker doesn't work, is just send more stalkers after him.
00:59:10
Speaker
Yeah, like they after Sub-Zero, then they send in Buzzsaw and it Dynamo. dynamo And then when that fails, they send in fireba Fireball. Fireball. Who doesn't kill anyone. like By the time Fireball shows up, it's just Richard and Amber left.
00:59:26
Speaker
Yeah, because because yeah Dynamo killed Weiss when he was hacking so he was hacking the network signal and he got the code they need they need to overtake the network signal. But then he gets electrocuted by Dynamo.
00:59:39
Speaker
And then Loughlin gets sliced by Buzzsaw and dies. He gets fatally wounded. But then, like, alright, let's send another guy. i guess he was the better stalker. Like, they they keep going up.
00:59:55
Speaker
He's the leading rusher. He's Jim Brown. like how Jim Brown's awesome future hairdo. Yes, his weight streaks. Yep. Also, and is his jetpack where you like he flies away from the studio, which I i guess that means like the arena is somewhere away from the studio.
01:00:15
Speaker
like there's all It's all like zip lines. The jetpack is only for like show. and It doesn't really go anywhere. like yeah You have to keep reharnessing. which It's funny to think that in this era they mastered jetpacks, but by today's standards, jetpacks are the worst. Do not use jetpacks in real combat.
01:00:39
Speaker
Yeah, because it's it's it's it's all it's, like, extremely vulnerable. You just rip you riff one tube off, and then you're, like, covered in gasoline. But it's, like, is his jetpack also, like, the fuel also his flamethrower fuel?
01:00:52
Speaker
for it's got Yeah, it must be, like, a gas tank for both his flamethrower and his jetpack. Yeah, so it's a jet fuel, and then flamethrower jet fuel. Mm-hmm.
01:01:05
Speaker
Okay, so let's talk about the one part where Amber stumbles into that locker room? Locker room? Yeah. That's part of the studio, or no?
01:01:17
Speaker
I mean, it's in the arena, but then it seems like, is that where they... Was that used for something before? it just happens to be an old, like, abandoned locker room? But then they just left the corpses there, so they were like, yeah, no one's ever gonna make it here. What?
01:01:34
Speaker
Yeah, the the corpses of all the previous quote-unquote winners of the Running Man that they they say went to, like, they're on, like, a tropical vacation, but they actually murdered them. And then, i guess, like, they're filming this, right? So, like, the audience sees the bodies.
01:01:54
Speaker
Because they have footage of Fireball blowing up. So, aren't they... Yeah, that's...
01:02:01
Speaker
I mean, i guess as long as they don't say they don't say, oh look, it's whatever their names are. like They probably just think it's like old contestants. They just their corpses in the middle of the arena. Yeah, but wouldn't there be super fans that be like, hey, wait a minute.
01:02:19
Speaker
I recognize that jumpsuit. Yeah, like, this the most best-selling show. It's like, you name a best-selling show where, like, you just see a new scene. Wouldn't like, hey, what's up with that?
01:02:29
Speaker
Or, like, you know, one of the dating, like, reality TV show people, and you're like, oh, that's weird. Like, you know, they they're diehard viewers that would definitely spot that.
01:02:42
Speaker
But, yeah, like I don't exactlyt know why the network couldn't afford a cleanup crew. yeah Yeah, take them, like and like, incinerate them, or, like, cremate them, or something. Just leave them, like, lying around.
01:02:53
Speaker
Or just take the jumpsuit. Like, take off the jumpsuit. It has, like, their names on it, too. Yep, mm-hmm.
01:03:03
Speaker
They're hubris. they the yeah no No one's ever going to... Even if they get there, they'll be dead anyway, so it doesn't matter.
01:03:12
Speaker
So, yeah. After Fireball blows up, because... Which which which Arnold actually has... like I think he has a good on-air one-liner where he says, like, gotta light, and he throws a flare at him.
01:03:25
Speaker
I mean, there's that contestant that bet like $200, so earned 200 times a hundred, like 200 to 101 odds. Like, he earned a good amount of money that.
01:03:37
Speaker
Oh yeah, that's the thing that's happening too, is like people are starting to like root for Richards. that's ah That's also like, you know, digging into Killian, because like, you're not supposed to root for the runner.
01:03:49
Speaker
then it's like, you know, it's like it's like encouraging the people outside too, of like, look, he's going, yeah, Richards!
01:03:56
Speaker
So he's becoming like a symbol of the Resistance. Well, yeah, that one dude made 20 grand on that one.
01:04:06
Speaker
But yeah, they but they find the Resistance base, they get the they got the codes, and they can take over the network signal, and so then they had like they lead like an assault on the studio.
01:04:19
Speaker
But oh we also we also would see like the... the network's trying to spin it, spin them escaping by deep faking Jesse Ventura killing them both.
01:04:31
Speaker
In like a, like final showdown wrestling a ring, like hardcore wrestling match. That again, people would recognize the footage and be like, wait a minute. Unless you can't like rewatch any of this footage.
01:04:46
Speaker
Well, they pay like, they're like Jesse Ventura has killed some random dude. Like, oh i guess, I guess two random people. Because they superimpose, like, Richards and Amber's faces onto, like, those other two people.
01:05:00
Speaker
Like, it was lucky that Justin Ventura bought a woman and a man that had to pay proportions. Yeah, luckily they found another person like with, like, Arnold's exact, like, body features.
01:05:15
Speaker
Who almost like almost like takes out Jesse Ventura. He's the shit beat out of him. He just like made barely manages to like kill him. Which I feel like a lot of fans be like, I remember that fight. And it played exactly the way it was.
01:05:32
Speaker
Oh, was that an old fight? I thought it kind of like... That was live. It was just like... they like that was like live like it was just like
01:05:41
Speaker
No, that was the old fight. oh Okay, okay. It just put Ben Richard's face over it Okay. Because it it's it's it's it's it's like it's all the exact same moves and everything. It's like all it's just like...
01:05:56
Speaker
i feel like that yeah like that old lady, like Edith, who's like the superfan, would be like, Hey, that was from like three years ago. i remember that Spike death. Give me back my money. youre You're a great big phony, Killian.
01:06:17
Speaker
But the ah the studio the the studio cell basically turns is like it just sort like a standard Arnold movie where it's just like like him just like going in and blasting everybody. like It's just like, now it's just like a normal Arnold movie.
01:06:30
Speaker
Yeah, it just turned into a basic, like, alright. He's like a combat vest. He's just going around, like, one-handed blasting people. yeah I'm not a... Like, it's different, because it's not like he and all went in with, like, you know, a pipe to raid the station.
01:06:45
Speaker
It's not like he improvised weaponry. He literally just became a generic, like, raiding team full of child soldiers. Mm-hmm.
01:06:58
Speaker
And, yeah, so they take they take over the signal, they broadcast the real Bakersfield footage so everyone knows that, like, the government and the network was lying to them. And then Richards puts Killian into the the rocket sled and sends him down the tube and then, like we mentioned before, there's no net.
01:07:17
Speaker
So he flies... so like He just sort of turns on the rocket sled, and this is where, like, I didn't know if Arnold tampered with it, so it goes super fast, or if it's, like, functioning or something. there's like a shot There's, like, a shot of, like, a gauge, don't know if like, maybe, like, Arnold turned it, if you could turn it up, and he turned it up to like, the maximum or something.
01:07:37
Speaker
Yeah, I did see that, it's just not explained. I was just, like, is that how you start it? Is that how you... it's like propane gas like you need to like ease in how much gas you put in don't just crank it to like full
01:07:54
Speaker
turndo yeah yeah I thought like doesn't it feel like the cart's gonna explode down the tube first it seems like it it seems yeah it seems like it's going like faster than even Arnold was going down when he went down and I thought the rocket was going to explode while traveling, and I'm like, there's a bunch of safety flaws.
01:08:13
Speaker
that's that that That seems like a not ah really efficient way of like getting people into the arena. They could accidentally be killed, so then your viewership drops. It's like, well... He didn't make it. he didn't make it. Alright, okay. and Send another one.
01:08:30
Speaker
Or if it gets like... It gets like... Debris like trapped in the tube. have like clear the tube out. It's like... Alright folks. Got a little bit of delay. gotta clear the tube out. right Hang with us.
01:08:42
Speaker
People don't have any patience. Look how fast they turn on the bedding pool.
01:08:47
Speaker
Which... The bedding... area guys are like great they are my favorite characters they're just like i don't understand how betting metrics work in that kind of underground betting where you shout and people is just take your money like he's is he gonna remember that you put the bet in his mob of people and their their board was like it was like who first stalker first blood like you're betting on different events i guess they're happening in running man Like, if you pick if you pick the the first stalker correctly, you get money or something?
01:09:20
Speaker
Yep. I mean, say it what you will about sports betting, but at least you kind of know where your bets are going. This is just like, alright, I'm gonna give this money to this guy who definitely is gonna forget i gave him the money.
01:09:34
Speaker
Two guys with, like, a giant chalkboard.
01:09:40
Speaker
And that's it's it's how I feel like yeah most of the people are betting on the running man. Like, do they even get a receipt for your bet? You know, it's like, you take your bet, and it's like, alright, well, here's your bet, here's the odds, blah, blah, blah. Like, they do that on sports betting things.
01:09:52
Speaker
They just don't do that in, like... I always see that movies where like they're just making bets and guys just collecting all the money. like What's your betting system? How do you know? Like an underground fight or something, or a street fight, like people are betting on the fights and it's like walking around getting all the money.
01:10:11
Speaker
I mean, it makes sense where, like, basically there's a whole bunch of people working a section so that you only focus on one section. If not, you're just shouting the crowd. Like, it was chaos in, like, the stock market.
01:10:22
Speaker
That was just a thing. You just screamed. And then, like, people would take down your notes. And then you had to give, like, a confirmation. You had write down. And you had to, like, figure out who that stock ticker was, the person.
01:10:33
Speaker
And then be like, all right, on that person. Then they ran notes. like It was a whole bunch of like people handing notes to each other. and then like There the whole goddamn circuit. And that was chaos.
01:10:46
Speaker
Imagine like back then if you would probably make a call to bid on a stock to place a order. It's like, alright, well I gotta hope that that person sends another person to then yell at another person downstairs in the stock exchange.
01:10:58
Speaker
Is it even like is even money anymore in the Running Man universe? The economy collapsed. like but What are they paying? see it's it's like it's like It's like food tickets or something. or some it's not It's not like money.
01:11:10
Speaker
no but they bet $200. He said $200.
01:11:14
Speaker
If he said $200 food credits, that would be one thing, but it's the yeah the US dollar still works because they are using credits or at least dollars in the betting pool. Maybe, yeah.
01:11:26
Speaker
But yeah, it the That whole betting pool community turns on the running man the end. They were just like, yay! like The host died. Oh yeah, everyone's psyched. Even like even like the like ah like rich people like watching it from like the penthouse were like, yeah! Killian's dead!
01:11:42
Speaker
Woo! yeah Your whole ah economy was on the running man, so what are you cheering for, dum-dums?
01:11:49
Speaker
and like And I guess Mick and his team like shut they completely shut down the network so it's no more broadcast ever. or I guess maybe they'll broadcast their stuff or something. But it's just like, it just it just ends with like, please stand by on the screens.
01:12:02
Speaker
So, it's it's it's shut down.
01:12:07
Speaker
But it's only but's only this one city, too, right? It's not the entire like like nationwide network. i think is Isn't it just like that one city?
01:12:16
Speaker
and don't know. The cities, like, if it's all the shots, ah <unk>s it's crazy to think about...
01:12:27
Speaker
that this one metropolitan has so much like rich and poor territories. ah also Also, no one apparently has TVs anymore. They just watch the giant TVs, like public TVs. Because it's like, you you see like all like ah all over the movie, there's like just like giant TVs out public. That's where all the betting people are watching it from.
01:12:54
Speaker
guess rich people are just like watching it like from like on screen I guess. Maybe they have TV still but yeah the poor people only have like ah public like the public square TV. Yeah I guess there's no TV at home so you have to like go down and watch TV with like your local community.
01:13:16
Speaker
In the shantytown.
Film Ending and Broader Themes
01:13:22
Speaker
and then we And then we get, like as as like you know as as they blew up quick Killian and like they cut the signal, we get the dulcet tones of John Parr starting with the movie's, like, any credits theme, Restless Hearts.
01:13:35
Speaker
Man. What a song. It's like, just because I think they they add the word running away with you in that song, and it just ties into Running Man, but Restless Hearts is not a, it's a love ballad, but like, Running Man's not a love story.
01:13:52
Speaker
No, it's it's extremely shoehorned in at the end.
01:13:59
Speaker
um But yeah, I do appreciate that there's there's quite a few like ah like references in the lyrics. like I think there's like because like there's a soda in the movie called like Cadre Cola that's it's apparently like the like the like you know the main soda of this universe.
01:14:13
Speaker
And I think it's like, it's like, it's like, but like, um slogan is like, it hits the spot. So I think one of the lyrics in rest of his heart is like, you hit the right spot.
01:14:24
Speaker
Oh my god. Joe. Is it John or Joe Per? john par John Parr. John Parr? Yep. It's funny to think that back then they were just like, alright, well here's what's going on the movies. Alright, I'll be back in a month.
01:14:37
Speaker
I'll write a song. running It's like, oh, running Running Man? Running? Okay. I got i got it.
01:14:49
Speaker
and you know not not Not quite as big as St. Elmo's Fire.
01:14:56
Speaker
Which was like his you know obviously is his biggest hit. What's also funny in that song is that music video. In St. Elmo's Fire, it takes place in the same universe because he meets the like but St. Elmo's Fire like people in his music video. ye mayor the running And the Running Man, he's just watching the Running Man.
01:15:16
Speaker
like ah like ah Like the movie on a screen, yeah. He's watching it on a big projector, just like a fake version of it in the movie. Mm-hmm. So it's like, I guess they couldn't get Arnold to be in it officially to like walk around and shake his hand or something. Because he does that with the same sound St. Elmo's Fire people. Like he meets the so like characters and they're in their outfits from it or something like that.
01:15:40
Speaker
Those are always the best. Those are the best ah movie, like soundtrack bo videos where it's like they interact with the actual cast. Yeah, and it's like like, you can't tell if it's part of the lore or not anymore.
01:15:52
Speaker
Like Freddie Mercury, like, meeting, like, Christopher Lambert. for like, uh... Highlander? Yeah, I can't remember what song it was from Highlander, though.
01:16:06
Speaker
But it's it's it's, like, the music video, it's and it's, like, they, like, have, like, a two-second, like, sword fight, but Freddie's, like, using, like, his, like, mic stand.
01:16:17
Speaker
It's, like, a sword. I gotta watch that one again. I kind of forget that, like, that happened.
01:16:29
Speaker
Princess of the Universe. That's the music video.
01:16:38
Speaker
But yeah, Restless Heart, that yeah it's it's it's a solid, like, you know, A's action movie, like, and credits power ballad. It's it's ah definitely a love ballad. Power ballads and love ballads are very close.
01:16:50
Speaker
I've never heard one where it's like a power ballot that didn't involve the singers either the singer or singers trying to proclaim their love to something.
01:17:07
Speaker
Yeah. You name a power ballot that like it's just like cool times? No, that's not really a power ballot. A power ballot is yeah, it's always about like yeah the power of your love. Yeah.
01:17:20
Speaker
Which, again, Arnold sort of just happens to fall in love with Amber. That's her choice, really. He just sort of goes, hey, I just got out of prison. Yeah. yeah
01:17:34
Speaker
He went to all-males prison camp. Like a work camp. It's it's that yeah it extreme circumstances. i mean, he threatened to break her neck like a chicken neck. Remember? He's like, I will break you.
01:17:48
Speaker
Come on. And we can't tell if he meant that or not.
01:17:54
Speaker
It should end with him let me like, hey, why don't we go back to your apartment and I can tie you back up to your bowflex.
01:18:05
Speaker
Or like, let's let's go let's go to Hawaii for real. Yeah, just like, you still got that travel pass? Just because he destroyed that show doesn't mean he's not a fugitive from like the government.
01:18:18
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's kind of it's like's it's an upbeat ending, but when you think about it's just like, oh, the government's going to crack down even harder probably now. They're going be like... They're going be like... They're going to like the full force of the art, like whatever military they have, guess like Los Angeles or wherever this is. Yeah.
01:18:34
Speaker
They're going to stop the betting economy. They're going to stop more helicopters. Like, Richard Dawson didn't, like, Killian didn't control the government. He was just trying to, like, move up in it, but he didn't have, like, he didn't, he didn't design the massacre, like, the butcher whatever it was.
01:18:57
Speaker
No, yeah, that was, yeah, he he was just a mouthpiece for, like, the government. like So, like, they took down, like, the network, but, yeah, the government, this evil dystopian government's still functioning.
01:19:10
Speaker
that's all I wonder, like, That's why there's no, like, okay, let's learn more about this world. The book ends that way, too, where it's like, hey, that that only solved, like, one of the many things. It didn't bring closure to anything else, but whatever.
01:19:26
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, it's like, you you destroyed this, it's like, it's like if you, like, you destroyed, like, one network affiliate, like, one local affiliate. Yeah. It's like, what ah yo your're local you blew up like your local like ABC network. We did it. There's like a lot of stations.
01:19:44
Speaker
What? cable. It's like network TV.
01:19:49
Speaker
Network's in the name.
01:19:52
Speaker
It's not like they took out, like I guess, the
01:20:00
Speaker
country's broadcasting hub, like a satellite or something. I mean, they hijacked the radio waves, but... Yeah, they hijacked the network satellite, but it's like... I'm not sure if that was nationwide. They took out entire nation's propaganda, or if it was just for this one sector or this one city or whatever.
01:20:28
Speaker
You know how like when they blow up the Death Star, everyone across the galaxy celebrate it? Mm-hmm. Even the Ewoks and people on Coruscant. Yep.
01:20:39
Speaker
That was like a galactic thing. that That was like everyone was on the same network. ah This was just the television network that I think only broadcast is in America. yeah Yeah, it was like a global...
01:20:53
Speaker
like The entire world is also like still completely screwed.
Film Comparison and Future Content
01:20:56
Speaker
There's resource scarcity. The economy is like destroyed. I'm sure i'm sure like other countries besides the US are like really screwed up.
01:21:06
Speaker
Or they're just like, wow, that's the American version of Running Man. We still have Running Man in other countries. It's like The Office.
01:21:18
Speaker
But okay. ah We talked a lot about it. This movie, again, it's favorite. Yeah, it's it's it's great. I mean, i don't i don't know if I would like rank it. like It's definitely not my favorite Arnold movie, but it's top tier. It's like middle top tier.
01:21:36
Speaker
middle-op chair Yeah, it's like to get to know Arnold's body of work, you need to see Running Man just because he's got like a little bit of his previous like one-liners, I'll Be Back, and Commander references.
01:21:50
Speaker
And then also just like the other just like bizarre one-liners that kind of don't make sense. And then, you know, it's got it's got a fun message. It almost does feel like a Paul Verhoeven movie, but it's not.
01:22:04
Speaker
Well, I mean, it doesnt like it's crazy that it's coming up the same year as RoboCop. I mean, it makes sense that they teamed up later for Total Recall. I feel like you definitely need to see this then Total Recall, and it makes sense.
01:22:17
Speaker
yeah funny It's funny, it's like, there's a better Arnold movie the same year with Predator. There's a better like dystopian satire with Robocop, but still very super fun, ridiculous.
01:22:27
Speaker
Well, no, no. If you think about it, Total Recall also has that dystopian future government oversight. Yeah. trying to hold people from marian Martians from breathing air. um I'm just saying for, like, 1987. Oh, yeah.
01:22:40
Speaker
ah like Like, both both both the movies that are, like, you know, it kind of like, is in conversation with are both better than it, but it's still, like, ridiculously fun. And then hugely influential, like, you know, you get, like, stuff like Smash TV was, like, influenced by this and various other games and other other kind of like dystopian future sports things.
01:23:03
Speaker
Did you see Boy Kill's World?
01:23:07
Speaker
Not yet, no. Definitely go see that. Because that is basically the Running Man before they made the new Running Man. But there's like a gimmick they threw into Boy Kill's World.
01:23:21
Speaker
I highly recommend it. I enjoyed it. it It's also like it's like ah some sort of like weird competition or something that they go to? That's why I was like, It's closer to Running Man before the remake.
01:23:36
Speaker
There's also the most dangerous game. like i think Especially like the ah the Quibi one. It's like very you're like Running Man. Couldn't tell you.
01:23:47
Speaker
Didn't see it. don't know where you can even see that show now. I think it's just gone. like Roku bought all of Quibi's stuff, I don't even think they have that anymore.
01:23:58
Speaker
And Christoph Waltz in it.
01:24:04
Speaker
But anyway, yeah, so Running Man is great. um Definitely, if you haven't seen it in a while, check it out, especially because the new one's out. And I'm sure um' definitely going to try check out the new one because I'm huge AnchorWrite fan. So definitely, whatever he does, I'm there.
01:24:20
Speaker
So hopefully the new one will be fun. And come back next week. I think we're going to stay in kind of like like a dystopian future, becausere but a different way of solving the world's problems, which where we're diving into robot jocks.
01:24:36
Speaker
um Which I think was... Was that also 1987? No. It might have been. looks older. 89. So a couple years afterwards, but... What? That's like definitely lower budget.
01:24:48
Speaker
Oh, yeah. it I mean, it was it was like full moon, and so... They were working a shoestring budget, but ah yeah, we're we're we'll dive into all the all the crazy politics and solving the world's conflicts with giant mech fighting next week.
01:25:06
Speaker
And the site, we've all of our users up there. We've got news, reviews, trailers, all kinds of stuff over on everythingaction.com. Head over check all that stuff out. And yes, for Chris, I'm Zach, and we will see you next week.
01:25:17
Speaker
For more For Everything Action, head to www.everythingaction.com. You can also find us on Facebook at facebook.com slash everything.action and follow us on X at Evie Action.
01:25:30
Speaker
We're also on Instagram and threads at everything.action. Find more episode of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your at podcast app of choice and be sure to rate and subscribe.