Lamar Reviews - The Running Man (Airdate 11/21/2025)

 

When you decide to remake a movie that is 38
years old you are spinning the roulette wheel.
When the star of the 38 year old movie is Arnold
Schwarzenegger your chances of winning are not
good. He could do no wrong in the 80’s when he
did the original running man. The movie is based
on a story written by Stephen King. Arnold had
them rewrite the screenplay to make it more action
oriented than the novel. The only thing the book
and the 1987 movie have in common is the title
and it follows the violent reality game, in the
looses way possible.
The 2025 Running Man stays a lot closer to the
novel except the ending. But don’t worry, the
violence and blood are still there. It shows a stark
dystopian America where the only thing people do
is watch TV. Media controls everything and it is
run by Dan Killian, played by Josh Brolin. Ratings
are everything, and he doesn’t care how many
people have to die on his game show to keep
them high.

His biggest hit is a gladiatorial game show called
The Running Man. Three contestants try to
survive for 30 days; the winner gets a $million.
They are hunted 24 hours a day by a group of 5
hunters. Citizens can get paid by calling in tips
when they spot them. There is nowhere to hide.
Ben Richards, played by Glen Powell, has a wife
and a sick child and no money to get medicine for
their child. He lost his job, and has a really bad
temper, and the Running Man is his last chance to
help his family.
This movie is a little long, 2 hours and 13 minutes,
Rated-R for strong violence, some gore, and
language.
I mentioned length, the 1987 original was 1 hour
41 minutes, which I think would have helped. Also,
the 1987 one was cheesy and a whole lot of fun!
This one not as cheesy, but also not as fun. It was
a little too serious. When the original story was
written it was set way in the future in the year
2025. In 1987 nobody could ever dream that
media would be as powerful as it is now. It’s been

this way for a while so not as riveting as it was 38
years ago.
Josh Brolin makes a decent maniacal villain, and
Colman Domingo as show host Bobby T, both
have their moments, nothing as memorable as
Richard Dawson in the original.
The most exciting and fun part of the movie is
when Michael Cera shows up, I could have used
more of him.
As I mentioned the movie was a little long, and
even though Glen Powell does a great job, this
2025 Running Man is not as much fun as the
original.
The good news is there is a huge segment of the
population that did not see the1987
Schwarzenegger Running Man, so they have
nothing to compare this newer one with.
By no means am I saying I did not enjoy this
movie, I did. I just prefer the original.
My Score: 4 Budweisers