Arnold Schwarzenegger in a yellow jumpsuit, a murderous game show, and more terrible puns than should be legal – this week we’re diving into The Running Man (1987).
Set in the far-flung future of… 2017, the film drops Arnie into a fascist police state where the government keeps the masses quiet with a wildly popular TV bloodsport. Framed as the “Butcher of Bakersfield,” helicopter pilot Ben Richards is forced onto The Running Man, a gladiatorial game show hosted by the gloriously slimy Damon Killian. Contestants are hunted by cartoonishly lethal “Stalkers” – Subzero, Buzzsaw, Dynamo, Fireball and Captain Freedom – while the state-run network lies, edits, and fakes everything to keep the ratings high.
We break down:
- The dystopia that arrived on time: State propaganda, rigged media, and how close this feels to modern reality TV and news spin.
- Arnie at full one-liner power: From exploding collars to chainsaw crotch kills, we go through the kills, the quips, and which puns are genuinely elite and which are plain zero.
- The Stalkers as 80s boss fights: Subzero’s razor-wire demise, Buzzsaw’s split decision, Dynamo’s opera-singing sex pest energy, and Fireball’s jet-pack nonsense.
- Killian and the cult of TV personalities: Why Richard Dawson nails the smarmy game-show host, and how the film weaponises studio audiences and phone-in contests.
- From Stephen King to Saturday-night carnage: How this loose adaptation trashes the bleak Richard Bachman novel, leans into gaudy satire, and still manages to feel weirdly ahead of its time with doctored footage and media manipulation.
If you grew up on 80s action, misremember this as a Verhoeven movie, or just want to hear three dads argue over whether this is genius satire or glorious trash, this one’s for you.
Hit play to hear us revisit exploding neck collars, terrible future fashion, and why, for all its flaws, The Running Man is still an easy strong recommend.
We love to hear from our listeners! By which I mean we tolerate it. If it hasn't been completely destroyed yet you can usually find us on twitter @dads_film, on Facebook Bad Dads Film Review, on email at baddadsjsy@gmail.com or on our website baddadsfilm.com.
Until next time, we remain...
Bad Dads
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