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 | Massacre | Framed

Awards:

1 win & 2 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 Hiton (as Roger Bumpass)
Donna Hardy	...	Mrs. McArdle
Lynne Marie Stewart	...	Edith Wiggins
Bill Margolin	...	Leon
Tony Brubaker	...	Soldier #1 (as Anthony Brubaker)
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 Brennan	...	Dancer
Paula Brown	...	Dancer
Megan Gallivan	...	Dancer
Suzie Hardy	...	Dancer
Debby Harris	...	Dancer
Melissa Hurley	...	Dancer
Marlene Lange	...	Dancer
Morgan Lawley	...	Dancer
Cindy Millican	...	Dancer
Andrea Moen	...	Dancer
Mary Ann Hermansen	...	Dancer
Karen Owens	...	Dancer
Sharon Owens	...	Dancer
Pamela Rossi	...	Dancer
Mia Togo	...	Dancer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Maureen Flaherty	...	(uncredited)
Jeff Jensen	...	(uncredited)
Joel Kramer	...	Soldier #2 (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)

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
Richard Bryce Goodman	....	production sound mixer
Gary A. Hecker	....	foley artist
Timothy A. Hoggatt	....	adr mixer
Spike Allison Hooper	....	assistant sound editor
Alan Howarth	....	sound processing
Jack Keller	....	sound recordist
David Kern	....	sound editor
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
Rod Rogers	....	assistant adr editor
Larry Singer	....	supervising adr editor
Stephanie D. Singer	....	assistant sound editor
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)

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
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
Bruce Paul Barbour	....	stunt driver
Bruce Paul Barbour	....	stunt performer
Tony Brubaker	....	stunts: Fireball (as Anthony Brubaker)
Al Cleland	....	stunt double: Subzero
Erik Cord	....	stunt double: Killian
Bennie E. Dobbins	....	stunt coordinator
Jeff Jensen	....	stunts: Buzzsaw/Dynamo
Joel Kramer	....	stunts: Ben Richards
Shawn Lane	....	stunt double: Marvin J. Mcintyre
Shawn Lane	....	stunt double: Weiss (as Shawn Patrick Lane)
Debra Mazotti	....	stunt performer
Robert Mazotti	....	stunt performer
Karen Price	....	stunt double: Amber
Mel Scott-Thomas	....	stunts: Laughlin (as Mel Scott Thomas)
Kenny Bates	....	stunts (uncredited)
Phil Chong	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tom Elliott	....	stunts (uncredited)
Peter Kent	....	stunt double: Arnold Schwarzenegger (uncredited)
Paul M. Lane	....	utility stunts (uncredited)
Lane Leavitt	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gene LeBell	....	stunts (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)
Gary Tandrow	....	gaffer
Dave Turpin	....	best boy grip
Reynaldo Villalobos	....	director of photography: additional photography
Kenneth D. Zunder	....	camera operator (as Kenneth Zunder)

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
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)
• J&M Entertainment
• Keith Barish Productions
• TAFT Entertainment Pictures

Distributors

• TriStar Pictures (1987) (USA) (theatrical)
• Image Entertainment (1988) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Vestron Video (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Live Home Video (1994) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1990) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Live Home Video (1997) (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Artisan Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Finnkino (1989) (Finland) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (USA) (laserdisc)
• Alliance Atlantis Home Video (2004) (Canada) (DVD)
• Artisan Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Astro Distribution (1997) (Germany) (video) (laserdisc)
• Atlantic Film (2004) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Flashback Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Flashstar Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Future Film (2000) (Finland) (DVD)
• IDA films (2009) (Spain) (video)
• Nelonen (2004) (2005) (Finland) (TV)
• Oy Europa Vision AB (1990) (Finland) (VHS)
• RCV Home Entertainment (2000) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• RCV Home Entertainment (2002) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• TV3 (1991) (Finland) (TV)

Special Effects

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

Other Companies

• Atmosphere Agency, The  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

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:

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) | Australia:R | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Ireland:18 | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R (f) | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Paramount, California, USA

Company:

Braveworld Productions

Trivia:

The headquarters of the ICS television network is actually the Filmland Corporate Center, which was the home of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at the time of the film's making, 1987. A matte painting was used to represent the tower. Sony purchased MGM's old studio lot in 1992 and moved into the Filmand Building that same year. Ironically, they also purchased Tri-Star Pictures as well - the distributor of The Running Man (1987) in 1987. The building was renamed Sony Pictures Plaza.

Goofs:

Continuity: Flipped shot: When Ben is fighting Buzzsaw, the name on Ben's jumpsuit moves to the other side and is mirrored.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Phil Hiton: *The Running Man* has been brought to you by: Breakaway Paramilitary Uniforms, Ortopure Procreation Pill, and Cadre Cola; it hits the spot! Promotional considerations paid for by: Kelton Flame Throwers, Wainwright Electrical Launchers, and Hammond & Gage Chainsaws...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Numb3rs: The Running Man (#2.15)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Paula's Theme

My favorite Arnie movie

THE RUNNING MAN, along with TOTAL RECALL, is my favorite Schwarzenegger movie. No, this isn't 2001, but it's not meant to be. And the acting and script here isn't even up to par with other Arnie movies like PREDATOR or THE TERMINATOR. But I submit that the IDEA behind this movie is one of the coolest ever to hit the big screen. A state-sponsored game show in which criminals convicted of serious crimes compete against "heroic" stalkers armed with all kinds of weapons (the runners are equipped with none) in order to satisfy the public's lust for sport and blood. The ultimate prize for a winning runner: freedom. Or so the rules claim.

For a movie with such over-the-top gory death scenes and cheesy one-liners, it really does have a lot to say. Someone else has pointed out all the commentary on culture/government presented in this movie, so I won't go into it here. Suffice it to say that if you can look beyond the seemingly silly feel of the movie, you will enjoy it very much (especially if you're a big SF fan with a lot of imagination). Like I said, it's not trying to be a serious art film, but it IS surprisingly layered for a 80s shoot-em-up flick. The premise is borrowed from a Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King) short novel, but diverges fairly strongly from its source material, especially towards the end. (The book ends rather nihilistically; needless to say this movie doesn't.) I enjoyed both, but I like the movie better.

My favorite line: "Guess it's caused from steroids."