Product Description

Movie DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2466 in DVD
• Brand: Lions Gate
• Released on: 2004-03-16
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Full Screen, Original recording remastered, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 101 minutes

Amazon.com
In this action thriller based on an early story by Stephen King, Los Angeles in the year 2017 has become a police state in the wake of the global economy's total collapse. All forms of entertainment are government controlled, and the most popular show on television is an elaborate game show in which convicted criminals are given a chance to escape by running through a gauntlet of brutal killers known as "Stalkers." Anyone who survives is given their freedom and a condominium in Hawaii, so when a wrongly accused citizen (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is chosen as a contestant, all hell breaks loose. Cheesy sets and a slimy role for game-show host Richard Dawson make this violent mess of mayhem a candidate for guilty pleasure; it is the kind of movie that truly devoted Arnold fans will want to watch more than once. And check those credits--choreography by Paula Abdul! --Jeff Shannon

DVD features
Like many of the Governor's other DVD releases (Total Recall, Predator, and The Terminator 2: Judgment Day, to name a few) The Running Man has gone through various technical and bonus upgrades. Fans will not be disappointed with Lions Gate's latest, double-disc release of The Running Man (Special Edition). This is the first anamorphic (1.85:1) release and the first time the film has been presented in DTS 6.1 ES and Dolby Digital 5.1 EX. Without a doubt, this version is the best-looking and -sounding edition available. This is also the only edition to include a feature-length commentary; in this case, it's two. The first is with director Paul Michael Glaser and producer Tim Zinneman, the second with executive producer Rob Cohen. Both are geared more toward production than the themes and stories presented in the film, which is more or less appropriate considering The Running Man is first and foremost an action film that incorporates a few socio-political themes (reality TV, subjective media, and life in a high-security governmental state). Looking at the documentaries included in this set, however, you would think it was the other way around. Though well produced, the documentaries seem a little out of place. "Lockdown on Main Street" focuses on current post-9/11 issues with privacy and criminals. Though there is a common thread between the film and current events, using an '80s action film to discuss the controversial issue of privacy in a post-9/11 world comes across as a little tacky. The second documentary, "Game Theory," which focuses on reality TV and its cultural impact, is a little more on the mark and more relevant, but at times feels like a bit of a stretch. All in all, The Running Man (Special Edition) pretty much has got everything the Schwarzenegger and Richard Bachman (a.k.a. Stephen King) fan could want, other than an Arnold and King commentary. --Rob Bracco

Customer Reviews

Great remaster - pathetic extras
The newly-remastered picture is so much clearer and more vivid than the original release and the DTS soundtrack is an awesome addition. After having heard it, I would've bought it for the DTS, alone. Who knew that a 17-year-old movie could be remastered to DTS quality and 6.1 surround so well (including very targeted use of the rear channels).

The extras are another story, as many people have stated. The "Lockdown on Main Street" is a thoroughly one-sided political statement. If it should be anywhere, it should be on PBS, not on an action movie DVD. It feels like execs at Artisan were determined to put this documentary out there and picked "The Running Man" from their upcoming catalog as the best suitor.

The "Game Theory" documentary is just a piece in which creators and participants of reality TV shows pat themselves on the back for their popularity. Perhaps fans of reality TV would find it interesting, but I didn't.

In summary, the new remastering of the movie is "special," but nothing else on either of the discs is. As someone else said, buy it for the movie. The extras may make my stomach turn, but the movie is one of the best remastering jobs I've ever seen.

Well-Filmed Sci-Fi Adventure Movie!
In this wry and entertaining take on a world gone crazy, where corporate rulers routinely engage popular sport activities to distill public anger and frustration and to try to distract common people from civic unrest, we find perpetual everyman Arnold Schwarzenegger caught in the vise-grip of official lies when he escapes from maximum security prison only to be caught and selected as the latest "contestant" (read `intended victim' here) for the overwhelmingly popular television program called, appropriately enough, "Running Man". The point of the game is for the contestant to survive being hunted down by a sewerful of villains while trying to make his way through a nightmarish maze. The villains are a bit campy, ranging from an outrageously garbed electric man who dispatches virtual lightning bolts to fry his prey out of existence to a chainsaw freak who attempts to hack his victims to death while riding his motorcycle.

Yet the action sequences more than make up for the sometimes-silly dialogue. The supporting cast is composed of veterans like Richard Dawson as the venomous game-show host and producer, who manipulates every aspect of the game to reach the storyline he has laid out. There are also a lot of cameos here, from Mick Fleetwood as a revolutionary to Jessie "The Body" Ventura as a sports commentator to Jim Brown as one of the slayers. The special effects are well done, and the action sequences provide plenty of vicarious violence for the moviegoer. Of course, Arnie has a waft of throwaway one-liners, and we know we are in the hands of experience when he tells Dawson the "he'll be back". Dawson, of course, not knowing whom he is dealing with, blows off the threat.

But the moviegoer knows Arnie will be back, and that he will win the day. This is not an intellectually satisfying film, but it is a good, sold action adventure based on an early story of Steven King's that will keep you amused and entertained. It provided one of a series of sequential hits for Schwarzenegger, and helped to cement his reputation as a bankable superstar. Great stuff for wiling away a snowy winter day. Enjoy!

an above-average sc-fi adventure made possible by Arnold
(minus one star for the sound)I have seen this movie several times, mostly on television, and I have always found it to be a very exciting and watchable movie. Like other reviewers, my biggest problem with the movie is that it is the same scene over and over. But even so, when you throw in Arnold (i still cant spell his last name), you are guaranteed to taken for the ride of your life. while not an actor with much dramatic range, he still seems to be the only actor who can appear in a movie like this and make it seem like it was the role he was born to play. Dawson is terrific as the almost-likable villian Killian, and the girl in this goes perfectly with arnolds character. If you like action, blood, excitment, and more blood, then check this one out. It may not be the most intellegent movies to come out of the 80's, but it is one the most fun and exciting. Now, whay isn't there a dolby digital track on this disc? I thought the main point of owning dvds is the picture AND the sound. pro logic may cut on vhs, but not on dvd. I'm waiting to see if they'll rerelease it with dts or dd. good movie, cheap disc.