History YMMV / TheRunningMan

* CompleteMonster: [[SmarmyHost Damon Killian]], host of ''[[BloodSport The Running Man]]'' and head of the network in the dystopian future, runs a [[BreadAndCircuses TV network]] where [[ImmoralRealityShow shows are aired]] that feature innocent people climbing ropes for dollars while vicious dogs lurk below; most of them fall. The star attraction, though, is ''[[DeadlyGame The Running Man]]'', where supposed criminals are released into a labyrinth to be hunted down by the vicious Stalkers and murdered. Blackmailing hero Ben Richards into playing the game, Damon then forces his friends to play despite his promises otherwise, and when a young woman digs into Richards's past, Killian manufactures a criminal history for her and throws her into the game as well. Even winning the game is no guarantee of safety, as the winners are disposed of while Killian lies about their survival. Sociopathic and indifferent to human suffering, Killian defends himself by claiming that people just love television, and as a TV star, he is giving them the violence they crave, no matter how many lives are ruined or ended.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBgEDWpQkYY "Restless Heart"]] by John Parr, the song that plays over the end credits.

* NarmCharm: ''The Running Man'' has an inherent '80s action movie charm, [[InvokedTrope deliberately]] over-the-top villains in the Stalkers and of course Arnie. The latter also happens to be be armed with an entire arsenal of glorious one-liners. However the film does actually have more depth beyond the surface level thrills.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: The book mocks reality television show like ''Hard Copy'' that demonize people to make the audience hate them. (And keep in mind, this was written nearly 20 years before ''Series/{{Survivor}}'' and ''Series/BigBrother'' sparked a boom in just that type of reality game show.)

* EsotericHappyEnding: Ben Richards has to endure much but eventually emerges with a personal victory. Killian's ruse has been undone, his name cleared on national TV and he got the girl. However it will take far more than that to solve the economic and social problems still plaguing America. This is lampshaded in the closing moments as the watching masses rejoice at his win but one viewer simply turns to his colleague afterwards and asks "What else is on?"

* HilariousInHindsight: Richards' video camera and blank tapes together weigh about ''six pounds''. And fit into a coat pocket without a bulge.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: The book mocks reality television show like ''Hard Copy'' that demonize people to make the audience hate them. (And keep in mind, this was written nearly 20 years before ''Series/{{Survivor}}'' and ''Series/BigBrother'' sparked a boom in just that type of reality game show.)

** Killian's call to the "Entertainment Division" of the Justice Department before switching to the President's personal agent becomes both more hilarious and oddly prophetic considering there's a [[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump former reality show host elected president with an emphasis on PR]].

* DracoInLeatherPants: A rare in-universe example. Ben Richards is this from the perspective of the viewers of The Running Man show. He starts out being framed by the state media as a despicable mass-murderer. Overall public opinion of him gradually did a complete 180 as the movie goes on. The bloodsport-loving viewers began to perceive Richards as a likable badass villain after he unexpectedly killed two stalkers (Sub-Zero and Buzzsaw) and spared the incapacitated third (Dynamo) out of personal honor. This went so far that some began making unprecedented bets that he would make the next kill. After the rebels presented evidence on state media that Richards was framed, the public sees him as an actual hero and cheered when he publicly executed Killian.

* DracoInLeatherPants: A rare in-universe example. Ben Richards is this from the perspective of the viewers of The Running Man show. Overall public opinion of him gradually did a complete 180 as the movie goes on, where he started out being framed by the state media as a despicable mass-murdering criminal. The bloodsport-loving viewers began to perceive Richards as a likable badass villain after he unexpectedly killed two stalkers (Sub-Zero and Buzzsaw) and spared the incapacitated third (Dynamo) out of personal honor. This went so far that some began making unprecedented bets that he would make the next kill. After the rebels presented evidence on state media that Richards was framed, the public sees him as an actual hero and cheered when he publicly executed Killian.

* CatharsisFactor: More or less the entire time when Ben Richards was in the Running Man. Beyond all the expectations of the BigBad and the in-universe audience, he defeated four stalkers and killed three of them. Only topped in the finale when Richards finally caught the BigBad and executed him.

* DracoInLeatherPants: A rare in-universe example. Ben Richards is this from the perspective of the viewers of The Running Man show. Overall public opinion of him gradually did a complete 180 as the movie goes on, where he started out being framed by the state media as a despicable mass-murdering criminal. The bloodsport-loving viewers began to perceive Richards as a likable badass villain after he unexpectedly killed two stalkers (Sub-Zero and Buzzsaw) and spared the incapacitated third (Dynamo) out of personal honor. This went so far that some began making unprecedented bets that he would make the next kill. After the rebels presented evidence on state media that Richards was framed, the public sees him as an actual hero and cheered when Richards caught Killian and publicly executed him.

* DracoInLeatherPants: A rare in-universe example. Ben Richards is this from the perspective of the viewers of The Running Man show. He's painted as a remorseless mass murderer by the state media, and just as usual the audience were initially rooting for the stalkers to kill him. After Richards unexpectedly killed two stalkers (Sub-Zero and Buzzsaw) and spared the incapacitated third (Dynamo) out of personal honor, public opinion of him sharply shot up, so much so that they either began rooting for him to survive or make unprecedented bets that he would make the next kill. And playing this trope to its logical conclusion, after the rebels presented evidence on state media that Richards was framed, the public did a complete 180 and cheered when Richards caught Killian and publicly executed him.

* DracoInLeatherPants: A rare in-universe example. Ben Richards is this from the perspective of the viewers of The Running Man show. He's painted as a remorseless mass murderer by the state media, and initially the audience were as usual rooting for the stalkers to kill him. After Richards unexpectedly killed two stalkers (Sub-Zero and Buzzsaw) and spared the incapacitated third (Dynamo) out of personal honor, public opinion of him sharply shot up, that they either began rooting for him to survive or making unprecedented bets that he would make the next kill. And true to this trope, later on the rebels presented evidence to the public that exonerated Richards of his "crimes", and the audience cheered when Richards was revealed to have survived and teamed up with the rebels to take down Killian.

* HarsherInHindsight: The film (and the book it was based on) basically foresaw the coming of reality TV, particularly in the way the genre is criticized for exploiting its subjects, using manipulative editing to coerce audience reaction, and generally provide no artistic merit beyond audience distraction.

** Killian was already a bastard-lying about the contestant's past, [[BadBoss verbally abusing his employees]], sending people of to die in a brutal death battle, but what sent him over the horizon was [[spoiler: lying about the supposed winners of the Running Man, claiming that had been given a pardon, when in reality they had been burned alive off camera. His audience turns against him after that]].

* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: Shows what will happen if Reality TV shows go that one extra step and actually start hurting people.... but probably directly inspired the British Game Show [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanted_%28game_show%29 Wanted]] and the Japanese Game ''Series/RunForMoneyTousouchuu''. Or the 2016 American series ''[[http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2016/03/16/ben_affleck_and_matt_damon_have_a_new_reality_show_the_runner.html The Runner.]]''

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The movie may have been an escapist action flick starring the Governator, but it (in its own way) taught about the negative aspects of completely turning off your brain in favor of pure, violent escapism, how soul-destroying humanity's bloodlust can be, and the need to question the version of reality that TV presents. It also teaches about the value of tenacity and standing up for yourself. As well as to not believe everything you see on TV.

* {{Squick}}: Before sending Ben into the game zone, he's subjected to a ([[KickTheDog likely on purpose]]) painful medical procedure to get antitoxins administered into his body, which consists in getting a bunch of nasty looking injections. The needle being shoved deep into the joint of his middle finger and ring finger can be particularly cringe-inducing.

* NarmCharm: ''The Running Man'' has an inherent 80's action movie charm, [[InvokedTrope deliberately]] over-the-top villains in the Stalkers and of course Arnie. The latter also happens to be be armed with an entire arsenal of glorious one-liners. However the film does actually have more depth beyond the surface level thrills.

* TheWoobie: Amber is an innocent woman who starts off almost being kidnapped by Benjamin. Later on, she goes to the TV studio and finds out that he didn't really kill all those people, at which point she gets caught and [[SheKnowsTooMuch is thrown in the arena so she'll die and not be able to tell anyone.]] As if this wasn't enough, she is [[NearRapeExperience almost raped by one of the Stalkers.]]

* CompleteMonster: [[NonActionBigBad Damon Killian]], [[SmarmyHost host]] of ''[[BloodSport The Running Man]]'' and head of the network in the dystopian future, runs a [[BreadAndCircuses TV network where shows are aired]] that feature innocent people climbing ropes for dollars while vicious dogs lurk below; most of them fall. The star attraction, though, is ''[[DeadlyGame The Running Man]]'', where supposed criminals are released into a labyrinth to be hunted down by the vicious Stalkers and murdered. Blackmailing hero Ben Richards into playing the game, Damon then forces his friends to play despite his promises otherwise, and when a young woman digs into Richards's past, Killian manufactures a criminal history for her and throws her into the game as well. Even winning the game is no guarantee of safety, as the winners are disposed of while Killian lies about their survival. Sociopathic and indifferent to human suffering, Killian defends himself by claiming that people just love television, and as a TV star, he is giving them the violence they crave, no matter how many lives are ruined or ended.

* TheWoobie: Amber is an innocent woman who starts off almost being kidnapped by Benjamin. Later on, she goes to the tv studio and finds out that he didn't really kill all those people, at which point she gets caught and [[SheKnowsTooMuch is thrown in the arena so she'll die and not be able to tell anyone.]] As if this wasn't enough, she is [[NearRapeExperience almost raped by one of the Stalkers.]]

** While ''VideoGame/TheKillingGameShow'' didn't really copy the movie wholesale, the backstory of that game was lifted from this movie (and as if to prove a point, it's rework lifted it's backstory from the novel instead).
** It can be looked at as a RatedMForManly version of ''Literature/TheHungerGames''. Both of them are a satire on reality tv shows and how they exploit contestants for the sake of entertainment and ratings.

** There's one minor character named [[Franchise/MortalKombat Sub-Zero]]. Good luck listening to Arnold say "[[MemeticMutation Here is Sub-Zero... now plain Zero!]]" without thinking of the ice-manipulating Lin Kuei warrior. While on Sub-Zero, consider this: [[Film/BatmanAndRobin Arnold and a foe skating on ice]]. Or making a pun involving ice, for that matter.
*** Now Arnold (as T-800) [[VideoGame/MortalKombat11 really can fight Sub-Zero]]