Line #13 YMMV/TheRunningMan


1	!!The film:
2	* AluminumChristmasTrees: In TheEighties, game show prizes were much more apt to be actual prizes (particularly the HomeGame) than cash. Of course, the expectation that this trend would still be around TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture places this film firmly into [[{{Zeerust}} another trope entirely]].
3	* AntiClimaxBoss: Killian's bodyguard Sven. [[spoiler:He just walks away]].
4	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
5	** The score by Harold Faltermeyer, in particular the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYdsNeRoShA main theme]], is pure awesomeness. Really, what do you expect from the guy who also scored ''Film/BeverlyHillsCopI'' and ''Film/TopGun''?
6	** Dynamo's rendition of Act III from [[Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart Mozart]]'s ''Theatre/TheMarriageOfFigaro'' also qualifies, especially when you consider that the actor [[TheCastShowoff was an accomplished opera singer in real life]].
7	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCYb8jR5JEU "Restless Heart"]] by John Parr, the song that plays over the end credits, is a powerful AOR number that can best be described as complete triumph in music form.
8	* BadassDecay: William Laughlin. In the opening prison break scene, he is shown as being more than capable of holding on his own, successfully fending off and even killing few of the prison guards. By the time he's dropped into the Running Man set, he's pretty much TheLoad for Richards to carry and dies rather quickly.
9	* CatharsisFactor: More or less whenever Ben Richards makes progress in ''The Running Man'' show. Beyond all the expectations of the BigBad Killian and the in-universe audience, he defeated four stalkers and killed three of them. It also helps that public opinion of him gradually transformed, from a villain in the first act to a hero in the third act. Only topped in the finale when the in-universe viewers gave their loudest cheers after Richards finally executed Killian himself.
10	* 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 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 ''[[SadisticGameShow 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 [[DeadlyGame 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.
11	* 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 a victim and gave their biggest cheers when he publicly executed Killian.
12	* 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. At the least, the oppressive government's lost a lot of power due to its reliance an dependence on both Killian and the show being so handily botched and undone though.
13	* {{Fanon}}: To make the [[CoversAlwaysLie poster's false date]] of 2019 (when the opening crawl only mentions the year 2017) work, some people believe that 2017 was the year the societal collapse mentioned in the crawl took place, while Richards escaping and being involved in ''The Running Man'' happens two years later in 2019, meaning that the Bakersfield Massacre must've happened somewhere in 2018.
14	* FountainOfMemes: Being the archtypical 80s action hero, Ben Richards produces a plethora of memorable one-liners.
15	* HilariousInHindsight:
16	** Killian has a video broadcast of Captain Freedom fighting and killing what appears to the in-universe audience to be Richards and Amber - it's actually stunt doubles with the two characters' faces digitally superimposed over the doubles. A radical notion in a late 1980s film, but common practice by film effects artists today. Even a few years after ''The Running Man'' was released, the effects team for ''Film/JurassicPark'' would use the same technique to cover up a stunt double's face.
17	*** Much later, the face of Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger in his 1980s prime would be recreated with CGI on body doubles in the ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' franchise starting with ''Film/TerminatorSalvation''.
18	** The wrestling fight between leotard-wearing Wrestling/JesseVentura and Arnold Schwarzenegger is much funnier, knowing that they have each since become U.S. Governors.
19	** 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[[note]]Arnold's character is even wearing yellow, the signature color of MK Sub-Zero's rival Scorpion, as he says that line[[/note]]. While on Sub-Zero, consider this: [[Film/BatmanAndRobin Arnold and a foe skating on ice]]. Or making a pun involving ice, for that matter.[[note]]One [=YouTube=] user even decided to drive the point home by creating [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42JcbGs5Dfw this]] mashup.[[/note]]
20	*** Now Arnold (as T-800) [[VideoGame/MortalKombat11 really can fight Sub-Zero]].
21	** At one point Arnold, a long time supporter of the Republican Party, jokes "I'm not into politics, I'm into survival." A little less than 20 years later he was Governor of California.
22	** The premise of ''Climbing for Dollars'' is now a lot less ridiculous thanks to the existence of the Creator/{{ITV}}2 programme ''[[http://tangobunny.tumblr.com/post/106221698206/ive-discovered-a-new-tacky-game-show-anyone Release the Hounds]]''.
23	** Wrestling/JesseVentura working ''for'' a totalitarian regime [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere (at least at first)]] is a lot funnier given that these days, Ventura is best known as a ConspiracyTheorist.
24	** The movie is set in 2019 and involves a deadly game show running away from the antagonists. In 2019, we now have ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_Dollar_Mile Million Dollar Mile]]'', which is essentially a real life version of ''The Running Man''.
25	** 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]]. Bonus points for the fact that he was in office in 2019.
26	** Richard Dawson appears in a Stephen King movie as the villain just one year after being mentioned in ''{{Literature/It}}''.
27	** The idea that no one in 2019 would get ''Franchise/StarTrek'' references, especially since the movie's now owned by Creator/ParamountGlobal!
28	* MoralEventHorizon:
29	** The government massacred dozens of people and pinned it on a guy who [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight refused to fire on innocent people]].
30	** Killian was already a bastard-lying about the contestant's past, [[BadBoss verbally abusing his employees]], sending people off 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 they had been given a pardon, when in reality they had been burned alive off camera. His audience turns against him after that]].
31	* 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, being a good warning against the dangers of sensationalism and mass media.
32	* QuestionableCasting: The leader of the underground resistance movement is played by... [[Music/FleetwoodMac Mick Fleetwood]]. Unexpected choice. Presumably they really wanted to add [[CastingGag the scene where he complains that his music was banned for being too political...]]
33	* SpiritualLicensee:
34	** The film has one in the form of the 2009 film ''Film/{{Gamer}}''.
35	** Earlier still was ''VideoGame/SmashTV''.
36	** '' VideoGame/MadWorld'' counts too, just with less dystopia and more deconstruction on violent reality shows and those who enjoy it.
37	** 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, its rework lifted its backstory from the novel instead).
38	** 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.
39	* StrangledByTheRedString: Ben and Amber share little to no romantic chemistry for the duration of the movie, save for Amber developing sympathy for Ben when she realizes he's not the mass-murdering psycho the world has painted him as and a few vague flirty lines. Yet the two managed to produce TheBigDamnKiss during the film's climax.
40	* {{Squick}}: Before being sent into the game zone, Ben is 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.
41	* ValuesResonance: The film depicts a future dystopia with mass media glorifying violence, sensationalism, and choosing truth over lies. A concern that is more relevant in the 21st century.
42	* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: This movie is the typical Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger action movie, complete with musclebound heroes, hot damsels in distress, and awesome fight scenes. And yet also seems to [[https://www.cracked.com/blog/4-things-the-running-man-teaches-you-about-life be a commentary against oppression, the manipulation of media, and the desensitization of violence]].
43	* TheWoobie: Amber is an innocent woman who starts off almost being kidnapped by Richards. 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.]]
44	* {{Woolseyism}}: The Mexican Spanish dub has lots of them:
45	** The Mexican Spanish subbed version has the ''He is Sub-Zero, Now, just plain Zero!'' line changed. In that translation, that line was changed to ''Aqui esta Sub-Zero, Ahora es un cero a la izquierda'', Being ''cero a la izquierda'' a Spanish phrase meaning "worthless".[[note]]It literally means a ''zero to the left'', after the mathematical term to use a zero before a decimal point, who normally doesn't mean anything, hence the phrase[[/note]] The Mexican Spanish dub left the original phrase translated literally from English.
46	*** In the Italian dub Richards' one-liner is changed into ''Guarda il tuo Sterminatore[[note]]In the dub the Stalkers are called 'Exterminators'[[/note]], adesso vale di certo meno di zero!'' which translates into "Look at your Stalker, now he certainly is worth less than zero!".
47	** Another odd change in the Mexican Spanish sub, and also overlap with UnusualEuphemism despite that subbed version used [[SpiceUpTheSubtitles more profanity than the original English version]] replace Amber's insult to Dynamo ''Dickless moron'' to ''Eunuco'' (Spanish for ''Eunuch'') While ''Eunuch'' has the same meaning as in English in Spanish, in the Mexican dialect it's also a antiquated synonym for ''baby'', as she's basically calling him an ''immature asshole'' in his face.
48	** When Richards [[spoiler:sends Killian to his death]] the ''You Bastard! Drop Dead!'' line became ''¡Hijo de puta! ¡Muérete!'' (You son of a bitch! Die!). On the other hand, the Mexican Spanish dub translate the phrase more or less literally.
49	** While also overlaps with NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent, Amber in the original English version is played by Creator/MariaConchitaAlonso, and she speaks English with a notorious accent. In the dub, she speaks Spanish with a neutral accent. It should be noted that Alonso was [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff very popular in her prime time in Mexico]], since she did parts of her singing career there, but it's very likely that Creator/RocioGarcel (Amber's voice actress in the dub) simply dubbed her with a regular accent, rather than trying to imitate her very thick (at the time) accent. Likewise, while Alonso has a very high-pitched voice, Garcel used a deeper tone while dubbing her.
50	** The Italian dub changes the show Killian talks about in a phone call scene, ''Series/GilligansIsland'', with ''Series/{{Dallas}}''. Later the "Who's Mr. Spock?" line is changed with Mic leaving the command to [[UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein Einstein]], which the technician doesn't know either[[note]]Though this change could be adaptational Main/FridgeBrilliance that indicates that in this dystopian future, education has gotten really poor or that history has been censored too[[/note]].
51
52	!!The book:
53	* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: Shows what will happen if RealityTV 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.]]''
54	* HarsherInHindsight: The ending has [[spoiler:Richards flying a plane straight into the Games Building, which brings up some unfortunate connotations for those reading the book post September 11th, 2001.]]
55	* HilariousInHindsight:
56	** Richards' video camera and blank tapes together weigh about ''six pounds''. And fit into a coat pocket without a bulge.
57	** As of April 28, 2022, there is a streaming service called Amazon Freevee. But ''Treadmill to Bucks'' and ''Swim the Crocodiles'' are apparently not featured on it, thank the maker.
58	* MoralEventHorizon: The book makes it clear throughout that the cops in ''Running Man's'' world are not exactly very nice people, but what sends them clean over this is when they [[spoiler: try to take down both Richards and the innocent civilian woman in the car with him. One who was just ''begging them not to shoot'']]
59	* SpiritualSuccessor: To Creator/RobertSheckley's similar-themed story "The Prize of Peril".
60	* 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).
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Context YMMV / TheRunningMan