Daily Hit: The Running Man

From Richard Bachman to Arnold to Glen Powell?

In preparation for tonight's screening of The Running Man, I decided to read the novel and watch the 1987 movie.

Full confession, I had never seen the 1987 Arnold movie, so my first experience with The Running Man was the novel, and I'm kinda glad for that. For those who don't know, The Running Man was Stephen King's last publication under the pseudonym Richard Bachman before his true identity was revealed. I thiiiiiiiink he might've published one more as RB, but this was after everyone found out he was indeed famed horror author, Stephen King.

1982 The Running Man

Not having read every dystopian novel ever published, I haven't read one (yet) that could've been the inspiration for Hunger Games as much as this one. I know most dystopian plots play out between the haves and have-nots, but that theme, along with a game being played out for the nation with the winner able to achieve "have" status, is pretty Hunger Games-esque.

That said, this book is Stephen King dark. It is filled with slurs and graphic violence. Duh, right? But King has always pushed the boundaries to make the audience uncomfortable because rarely is there a pristine hero. You want the down-and-out person to win, but outside of fighting the authoritarian system, they seem icky too. Novel: 4/5

Survey SAYS! Show me The Running Man, 1987

Moving on to the 1987 Schwarzenegger film, it's 80s camp. They LOOSELY tie the plot to the novel. And I mean LOOSELY. Outside of the corporation running the games, with some names being the same, it's a different story. lol

I'm not sure how much I can say about the film. It's your typical 80s action movie. Cheesy one-liners, wacky costumes, slapstick violence, and the bad guy gets it in the end. It's popcorn entertainment. 1987 Movie: 2.75/5

All of this is to say, I'm excited about the movie tonight. From what I've heard, it's much closer to the novel than to the original film. This is not a remake, but it brings this closer to what King imagined back in 1982.

Stay tuned...