Our Daily Trailer: THE RUNNING MAN

The Running Man was one of Stephen King's Bachman Books, published under his psuedonym Richard Bachman (yes, while high on coke King was so prolific he needed another name under which to publish novels). That book was a prescient look into a dystopian future where the poor are kept down and pacified with violent entertainment like the deadly reality show Running Man. The dark, dark novel ends with a foreshadowing of 9/11 as our hero flies a jet plane into the skyscraper housing the network that airs Running Man.

The 1987 movie is not as dark, and is more of a foreshadowing of American Gladiators than anything else. It also features the most confusing one-liner of Arnold Schwarzenegger's career: when he offs the villain Sub-Zero, Arnie says 'Now he's just plain zero.' Since plain zero is warmer than sub-zero, that's actually a step up. 

Younger audiences may not get the thrill of having Richard Dawson as the host of the show; in reality Dawson was the host of Family Feud, and famous for his semi-sleazy personality that saw him aggressively kissing as many of the female contestants as possible. 

A rumored sequel, The Cabbage Patch, never materialized.