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[[File:running_man_ver31_7588.jpg|frame]]
[[File:running_man_ver31_7588.jpg|frame]]


{{quote| '''Richards''': Killian! [[Catch Phrase|I'll be back]]!<br />
{{quote|'''Richards''': Killian! [[Catch Phrase|I'll be back]]!
'''Killian''': Only in a rerun. }}
'''Killian''': Only in a rerun.}}


'''''The Running Man''''' is a sci-fi action film from the year 1987, which is set in a dystopian future.
'''''The Running Man''''' is a sci-fi action film from the year 1987, which is set in a dystopian future.
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When the cop Ben Richards ([[Arnold Schwarzenegger]]) refuses to fire at innocent civilians, he is captured and sent to prison. He escapes, but is captured again, and ends up as a contestant in the nation's number one television show: ''The Running Man''. In the show, Ben and his fellow "contestants" must fight their way through the Stalkers, killers set to stop their advance, to win their freedom.
When the cop Ben Richards ([[Arnold Schwarzenegger]]) refuses to fire at innocent civilians, he is captured and sent to prison. He escapes, but is captured again, and ends up as a contestant in the nation's number one television show: ''The Running Man''. In the show, Ben and his fellow "contestants" must fight their way through the Stalkers, killers set to stop their advance, to win their freedom.


{{tropelist}}
=== The film provides examples of: ===
* [[Actually Pretty Funny]]: Sven looks rather amused when Richards pens the lawyer in the back and tells him "Don't forget to send me a copy".

* [[Adaptational Attractiveness]]: Ben Richards in the book is "scrawny" and "pre-tubercular". Schwarzenegger... isn't.
* [[Adaptational Attractiveness]]: Ben Richards in the book is "scrawny" and "pre-tubercular". Schwarzenegger... isn't.
** [[Pragmatic Adaptation]]: Someone with that sort of build and look pulling off the stuff the character does in the movie would probably strain [[Willing Suspension of Disbelief]] past the breaking point, even for this movie.
* [[Actor Allusion]]: Just before he's launched into the Zone, Richards promises that [[The Terminator|"I'll be back."]] To say nothing of Richard Dawson's role as a game show host.
** Sub Zero is inexplicably introduced as a professor, just like his actor.
* [[All or Nothing]]
* [[All or Nothing]]
* [[Altum Videtur]]: The gratuitous use of Latin in Richards' contract. All of it is real legal Latin, but wildly out of place.
* [[Altum Videtur]]: The gratuitous use of Latin in Richards' contract. All of it is real legal Latin, but wildly out of place.
* [[Ass Shove]]: Amber Mendez and the tape of the Bakersfield Massacre. Or possibly [[Trouser Space|another nearby location]].
* [[Ass Shove]]: Amber Mendez and the tape of the Bakersfield Massacre. Or possibly [[Trouser Space|another nearby location]].
* [[Attempted Rape]]: Dynamo attepts to force himself on Amber when he runs into her in the studio.
* [[Attempted Rape]]: Dynamo attempts to force himself on Amber when he runs into her in the studio.
* [[Bad Boss]]: Killian isn't a particularly nice man to his employees, his bodyguard Sven in particular. [[The Dog Bites Back|This comes back to bite him.]]
* [[Bad Boss]]: Killian isn't a particularly nice man to his employees, his bodyguard Sven in particular. [[The Dog Bites Back|This comes back to bite him.]]
* [[Big Bad]]: Killian.
* [[Big Bad]]: Killian.
* [[Blood Knight]]: Captain Freedom.
* [[Blood Knight]]: Captain Freedom.
* [[Blood Sport]]
* [[Blood Sport]]
* [[Bond One Liner]]: Some of the best in film history.
* [[Bond One-Liner]]: Some of the best in film history.
** (''cuts a man in half'') "He had to split."
** (''cuts a man in half'') "He had to split."
** (''strangles a man with barbed wire'') "He was a pain in the neck."
** (''strangles a man with barbed wire'') "He was a pain in the neck."
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* [[The Butcher]]: Ben Richards, "The Butcher of Bakersfield". Played with, in that Richards himself is innocent of the crime, framed by his corrupt superiors when he objected to massacring hordes of innocent people.
* [[The Butcher]]: Ben Richards, "The Butcher of Bakersfield". Played with, in that Richards himself is innocent of the crime, framed by his corrupt superiors when he objected to massacring hordes of innocent people.
* [[Carnival of Killers]]
* [[Carnival of Killers]]
* [[The Cast Showoff]]: When Dynamo (Erland van Lidth) sings the aria from Act III of ''[[The Marriage of Figaro (Theatre)|The Marriage of Figaro]]'', he's actually singing in that scene. Presumably after he got cast, someone found out he could sing opera and decided they ''had'' to throw that in somewhere.
* [[Chainsaw Good]]: Buzzsaw.
* [[Chainsaw Good]]: Buzzsaw.
* [[Condemned Contestant]]
* [[Condemned Contestant]]
* [[Deadly Game]]
* [[Deadly Game]]
* [[Defictionalization]]: The technology used to frame Richards by digitally swapping his face with that of the real killer is now completely real.
* [[Digital Head Swap]]: In-universe.
* [[Digital Head Swap]]: In-universe.
* [[Do Not Adjust Your Set]]
* [[Do Not Adjust Your Set]]
* [[Explosive Leash]]: Richards and his fellow prisoners wear them in the military prison.
* [[Explosive Leash]]: Richards and his fellow prisoners wear them in the military prison.
* [[Fashion Dissonance]]: The Running Man's "It's Showtime!" dancers, who are a riot of spandex and big hair, firmly placing them in the 80's fashion era.
* [[Fashion Dissonance]]: The ''Running Man'''s "It's Showtime!" dancers, who are a riot of spandex and big hair, firmly placing them in the 80's fashion era.
** [[Eighties Hair]]
** [[Eighties Hair]]
* [[Future Imperfect]]: A TV equivalent; it's implied that a lot of TV shows have been forgotten thanks to the totalitarian government's control of the entertainment networks, and on two occasions an older character makes a reference to an old TV show (''[[Gilligans Island]]'' and ''[[Star Trek]]'') that falls flat.
* [[Future Imperfect]]: A TV equivalent; it's implied that a lot of TV shows have been forgotten thanks to the totalitarian government's control of the entertainment networks, and on two occasions an older character makes a reference to an old TV show (''[[Gilligan's Island]]'' and ''[[Star Trek]]'') that falls flat.
* [[Gaias Lament]]: Earth's resources are severely drained.
* [[Gaia's Lament]]: Earth's resources are severely drained.
* [[Game Show Host]]: Killian. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] to a certain degree by being played by [[Family Feud|Richard Dawson]], who has been characterized at times as a bit of an egotist behind the scenes.
* [[Game Show Host]]: Killian. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] to a certain degree by being played by [[Family Feud|Richard Dawson]], who has been characterized at times as a bit of an egotist behind the scenes.
* [[Gone Horribly Right]]: Killian ropes Richards in hoping that he'll be a popular contestant and bring in huge ratings. Both prove to be true... except that he becomes so popular people start rooting for him over the Stalkers, and many more people are watching when the government's duplicity is revealed.
* [[Groin Attack]]: Multiple examples.
* [[Groin Attack]]: Multiple examples.
* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: Laughlin shoves Richards out of the way and is mortally wounded by Buzzsaw's attack.
* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: Laughlin shoves Richards out of the way and is mortally wounded by Buzzsaw's attack.
** Also, Richards agrees to be a contestant {{spoiler|because they threaten to use his friends as contestants instead... which of course they do anyways.}}
** Also, Richards agrees to be a contestant {{spoiler|because they threaten to use his friends as contestants instead... which of course they do anyways}}.
* [[Hoist By His Own Petard]]: Each Stalker is killed with his own weapon. Killian himself is doomed by being launched into the Zone, as he had done to so many before.
* [[Hoist by His Own Petard]]: Each Stalker is killed with his own weapon. Killian himself is doomed by being launched into the Zone, as he had done to so many before.
* [[Home Game]]: Given to members of the ''Running Man'' studio audience. How it's supposed to work is anybody's guess.
* [[Home Game]]: Given to members of the ''Running Man'' studio audience. How it's supposed to work is anybody's guess.
* [[Hunting the Most Dangerous Game]]
* [[Hunting the Most Dangerous Game]]
* [[Idiot Ball]]: Even though Richards was already throughly discredited as "The Butcher of Bakersfield," the Government still insists on making up murders at the airport in order to blame them on him. This is what convinces Amber that he was framed and ultimately causes her to discover the truth. Keeping the unedited footage around was pretty dumb too.
* [[Idiot Ball]]: Even though Richards was already thoroughly discredited as "The Butcher of Bakersfield", the Government still insists on making up murders at the airport in order to blame them on him. This is what convinces Amber that he was framed and ultimately causes her to discover the truth. Keeping the unedited footage around was pretty dumb too.
* [[I Know Madden Kombat]]: The hockey-themed hunter "Sub-Zero".
* [[I Know Madden Kombat]]: The hockey-themed hunter "Sub-Zero".
* [[In Name Only]]: All that's left is the name of the hero, the last name of the main villain, the name of the show involved and a couple of plot elements - the totalitarian [[Dystopia|dystopic]] society and Richards kidnapping a woman and taking her to an airport.
* [[In Name Only]]: All that's left is the name of the hero, the last name of the main villain, the name of the show involved and a couple of plot elements - the totalitarian [[Dystopia|dystopic]] society and Richards kidnapping a woman and taking her to an airport.
* [[Ironic Echo]]: Multiple examples involving Killian.
* [[Ironic Echo]]: Multiple examples involving Killian.
{{quote| ''Hello, cutie pie. One of us is in big trouble.''}}
{{quote|''Hello, cutie pie. One of us is in big trouble.''}}
* [[Jet Pack]]: Used by the stalker Fireball.
* [[Jet Pack]]: Used by the stalker Fireball.
* [[Karmic Death]]: All the Stalkers except Sub-Zero and Captain Freedom.
* [[Karmic Death]]: All the Stalkers except Sub-Zero and Captain Freedom.
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* [[Lightning Gun]]: Dynamo's "Electrical Launcher".
* [[Lightning Gun]]: Dynamo's "Electrical Launcher".
* [[Manipulative Editing]]
* [[Manipulative Editing]]
* [[Meaningful Name]] / [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: No one -- ''no one'' -- with a name like 'Damon Killian' is ever going to grow up to be anything but a villain.
* [[Meaningful Name]]/[[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: No one -- ''no one'' -- with a name like 'Damon Killian' is ever going to grow up to be anything but a villain.
* [[Not Worth Killing]]: "No, [[Pet the Dog|I won't kill a helpless human being...]][[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|not even sadistic scum...]][[Crowning Moment of Awesome|like you."]]
* [[Not Worth Killing]]: "No, [[Pet the Dog|I won't kill a helpless human being...]][[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|not even sadistic scum...]][[Crowning Moment of Awesome|like you."]]
* [[Oppressive States of America]]
* [[Oppressive States of America]]
* [[Our Graphics Will Suck in The Future]]: Apparently, wireframe computer graphics are state-of-the-art in 2019.
* [[Our Graphics Will Suck in the Future]]: Apparently, wire-frame computer graphics are state-of-the-art in 2019.
* [[The Pen Is Mightier]]
* [[The Pen Is Mightier]]
* [[Public Execution]]: Criminals are executed by being hunted to their deaths on TV, with a promise of freedom if they survive.
* [[Public Execution]]: Criminals are executed by being hunted to their deaths on TV, with a promise of freedom if they survive.
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* [[Released to Elsewhere]]: Whitman, Price, and Haddad. Last season's winners. "No, last season's ''losers''."
* [[Released to Elsewhere]]: Whitman, Price, and Haddad. Last season's winners. "No, last season's ''losers''."
** Could be an ''inversion'' of [[Fridge Horror]], as it's unlikely that those three were innocent like Richards, who was an exception to the show's "no political prisoners" arrangement with the justice system. At least if they're [[Released to Elsewhere]], they've ''not'' been set loose to resume whatever crimes got them the death penalty in the first place.
** Could be an ''inversion'' of [[Fridge Horror]], as it's unlikely that those three were innocent like Richards, who was an exception to the show's "no political prisoners" arrangement with the justice system. At least if they're [[Released to Elsewhere]], they've ''not'' been set loose to resume whatever crimes got them the death penalty in the first place.
*** The implication seems to be that rather than simply released, they'd be sent to an island paradise but not allowed to leave... essentially still in prison, but a very, very nice prison. Either way, it's not what they were promised, revealing just one more lie the government and studio have collaborated on.
* [[Ridiculous Future Inflation]]: A can of pop costs $6, and the vending machines [[Technology Marches On|don't accept bills]].
* [[Ridiculous Future Inflation]]: A can of pop costs $6, and the vending machines [[Technology Marches On|don't accept bills]].
* [[Run for The Border]]: [[Playing With a Trope|Played with]] when Richards tries to flee to Hawaii, instead of trying to escape the country entirely.
* [[Run for the Border]]: [[Playing with a Trope|Played with]] when Richards tries to flee to Hawaii, instead of trying to escape the country entirely.
** Hawaii may be a different country in this setting. It may be a [[Shout Out]] to Heinlein's ''If This Goes On...'' where someone PRETENDS to by trying to escape to Hawaii (which is a separate country) as part of a plan to make his pursuers think he's dead.
** Hawaii may be a different country in this setting. It may be a [[Shout-Out]] to Heinlein's ''If This Goes On...'' where someone PRETENDS to by trying to escape to Hawaii (which is a separate country) as part of a plan to make his pursuers think he's dead.
⚫
* [[Screw the Rules I'm Doing What's Right]]: Richards, when he refuses to fire on the unarmed crowd.
⚫
* [[Show Within a Show]]: The TV show.
* [[The Scapegoat]]: Richards is blamed for the government-ordered massacre he tried to prevent.
* [[The Scapegoat]]: Richards is blamed for the government-ordered massacre he tried to prevent.
⚫
* [[Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right]]: Richards, when he refuses to fire on the unarmed crowd.
⚫
* [[Smarmy Host]]: Damon Killian
⚫
* [[Show Within a Show]]: The TV show.
⚫
* [[Smarmy Host]]: Damon Killian.
* [[The Stinger]]: The show's announcer does a voice over at the end of the credits.
* [[The Stinger]]: The show's announcer does a voice over at the end of the credits.
* Sven, Killian's bodyguard, exemplifies the following tropes:
** Sven, Killian's bodyguard, exemplifies the following tropes:
** [[Bodyguard Betrayal]]
*** [[Bodyguard Betrayal]]
** [[The Danza]]
*** [[The Danza]]
** [[The Dog Bites Back]]
*** [[The Dog Bites Back]]
** [[The Dragon]]: Parodied and averted, with an [[Ironic Echo]] to boot.
*** [[The Dragon]]: Parodied and averted, with an [[Ironic Echo]] to boot.
** [[Screw This I'm Outta Here]]
*** [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here]]
* [[Throw a Barrel At It]]: Ben Richards does it to Fireball.
* [[Throw a Barrel At It]]: Ben Richards does it to Fireball.
** Ben ignites it but [[Out of the Inferno|Fireball just strolls through the flame]].
** Ben ignites it but [[Out of the Inferno|Fireball just strolls through the flame]].
* [[Trashcan Bonfire]]: The outdoor scenes with crowds betting on the game.
* [[Trashcan Bonfire]]: The outdoor scenes with crowds betting on the game.
* [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future]]
* [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future]]
* [[Victoria's Secret Compartment]]: Another possible hiding place for that footage. (See [[Ass Shove]].) In Amber's words, when asked about it:
* [[Victoria's Secret Compartment]]: Another possible hiding place for that footage (see [[Ass Shove]] above). In Amber's words, when asked about it:
{{quote| '''Amber''' [Smirks]: "That's none of your business."}}
{{quote|'''Amber''' [Smirks]: "That's none of your business."}}
* [[We Will Not Use Photoshop in The Future]]: The government uses edited footage to frame Richards. Later, the producers {{spoiler|edit footage of Richards being killed in an attempt to salvage his victory over the Stalkers.}}
* [[We Will Not Use Photoshop in the Future]]: The government uses edited footage to frame Richards. Later, the producers {{spoiler|edit footage of Richards being killed in an attempt to salvage his victory over the Stalkers}}.
* [[What Do You Mean Its Not Awesome]]: ''Dynamo''
* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?]]: ''Dynamo''.
* [[What Happened to The Mouse]]: Captain Freedom.
* [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]: Captain Freedom.
** He [[Screw This I'm Outta Here|quit]] partway through the film because he became bitter about what the game had become. Granted, it's very anticlimactic, but serves as possible [[Foreshadowing]] for Sven doing the same thing later at a key moment.
** He [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here|quit]] partway through the film because he became bitter about what the game had become. Granted, it's very anticlimactic, but serves as possible [[Foreshadowing]] for Sven doing the same thing later at a key moment.
* [[Whos Laughing Now]]: Awesomely thrown back in Dynamo's face by Amber, of all people.
* [[Who's Laughing Now?]]: Awesomely thrown back in Dynamo's face by Amber, of all people.
{{quote| '''Dynamo''':Thought it was pretty funny out in the zone, didn't you? What's the matter, bitch? Why aren't you laughing?<br />
{{quote|'''Dynamo''':Thought it was pretty funny out in the zone, didn't you? What's the matter, bitch? Why aren't you laughing?
'''Amber''': Because there's nothing funny about a dickless moron with a battery up his ass. }}
'''Amber''': Because there's nothing funny about a dickless moron with a battery up his ass.}}
* [[Win Your Freedom]]
* [[Win Your Freedom]]
* [[Your Head Asplode]]: If Chico had just waited 20 more seconds at the beginning of the movie...
* [[Your Head Asplode]]: If Chico had just waited 20 more seconds at the beginning of the movie...
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[[Category:Science Fiction Films]]
[[Category:Science Fiction Films]]
[[Category:Films of the 1980s]]
[[Category:Films of the 1980s]]
[[Category:Arnold Schwarzenegger (Creator)]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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[[Category:The Running Man]]
[[Category:Film]]
[[Category:Film]]
[[Category:Arnold Schwarzenegger]]
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[[Category:Films Based on Novels]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Running Man (film), The}}

Latest revision as of 17:56, 8 November 2020

Richards: Killian! I'll be back!
Killian: Only in a rerun.

The Running Man is a sci-fi action film from the year 1987, which is set in a dystopian future.

When the cop Ben Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger) refuses to fire at innocent civilians, he is captured and sent to prison. He escapes, but is captured again, and ends up as a contestant in the nation's number one television show: The Running Man. In the show, Ben and his fellow "contestants" must fight their way through the Stalkers, killers set to stop their advance, to win their freedom.

Tropes used in The Running Man (film) include:
  • Actually Pretty Funny: Sven looks rather amused when Richards pens the lawyer in the back and tells him "Don't forget to send me a copy".
  • Adaptational Attractiveness: Ben Richards in the book is "scrawny" and "pre-tubercular". Schwarzenegger... isn't.
  • All or Nothing
  • Altum Videtur: The gratuitous use of Latin in Richards' contract. All of it is real legal Latin, but wildly out of place.
  • Ass Shove: Amber Mendez and the tape of the Bakersfield Massacre. Or possibly another nearby location.
  • Attempted Rape: Dynamo attempts to force himself on Amber when he runs into her in the studio.
  • Bad Boss: Killian isn't a particularly nice man to his employees, his bodyguard Sven in particular. This comes back to bite him.
  • Big Bad: Killian.
  • Blood Knight: Captain Freedom.
  • Blood Sport
  • Bond One-Liner: Some of the best in film history.
    • (cuts a man in half) "He had to split."
    • (strangles a man with barbed wire) "He was a pain in the neck."
    • (hurls road-flare at a flamethrower-armed Hunter with a loose gas-line) "What a hothead."
    • (before throwing a flare) "How 'bout a light?"
  • Brick Joke: Killian's bodyguard Sven and steroids.
  • The Butcher: Ben Richards, "The Butcher of Bakersfield". Played with, in that Richards himself is innocent of the crime, framed by his corrupt superiors when he objected to massacring hordes of innocent people.
  • Carnival of Killers
  • Chainsaw Good: Buzzsaw.
  • Condemned Contestant
  • Deadly Game
  • Digital Head Swap: In-universe.
  • Do Not Adjust Your Set
  • Explosive Leash: Richards and his fellow prisoners wear them in the military prison.
  • Fashion Dissonance: The Running Man's "It's Showtime!" dancers, who are a riot of spandex and big hair, firmly placing them in the 80's fashion era.
  • Future Imperfect: A TV equivalent; it's implied that a lot of TV shows have been forgotten thanks to the totalitarian government's control of the entertainment networks, and on two occasions an older character makes a reference to an old TV show (Gilligan's Island and Star Trek) that falls flat.
  • Gaia's Lament: Earth's resources are severely drained.
  • Game Show Host: Killian. Lampshaded to a certain degree by being played by Richard Dawson, who has been characterized at times as a bit of an egotist behind the scenes.
  • Gone Horribly Right: Killian ropes Richards in hoping that he'll be a popular contestant and bring in huge ratings. Both prove to be true... except that he becomes so popular people start rooting for him over the Stalkers, and many more people are watching when the government's duplicity is revealed.
  • Groin Attack: Multiple examples.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Laughlin shoves Richards out of the way and is mortally wounded by Buzzsaw's attack.
    • Also, Richards agrees to be a contestant because they threaten to use his friends as contestants instead... which of course they do anyways.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Each Stalker is killed with his own weapon. Killian himself is doomed by being launched into the Zone, as he had done to so many before.
  • Home Game: Given to members of the Running Man studio audience. How it's supposed to work is anybody's guess.
  • Hunting the Most Dangerous Game
  • Idiot Ball: Even though Richards was already thoroughly discredited as "The Butcher of Bakersfield", the Government still insists on making up murders at the airport in order to blame them on him. This is what convinces Amber that he was framed and ultimately causes her to discover the truth. Keeping the unedited footage around was pretty dumb too.
  • I Know Madden Kombat: The hockey-themed hunter "Sub-Zero".
  • In Name Only: All that's left is the name of the hero, the last name of the main villain, the name of the show involved and a couple of plot elements - the totalitarian dystopic society and Richards kidnapping a woman and taking her to an airport.
  • Ironic Echo: Multiple examples involving Killian.

Hello, cutie pie. One of us is in big trouble.

Amber [Smirks]: "That's none of your business."

Dynamo:Thought it was pretty funny out in the zone, didn't you? What's the matter, bitch? Why aren't you laughing?
Amber: Because there's nothing funny about a dickless moron with a battery up his ass.

Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/The_Running_Man_(film)?oldid=1844014"