The Fall of Bachman
Your friendly neighborhood Average Dude has long been a fan of the works of Stephen King. There was a time when I could boast that I had read everything he ever published. The King of the Macabre doesn’t seem to be slowing down in his output, and the Average Dude just does not have the time to flip pages like I once did. Even so, I still remember, way back in the whenever, buying an anthology by SK called ‘The Bachman Books’. In it were 4 novels. Roadwork. Rage. The Long Walk. And The Running Man. The greater two have been made (or remade) into movies and released this fall. And your Average Dude has absolutely been here for it.
With All Due Respect to Ahnold
The Average Dude remembers seeing the 1987 version of The Running Man in theaters. I enjoyed it for what it was…an over-the-top futuristic (80s imagination of the future, that is) action flick, complete with spandex jumpsuits and video game villains. Subzero. Fireball. Buzzsaw. The opera-singing Dynamo (my personal favorite). And of course, Captain Freedom, played by the always enjoyable Jesse Ventura. Oh and I just learned that Mic Fleetwood (of the band Fleetwood Mac) had a cameo. Nice.
Literally, it’s you against the world
The remake stars Glen Powell as Ben Richards, the everyman hero. Desperate to get his wife and sick daughter out of ‘Slumside’, Ben volunteers to be on the hottest death-game show on the Network (because that’s what TV has devolved into in the dystopian future): The Running Man.
On this show, participants are given a 12 hour head start. After that, it’s open season on them. If any of the runners can make it 30 days on the lam, they win one billion ‘new dollars’. Not an easy feat with a team of ‘Hunters’ locked and loaded and using all their high-tech resources to chase them down. But wait, there’s more! Average citizens can win cash and prizes for assisting in the hunt. And the kill.
an apples to oranges comparison
Its not even fair to ask which version was better. They are different movies for different eras. Campy, shiny distopian futures were all the rage in 1987. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s equally over-the-top physique was the archetype action hero. In 2025, gritty, hardscrabble existance filled with elitism and devoid of hope seem more realistic. Likewise, a more everyman looking hero (until you shed the jumpsuit, that is. #unintentionalbodyshaming) has more audience appeal.
I hear he hated it
The Running Man (1987) was relatively early in Stephen King’s movie adaptations (a mere 11 years since Carrie first scared the crap out of us). So it’s understandable how he would be convinced to allow movie studios to contort his story into what they think will be profitable. In so saying, the first adaptation bear’s little resemblance to the actual story and Stephen was not happy with that at all.
Not so with the 2025 version. The remake is very – if not perfectly – loyal to the source material. I’m pretty sure that King has more sway with the studios now. I hear he was pleased with this version.
I may be biased, I’ll admit
So, lets get this spoiler-free review across the finish line. Is it worth your 2 hrs and 13 minutes? The Average Dude says ‘yes’. Maybe it’s because I loved the source material. Maybe it’s because I’m a Glen Powell fan. Whatever. I loved this movie.
Was it a little bit long? Yeah, maybe (Mrs. Average Dude thought so). Were there some convenient events that drove the plot forward? Some say there were (like the Critical Drinker, one of my favorite reviewers). But in fairness, those kind of convenient occurrances happen all the time in movies. Or stories of any kind. What would Saving Private Ryan be if they had radioed around and found him? What if Bilbo had never stumbled upon a tiny gold ring in a cave? You get my point.
So, your humble Average Dude is happy to give The Running Man a very watchable 3.5 out of 5. Not an annual watch, no. But I’m sure I’ll see it running down the streaming channel some day and give it another view. Grab some corn and give it a watch. I wasn’t sorry and I don’t think you will be, either. The Critical Drinker was off track on this one, I say. Calling it a remake is absolutely incorrect. It’s a different movie altogether.
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