A 1980s sci-fi classic?

The last film Arnold Schwarzenegger made before he got really powerful?

Is it prescience on the level ofThe Truman Show?

But to the best of our knowledge,The Truman Showdidnt feature a major action superstar clad in lycra.

We ask you: whos the real winner there?

Stop the film at that point, its still getting four stars.

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But then it begins, and were once more in a dark, scary future.

This particular future has been dreamed up by Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman.

The film is a loose adaptation of his book.

It is 2019, we learn.

This is all going to happen FIVE YEARS FROM NOW.

It is all bound to come true.

No wonder he looks so sad.

Because Richards is A Good Man.

Killian then sends all four of them down into the game zone.

But as a crowd whooper-upper and all round shit, hes a brilliant creation.

That said, hes not wise to scoff when Arnie declares, Ill be back.

Has the man not seenThe Terminator?

Game Time

In the game zone itself, the wonderfully ludicrous moments then keep coming.

Thatll come in handy, when someone runs towards them with a chainsaw later.

In one case, he rewards said audience member with a VCR.

Thatll come in useful in 2019.

Gladiators Ready!

And here comes the gold.

We get Subzero, who slides around with an ice hockey stick complete with blade on the end.

Of course, its whenThe Running Mantries to look futuristic that it ends up looking hopelessly out of date.

Its little surprise then that Ben Richards survivesThe Running Man,and sends Killian to his doom.

We know this because they dare to bet on him at the bookies outside.

Nonetheless, the fake footage ruse is expose when Richards gets to the studio.

Civilisation as we know it breaks down.

Do you think someone was trying to make a point?

And its also, you suspect, ripe for a remake in the future.

Not that we encourage such things.

Wed be surprised if the original director is brought back, though.

Because its none other than Detective Dave Starsky calling the shots, Mr Paul Michael Glaser.

Not that Schwarzenegger was too happy with him though.

Glaser thus had to come in at short notice and get the film made.

As he argued in an interview with Express And Star in 2013, The Running Manwas a strange project.

I initially turned it down because I didnt feel there was enough time to prepare.

They hired another director, but then he left it.

So they came back to me.

You know, there were a lot of problems to solve.

I learned how to think on my feet.

In the beginning, the film was in disarray, but we made it.

Make it he did.

And there arent many of us on Planet Earth that can say that.