For better or worse, Stephen King is notoriously vocal with his opinions. He has proclaimed his disgust for Stanley Kubrick’s screen adaptation of his novel The Shining on numerous occasions. He has additionally professed his disdain for The Lawnmower Man, Firestarter, and several other screen renderings based on his literary output. Yet another adaptation of his work that he has no love for is Paul Michael Glaser’s The Running Man. King was so displeased with the final cut that he demanded his name be left out of the marketing, a request to which TriStar Pictures ultimately acquiesced. The opening credits even position the film as based on the novel by Richard Bachman (the nom de plume under which King released the book), as opposed to crediting King as the source of inspiration.
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Stephen King laments the fact that the film made so many changes to the tone and narrative of his novel, which is a valid concern. The two entities are completely different. The book is gritty and downbeat, whereas the film is light and breezy, with a crowd-pleasing conclusion. With that said, we think both have their collective strengths.
Stephen King Hates That The Running Man – But Is It Really That Bad?
Glaser’s screen rendering of The Running Man sanitizes many of the raw and gritty elements that make the novel such a compelling read, in favor of a crowd-pleasing action vehicle with Arnold Schwarzenegger taking center stage. The True Lies actor plays Ben Richards, the protagonist from the novel. But the Richards character in the book is a wisp of a man by comparison; he isn’t a hulking behemoth with superhuman strength like his screen counterpart. Moreover, Richards is married with a sick daughter in the book, whereas he is a single fellow accused of a crime he didn’t commit in the film.
Removing some of those elements makes for a major deviation from the source material and robs the narrative of some of its emotional depth. In that sense, King’s qualms are entirely valid. However, if you can divorce yourself from what the film could be or should be and evaluate the picture based solely on what it is, there’s quite a bit of fun to be had.
Even though Schwarzenegger isn’t the most faithful casting choice, he certainly shines in his turn as an unwitting participant in a sadistic gameshow called The Running Man. The lead character sees himself hurled into a violent scenario where he must attempt to outwit trained assassins called stalkers who are trying to end his game … forever. Arnold seems to be having a great time as he delivers a collection of outrageous one-liners, chews up the scenery, and engages in persistent bouts of fisticuffs. All of this while simultaneously defying expectations and lasting far longer than antagonistic gameshow host Damon Killian (Richard Dawson) anticipated.
Dawson’s casting as Killian only adds to the picture’s campy charm. As game show lovers likely know, the actor and comedian hosted the beloved program Family Feud off and on for a total of 10 years. He seems to be having a great time playing a sadistic caricature (very) loosely inspired by his charismatic turn on that beloved gameshow.
Larger than life characters aside, if this screen rendering had stayed truer to the source material, Glaser’s The Running Man would surely be a very different movie. Rather than a rip-roaring action spectacle complete with one-liners and iconic fight scenes, we’d have a somber meditation on inequality and government overreach. Fortunately, there’s room for both versions of the story.
Edgar Wright is currently working on a Running Man remake that will stick much closer to the source material. That should please King and fans of the book who couldn’t get past the substantial changes screenwriter Steven E. de Souza made when he penned the script for the 1987 film. Wright’s rendering will hit theaters on November 7th.
Although Glaser’s 1987 adaptation isn’t a faithful rendering, and Stephen King is decidedly not a fan of the picture, there’s still plenty to enjoy about it. If you can shift your focus off of what it isn’t and lock into what it is, you’re likely to appreciate The Running Man as an enjoyable action spectacle.
What are your thoughts on the film? Do you agree with King that it’s a major misstep, or do you see merit in this 1987 effort? If you’re unsure where you stand, you can stream the film on both Paramount+ and MGM+.
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