The Running Man - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray SteelBook (Reprint)

In The Running Man, the 1987 dystopian, sci-fi action flick, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Captain Ben Richards, a good man who is punished for doing the right thing when he refused to kill unarmed civilians. After a daring escape from prison he tries to find his brother and move on with his life. But when he's recaptured at the airport, he forced to become the next contestant on this hit gameshow The Running Man (for which the movie gains its title). Only this isn't the Feud, Richard Dawson is Damon Killian, a demented game show host with the ear of the justice department who forces his "contestants" to fight for their lives and maybe even a full pardon... if they survive. If Richards has any hope for survival he'll have to change the rules of the game. 

It's a classic gladiator story - it's even pretty much the plot of Gladiator, come to think of it - where the good guy must rebel against his former masters, in front of a crowd of spectators who are all cheering his death. Eventually, if he can win the hearts of the crowd, he might just find his own salvation. Arnold fights for his life as a "runner" against trained mercenaries called "stalkers". The action setpieces that comprise the film are over-the-top, colorful, imaginative, totally goofy and a ton of fun to watch. Bathed in primary colors like a beet red that saturates every inch of the frame, The Running Man looks and feels like a comic book, and the silly violence, wooden acting, and perfunctory dialogue that never so much hints at depth only add to that aesthetic.

If it sounds like I'm being hard on The Running Man, I say all of this with praise. The film has a mission: To thrill, to entertain, to make us laugh. and invite us to turn off our brains for a glorious 101 minutes. And in that mission, it succeeds wildly. It ain't Shakespeare, but it never sets out to be. The Running Man is solidly mid-tier 1980s Schwarzenegger. It doesn't reach the wild highs of, say, Terminator 2, but it ranks well above some of his weaker outings. 

The Running Man was directed by actor-turned-direction Paul Michael Glaser ("Starsky" in the original Starsky and Hutch television series of the 1970s). Beyond this, he also directed such films as The Cutting Edge (that ice skating movie with D. B. Sweeney and Moira Kelly), and Kazaam (that genie movie with Shaquille O'Neal not Sinbad). And even though his directorial career pretty much reached its peak here, it's a hell of a peak. The Running Man is a self-aware satire, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, as it manages the impossible task of saying serious things, in a decidedly unserious manner. It's a condemnation of fascism, of bloodthirsty violent entertainment (the irony of being a piece of bloodthirsty entertainment that condemns it is not lost on the film), that observes its targets with lots of good humor, bright color and cleverly staged action.

While I don't rank The Running Man as highly as some of Schwarzenegger's classics like Predator or Terminator, it's quite good on its own merits and reminds us of why Arnold Schwarzenegger was such a massive star through the 80s and 90s. Plenty of sweaty, shirtless musclemen of the era mowed through waves of bad guys with a belt-fed machine gun, just as he did, but what made Schwarzenegger unique among his contemporaries was that he allowed a vulnerability to shine through his performances. He wasn't just a killing machine. He was an everyman. He did the right thing even when he paid for it dearly. And he was afraid when he found himself in those life-or-death moments. And somehow, his "everyman" persona was believable, even though he was this hulking mass of pure muscle. Because he had this likability and relatable quality we could identify with. 

Schwarzenegger is joined by a fun cast, including his co-star from Predator, Jesse Ventura, as a retired stalker who respects Richards and has reservations about killing him in cold blood to feed the spectators' bloodlust. Maria Conchita Alonso plays Mendez, the "damsel in distress" who can hold her own on the field of combat. And Richard Dawson sinks into Killian with lots of scenery chewing and hilarious overacting galore. 

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
The Running Man arrives in a single disc 4K UHD + Digital set. Pressed on a BD-66 disc, the disc is housed in a vibrant-red SteelBook with gorgeous, original artwork adorning the front, back, and inside of the case with a slipcover. This SteelBook had previously gone "out of print" but Paramount nicely reissued it. The disc loads to a standard main menu with basic navigation options.

The Running Man has likely never looked better on home video than it does now. Restored in 4K and encoded in HEVC (H.265), it's a sight to behold. From beginning to end, the film boasts a rich color palette and natural film grain is present on just about every frame of the picture. Where it really gets to excel, though, and the Dolby Vision presentation shows its stuff, is during the "Running Man" gameshow competition sequences. Every aspect of your TV's HDR will be tested--bright, vibrant colors with reds, yellows, and neon blues, and greens glowing in dark corners, contrasted with inky blacks and deep, dark shadows. 

The visuals are nearly, nearly demo-worthy. The only hindrance to a perfect five-star, demo-worthy rating is due to an inescapable product of its time. Like many fast-paced 80s action flicks, the camera operator has difficulty finding focus. When the movie slows down or is intentional in its movements in an SFX sequence, the sharpness and the clarity pop, but during a large portion of the action sequences when baddies are being dispatched in creative ways, the focus will be softer and that clarity just isn't as impressive. These gripes are few and far between. Like I said, for the vast majority of the time, The Running Man is a feast for the eyes. It is absolutely gorgeous and almost worth the price of the disc alone.

Unlike previous Blu-ray releases, The Running Man does not come with a 7.1 sound mix. Instead, what we have here is a DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix that is pretty excellent on its own. I did not have the previous Blu-ray disc on hand to compare it to, but the 5.1 mix was impressive. The Running Man is robust with near-constant rear speaker activity, whether it's an echo from a gunshot, an errant ricochet, or the thundering, pulsing synth score from composer Harold Faltermeyer. 

An object-based sound mix would have been welcome here, as I think it would have suited the action of the film well, but I won't ding it for not including that, because the score provided is excellent. It's well-blanced, and explodes when it needs to in high treble and the low, rumbling LFEs, without ever losing the dialogue. Dialogue is always crisp and clear throughout, even in the most chaotic action scenes, as characters yell over a cacophony of effects.

In English, the disc does not contain any of its previous stereo or mono mixes, but those were available in Spanish, French and Japanese.

There are no special features to be found on this release of The Running Man. No extra Blu-ray disc containing supplements is provided, so all you're getting here is the film, with some neat new packaging and an impressive audio/video transfer.

While The Running Man isn't Schwarzenegger's best, it's a fun outing, and Paramount's 4K UHD release packs impressive visuals and an excellent soundtrack. It unfortunately lacks any special features whatsoever. So if you already own The Running Man on DVD or Blu-ray and plan on double-dipping, you should hang on to your existing discs to keep those bonus features. Even though is lacks any special features for newcomers looking for some history of the film's production, the video presentation and soundtrack mix are top-tier stuff, which makes this release of The Running Man comes Recommended.

Order Your Copy of The Running Man on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray SteelBook