45
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80EmpireIan NathanEmpireIan NathanNever managing to look more hi-tech or further on from 1987 than, well, Hi-tech trainers, this Arnie vehicle still runs it's bloody course without dropping many gears. A brainless, breathless thrill.
- 70The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyHas the manners and the gadgetry of a sci-fi adventure film but is, at heart, an engagingly mean, cruel, nasty, funny send-up of television. It's not quite Network, but then it also doesn't take itself too seriously.
- 63Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe one element in the movie that is not standard and that does have some energy is the TV show itself, with Dawson's performance as the egotistical, sleaze-bag host.
- 60Los Angeles TimesMichael WilmingtonLos Angeles TimesMichael WilmingtonFor the right audience, it'll be fun. It's for action movie fans with a taste for something off the beaten track -- but not too far. And for people who like to rail and spew against the vulgarity and stupidity of TV -- but keep watching it all anyway.
- 50The A.V. ClubJosh ModellThe A.V. ClubJosh ModellOnce things get going, The Running Man just turns into a silly chase movie populated by baddies who look like B-level pro-wrestling villains.
- 50Chicago TribuneDave KehrChicago TribuneDave KehrDawson, though, burrows into his role with all the zeal of a perennial second banana recognizing the opportunity of a lifetime. It's the one naturalistic performance in this cartoonish film, carrying with it the implicit authority of years of firsthand experience shaped, perhaps, by some late-night introspection. [13 Nov 1987, p.B]
- 40TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineWith a wholly derivative concept, confused scripting, and incredibly sloppy direction, THE RUNNING MAN is a frustrating experience.
- 40Format works only on a pure action level, with some exciting, but overly repetitious, roller-coaster style sequences of runners hurtling into the game through tunnels on futuristic sleds. Schwarzenegger sadistically dispatches the baddies, enunciating typical wisecrack remarks (many repeated from his previous films), but it’s all too easy, despite the casting of such powerful presences as Jim Brown and former wrestlers Jesse Ventura and Prof. Toru Tanaka.
- 40Time Out LondonTime Out LondonThe film doesn't look good; it's as if the flat lighting and boring set of the TV show had infected everything else. And Big Arnie's quilted outfit makes him look like a duvet.
- 30Washington PostDesson ThomsonWashington PostDesson ThomsonYou want to know if The Running Man is a good-time macho show, right? Stay at home and watch professional wrestling. Or Miami Vice (same director -- Paul Michael Glaser). Sure there's blood spattering and bullets riddling and Big Boys Banging Biceps. But through the dry-ice haze, Running Man is surprisingly boring.