The Running Man (2025): More Faithful to the Novel, but Less Exciting for the Audience (4K/Blu-ray Steelbook)

The Film:

Back in 1987, an adaptation of Stephen King's (writing as Richard Bachman) 1982 novel "The Running Man" was released with mega-star Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead role. It wasn't a major hit at the box office, and the reviews were somewhat negative, but the film did go on to become a cult classic favorite that still holds up quite well today as a fun little action thriller. What's rather interesting is that this original version is only a very loose adaptation of the book, one that takes the general idea of the titular program and changes quite a lot around it, which left room for someone somewhere down the line to try their hand at attempting a version that sticks closer to the source material.

Unexpectedly, that person turned out to be writer/director Edgar Wright, who may be most well-known for his comedic "Cornetto Trilogy" ("Shaun of the Dead," Hot Fuzz," and "The World's End"), but also showed that he's capable of some pretty insane action sequences as well with his incredible "Baby Driver." Could his new rendition of the material possibly begin to measure up to the fan-favorite classic, or will this be an instance where sticking closer to the book does more harm than good?

Taking place sometime in the future, most of the US is living in poverty, with the country being ruled over by an authoritative group called "The Network," who tries to keep the masses in line with reality TV and game shows that promise big payouts to winners. Ben Richards (Glen Powell), who is having trouble getting a job after being blacklisted for union activities, is desperate to get money because his two-year-old daughter is sick with the flu and needs medicine. He decides his best chance at getting her help is by going on one of these game shows, which is how he ultimately ends up on the most dangerous one of all, "The Running Man," where contestants can make a ton of money by eluding the Network's Hunters, as well as ordinary citizens who can turn him in for a reward. With $1,000 in his pocket and a 12-hour head start, he dives into the challenge in the hope of being able to save his daughter and make a better life for his family.

When it came to the original 1987 adaptation of "The Running Man," it did indeed stray quite far from King's original novel, really only using basic elements of the source material, but it still made for a wildly entertaining, thrilling, and rather silly actioner that audiences still enjoy quite a bit nearly 40 years later. It may not be held in the same esteem as some of Schwarzenegger's more popular work like "The Terminator" or "Predator," but among his fans, there are those that would certainly put it right next to those as a purely fun film to revisit now and again.

For Edgar Wright's new remake, the whole idea would appear to have been to put together an adaptation that sticks much closer to King's original vision, and at least as far as that goal is concerned, it seems to have accomplished it quite well. However, as we soon find out, that's not necessarily a good thing.

What we have here is an adaptation that is sadly a bit short on thrills, though it's fair to say that it certainly does try to deliver them. The problem is that the action scenes are merely repetitive sequences that mainly have Richards trying to get away over and over again, as opposed to the original where he actually faces off against his assailants, which gave it a little more variety and prevented it from becoming stale. Then there's the issue of Glen Powell just not being a very compelling leading man, especially in comparison with Schwarzenegger. He certainly tries his best, but he's just not all that convincing in the part, though clearly the somewhat weak material isn't really helping him either.

What we end up with is an instance where staying true to the source material resulted in a rather flawed film that simply isn't as fun, exciting, or memorable as its predecessor. It would appear to be a very similar case to what happened with "The Shining," where the great Stanley Kubrick made numerous changes to King's book and delivered one of the greatest horror films ever made, but when King adapted it into a miniseries himself in 1997, one in which he stayed closer to the book, it turned into a complete disaster.

It just goes to show that sometimes filmmakers need to take a little artistic license to fix the flaws in a written work. It was quite true for "The Shining," and it's proven true once again here. It was an intriguing notion to try and adapt the novel more faithfully, but sadly all that Wright has ultimately done is help point out the weaknesses of the original material. At least we'll always have the 1987 classic, which, while it kind of becomes its own entity, still delivers a fun time and shows us a better direction this story should've gone.

Video/Audio:

This edition of "The Running Man" comes with the film on both 4K (2160p, UHD) and Blu-ray (1080p, HD) in 2.39:1 transfers of outstanding quality. The picture is beautifully sharp & clear throughout the film's entire 133-minute runtime, perfectly highlighting its multitude of action sequences & intriguing production design. Likewise, the Dolby Atmos audio tracks are marvelous, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in excellent quality. Overall, Paramount has done a wonderful job in both departments for the film's physical debut.

Special Features:

Commentary by Writer/Director Edgar Wright, Actor Glen Powell, and Writer Michael Bacall

The Hunt Begins (12 Minutes)

The Hunters and the Hunted (17 Minutes)

Welcome to The Running Man: Designing the World (17 Minutes)

Surviving the Game: Shooting The Running Man (29 Minutes)

The Running Man Commercials (5 Commercials, 2 Minutes)

The Running Man Show (3 Sequences, 4 Minutes)

The Runners - Self Tapes (6 Sequences, 15 Minutes)

Other Network Shows (2 Sequences)

The Apostle (2 Sequences, 4 Minutes)

Stunts Compilation (2 Minutes)

Hair, Make-Up, and Costume Test (26 Minutes)

Deleted and Extended Scenes (12 Sequences, 11 Minutes)

The film comes with a multitude of extras, including a commentary and over two hours of featurettes. Several of them are rather superfluous bits that are found in the film itself, but there are several others that are rather informative behind-the-scenes looks at the making of the film, delving into areas such as how it came about, the characters, the production design, and more. Overall, there's plenty of great material here for fans who want to learn more about Wright's remake.

Conclusion:

Edgar Wright's "The Running Man" tries its best to thrill its audience while delivering a more faithful adaptation of Stephen King's novel, but thanks to a rather repetitive structure and a somewhat bland leading performance from Glen Powell, the result is a closer iteration of the book that proves how taking a bit of artistic license with the source material can be a good thing, as evident by the superior original 1987 cult classic.

Score: 2.5/5

Available on 4K/Blu-ray Steelbook starting tomorrow.

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