The Running Man / Paul's Pretty Punctual Party 2: P STORM (Guest: Chris Olds)

Chris Olds (@panther_gold) came walking, jogging, RUNNING back to give his 2 cents on “The Running Man” (1987 Dir. Paul Michael Glazer) your episode poll winner for “Paul’s Pretty Punctual Party - PSTORM.” Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Conchita Alonso, and Yaphet Kotto. America 2017 is now a fascist state with $6 dollar sodas, TV networks taking kids out of schools, food rioting, and our only hope? You guessed it MICK FLEETWOOD as MICK FLEETWOOD. This, and the greatest villain casting EVER for the remake. Being today is @paulactsbadly birthday, we don’t wanna be too punctual, so join us Wednesday. “LET’S START THE FEUD!”

Recorded 7/24
1hr 55mins

**All episodes contain explicit language**
Artwork - Ben McFadden
Review Review Intro/Outro Theme - Jamie Henwood
"What Are We Watching" & "Whatcha been up to?" Themes - Matthew Fosket
"Fun Facts" Theme - Chris Olds/Paul Root
Lead-Ins Edited/Conceptualized by - Ben McFadden
Produced by - Ben McFadden & Paul Root
Concept - Paul Root

Transcript

Dasher, dancer, Prancer, vixen, comma, Cupid, Donna, Blitzen. Wow. You just won the Running Man home game. Welcome everyone to the review review. This is Ben's big blockbuster bonanza summer.

Woah. Woah. Woah. Woah. Woah.

Woah. It is and it isn't. Okay. This is not a summer release. Oh, right.

This was a poll. Yes. For Paul's pretty punctual party too. Pee storm. Because that's just what happened.

There's a pee storm. So it's like Ben's big blockbuster Bonanza birthday party for Woah. Pretty punctually. Pretty punctual pal. Wow.

And Chris Olds has come back for something. Once more. I've just been I've been dying to say it since the first time I heard it. Peace storm. This is Peace store.

Thanks for coming back. And for Paul's birthday Yeah. Happy birthday, Paul. Thank you so much. Clink clank.

Truly clank. Cheers. Cheers. Chinchin chinchin. This is a movie podcast where we have a guest.

That guest will bring us a movie that's usually around 7 years old, and then they wanna take a different look at it and see if it's still as great as it once was or as bad as it once was. We rewatch it. We come together. We discuss. We figure out if our rankings have changed.

But this one's different because it was a poll for Paul's punctual party. Peace storm. Peace storm. And And I got to pick He did. A pal that was here.

Pal. And Chris Olds is back. And I wanna ask, well, do we just say the movie? Because I don't think we've said it. I know.

We haven't said it. It's the running man running up to you on the screen here. Boy, this is me. I was trying to Yeah. Yeah.

And this is me on the screen here writing down the camera. Tales from the crypt demon knight, which had some juice. Well, Billy has a strong campaign. I thought that's really what the pull was. That it was a it was a a the Zane gang.

Billy Zanes. Yeah. The Zaniacs, they call themselves. Yep. Absolutely.

We got a big Zane following on this. That's good. We maybe we gotta have you back for a Zane. I'll do a Zane? Yes.

Are you a self are you a self described Zaniac? I'm not a zaniac. I'm probably zaniac adjacent. Like, you have zani. You know?

I appreciate it. Not a zaniac. I appreciate the career Yeah. Of 1 Billy Zane. Yeah.

Have we all seen a lot of crazy shit, a lot of weird shit. I like I like it. Projects. Yeah. You know?

Have you all seen the images of his new movie where he's, Brando? Where he's playing Brando? He looks amazing. It's wild. Is this his own Brando movie?

I believe so. Oh, fuck. It's like India. Yeah. It's he him producing or indie of some sort.

He looks so much like Brando. It's wild. It's wild. Yeah. It, it's shocking.

Look that up, people. But, Chris, I gotta ask while we're here. Yeah. What you've been doing? What have I been doing?

I took a trip to England, hung out with, mom's Cool. Small side of the family. Yeah. Yep. My sister and I went over.

It's my mom's 75th birthday, and, she went for the month of June. We went over for, like, the last few days, and then me and my sister spent a few days just on our own in London kicking it, which was fun. Siblings. Kicking it, Gov. I love you.

What part of England? The family lives in Banbury, which is about an hour and a half outside of London. Interesting. My flight was delayed by an entire day. Oh, wow.

And so I was not able to get picked up at the airport. I had to rent a car. I very specifically chose a stick shift because I like fun. Hell yeah. And I had a great time driving around in England by myself.

Your flight was delayed from here? From LA or from My sister and I my sister going from New York and me from LA, we were supposed to land at Heathrow within 10 minutes of each other, and our uncle was picking us up. And he had taken the day off of work, and then he could not get the next day off on such short notice. Sure. You know, it was just a good time to see my uncle.

We're, like, long time homies. Yeah. He came over and stayed in my room with me when he lived with us when I was about 6. That was great. It was great hanging out with me with my dear old mom and her, like, childhood best friend who have this great story that I'm not gonna go into in great detail right now.

But, when they were 14, they went to see Tom Jones. And At that age, it's not unusual. Through, like, At that time. Through this weird, just kind of, like, right place, wrong time situation. My mom ended up in the van with Tom Jones in the van after, like, a crowd rushed the stage and my mom, like, got out of the way of getting hurt, she ends up in this van.

Tom Jones leads over and kisses her. She, is repulsed and pushes him off and punches him in the face. Woah. And goes to the party where he's afraid to look her in the eye for the rest of the night. Well, sure.

Wow. That's that's a fucking awesome anecdote. Sometimes it is unusual. That is unusual, Tom. You can't just you just can't just push yourself in any Her doing what she did, not unusual.

That's great. Yeah. Everything about what he did. Actually, it is, buddy. Yeah.

Yeah. Kind of unusual. So hearing them, like, laugh about that was pretty awesome. He's no shit. That's awesome.

No. He's still around, I believe. And then, yeah, we just kinda, like, kicked it. Went down to London, went and got some dinner in, like, a really expensive place that the algorithm was like, you're a foodie. You're in London.

Go eat here. And, we did, and I had a dessert. They gave me, like, a full on, like, tear in the eye ratatouille moment. Woah. Yeah.

That was pretty cool. They have, like, edible gold on it and just this, like, upscale version of a candy bar that people used to give me when I was a little kid when they would come over and visit. Okay. Did a rat make it? Yeah.

Oh. Yeah. Everybody in the restaurant like a London rat. Like a classy rat. Being steered by.

By a different vermin? Yeah. Yeah. There may have been a capybara in there. Yeah.

Where are we? Do you know where do you know where England is? Ben, how are you doing? What have you been doing? What have I been doing?

When I believe this recording will come about, I will be just about to film my short film. Nice. Yeah. So, yeah, rough ways. I think at this point, our campaign will have ended and hopefully, we have made our money so we can actually shoot it.

It's a it's a small, tense, sort of slow burn western set around a campfire with, 3 outlaws, and, we get to kinda follow the journey of this kid as he chooses what life he's going to have. So that's what I've been doing. I've been doing a lot of deep diving in my scripts and sort of just trying to nail down all my shots. Oh, I should say and you just reminded me. I I I went to my first a wrap party.

I was in a movie recently. I shot I got a I booked a small part in, like, a little horror movie, which after I did my thing, I found out Leslie Ann Warren is is gonna be in this movie, and Jake Busey is in this movie. Oh, cool. Swiley. Yeah.

I have not Leslie Ann Warren. But, yeah, I went to a wrap party that was interesting. You know? Yeah. Like a bunch of weird, carefully manicured LA people Oh, yeah.

In in various ways, like the beautiful people and then, like, the weirdos. Big bomb. Oh, sure. Yeah. Which who are maybe even more carefully manicured.

Yeah. Yeah. In a lot of cases. What about you, Paul? I have finally been making good on outlining, working on a project that I've been thinking about talking about for a long time that hasn't just been, like, rewriting the thing I've had in a pipe line forever.

So that's been kinda cool. Scary, but cool. Fun, but, you know, scary. Cap. Scary.

At the same time, I'm also wanting to get back into acting classes. So I'm, like, researching stuff and kind of, like, trying to figure that out. I always feel strongest when I'm in a Meisner Sanford Meisner approach situation. But also wanna kinda try Alexander technique, which for Sure. Folks who don't know, it's like a lot of that's kinda like touch and body language based and so on and so forth.

So, yeah, just kinda like considering options with what direction do I take this project, what direction do I take my learning and expansion of my skills from here? I'll say something that may or may not be helpful. Great. I think I think at a level Happy birthday to me. Yeah.

You're welcome. I feel like creating That's for me as well. Clams and noodles. Creating at any level Yeah. Put putting putting anything out, like, making deciding to, like, be, like, I'm going to make something is terrifying.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. And, every episode of this thing, I nearly have a heart attack. But I think that, like, it it should be. And I think that if it's it doesn't feel scary, then you're not risking anything.

I agree. To risk is to live. And so I'm terrified of my project. You know? I'm terrified of failure, but what the fuck else am I gonna do?

Sit here and wither and die? That's kinda where I'm at. I'm with you. I'm wondering if this is the time because it is it is Paul's birthday episode. Mhmm.

Does this feel like the time to give Paul a gift, or should it come later? I mean, I just got my first one from both of you. Good times and noodle sound. Was that you saying happy birthday and then us agreeing with you? No.

It was, Ben saying I'll tell you this whether it's good or bad, and I said happy birthday to me. And you said, that's from both of us. Yeah. Good times and noodle salad. Since gifts are already being given.

So we have 2 presents here for Paul. Okay. They are both from my brother, Derek McFadden, who is Legendary gift giver. Given Paul many a gift on this podcast, usually one that is not something fun. Okay.

We'll see what these are. Okay. Great. Before you hand it to me Yeah. Will you share what I guessed this might be?

You guessed it was the original novel written by Stephen King slash That was my and that it was from your brother. Yeah. Okay. Original novel of Running Man. So it might be the Richard Bachman Bachman.

Yeah. Book. But who knows? There's 2 of them here, and I know that he wrote something on those little tags. So It always has, like, nice rapping.

It's fucking Bezos, dude. That's that's like the Oh, yeah. Okay. Amazon. Happy birthday.

Open first from some guy. So these come from some guy? That's Alright, Paul is untying the black ribbon and peeling open the top of the bag, which has some also blue tissue paper, protruding from the top of it. I like the sound of that tissue paper. Correct.

It is. Very nice ASMR for for your listeners out there. What's happening there? So let's know. Now?

Oh, Paul is essentially putting his tongue in and out of his mouth as he reveals his book. One is Derek's book Oh, there you go. What death taught Terrence. It's a book written by my brother. Alright.

That he is gifting to Paul. Well, that's nice. There must be an inscription. Oh, is there? No.

But I'm gonna read, the inside of the jacket here, really quickly. At the end of his life, Terrence McDonald must discover its meaning or he'll be banished from the afterlife forever, and his soul will cease to exist. This sounds like a good version of what dreams may come. Join Terrence and those who love him on a poignant and unforgettable journey through a life at once wonderful and harrowing. Learn what Terence learned.

See what Terence sees by the this provocative story's end. Readers may even learn a thing or two about themselves. I realize now in hindsight hindsight that there wouldn't be an inscription because it's from Amazon. Because it came from Amazon. Yeah.

But you never know. Jeff Bezos might have mushroom stamped it or something. He might have. He called that the blue origin. These bags are blue, though.

Oh, and Derek McFadden's The Santa Claus Agreement Oh, well, there you go. As well. These are these are just him getting some free publicity. I know. This is great.

A holiday fable chock full of magic, whimsy, and heart. The Santa Claus agreement chronicles the adventures of a boy destined for a magical experience. I should have brought if I had known, I would have brought you a copy of my old man CD. You had a show last night. Right?

How'd that go? It was good. Yeah. I've been playing music with this guy named Eli Henry, and it's called Eli Henry and his very impressive friends. And he's pulled some really cool musicians around him, and I guess I'm lucky and enough to be one of them.

And so Right. Pulled me out of drumming retirement. Nice. Yeah. Yeah.

My first show with him was about 4 months ago. It was my first show in 12 years, my first show on drums in about 16. Wow. Yeah. And you but you're loving it.

Shook the rest off Yeah. Right away. Excellent. Yeah. Love to hear do that.

What I also would like to know from you Mhmm. What are you watching? I'm going to see Deadpool and Wolverine tomorrow. Nice. Oh, okay.

On Friday. 4 o'clock. Yeah. Okay. You gents are taking this very seriously.

I'm rewatching Arrested Development, which is just absolutely brilliant. Talking about that? We were just talking about it. Her? I'm dying for severance.

I wanna go see Long Lights. Oh, I went to see Quiet Place day 1. Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah.

Cried, like, 3 times. Loved it. It was so good. I love cats. I love cats.

I love Lupita Nyong'o. And that kid that kid is about to play Johnny Storm. Yep. Eddie Munson. I think that kid's got something.

Yeah. I didn't know that. I think that kid's gonna go places. I mean, I think he already is places. But Right.

Yeah. No. He might already be somewhere. Yeah. Yeah.

But, yes, I agree. Yeah. A quiet place I loved him in the strangest place. That's where he's at. Season 4, I was like, this guy's fucking charismatic as all hell and Yeah.

Has a lot of emotional truth within him. And The Quiet Place just kinda, like, sealed the deal for me. I was like, fuck yeah. Let's see this guy play Johnny Storm. Let's see it.

It was it was very emotionally powerful movie in a way that I did not expect. Mhmm. And also I love how they kind of, like, shifted the what the characters have to figure out to get around the situation Mhmm. To deal with the situation had to, by nature, be different than what they did in the first two. Oh, okay.

Yeah. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. So I thought that was pretty cool as well.

It's my shortlist right now. Paul, it's your birthday. You go next. Me. You know, we just recorded throw out all the fucking rules 2 new episode for twisters, twister dollar sign.

Our guest, Sarah Coates, was like, fucking Top Gun Maverick. I watch it, like, multiple times a year since it's come out. And I was like, what an odd thing to say. And I, you know, quasi watched it, the first one, in the last couple days. I was like, yeah.

You know, pretty ironclad. Like, it's top gun. Like, whatever. I know what this is. And went into the second one, and what it's only the second time I've ever seen it.

It was really taken aback yet again by how good it was. It's a great movie. Like, like, at the theater and then, you know, now a couple years removed where it's just like, this is Star Wars, A New Hope if Obi Wan were like, I I got this kid. Like, I I can still do this whole thing. Yeah.

And you're talking about Top Gun Maverick. Yes. Hilarious thing happened with my friend where we went to see Top Gun Maverick and I don't know. Spoiler alert for this movie that everybody's seen. It's gonna be $10,000,000,000.

Him and Miles Teller are in 2 different planes, and they he ejects. Uh-huh. And he lands in, like, a snow field and then an attack for the 3rd act. Comes a talk attack helicopter's coming after him, and he runs and he jumps over a log. And as it lines up on him, it's about to shoot him.

A missile comes in from off screen and destroys LA. Miles Teller is still out there. Right? Great stuff. Me and my friend left that theater, and she said, where did he get that rocket launcher from?

And I said, what are you talking about? And she's like, yeah. Like, he was, like, hiding behind that log, and then he pulled out a rocket launcher and shot that helicopter. And I'm like, what happens in your head? Like a Mandela effect.

It was so and we had to wait For it to come out. Months for it to come out. And then I Yeah. I paid to rent it just to fast forward to that scene so we could get through this. I pals, it's on Paramount plus peace storm.

Peace storm. Peace storm. Just for you. But I really I really fucking enjoyed the shit out of that movie. Like, what a what a fun romp.

And my biggest thing takeaway from the theater experience from that movie is I have the usual thing where, like, my nineties mom shows up in her spangly suit and is like, we come here for pleasure and sand and whatever. And I'm like, okay. Cool. And then my nineties dad who broke up, mom and dad broke up, and it's also like, hey. Thanks for coming to the movies.

And I'm like, wow. I've never felt I feel better that these fake ninety celebrity parents are welcoming me back to the movies than even if my own parents had gotten back together. How nice is this? I I I prefer the one that's just the dude that looks like a thumb in a vest. He's like, welcome to the movies.

Vin Diesel did a thing for Yeah. Oh. You don't remember you don't remember the Vin Diesel one? No. You just said thumb in a vest.

So That is incredible. I have no idea what you're talking about. Vin Diesel, thumb in a vest. You say thumb, and I think either big hit or Gino. No.

He what? He looks like one of the henchmen from from Spy Kids. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

The the finger hench the fingerman. Is that what you've been watching, Spy Kids? Rewatching Spy Kids? No. I'll never watch that movie again.

What I rewatched though, I did rewatch, Deadpool and Deadpool 2. Oh, yeah. To prepare for Deadpool and Wolverine. Mhmm. And those movies are great.

They're great. I just I think Ryan Reynolds I don't know what what point where where he became Deadpool or Deadpool became him and, like, that just is not who he is now. But I know, like, the comic book at one point referenced he looked like Ryan Reynolds in the comic book before they ever got to casting Deadpool. I think it was Blade Trinity where they kinda, like, got the idea of casting Ryan Reynolds. Oh, and it was Hannibal Kane or whatever?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I just think they're so much fun in a world of fucking, you know, oversaturated with comic book movies. It like, why the fuck not have a character that's just, like, constantly roasting the genre?

Mhmm. That was so needed. Yeah. Like, so needed where it's like, we all realize and acknowledge this is all really fucking silly. Right?

It would Last Action Hero was that for eighties action movies. When eighties action movies just got way too into themselves and shit. Blazing status. Hero Exactly. Last action battles.

Another but those movies just took the wind out of the sails of those things that were, like, that tire had been treaded too many times. Yeah. And I think Deadpool 2 was so successful at just really shifting the way that things were gonna like, not the Guardians didn't help or whatever, but just, like, like, kinda being, like, this is all kinda dumb. Like, it's just dumb and fun. The action sequences are so great.

You know, they're always so well choreographed and crafted, and I'm I'm music. Music's great. Great music. And all the little, like, side character, are great. And I will say that the first Deadpool gave me something I didn't realize I was missing in that.

That first Deadpool movie is the best colossus movie. Yeah. Yeah. What totally. We because colossus in the x men movies is not really present.

He's not even a side chair. Such a bummer. Yeah. And then they do this where he's, like, the main he's, like, the second he's, like, the second billing on that movie. Yeah.

God. And the CG just gets better in the second one too with them. And I can't wait to see it's also the best, Juggernaut movie, the second one because it's better than Oh, the Juggernaut, bitch. What is it? What?

I recently did actually rewatch all of the X men movies Oh, boy. Because I had been in That sounds tough. I've been in X men 97, and I wanted to, like, keep it keep it going. Oh, that I watched recently. That's excellent.

It's fucking great. 7. Yeah. Oh, yeah. That show's fantastic.

Magneto give anyone else Denethor from Lord of the Rings vibes? Oh, yeah. Sure. Woah. Yeah.

Right? I now, yes. Looks just like them. Yeah. Because I was just like them.

The rumor being that I've heard is that in this new Marvel X Men lineup, they wanna go with the cartoon lineup. They should. And so I don't know what that means. There's no best contemporary example. It's the most relevant example with, like, most of society.

Yeah. So I'm, like, I'm excited for this movie for many reasons because I've been feel like burnt by the Marvel MCU the last couple of go arounds, in some way. Disappointed maybe. Sure. And I'm I'm excited.

Not mad. Just disappointed. I'm not mad. Just disappointed. That's worse.

Anyway, that's me. Well, maybe we should move on. Could we talk about the running man for your birthday, Paul? Okay. Let's do it.

Okay. Archaeology is the search for facts. I, I'll I'll tell you this for free. This part says Paul. That's a p.

Interesting. P storm. P storm. P storm. We watched The Running Man.

This is a Taft, Bearish, Sony Tri Star, which now is distributed at least by Paramount because my steel book was from Paramount. This is rated r, restricted. You have to be a grown up adult. 1987. 1 hour and 41 minutes.

The budget on this film was 27,000,000 at that point in time. At this point in time, it would be 74 4 70 whores? Cloud assless? $74,600,000. Opening weekend was November 15th.

It's a birthday episode. It's a poll episode. It's a pee episode. Blockbuster Bonanza. It's outside of the summer.

In 1987, it made $8,100,000. That is $22,400,000 adjusted final gross in North America and worldwide were 38,100,000. That's $105,300,000 adjusted. So it did you know, made a lot of money. Other releases this date is something that someone made up called cross my heart.

Weekend top 5, this film which broke a pretty fucking crazy streak for a movie called Fatal Attraction. Oh, sure. Hello again, baby boom and not witness, not The Fugitive, not so many things, but suspect or as I call it, Bobo Witness. I don't care. Top 5 films this year, Beverly Hills Cop 2, Platoon, Fatal Attraction, The Untouchables, 3 Men and a Baby.

Other films from 1987, La Bamba, The Living Daylight starring Benjamin's friend and arguably my favorite Bond, sir Timothy Dalton, Mannequin, Blind Date, The Lost Boys, Eddie Murphy Raw, Jaws the revenge, and Clive Barker's Hellraiser based on his novel, The Hellbound Heart. I saw every single one of those movies in the theater that year. That's everything I just said Except cross the one you made up. Cross with a heart. Yeah.

That's the who that's I don't know what that is. I don't care about that. Every single other thing I saw in the theater. Rated r, not allowed without parent or guardian. Man, my parents took me to all of that shit.

That's awesome. How was how do you remember the experience of Eddie Murphy Raw at all? Yeah. It's one of the he's wearing, like, a leather suit on stage doing Look. That shit does not age well.

There's a lot of shit that doesn't age well, but that shit was also very funny at the time. Oh, god. Yes. Yeah. I mean, we all told the jokes to each other at school.

You know? Yeah. That would have been wild to see in the theater just like a stand up comedy movie from, like, a POV, like, or whatever as well as just concert film. The subject matter. Yeah.

Any stand ups in the theater? Like, stand up movies? I never have you I've seen concert films in the theater. It's like I've seen stop stop making sense in the theater. And but, yeah, I don't think I've ever seen a stand up movie in the theater.

This came out on 15th. I just turned 10. Wow. Yeah. That's seems wildly impressive.

That you remember that. For a 10 year old. No. It is. But that's the God.

Yes. That was the world, man. 1987. Like Go go do something. Go see a Star Wars.

Come on. We're going to the theater. We're not leaving you home alone. Letterboxd average on this phone is 3.2. You can follow us on Letterboxd.

Matt run b m c. I'm atpaulactsbadly. Panther_gold on Instagram. One of the great I've said it before. I'll say it again.

One of the great handles. Thank you. Siskel and Ebert, they split on this one. Ebert gives it the up. He gave it 2a half, almost a 3 on his, his personal Okay.

Is that out of 5 for him? 4. Oh, okay. Rotten Tomatoes, 67. Metacritic, 45.

Major award wins and noms, I will preface. This is a genre movie. I'm going to go over genre movie type awards that matter for fantasy and genre movies, which includes the Saturn Awards. This movie was nominated for best picture, best costumes, and holy shit, best supporting actor for 1 Dick Dawson, Dickie Dawson, Richard Lawson as Damon Killian. From Family Feud.

Okay. Series. Sir, Family Feud for me. Not exactly a lightweight. You fucking hate.

He kissed a lot of ladies without permission. Yes. Very true. He's a little bit more like this character than I think. Oh, man.

He's not acting. I think he genuinely talks to people the way that he talked to people. I I I believe that's true. That's a rumor that he was just kind of pretty shitty. Yeah.

Director was Paul Michael Glaser, The Cutting Edge, The Air Up There, and Kazaam! Exclamation point. Writer, Steven e D'Souza, Street Fighter, 1994, and Die Hard, Stephen King as Richard Bachman did the novella. I have a quick question for Chris. Have we ever asked you on this program Program.

Die Hard or Die Hard with a vengeance? What is the question? Which do you prefer? Which one is with a vengeance? 2nd Sam Jackson, 3rd one.

3rd one. I'm gonna have to go with first just because Alright. You don't have to go on. You can. You don't remember the 3rd one.

Because I don't remember the 3rd one very much. Great. I had to ask you which one it was, so obviously Yeah. Yeah. No.

You're right. Fair enough. Director Spinner. Hole. Hole.

Hole. That is legend. Director of photography, Thomas Del Ruth, Stand by Me, the Mighty Ducks, Cuffs, music, Harold, Faltermeyer, Fletch, Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun, and Top Gun Maverick. Producers, Keith Barish, the Monster Squad, The Fugitive, and Rob Cohen. Her.

It's not true. Heist. Bullshit. I did not hit her. I did not hit her.

I did not hit her. I did not hit her. This stars a little known actor known as Arnie Schwarzenegger. Plays Richards. He was in commando, Hercules in New York, and junior, Maria Camacho.

I did not. With the pegasus running to the screen here? Maria Conchita Alonzo, which is a great name, plays Amber, Predator 2 Colors Fear City. Richard Dawson, RIP, plays Killian. It's Family Feud.

They need stuff for levy. Do you think if they made this now, it would be Steve Harvey in this part? Oh my god. Oh my god. They are remaking this, which we didn't Yeah.

With the you made. Glenn Powell. Right? Glenn Powell. Yeah.

Steve Harvey. They could do Drew Carey would be good for this. It's Ryan Seacrest, Jane Lynch. I think just this the idea of Steve Harvey makes me very happy. The idea of Steve Harvey funnyest thing.

It's so good. Brady. So you'd go out in the crowd. Steve Harvey got in the crowd, and then that old lady would be like, he's a bad motherfucker. And she'd be like, he'd just drop the microphone and walk around.

I love watching clips from Family Feud where someone says something, and Steve Harvey's like, why'd you say that? Like, he's just seeing like, he's so so tired. Yaffe Cotto, RIP, plays Lofland. Alien, midnight run, and Freddy's dead, the final nightmare. Alien or aliens, Chris?

It's this is the same as the Terminator t two argument. You need the first one to get to the second one. One. But? I feel like there's a but.

I don't know. I love them both. It's my birthday episode. I need this. I love them both equally.

Just say the second one. The second one is better, marginally. Oh. Oh my god. Paul just came a little bit.

Jesse Ventura. The body or the mind? I don't know. The soul. The soul.

The the governor. Captain Freedom. Predator, Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe, Ricochet. Jim Brown, RIP plays Fireball, Mars Attack, small soldiers, he got game. Irland Van Litt, r I p plays Dynamo, stir crazy, alone in the dark 1982, the wanderers, and professor Tora Tanaka, r I p plays sub 0.

Darkman, last action hero, and 3 ninjas. Can I throw one more name in here real quick? Please do. I went through your sheet to make sure. I have a feeling I know which one you're gonna give.

I, would love to who do you think I'm gonna say? Mc Fleetwood. No. Although Mc Fleetwood and Dweezil Zappa are in Dweezil Zappa. Okay.

I'm gonna say Roger Bumpass is the voice over guy for all the commercials. Yes. He is the voice of Squidward. Oh, shit. Oh, wow.

Yeah. Yeah. The voice of Squidward is doing all the commercial, all, like, the intro non Dawson shit. Yeah. Yeah.

And his and his last name is is is b u m p a s s. Bump that. Pull up to the bumper, baby. How does he not market more? Like, he should have he should have a fucking energy drink.

He should have a hip hop album. He should have, A blues album, a country album. He should have a pop album. He should have just bump ass best of bump ass 2 2024. Yeah.

Yeah. Covers all genres. You got some fun facts. And I don't know if you know this, but it's your You're leading into you right now. You have a theme here where you sing.

You're leading into you. Fun facts. Fun facts. I'm inside me. Fun facts.

Fun facts, everybody. It's fun fact time. Time. I can take my glasses off. No cheaters.

Okay. Okay, bad boy. So director Paul Michael Glaser played detective Dave Starsky on the raw on the long running TV show Starsky and Hutch. And came in after Andrew Davis from The Fugitive was fired cheer. After a week of production.

My pleasure. Was primarily hired to get the movie, which is running behind, back on schedule, which he did. Attaboy. Way to go. When he was running for governator, Schwarzenegger named his campaign after this film, The Running Man.

He also when they Oh. When they were trying to have a recall election, it was called Total Recall. Well, this is me, Alex Schwarzenegger. Yeah. And this is me on the screen here riding towards the camera.

I hate that so much. The look on of disgust at Chris' face. This film inspired TV's American Gladiators 1989 as well as the plot and settings of the Williams arcade game Smash TV 90. I did love that game. Me too.

Fleetwood mad front man, Mick Fleetwood, plays a character named Mick in this movie. It's rumored he's literally playing his future self. Additionally, Dweezil Zappa is playing someone named as a reference to his co person in that band, Stevie. Oh. Stevie Nicks.

Yeah. Just in case you didn't Stevie Nicks. Before producers decided on Arnold in the role of Ben Richards, they considered Dolph Lundgren, Christopher Reeve, and Patrick Swayze. The only thing that's missing is your ass. Wow.

Also the guy the big bodyguard, Dawson's bodyguard Sven Sven Othorson? Is Schwarzenegger's stunt man from Conan. And they were together in red heat. I think they're like they're like workout buddies or whatever. Our Arnold always takes care of of the homies.

I'm surprised that the title of this movie didn't come down some pipeline and Tom Cruise didn't kill everybody around to get involved with it. I think someone someone was telling me that he had to, like, change the way he runs because he used to run, like, goofy. I don't think he had his run down. Oh, wow. Interesting.

So it hasn't fixed it yet. Like, how he writes Still hasn't fixed it. How he does snowboarding? He rides goof he runs goofy? No.

Like, he looks weird in folklore. To look weird when he ran. Now he but he's still to. He he, like, saws the air in a way now that still feels I feel like he's still figuring it out. This is the fixed that's what I'm saying.

This is the fixed version. He's it's still a work in progress. I guess he used to look This is better. I guess he used to look like excited Kermit the Frog or something. He runs like Jack Sparrow.

Francis. He just Francis. First. Oh, p word. Storm.

Chris. Yes. Now the really unpleasant part. Okay. Do you remember?

You are one of our most offed guests now, by the way, which, like, makes me so happy. 3rd time 3rd time, 3rd time, 3rd time, 3rd time 1st club. Yeah, dude. Trifecta club. Thank you.

So You get a robe and everything. Line. Do you know it? Can you give me your version? Oh, I'd give you a thing.

It's not something that I'm supposed to read. No. Wouldn't that be nice? It's a it's a 3 to 6 sentence pitch for this movie. This is one of the longer ones that we have, had on the program.

Am I making something up right now? Yeah. Your version, if you and I are in an elevator, sell me this movie. Okay. Shit.

What is the guy's name in this movie? Richards. Richards. Killing? Captain Richards?

I don't Steve Richards. Ben Richards. Ben Richards. Yeah. That's my name.

What's your name, dude? Ben dick. Ben Richards is a cop framed for a crime he didn't commit. To clear his name, he's got to get through the gauntlet of America's top TV show, The Running Man, rated r. That's that's so solid.

Yeah. That's very will you shake my hand? That was really good. In a dystopian America, a falsely convicted policeman gets his shot at freedom when he must forcibly participate in a TV game show where convicts runners, must battle killers for their freedom. Damn close.

If not, like, slight improvement in points. Maybe I'm nuts. Either way, this episode it's brought to you by peace storm. Peace storm. Peace storm.

There's no question about that. Go on outside, grab an umbrella or a bowl depending on what you're into. Peace storm. It's gonna be a peace storm. Thanks so much.

Stay tuned. What an odd thing to say. Patriots, Proletarius, the pepper and the pasty with a pee storm as we participate, so we must posthaste. This episode of of the review review is brought to you by the review review and p storm. Get an umbrella or a bowl if that's your thing and pour on the power of pals pooping about movies on a podcast.

Follow us at the review x two podcast on Instagram and betterbox at run bmc and at paulxbadly. Paul acts badly. There's a bee in too many pees. They're about to pounce. Pounce.

Pounce for me to protection. Why this is me, Arnold Schwarzenegger? And this is me on the screen here riding towards the camera. Well, we all just came inside from the peace story. That was gross.

We all just came inside. I didn't mind it. Oh, I took my raincoat off. Jingle jingle. I opened my mouth a little bit.

I opened my eyes. So so the for the so everyone can come inside from the pee storm. This podcast has gotten reprehensible. What? You're not into, like, peas?

You don't like peas? Oh, peas, like frozen peas. What are you thinking? Yeah. I like dogs.

Fuck what are you thinking, sicko? It's peas torg. It's an old Swedish burger for castle. I knew that. Yeah.

Yeah. I come on. DC is a favorite. Nice to meet you. Clearly.

Oh, yeah. We're back with me. Everybody knows what we do here. We are gonna play around Okay. Of cinephile to determine the talking order of our young first in life experiences of the running main and as well our most current up to date experience before the discussion.

The card I am drawing. Is this your card? This is my card. How did you do that? I don't know.

George Clooney. Okay. Excellent picture of him depicted as, disheveled and consternated. What's the movie? O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Okay. He's in the process of saying, this place is a geographical oddity. 2 weeks from everywhere, Polly? Oceans 11. Oceans 12.

The American. Oceans 13. No. It was right there. I just had it, and it slipped out of my head.

It's counting down. Clock is I'm just gonna take it. I had another one and I just lost it. Woah. 3 kings, suburban con out of sight.

It was 3 kings. Ah, we got them, Chris. It threw me The Medus tear goats. Yeah. It threw me that you didn't go Don't have to read it.

It threw me that you didn't go to Ocean 13 and then settle Return of Killer Tomatoes. Return of the Killer Tomatoes. The Descendants. That movie is excellent. I've not seen it since I was a kid.

Okay. I don't care if you watch the first one. I don't remember the first one. I randomly watched Batman and Robin? I randomly watched the sequel, the killer tomato sequel, revenge of the killer tomatoes movie.

Clooney's in it with his mullet. That movie is very funny on purpose on purpose. And at one point, they break the 4th wall. They're like, hey. We've ran out of money, and they have to get sponsorships.

And there's a turning point in the movie where there's just this, like, Pepsi logos everywhere. I almost said Pepsi. What P storm. It was a pee storm. What's the name of the Sandra Bullock, Ocean's 11?

Ocean's 8. Great Muppet Caper. Same movie. Appearance in that too. Diddy.

I haven't seen I've seen Great Muppet Caper, but I haven't seen Ocean's 8. Big Charles Grodin fan? I Midnight Run? Clifford? Fuck yeah.

Yeah. Beethoven? Beef oven? Roll roll me over Chuck. Charles beef oven?

Midnight Run, though, is really, like, stressful. A masterpiece. Well, Ben Yeah. What was your first experience with Running Man, especially if this wasn't the first one? And what is your most up to date experience pre convo?

Pre convo, I watched this movie approximately 4 hours ago, and I had not seen it before that. Oh, I did not know this. I had never seen this movie in my life. I did not know this. I had, of course, heard of it, but I never seen it.

And I know it's your birthday, Paul. I did not like this movie. Yeah. Okay. Fair.

I did not enjoy this experience. I fell asleep at some point. I then had to rewind it and be like, wait, where the fuck did I fall asleep? And this was like 2:30 in the afternoon, so I had no excuse for why I fell asleep. That's nap time for me.

I guess that's true. Nap time for me. I felt like for me, there's a lot in this that I can get better from other movies in the same era. Particularly, like, a Paul Verhoeven movies is sort of what I was like I feel like those are better kind of, like, things. The reason I give it 2a half oh, I haven't said one of my scores.

Now we know. That's okay. The reason I give it 2a half fireballs is well, here's my real score. 2 and a half rollerballs because I feel like rollerball kind of is the original Free post dates this. Yeah.

Yeah. And kind of is the same kind of social commentary in some weird way even though that's more about sports. But I do think the social commentary in this is good, and that's why that gets a little half. And, like, there's things in this that it's ahead of its time, you know, like the, the deep fake stuff and, like, the the, like, changing the narrative and and the reality TV and stuff like that. I appreciate that.

I think I just I'm I'm not someone who's drawn to very campy eighties action. Right. Like, that's not necessarily my bag. And so, if I want something like this that I think is, like, better, I would go to total recall, to be honest. So that's me, 2 and a half rollerballs.

Chris? Me? It's you. I am freshly 10 years old as I previously stated. Mhmm.

This guy is on a meteoric rise. Yeah. Movies are not yet able to beat bad for me. Sure. I'm, like, right on that line, kind of.

Like, there's some stuff around that time that I'm just like, oh, wait. This is stupid. This wasn't great. I would say this was probably me and my friend that I watched this with were very cynical. Very cynical 10 year olds about movies and, like, Hollywood bullshit.

So, like, all of this stuff also because we went to see so many things like that, all of the violence, we were completely desensitized to it. Yeah. Stabbing a guy, violence, we were completely desensitized to it. Yeah. Stabbing the guy in the back with the pen, hilarious.

Mhmm. Chainsaws and all that kind of stuff. But then there was also this stuff where it's just like, I'm 10 years old. I could have made that dynamo costume. Yeah.

You know? Yeah. So I would say that I gave You know? Yeah. So I would say that I gave this I probably gave this a 3 fists that I'm going to ram into your stomach and rip up your goddamn spine.

That was I mean, that's just one of the great I forgot about that line. Anyway, there's other stuff in this movie that I have always remember like, I've always, like, existed in my mind but couldn't remember exactly what they were from. Yeah. That rewatching this, I'm like, oh my god. That's this.

Anyway, I won't get into that now. But, yeah, I'm gonna give it a 3 out of 5. Fists that I'm going to ram into your stomach and crush your goddamn spine. And that's how you feel now too. This with this most current viewing from today.

Should I say that now? Yeah. Yeah. Because we're gonna try to sway you one way or another. I would say that now actually, I'd go down.

I would go down. I would say today, I would give it, like, a 2 because it does fall flat in a bunch of places. I thought it was gonna be the lowest. It's pretty crappy. It's pretty it's it's really compared to the other stuff that he was doing at the time, like you said, commando Yeah.

Excellent. If you've never seen commando, I recommend it. Yeah. Although, I don't know what I would think about it now. That's like the peak of eighties excess action movies.

Just ridiculous. And that's the like, that's it's it's crazy that it hit that apex. It has so many incredible, great over the top moments. Yeah. I mean, there's so many it again, predator, terminator Yeah.

Total recalls a few years later. But Red heat, raw deal. Just all those movies that you named, that year that came out are almost all better than this. Okay. And I remember feeling that.

I remember being like, as a young fledgling Arnold Schwarzenegger fan in a country that was just getting to know him, I was like, this is a this is a miss. Okay. And I still feel that way now. Like, there's some stupid ass shit in this. We've established this on this program before.

I have a little thing that I do on Letterboxd as well as on this program where I apply a heart to something where I'm like, this is not good. But I will recommend it to almost anybody I can if I have 3 minutes to provide context. It's like, I'm not gonna recommend video drum to somebody that I can provide 3 minutes of context. That takes 10 or 15 minutes, especially with a stranger to be like, I'm a safe and nice person. Mhmm.

I just like Videodrome. Sorry. With Running Man, it's a much softer blow. I saw this movie originally, got it at Hollywood Video, slumber party, homies were staying over for the weekend, rented various JCVD, Seagal, that kind of shit. Ben, as we've talked about, like, this can be my wheelhouse sometimes.

Right? Watching the movie as a kid, and definitely what Chris is saying is, like, it was hard to find things that were bad, I remember even as a kid, like, kind of not fully investing all my attention at points, like, doing other stuff. This was not a movie I revisited a whole lot Yeah. After I saw that the first time. I watched this movie about a year ago, and I watched it again today.

I definitely still apply the, this is not good, heart to the movie. When I was a kid, I don't know what I'd rate it because, again, not sure what's bad or good in terms of 1 to 5, but I'd put the heart on it when I was a kid. Now I give this the heart and 3 and a half court appointed television agents. I consider that this had a replacement director. It went through a script doctor.

This was as Chris was saying, this was, like, peak Arnold. Like, I smoke my stogie wherever the fuck I want. Like He's literally wearing a gold's gym. Like yeah. I like, fucking gold leotard.

Like, I'm the most macho fucking motherfucker that's ever walked the face of the earth. Eclipse the one liners. And he's automated dialogue replacement through almost this entire movie, and I don't really care. A lot of it's pretty spot on. Like, they've got it timed really well, and his ADR work is pretty solid.

I think the main thing for me, as Ben said, a movie came out the same year called robotic police officer, Robocop. Oh, that's a better name. And that movie is just so goddamn perfect, and I think running man aspires to be RoboCop without knowing it was. Sure. And, nope.

But in terms of this, like, genre, there's gamer and the hunger games and escape from LA and New York and Brazil and Fahrenheit 451 in 1984. I think this movie is as good or better than a lot of those movies in terms of entertainment value or execution. That's okay. And that and that's okay. I'm excited to have this conversation either way.

Like and that's the thing is, like, I'm ready to kinda be a punching bag to a degree with this movie because as I said, like, I don't think the movie is good. I'm just so massively entertained by it. And I do think some of the thematic stuff, Ben, that you were mentioning, like, really lands. The dystopian piece, the control based piece, a lot of that stuff. They're they're very laissez faire about it.

Like, so much dialogue just feels throw away even when it's not. Yeah. I think we should just start the movie. Let's start the movie. Let's start the movie.

Dark dumb movie. Dark dumb movie. Dark dumb movie. Dark dumb movie. And now, our feature presentation.

I think one of my biggest problems, honestly, is the beginning of this movie. Like You don't like that graphic? I like the graphic in the crawl, like, where it's like, this is the year, this is what's happening. Actually, that stuff, the, like, this is 2017, I believe was the year they said. 30, 30 something years in the future which is And like all of these things, there's a police state and reality TV.

I'm like oh yeah, that sounds like our world. Great. They got that right. Pretty good job. But I I think like we we don't get any real character development of Richards.

It's just immediately like, wait, what did you think you were fucking doing, bro? You're like, you thought that you were gonna be able to drive this helicopter for the fucking police state and then be like, nah, I'm not going with those those orders. Mhmm. Like, we don't see him being the boy scout. You need to have more of him being the boy scout to see him combat the system for it to really land.

You want the more of that exposition of, like, this is his first mission piloting or what it like, Selt like you want, like, that painted a little bit more. Like, it just feels too, like, random. It feels like that's the because that is him disagreeing with orders Right. Is the beginning. Like, that is the inciting incident.

Right? I mean No. It is. It's the whole reason the movie exists. It's because he won't kill those people.

Right. Right. And disobeying, thrown into the situation where he's just like, no. I'm not doing it. We don't know anything about this guy other than that.

Right. No. I agree. And then they knock him out and then they throw him in jail and then he's in jail and you're like, what is this place? Yeah.

I I I think the world building wasn't quite and the character development wasn't quite there for me. I don't disagree with you. There's a base level kind of, like, thing that works for me. It's almost like visceral of the I think the movie is relying on this guy doesn't wanna kill innocent people. He's not a bad person, and that's justification enough, which, again, like, it does feel a little lazy.

But, like, it says, like, 18 months later, and he's in this prison. And as he's breaking out, like, the motivation is, like, he doesn't want these other guys to die. He doesn't want this other guy's head to get blown up. Or he's just like he doesn't want people to needlessly die, and that seems to be his main disagreement with CADRE with the government. But, again, like, it's like very generous, Paul.

He he he he's pro he has been a party to this probably for many years. But that that's So what, like, what changed? She like, when I'm coming I guess, when I'm coming at the story, that's my You didn't let me finish, Chris. I'm sorry. And that but but exactly.

That's my question. Like, the most interesting thing is why it changed why like, he's already been in the military or whatever. Like, he knows. This guy's clearly in his thirties or forties and yeah. Like, he should we we we I wanna see the moment where he decides why why does he decide?

Why does he throw away his life as he knows it? Show me a flashback. Yeah. Some Give me some and I feel like that was my problem with the majority of this movie. It's, like, him and then his, like, pseudo love interest, I guess.

There's just, like, no real character. It was so Arnold. It was so just Arnold. Just macho. That we're just that we're just along for the ride.

And they were like, we don't need to give much character development because it's Arnold. I feel like you're raising the a really good point with this movie that I couldn't put my finger on before. And that's the 90% of the things that he does and other people do around him, especially her, you're left to go, well, it must be because of this. Yeah. You're putting the pieces together.

You're putting them together. Yeah. The prison escape, albeit kind of cool world building in terms of, like, these, like, sensors and the neck things. Like, that's that's cool world building. It's oppressive societal, weird, governmental shit.

Damn it. I hated how that guy kept punching in the correct code. And it just wouldn't go through. Work. We have to go outside.

And the head explosion is cool. Yeah. The they're these guys are all in prison now. Ben Richards is the butcher of Bakersfield. They say he killed 60 people in this helicopter.

He didn't. Also, what were they gonna do had he not rebelled in that moment? Who were they gonna scapegoat? Probably no one. But they would have still then killed a bunch of he was all Oh, yeah.

They have to scapegoat somebody. You're absolutely correct. I don't know. Did they send him up on that mission because they knew they'd be able to scapegoat him? That's a great story.

Let me hear that. A little bit more. We'll find out in the prequel. The trotting man. This is the walking man.

The speed walker. The running man is the perfect fucking movie to remake. It's a movie that has such a great concept Yeah. And is so flawed. And it's like, yes.

Remake this. Don't remake Robocop. That movie is perfect on almost every level. Mhmm. Remake Running Man.

It probably could use some polish. Let Stephen King get his due because he hated this movie. Well and, like, get him all the cocaine that he did in the eighties and more and get him involved directly. Although I do have to say there's a certain element of, like, thank you for not wasting my time. He did the thing.

Now he's in jail. They don't even I don't even think him and Yaffa Cuts to the chase. It runs to it Sure. Before the prison break happened. And I think one of the things that I do I felt like this movie was trying to get to in terms of world was a little bit like alien.

The world of alien. Alien, alien, aliens, alien 3, like, that prison world. There were things in this Oh. The computer stuff, some of the some of the graphics. I got some Johnny Mnemonic from it.

Sure. Yeah. But, like, I got the idea that this was a, like, there was a corporation that ran this world. Cadre, which is a group of informer powerful individuals. It's essentially another term for Illuminati.

Oh. But it's a Cadre Cola, which I think was, like, some sort of version of Coca Cola. I think there's $6 out of the vending machine. 6 bucks. I wrote that down.

Too. Also, the announcer pronounces it Cadre. Cadre Cola. Yeah. And you're right.

I mean, I don't pronounce it 3 different ways. I don't mind the the relationships that are from the prison that extend, like, those being truncated. I don't mind that stuff because it feels like these guys, they do a good enough job as performers that I believe that they've been through some shit. Mhmm. Yeah.

Especially Yafik Koda. He's He's great. That he didn't he wanna watch homicide? Yeah. The TV show?

Show. Yeah. That show's so fucking good. He's so good in that show. Watch homicide.

They're taking off the bomb, collars. It's got a nice, like Yeah. The perimeter at the prison, you can't run outside it. That's how they keep people in as an invisible sense. This like, they're they're starting to extend and expand on this world of it being, like, you have the oppressed and you have the oppressors.

It's you know, I think Hunger Games It's like the fugitive or probastic is like, we're gonna just put this on you. Yeah. I think Hunger Games takes it to the the fantasy level, and this This is maybe slightly more grounded than something like Hunger Games, honestly. Yeah. Well yeah.

Because it because Hunger Games is fantasy. Like, there's literal animals in that that are made up. I mean, like, everything about Dynamo is the height of realism and where I want humanity to go and evolve to I I wish I could It's dynamo. You mean little tanky. Do you think we could ever get to that point?

Plywood on it? I loved it. I don't think we could ever get to the level of dynamo. Loved it, and I loved that there was a guy wearing that costume that clearly was not him. Oh, yeah.

I absolutely. And when I was 10, I saw that, and I'm like, this movie sucks. This is dumb. But also, I wanna drive that thing. Of course.

That car looks so fun. In a helmet. My favorite thing is when movies are so obviously a stunt person. Yes. Have you seen when was the last time you watched The Phantom with Billy Zane?

Forever. I mean, it was the same around whenever it came out. There's a moment there's a moment in that where they jump off, like, they get on a seaplane and they get on the bottom and they jump onto a horse, and they go to this wide shot right in front of them. And all of a sudden, it's like Wesley Snipes, and you're like, what? There's supposed to be a woman like the woman who jumps on the horse, and it's and it, like, pans out.

And it's it's very clearly like a 60 year old man wearing a wing who jumps onto the horse. I mean, Spaceballs does this. They capture the stuntman. Oh, that's so good. I love Spaceballs.

Princess Vespa. Vespa. It's like a guy in the dress with a mustache. Yep. Perfect.

Richards escapes and he goes to his brother's apartment? To the current to the current actual world, the the, like, the the favelas, like, run down I got one. Like, society. And when when you hear over the loudspeaker, like, it's recruitment month, get double points for reporting a family member. I mean, that's that's some McCarthyism.

Right? When they're talking about, like, produced in part by the Department of Justice, the running man. You know? Well, it's McCarthyism, but it's also Iron Curtain Sure. You know, East Germany type shit.

Yeah. And 1984. I think I want more world building in this. I think, like, they do it really well in moments, and then other moments are just as, like, feels so normal. I don't know.

It it's so background exposition y, and I I agree with you where it's like it almost feels too laissez faire at times, like, through the movie where it's like, you guys are saying important shit. So this is one of the things I I'm not inspired to always listen. Yeah. That's one of the things that got me about when we have the helicopter scene, prison breakout, and then they go to whatever, like, this tent or something Yeah. That that Mick Fleet puts in.

Yeah. The network's taking kids out of schools, man. Yeah. Some incredible man makeup on on Mick Yeah. Playing Mick.

Skull it. Full skull it. He is he doesn't wanna take Arnold's collar off. Right. Yeah.

And it's at that point that somebody's like, yeah. This is the Butcher of Bakersfield. Mhmm. And I'm like, what are we supposed to know? Yeah.

What story is this? What do we have? What's going on right now? I remember that. They don't mention it till that point.

They don't mention it till that point. It's not clear what that means. Yeah. Oh, I could swear that it's something one of those moments in the movie where I'm like, oh, there oh, he's the scapegoat for that thing. I didn't realize that till Bakersfield.

I didn't realize that till later. They say that butchers of Bakersfield, and I was like, what? Wait. He killed people before that moment that we saw? And then they talk about it later that he's, like, the scapegoat of that moment.

And I'm like, oh, they don't really talk about it in before that. As we're talking about this, like, I could swear they have used that term or said something or something came up. But to what we were saying just before that, so much important shit or relevant shit is said in a way that it's like, I I probably don't need to pay attention to this. Mind you, I'm like It's I also did fall asleep at one point. Right.

So Well, I do wanna say one more thing about that scene specifically. This is my first, this is the first notes that I took. He's the butcher of Bakersfield. It was during that scene. No one had said it yet.

And he doesn't wanna take the collar off, especially because he's like, we should just let this guy die. He's seen too much. Right. Arnold replies, I've seen too much. All I've seen is a bunch of low foreheads who think they can change the world with dreams and talk.

Yeah. And you're not doing shit. And see, to me, that is it feels like a very obvious writer being like, oh, he's gotta have some sort of arc. Okay. I guess even though he did just we just saw him, like, give up his entire life to not kill someone, he's not gonna believe in this revolution.

Well, that's the yeah. That's the thing is is his main character arc is he's in it for self preservation and then he's not. And, like, what is the exact thing that flips that switch? Like, the death of strangers, I think, or, like, the the understanding of the fasc the fascism that is even in TV programming in this also. I don't know.

They're I don't know. His friends from jail. What yeah. The friends of these men that have died along the way. Yeah.

And then The dead and bloodied and dying along the way. Growing understanding of, like, oh, you know what? The revolution is a good way to take this down. Because if we expose this guy, I get what I want, and we get retribution for everyone else that's been fucked over by the system. Yeah.

Me, the runny men were the friends we made along the way. Along the way. That were left dead and bloodied and dying along the way. Mhmm. Because now because he goes to his brothers, and it's not his brother's house anymore.

No. I I gotta say too, like, we meet Killian for a moment, and immediately it's established he's a prick. He's the guy who hosts the Running Man TV show. Stretch limo. And it's a Maserati.

It is. Stretch limo. And and it's maroon and it's pretty fucking gorgeous. I do think and I'm biased because I really enjoyed reading the books, Hunger Games, but I I think Stanley Tucci who does this version in Hunger Games is just like it's just so much Dude, he's Stanley Tucci. I'm sure he's great.

He's the Tucci, man. I've never watched an actual full Hunger Games movie nor read a book. Any book, let alone They're great dystopian team What you did with these 2 you just got today? Oh, I'm gonna you know, I'm starting to feel motivated to get to the point where I can do it. Alright.

They're concerned. They're they're decent. I'm excited. They're fun, and I think the movies I don't doubt it. The first one, whatever.

But the second one actually does a decent job in my opinion. I don't doubt it. And you look at a lot of the people involved with the movies, you assume outside of it being a franchise that it's probably pretty solid, like, with the people that Yeah. Did it. But the thing this is one of the things that's so effective for me that I really fucking hate that it's like a throwaway.

Arnold comes back to an apartment that he believes is his brothers after he's escaped from prison. He's ducked with the government and all this shit. And he goes into this apartment, and it ends up that it's Maria Conchita, Alonzo, Amber's apartment. Mhmm. She's seeing this thing on the news, the Butcher of Bakersfield, Ben Richards, all this other stuff.

And very quickly, he's like, oh, where's my brother? And she's like, oh, I've lived here for a month. I heard the guy who was here saying. I'm sorry. What?

It's like he was taken away for reeducation, which is, like, the scary frontal lobotomy. Like, it's, like, there's not even a moment to trust Arnold to act that. I thought that we were gonna find the brother later. That's a pretty heavy deal. And her character, they don't let him act it at all.

Her character makes no sense to me, if I'm being completely honest. Because she's a composer at ICS and she took over his apartment. What what doesn't No. Her motivation to then start to, like I'm jumping ahead, but, like, to start looking around in this fucking television studio. This is the shit that they do in this movie that's just like you're supposed to get it through implication.

It's the $6 vending machine moment, which is by folks with that lady. Yeah. And the lady's like, oh, you're lucky he didn't rape you. Or better yet, could kill you and then rape you. I get that.

What could have stopped him? Totally. And then she realizes nothing would have stopped him. He didn't do it because he was telling the truth. Because he's not a bad person.

It's very It's all lies. It's very poorly acted. I I understand that, but she then is then putting herself in mortal danger Uh-huh. To go in the most, like, the most dangerous corporation television. I I don't I don't believe that that's enough motivation to do that.

How blind does she think she is? And that's the question that I have. And to the 2 of yours point, it's like the writing and the acting don't give me any idea of how blind she thinks she might be and how upset she is about it. Things are just kind of happening Yeah. To drive the story forward, which, like, I'm not mad about because this is a popcorn movie, but also, like, again, Robocop.

I I do love, like, when Richard Dawson now we're back with him with Killian. He's a fucking asshole. He's gotta have certain colors on his suits and all this shit. He hosts the running man. He came up with the concept, and this whole thing is about convicts getting their freedom if they can get through a gauntlet of murder.

And he is he's always on the phone in this movie with various important people. Right? And the very first thing he's like, let me give me the department of justice. No. Wait.

You know what? Give me the president's agent. Yeah. That line is says department ironclad to me. I dump my die.

Justice, the entertainment Entertainment division. Division. Which were all, like are we not on the cusp of shit like that? Yeah. They already have that.

The department of did you say justice? Yeah. I mean, like, the military has an entertainment. Any movie that shows US military is working with the US military. Absolutely.

For instance, we've talked about Top Gun a good amount on this episode. Yeah. The they the military consulted on those films, etcetera. Yeah. Like But they have they have a PR entertainment.

I I do wanna remember I I do remember now that there's a while he's, like, looking up potential Discriminations? Go on the show. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Runners.

The computer screen is slipping through all these different people. Yeah. And I've seen we've seen enough movies at this point to know that, like, those are probably, like, production. Those are probably, like, crew members. Randos.

Oh, yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. You know, like, Dave, let's get you in here and get you suited up for this picture. I'm gonna be in the movie, whatever.

There's a there's a criminal in there called, like, Babyface McFadden. Oh, buddy. It's literally like a 5 year old kid. It's just Ben. It's just I don't know if the name is I'm that's I hope it's McFadden.

I really hope it is. Pulling that out of the air. No. No. That's what it is.

Out of my ass. P storm. It's on the ass. Yeah. It's something like that.

But, yeah, it's just How'd you know what they called me in in college? This is tarnish. I watched the documentary. Yeah. The baby face with Fenton.

Yeah. There you go. The baby face with Fenton. I'll take over this place. My the makers, they're Stanzos.

They're good. They're not I'll get I'll get you with my little baby hands. So Arnold's plan to flee, when he's got Maria Conchita Alonzo and he scans the barcode Such a good name. He just rolled out the door. Talked about ladies, various people that we have crushes on and find attractive, Brendan Fraser, whatever.

I find Maria Conchita Alonzo so attractive. I mean, that's her whole point of this move in this movie. Yeah. She also has, like, a charisma that is, like, pretty fucking undeniable. Predator 2 also.

Like, she's just like a standout. She has a confidence that really carries over. Yeah. I mean, she's got it. She's, you know, she reminds me of a young, Eddie Munson.

Stranger Things. I've heard Stranger Things. She'd be great as a human torch. She would. I mean, according to me, apparently.

But the I also remember, like, she was in everything at the time. She was Yeah. Yeah. She was in so much, like she was a household name for me. Absolutely.

I mean, that was part of the like, oh, cool. She's in she's in she's doing an Arnold move. It's gonna be dope. Yeah. Well and, like, as you were saying, like, Arnold was on such a to me, this was the absolute peak Arnold.

Because when you go to total recall I think he's still going out. You're you're in a very I don't disagree with that. T 2 yet. But, like, you're you're in total recall, which is a Verhoeven movie. T 2, which is a James Cameron movie.

Last Action Hero, which is him, but it's a John McTiernan movie. And then all of a sudden, you're back in James Cameron land in True Lies and 6 Day and all this other stuff, which, like, this was the movie where it was, like, Arnold was not only crazy popular, but it's, like, directed by Paul Michael Glaser and, you know, etcetera, etcetera, where it's, like, you know, he has a million one liners and costumes and all this other shit where it's like, he was un my god. Touchable at this point. I think that's one Untouchable. I think that's one of my problems in the movie.

This was your same problem with last action hero where it's like, dude, Arnold, you are drinking your own juice too much. Like, you're you're you're peace storming yourself. I'm gonna take last action hero 10 times over this. I mean, like, this to me, I won't ever watch this movie again. It feels You're sure?

I'm sure. We'll see. This is the Arnold that everyone makes fun of. Yeah. As opposed to the Arnold that everybody loves.

It still feels self aware to me though. Like, to a degree, like no character. The character is Arnold. That's my big problem. It's like it doesn't feel like the Terminator.

It doesn't feel like the last action hero. I think I'm more concerned, driven by, inspired by the story, the police state, the situation with the government. Like, so like, Arnold is there and I know he's the star and all this other stuff, but the world around him is so rich and ridiculous and weird that I'm not necessarily concerned all the time about what's happening with Arnold. I'm just injure Ben, you were saying, like, you wanted more world building. I'm like, no.

This is as long as I wanna be here and as much as I wanna know. I don't I don't think I wanna know more. I want more No no Starship Troopers. I don't. Design.

I want more elements that get have care. That Adidas suit he has on with the diamond plate on his sleeves is pretty I mean, that design come on. This, like I never understand where they are in g geographically. Sometimes there's people watching them. Sometimes they're watching them on a screen.

It seems like They're always being watched. Right. But I don't under really understand. When he goes down the slide at the beginning, there's, like, a crowd standing on, like, some balcony overhead. Yeah.

Yeah. Foam foam fingers cheering, but then the rest of it And people There's no one there. Them. Yeah. There's no one there in this underground labyrinth with them, but there's all these people out on the streets, like, making bets on it and watching it on TV.

There's, like, that match shot when they first get to the city and they close the movie out with it too of all these, like, enormous buildings since the future of 2017. We never go there. If this play if this world is so shitty, who the fuck lives in there? Like, what goes on in those buildings? I wonder if it's, like, dread or whatever.

Like, it's the mega towers. I think that was my problem is, like, when once we go into the we can jump ahead. He's We we go through the airport where he doesn't kill Amber and the cops arrested and he gets brought under the running man in the show. But, like, when he goes They drug him to try to make him lose all this other shit. The land that he like, that area, it just feels like the same warehouse over and over again.

Like, every shot doesn't feel like I don't I agree. The environments don't really seem to change. I think that's one of my I'm like, I I wanna know more about this. Like, if you wanna show me more about this world, invest more on the designs and the production. Because then, like, even the villains, I'm like, wow.

These are, like, these are worse than wrestling villain. Like, these are worse than, like, where you go to, like, the local fucking dive bar wrestling costumes. This is where, like, I feel like there's a level of idiocracy that is happening here that's the best comp that I can make Sure. That is intentional that they're, like, by the way, in the future, everything's gonna be programmed. You're gonna fucking consume and digest it, and it's gonna be dumb and you're gonna be dumb.

And I do think that they're I agree with that. That's part of it. Intentional and it doesn't always land. I I don't disagree with that at all. It's again, like, for me, the problem with I don't understand the choices of things like it's the president's agent or now we're at the point where Ben Richards meets his corn appointed theatrical agent.

It's time to go on the running man. And now there's, like, a fucking dance break, and there are a bunch of these dance breaks going on for so long. In the movie Choreographed by Paula Abdul. Choreographed by fame American Idol and pop star for halftime at a Dallas Cowboys game, and it just kept going. And and I like the indulgence of it, but it also really bugs me.

It's like have y'all been to live tapings of TV shows, been to TV shows, been on TV shows? Normally, sums out somebody comes out and is like, where's your where are people from? Give me that. But I think, like, Dawson's character mentions that when he first comes out and greets the crowd, who do you love? You love me?

Blah blah blah. And then he's like he says something to whatever the guy's name, Phil Hilton. He's like Phil Fuller from the crowd. You were on a tear before we started taking. Yeah.

Oh, right. Right. Again, exposition that just is thrown away. I just think the and I think maybe this is a you know, it falls into the pitfall of being in the eighties and having a low budget. This whole introduction is supposed to be very fun and exciting and, like, look at all these women dancing and it it's just not Weird?

It's kinda weird. It just kinda goes on. Yeah. It acts as an interesting tool for I mean, the first act ends at the airport, right, when Richards gets caught in the net. Sure.

And, like, if the dance breaks or acting is act breaks, they're kinda weird. But now we have Richards who's he's being forced to be on this game show, The Running Man, where convicts compete to get off from their sentences or whatnot because he's escaping the prison. He's killed all these people, and he's gone full peace storm on of everyone he's ever seen. And he stabs the agent in the back with the pen. You can send the contract on my back.

Stabs him with pen, which is great. And this is when we see the Bakersfield situation re edit, which apparently happened exactly as it happened in the movie. There were camera like, yeah. Exactly. That like, that's my big, like, there were cameras, like, the same camera Recording all of them.

Is like a failure of so many I've seen this in so many movies. I can't remember them by name, but there are so many movies. The insider. Perfect example of eighties, cut the corners, get the fucking film done, get it out. It's too short.

Paul Michael Glaser catching up. Yeah. We need to show this thing. We don't have time to reshoot that. Use that footage again.

Just use that footage again. And so but at the same time, I guess you can make the argument, even though I don't want to, that you can get away with that because everything's on camera all the time. Right? Right. Yeah.

It's a police state. Recording the cops all the time. Except the Everybody records themselves now anyways. Yeah. We do have cameras in that helicopter taping the cops that are inside.

How predictive? All have body cams. We all have Yeah. Pros in our car. But you could've you could've given me that had you given that initial scene, the first scene, given those cameras, some sort of, I don't know, frame or something to make it seem like these are not the Establish them.

Camera, but they're like, what is the word I'm looking for? The key part missing from what you're asking for is that they don't fucking care. The movie makers don't give a shit. There is a level there is a level of this that clearly was Paul Michael Glazer being like, oh, yeah. I can catch up.

We can catch up. Also, to this point, you brought up in the fun facts, I guess, I brought up that he was hired to get this thing back on track. Right. That it was, like, going over, whatever, and that's a great way to do it. Yeah.

This isn't working. Recut Put it on the audience. This is how we're gonna show the audience that how they frame him, and then we can get him out of this pickle by the end of it because he has smuggled the tape out in Oh my god. Very specific location. Dude, in her in her prison wallet?

Yeah. In her in her nature's wallet. Deadpool. The I gotta say when Call back. It's nice.

They when they pull up when they when Arnold's gonna go on the running man finally and they pull off his, like, coveralls and he's wearing that fucking gold adidas suit, I'm like, I'm in. You love that. I don't know what's going on. Do Do you just want The set is weird. The interactions are weird.

The the transitions are weird, and now they're like, we're just gonna throw fucking Arnold Schwarzenegger in a diamond plate stitched leotard. We're also I'm like, dude, that's great. And this other guy, but we're gonna have them in the most awkward positions possible. Yeah. Absolutely.

Are they do they go down the same tube Twice. Tubes? I think they're in diff or same tubes, different times. Because if they're in different times different tube. Because they all intersect They end in the same place, but their their cars are no longer at the base.

I have a lot of questions. Oh, yeah. I do like that tube sequence. Those don't And the other car that was in front of him? Oh, those, like Not there.

Those vikings with leather masks move all that sort of side, I guess. I guess. I I I got so much mileage out of that tunnel footage. That is so good. I like it.

It's so fun. Did you know that was actually rough reused? Like, they used that same footage in Cool Runnings. Great. Super effective.

It looks great. It works. Kid. I love it. I love Cool Runnings.

I feel the rhythm. I feel the rhyme. I'm all about all of it. It's possible. I the dude, I have the steel book of this movie, and this looks and sounds so fucking good.

It totally the tube thing totally works for me. And I do believe that they all start out in different positions, in tubes that ultimately end up in the same point at different, you know, times or whatever. Sure. I I mean, one assumes. I don't know.

But now we're like Oh, is it no one replaced the net? Sorry. I'm jumping ahead. Yeah. Maybe nobody replaced the net.

I think I'm like, why would that Tube. Why would that suddenly happen? Yeah. I I just we're we're in the fucking game now, though. Like, Arnold's, like, Killian game show host guy, I'll be back for you.

Oh, yeah. He's saying I'll be back. We've they've established, like, dudes dudes have won this. Terminator. Right?

He doesn't say until t 2? I think he said it. He says it in t 1. I don't remember. He says it across movies, though.

In t 1, he he before he crashes into the police station, he comes in first, and he says, I'm looking for Cyril Connor, a friend of hers. Is she here? And he and the cop goes, you have to come back. I can't help you. And Arnold look scans around the glass, and he says, I'll be back.

Is that the least time you said it? Yep. And then crashes through. Gotcha. This is where Amber now, I guess, is so convinced by Ben Richards telling her, like, I've been framed.

This is all bullshit. I never wanted to hurt you because I didn't wanna hurt you when we went by when I walked by you when you wanted a $6 soda. That's the other thing too as, I guess, I was saying this. It's like, they don't let Arnold as an actor try to get things to land. I don't know how much of that he has in him at this point.

It's kinda I I I think it comes a few years later. I agree. I think kindergarten cop is where he starts to figure figure that out a little bit. And I mean I mean, that's why I've been writing in the class. Is.

Yep. You know? But He's kind of an Alexander guy. Yeah. Maybe.

Not so much Maybe a Meisner guy. Not so much a Strasbourg guy. Definitely, Stanislavski. Touch and body language. Yeah.

We'll check off in there. Yeah. But when Amber gets the video chips and she gets, like, grabbed on the shoulder before she does anything with the video chips or putting them anywhere, we'll come back to that. But it's like, really? How?

When? Also When did you get them into the Nature's Fire? Know that she was pulling the Bakersfield video. Yeah. Wouldn't they be Clearly.

Why wouldn't they just search her and take it? Clearly. Because the movie needs to continue. Because the movie needs to Right. Movie logic.

Because the solution needs to happen. If you think about that too much Yeah. Then you have to go back and reconfigure a whole bunch of other shit. And goddamn it if you don't get this thing fucking printed and sent back Michael Glaser, get it fucking done. So the I will say too the predictive thing that's part of what I, you know, give credit to, Dickie Bachman and, Ben Dickie and Dickie Dawson and all the Dickies in this, all the p storm in this, is that the sports betting thing on runners and stalkers, and and that it starts to lean into this thing that it's like, no.

We're literate people are just betting money on people living and dying, and nobody gives a flying fuck. I know. All those as DraftKings and all this shit. All those old women in the crowd. Yeah.

Horny for blood. Horny for blood. Horny for Dicky Dawson. Oh, sure. Horny for How could you not be?

Horny for Schwartz? Horny for horny for the Schwartz. Oh, yeah. Gotta be. His Schwartz is pretty big.

Your Schwartz is as big as mine. Why are you Sean Connery? That's my it's a really bad dark helmet. Your Schwartz is as big you got it. I do like the thing that they do in the movie here where it's almost like levels.

So, like, there are different stalkers on the running man, the game show to win your freedom, apparently, based on the previous season. You know, these guys won their freedom. They're in Hawaii and shit. Right? That's the point show.

You have to fight in Mike Tyson's punch out. Mhmm. They are. But, like and the first guy you get is professor subzero. Subzero.

Who's this Versus. Huge dude who has a giant, like, scimitar for a hockey stick. Yeah. He also doesn't freeze anything. Exploding pucks.

No freezing anybody. Exploding pucks. Yeah. A net looks like a Venus flytrap net. Right.

Catches wife. That catches wife, who by the way, I went looking for information on that actor. There's nothing on that guy. That's kind of a bummer because he's he's okay in this movie. He's pretty solid.

I'm like, I remember this guy. What else was he in? And you can find what he's in. There's one photo of him on his IMDB page, and there is, like, no trivia. There's nothing getting shocked by dying up on this movie.

Media. There's nothing. Oh, well. Yeah. He disappeared.

Yeah. Marvin j McIntyre. Marvin j McIntyre, if you are listening Good love you, Marv. Please contact Marv. We wanna know we wanna make sure you're okay.

Yeah. Professor Toru Tanaka, r I p. Yes. Sub 0. In this movie, like, he launches some of exploding pucks and knocks some people around, doesn't lead with the scimitar hockey stick, which much I think he plays a now with the business end.

Pretty much. A little bit. Right? But, Arnold, gets some razor wire around his neck and, really gives him the business. Mhmm.

I can't remember all of his fucking dumb one liners in this movie because he's got a lot, especially as he's walking away because they're ADR that they thought of, like, a week before the movie was released. So we got it. We got it. Why is everyone surprised when they see a death? Like, isn't that what they're watching?

Not stalkers. Not stalkers. Because the stalkers are their heroes. Well yeah. But but so then every stock one stalker usually wins, and that's it?

Because that seems like a boring show to watch. Or people get by them without killing them. Again They get through the game zone. No. No.

We're not told. You have to assume. You really you have to assume a lot in this movie. I I I I get this movie too much writing credit. Without killing them.

Right? Because those Steven, I have to assume. Those 3 people who won, and they're in Maui. Apparently. I guess I wanted a goal in the running man other than just survival.

If you're trying to, like, accomplish in the game show, the 3rd act thing of Ben Richards being like, I wanna help with this resistance thing is pretty weak. It's pretty weak. Like, it doesn't it doesn't float. It mostly it the survival thing is what really rings in the last, like, few minutes. They're like, this.

You mean in the game itself? Yeah. In the world, in that game Yeah. There needs to be more than just them surviving? Yeah.

What else? Like a like a game. Like, you know, if we're gonna go to American Gladiators, like, they're like, there's, like, a challenge that they have to accomplish. They have to True. They have to get to a certain place.

They have to find a certain thing. They have to Siren. Blaze. You have to knock someone off a thing with a Q tip. I don't know.

Yeah. Yeah. You have to play catch with the flag. You have to grab something. There's a MacGuffin.

It feels it feels really just like general survival. I'm not as invested in. It feels like thing. How do you get through without killing these guys? Because they through the zone.

Is so shocked and bummed when all of these stalkers are getting Sub 0 has 30 kills. Right. So they've seen death. They've seen plenty, but I I think they're mostly worried about the government is worried that there's a perception that they don't have control when the stalkers are getting killed, and people are shocked. Because, again, as Chris said, like, these people are essentially invincible as far as the public has been Right.

Brainwashed to believe. And they even have, like, a it's it's more like wrestling, which Yeah. Chris Olds is wearing a a WrestleMania 6 shirt with the ultimate warrior, watching Randy Savage, Roddy Roddy Piper. Is that the big boss man? Jake the Snake Roberts?

Barber. Yeah. He's all the good shit. All the best. And, like, that's the thing about this movie is it almost plays out more like wrestling.

All the villains get these, like, intros where they're, like, introduced to the crowd. They pump in fucking circumstance. Buzzsaw comes out, and they tell you the specs on his saw and the company that makes it and how much it retails for. Mhmm. And Dynamo comes out like a goddamn fucking defective light.

Right? Like, that shit is so bad. Oh, that is apparently actually that guy singing. It is. He's he's a classically trained opera singer.

I believe that part. It's like the only part in the whole movie that's not ADR. That was He's a classically trained opera singer. He's he he looks fucking ridiculous, and it doesn't look But this costume it doesn't look good. It looks What's crazier to me about that costume He owns it, though.

He fucking owns it. Like, he bought it after the He Iraq. I mean, RIP. He was buried in it. RIP.

Oh. But he really owns the role and the ridiculousness of it and, like cheapness of this world is what really starts to wear. Like, if this is supposed to be I like it. But if it's supposed to be this, like, world where there are these haves and have nots, I don't understand why this this, like, production value looks so cheap. Because the government is producing it.

That's why it's so cheap. But shouldn't that be And people are so impoverished that even that looks impressive to them. Like and well and also keep in mind it's the age justification y. Yeah. It is justification y, but also, like, I do think there is a level of intentionality when I don't think this movie has a tiny budget.

It's like a $76,000,000 if we That's absurd. Did it now movie. There's also At that point, it was, like, almost $30,000,000. There is a there is an element of, like That was in a small budget. Things didn't look great in real life either at that point in time.

That's what I'm saying. Everything was made out of fucking, like, crap metal. Yeah. Sure. But you could at least the go kart thing looks like a go kart with plywood on it.

It does look fun to drive, though. It looks fun to drive. I will say It's horrible to look at. That thing looks super fun. I mean, he's, like, doing power slides in it.

He chases somebody over, like, a rise. Yeah. He chases someone over, like, a berm. Yeah. And that thing goes flying off of that berm Yeah.

And, like, lands on the other side Get some airtime. I'm like, I think it's pretty dope. The this is where Amber has now joined the run because they found her putting the video chip, the SD card What an odd thing to say. In 1987. How'd that exist?

Wow. Good job, movie. In her Nature's Pocket, and this is where a long time to do, and whoever got grabbed I don't know how that worked out. She's like, hold on one second. Who's turn can you turn around?

This is private. Yeah. This is where now again, we had this clump with Mick Fleetwood early in the movie. Oh, no. You didn't listen to my music.

You censored my music. We need the uplink. Now the uplink is important again, and I completely lost sight of this. Does he say that when you didn't listen to my music? He said you censored my music.

It was people like you that Yeah. Got rid of my music. Good god. I I will say thing I was very confused about too. Yeah.

Well, because he's apparently playing himself. But the buzz saw by section after Richards and buzz saw fight where, and and Richard says he had to split. I'm like, okay. You got me. You got me on that one.

He had one in the prison too. He threw a guy off a railing and, you know, said something. What does he say when he lights up the fire, dude? He says something like Need a light. Yeah.

Need a light. All of them. And, like, this this whole, like, chunk of the movie started to just, like, blend together for me. Like, the whole inside the game. Yeah.

Because you're just like it's like, oh, different bosses that it's like, I'm supposed to remember this guy's ice and this guy's electricity and this guy's fire. And it's just it's pretty repetitive. And it Dynamo, who, I guess, to me in the end ends up being, like, the really bad stalker when we get to the very end, despite his dumb car and his light bright body and shit. Yeah. I guess.

He comes after her He kills Weiss. Yeah. He kills him. That was yeah. He comes after her in the hallway at the end of the movie, and then Exactly.

And then I'm like, wait a minute. This guy's just wearing tighty whiteys under that? How how did he get down to those so fast? He looks like a jackass character. He he he looks like, who, not Wee Man.

Who's the other one? The big dude. Preston. Preston. Yeah.

So Richards, of course, has to come out and save the day when Dynamo's gonna kill Amber and fucking dust him, but it doesn't kill him. He says, I do not kill defenseless people. Again, this is supposed to be foreshadowing for the, like, I'm not the butcher butcher of Bakersfield. I'm a nice guy. I guess.

That's what they're going for. No. I know. It's effective or not. It's arguable.

Sure. Yeah. I know what they're going for. It seems like it's a lot of it feels lazy. The exposition feels like, people don't care.

Like, this movie and, like, rightly so, it it just doesn't care about character development. It they literally throw away at at this point. We we Yeah. He got thrown away. Arm.

Oh, and in the midsection a bit, I think as well. I might be wrong. I might be wrong. Whatever. Yeah.

But they do life. They throw it away. You just stay you just stay alive long and be like, oh, do the thing. I'm gonna die now. 2 days to retirement.

Yeah. Oh god. Yeah. That was a bummer. Yeah.

I mean, they just kinda like it's and it's it's a it's a character of Richards that I just don't really care about. No. I you know, it's interesting. The the character that has that's the most interesting Saturn nominated, Richard Dawson. Sure.

It's even this point where he it's like he's so slimy. He comes to Richards, and he's like, just come be a stalker for me. You're killing all my dudes. Mhmm. You're you got the fucking you got the big, pee storm.

Bring it on. I can take it. Big pee storm energy. Yeah. We we want you here.

And Richards I guess, is is the point for Richards because now Fireball has been deployed. Richards doesn't wanna do the thing. Yeah. And they send out Jim Brown. That's my favorite line of the whole movie, by the way.

That conversation that ends with him ripping off the camera. It's, make you eat your contract, but I hope you leave enough room for my fist because I'm going to run it up into your stomach and stuff your goddamn spine. Yeah. It's so good. And he breaks the camera.

But, like, fucking NFL rushing legend, former Cleveland Brown, costar of Mars Attacks, Jim Brown has been see him, and we don't see him run. We do. He jogs slash runs a lot in this movie after I just feel like he's walking the whole time. It's like he has a speed walk. Fire.

I'm like Yeah. That doesn't seem safe with a flamethrower. Yeah. Yeah. He has a fuel on your back.

Mhmm. Did it carry over to the 2 of you at all that when Richards finds out that Haddad and Williams and Farty McJones Did you say hot dog? Haddad Cloudassless? Cloudassless? Mhmm.

But, like, that was the thing for me that Richards was, like, the the the switch flip of, like, oh, nobody wins this. Like, even if I win this, I'm gonna die. They're gonna kill me. Like, these these guys that have supposedly won the running man have just been, like, stuffed in a locker room and are just rotting. Because, like, again, it's still survival is the instinct.

But is that the inspiration? Did with them. Go on. Well, why not dispose of the bodies properly? Yeah.

Why is he gonna Leave them in the last game zone? Yeah. Yeah. You know? So that someone would find them and Sure.

No one else is gonna go down there ever. Right? Because Richards is Richards and he gets further than, you know, he's supposed to. The other people did survive. She would not have survived that far without him being there.

Yeah. They make that clear. But why just leave the bodies in there? Yeah. I wonder that too.

That's a weird choice. I'll go I'll go then to inspire him. It's so that we can find out They lied. Them discovering the body is what really goes on. So Yeah.

This is arguably my favorite part of the movie. Jesse Ventura walks into the control room just covered in fucking flatware. Squeaking The body himself, the former governor Just all squeaks and clanks. And and the whole thing and where he, like, tries to do a thumbs up with one hand and he's like, fuck, and, like, switches to the other hand. There is a moment of acting by Jesse Ventura.

Forget it, Killian. I won't do it. It's not a request, moron. It's an order. I don't need this crap.

This stuff is garbage. I I I was killing guys like this 10 years ago with my bare hands. I'm not going for any of these tricks. This is a sport of death and honor, code of the gladiators. And he just kinda looks at Richard Dawson for a moment and I'm like, fuck yeah.

This guy yeah. This is how this guy feels. 100%. This is how he feels. And rather than let that land or have much effect that this, like, body builder action star guy has like it's like, oh, shit.

Chops. Cool. Very good. They're like, you definitely need a new 6 minute act dance break. Right?

Dance break? Mhmm. Oh, boy. Harold Faltermeyer phoning it on the soundtrack. No.

Phoning it all the way. The soundtrack is not good. I think it's solid. You're crazy. You're both crazy.

You know? Alright. Cool. Just gonna play scales. Just gonna play this 2 bar scale.

Simple, man. Yeah. It's kind of it's it does feel it it's not memorable. Like, this is the guy that wrote axle f? That that that part is crazy.

Right? It's so good. That part is the fact that he has themes that are so good. Deeper into this when he has the Top Gun theme I feel like they called it fire. Fire.

Yeah. They called that guy, and they were like, this movie is in theaters in 2 weeks. Can you just watch it and play along with it? Maybe watch it twice? What a genius.

Whatever you do is fine. To do that? Wow. Do that in 1 or 2. That's not bad.

I think I think you gotta try a little harder here, Paul, to get us up. No. Just the AI okay. I the fact that in 1987, where people barely have home PCs, where many people still believe a computer has to take up a room approximately, you know, a a 100 square feet or whatever to a degree, that they predict the crow and a million other things of doing this deep fake AI, the tech will get this far, that is pretty fucking great. And they're like, we'll just use a stuntman.

We'll just map this over. Yeah. Well, like, we're gonna control the narrative. Like, we're not even going to to risk this is so beautifully predictive. I don't know if it's the novel, the movie, or both.

That's pretty fucking great. You gotta give it that. No. I do. Totally.

Yeah. I do. I thought that I I I perked up at that moment because I was like, oh, the fuck fucking aye. I and, honestly, there's something else that happened in that. There's one so I get I confuse commercials in this movie for commercials in Robocop.

Captain Freedom and Richard's in the fight, by the way, the AI fight. Climbing for dollars. Yes. I made a note about that earlier. Like, I remember that commercial for my entire life, and we've gotten to a point in society where they're making that show for real now.

Yes. It's not exactly climbing a rope with a bunch of Dobermans. Right. But we are we're a rope with a bunch of Dobermans. Right.

But we are right there. Did you guys watch Squid Games? Oh, yeah. The the game show, the actual game show. Made Yes.

The reality game show of Squid Game? No. I didn't watch that. It's great. But it also you were like, the because because Yeah.

But it is a reality show and, like, it's not they're not actually killing people. But I mean, they've got fear factor where people are eating, like, venomous spiders for $50,000, Like Yeah. And it has Joe Rogan. And it has Joe Rogan. She's looking even like 90 day or bachelors.

How how far reality Will you go on? In this room with Joe Rogan for 30 minutes and get $10. Naked and afraid. Yes. I don't even know what to pay out for that, but, like, I don't even know if they do pay out for that.

I don't either. But these people are, like They have genuinely They have to. A big ass or something. These guys are these they're genuinely in danger of, like, from fucking crocodiles. And I've watched some episodes of that show, and I'm like, this is insane what they're doing.

So and that pierced his ball sack. It's good that you still feel that way because so much reality TV and TV and entertainment in general and I think that I don't know this is the thing that it's like I would love to argue or back up an argument, and it's like it was all intentional because they knew that it was gonna be this way 30 or 40 years in the future. But this movie treats everything almost as if it's unimportant because it's almost as if it's inevitable that it's coming. And it's, like, I I wanna give the movie a level of predictive credit it doesn't deserve that it hasn't earned, but, like but the fact that it does it is pretty fucking amazing. I I'd be curious.

I would be curious to I've never read the book. I'd be curious to know what the book Same. Is doing. I've I've read it. I was, like, 8.

I don't remember anything about it. And I was doing it. Read it. I, like, to know about this I read all the Bachman books. I was very Oh, yeah.

Yeah. Was very big in the remake. The new remake that, Glenn Powell's doing and Stephen King is, like, directly involved in. Edgar Wright directing. Edgar Wright directing.

I'm very excited to see. The Running Man? Yeah. Yes. So it's Glenn Powell and Edgar Wright, Yeah.

What a team. Right? Like, a movie that could be remade really, really well and, like, pretty fucking great people involved. Yeah. I think if anybody's gonna do it justice, Edgar Wright is, people involved.

Yeah. I think if anybody's gonna do it justice, Edgar Wright is right at the top of that list. Well, he appreciates movies like this to a degree that I think, like, even beyond, like, somebody like me with so, like, you know, know, I think he's gonna do his absolute best to do it justice, which is better as good or better than anyone. Yeah. Richards now has decided to lead the resistance, I guess, because his buddies have died and because he is mad that he knows that human captain Freedom didn't really fight or whatever the fuck, and yet another goddamn dance break.

And I think that There are, like, 3 or 4 of these fucking dance breaks. I think the idea of him becoming the leader of the resistance is just so lazy. It's very convenient. It just feels like as a writer as someone who's written things before where you're getting to a some weird, like, fucking wall for your character, introducing this idea that they're going to, like, somehow unlock something within the revolution that's been going on for years and that they're gonna bring something that's different and lead them to victory. Sure.

It's it just feels like like an obvious choice. Sometimes this feels like the guy who wrote Die Hard and sometimes this feels like the guy who wrote Street Fighter from 94. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, look, it's pretty Same guy. I wonder how much producers had to be look. It's pretty simple. The movie's going over budget. Yeah.

Arnold fucking saves the day and gets the girl. We've got all this shot. Make this happen. Oh, totally. That's it.

Yeah. You know? Like And and here's the set pieces we see. Like Yeah. Great story, great artistic fucking bullshit.

I don't care. But here's the action moments we see. You wanna see this fight, artistic fucking bullshit. I don't care. But here's the action moments we see.

We wanna see this fight sequence. We wanna see this fight sequence. About ripping people's spines out. Yeah. Yep.

Yeah. And cutting people in half. Man, you know how cheap a dance scene is? Oh, yeah. Oh, it costs nothing, and this movie is 10 minutes of goddamn dance scenes.

So I will to look at it in such a cynical view. No. I think it's fair. But, I mean, that's why they're in there. It's like Rocky 4 with all the montages.

Like, these are here for a specific reason. Whatever that is, you can leave up to discussion. I do like that this this the running man TV show does a wrap up show. This is a thing that happens now. You watch Real Housewives.

You watch Walking Dead. You watch Don't tell me what to watch. Any show, I'll tell you're gonna watch the p storm. I'll tell you that. I'll I'll I'll watch what happens live for the p storm.

Yeah. But the but the I watched talking p. They predicted wrap up shows, which was, like, very cool. And I I like that there's a very intentional moment where a woman asks, like, oh, how do I donate to the families of the stalkers, which you assume are, like, you know, pretty wealthy people or under good contracts or whatever it is. Live a good life in this horrible society.

And Richard Dawson says, yes, honey. You can send a check to the Patriots Fund, care of this station, which is like it clearly, it's just like they're just taking donate. It's just fucking they're taking the it's money laundering. Yeah. It's the Trump Foundation.

Yeah. And now the real Bakersfield footage. Now everybody gets to see it. It's broadcast to the world. Mick Fleetwood busted it up.

He went I did enjoy this sequence. Yeah? I did enjoy the whole The infiltration? The infiltration and the broadcast cut together by Mick and Tweezle to, like, expose Killian and the network for what they are. I had a good time with that sequence.

Yeah. I was like, oh, this is to the point, cut and dry. Everyone in the fucking country is watching this. Everybody's meeting on his side. You got it.

Yeah. I like how effective they are or whatever in there. Like because it's it's like if they aren't comp if it's not, like, essentially a total victory from here, it feed the whole movie feels really hollow. And I think the movie knows that where it's like we're gonna go full happy ending, like, because it goes pretty dark for a second where Dynamo is like, I'm gonna fucking go after assaulting you, Maria Conchita Alonzo, when she hits him in the wiener and the whole deal. And I do like that, like, he He gets electrocuted, and she does not.

Gets electrocuted in his Lite Brite to death. And, like, it's like, yeah, that's a fitting, horrible death for this horrible character. Like, I like that. I liked it. That's fine.

I I I like I mean, I also was I'm, like, 90% checked out of that. So I mean Exactly. This is where I Aw. I was at the point where I was, like, can this movie be over? No.

Honestly, so I'm gonna give you a full disclosure here. When Arnold walks into the studio and it's him and Andre Dawson about or Richard Dawson Andre Dawson. It's him and Killian about to have this, like, conversation. Showdown. Showdown conversation.

Yeah. I was like This only goes one way. I better make some soup right now. Uh-huh. And I hit pause.

I was considering leaving it running while I went and made soup, But I was like, for the sake of the pod, I'm gonna I'm gonna hit pause, and I'm gonna come back and actually have our sauce. Sweet, man. For I I will say that, like, y'all missed out though because, like, the moment when Sven Sven Othorpson, the the loyal bodyguard of Richard Dawson, which Dawson is like, hey, Sven. Kick this guy's ass. Mhmm.

And Sven Othorpson kind of sides with Jesse Ventura's earlier thing and whatever. He's like, I'll just go do some steroids and walks off. I'm like, yeah. Fuck this rich fuck. Says, what's the matter?

Sturridge make it deaf? Get this guy out of here. Yep. And then he goes, oh, I gotta go get some I remembered it as him saying, like, the steroids make me deaf and walking away. But, you know, that was Something.

I 75 years ago when I originally watched this movie. Jillian going in the tube and clearly not having a good time is also very satisfying. I'm not having a good day. His face his face. Oh, looks His prosthetic, like, spies like us.

Yeah. Face. Oh my god. Okay. Great stuff.

I'm we're at the end of the movie. I'm gonna make one more little point, and I'm done. I can be a sucker for a kiss in a movie. I can also be, like, very, like, no. Thank you for a kiss in a movie.

Thank you about this. Yeah. Me too. I was not So she has leopard pants now? Leopard pants?

Sure. I also didn't understand The leopard. Why she would be interested in kiss I I think there's a a degree of the movie speed where it's like she was like, oh, I thought you were a bad guy, and you're not a bad guy, and everything you did is justified, and, like, there's a level of attraction because he acted as a protector or whatever. The John Parr song, Restless Heart, is maybe the greatest song that's ever been written or performed for a film. It almost brings this film up a half a star.

So despite all of y'all's, haterism, good luck against John Parr and wrestle hard shitheads. Okay. I'll take those chances on that one. I think I I think I like for I know. I'm all I know.

I Running with you? Is it Running Away With You? Run. I don't remember. I can't remember.

I love that fucking song. At this point, I think I was like, once the credits hit, I was like, alright. Off. I don't like it. So you didn't hear the you didn't hear the end?

It's so good. The the add ons. I don't think so. It's so good. Credits roll to an end.

He announces this this was brought to you by. Oh, gosh. It's so good. Cadre Cola. Costume.

The the the Cadre military desires. Yeah. They're scotching by whatever pistols. It's so good. I I'm also gonna read this from the John Parr Russell's Heart YouTube link for the song for this movie.

From at Ian bubble 1378, This song has saved my life more times than I can count. It's almost embarrassing to comment this. No matter who, what, or where, or why, this keeps me going. Oh my god. So for you guys to not take me seriously or making a mockery of this guy's life.

Ian bubble 1378. Fuck you guys. I'm I'm okay. I will say that, like, there's there's there's one there's one thing that I forgot about this movie that I, I was Please. Please.

One line in the office at the TV station, something along the lines of someone's doing great in the ratings or whatever. Up 9 points. Lin Shay. Yes. The is is insidious?

And Kingpin and, a couple of Nightmare on Elm Street movies? This is Linlady and Kingdrain. Mhmm. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. She's in it for one second. She is. Yeah.

Shout out to Lynshay. Oh. Yeah. Ben Yes. We've spoken about this ad nauseam.

We have. Give it to me. I'm gonna go down. I'm going down to 2 roller balls. Woah.

This is not a not a movie for me. Yeah. Okay. I'll probably leave it. I'll probably leave it.

Yeah. Happy birthday. I still love you. I love you too, buddy. This is what I have to do now?

It is. I'm going up a half a fist that I'm going to ram into your stomach because of I hope you save enough room for my fist because I'm going to ram into your stomach and snap your gun. Great delivery. Lindsay elevates this for me, but just the feeling that I get when I see her on the screen. The energy.

The I would say that one point of the 0.5 is definitely dance number based. I can never have enough dance number. Dance numbers work for you. Especially on the day that Katy Perry just released this video, so I was in a dance number mindset already. Okay.

2 and a half fists that I'm gonna ram into your stomach and crush your goddamn spines. Okay. Alright. Well Paul, it's your It's all hinging on me. Somebody came up a half.

Somebody came down a half. It's your party. Don't cry. Magazine. Don't cry if you don't want to.

That's a good one too. I'm going to go down to 3 court appointed We dragged you down. Agents. I'm it gets to keep the heart, which is a coveted thing on my letterbox as far as I'm concerned. He fucking shoots him down the goddamn pipe, and he just flies across the whole landing area into a wall and explodes.

It's wonderful. It's wonderful. A fucking billboard. It's wonderful. That hit the spot.

Cadricola. Why would that happen? Stupid ass goddamn movie. 2 and a half a star back. 2 fists.

2 and a quarter fist that I'm going to ram into your stomach and crush your goddamn spine. That was amazing. Everybody came down. We just had I just one moment. What a birthday.

There's just What a birthday. I just I wanna skip to the end here after that was a blow. That was a real blow. What? Like, I got a fist ramped up my ass and got my spine ripped out just out and broke him.

Pushed him. We all went we all went down for you. We all went down. I think, Chris, you came down a quarter point. Listen, man.

I gotta go down in a piece store. Technically, he went up a quarter point from 10 from a 2 to from 2 to 2.25. I did. I did. Okay.

That's fair. Okay. So Chris came up a little. I went down a little. Ben went down a little.

And that's okay. We all had a fucking I I'm glad we're great time talking about this. I had a great time watching it. I have the steelbook. I'll watch it again.

Happy fucking birthday. Thank you. Motherfucker. I do feel like I got fucked. If we're gonna We want to drop this bomb on your birthday.

It happens. I want to drop the bomb that our book ends are Jamie Henwood, our how you doing, and what are we watching theme, our Matthew Foskett. Our fun facts theme is the gentleman to my right, mister Chris Olds. Fun facts. Our interstitials are the gentleman across from me, mister Benjamin McFadden.

Benjamin, if people wanna follow you on Letterboxd, you can follow me at, RunDMC as well on Instagram. Also, we should mention that my brother, Derek McFadden, who sent those Which this episode, yeah, clearly was sponsored by. Gifts for your birthday. Yes. You can follow him at dwritesandeditsbooks.

One word. Dwritesandeditsbooks. Follow him. Get her done. And, buy his books and also pay him to edit because that's his job.

Do it. Chris is at Panther underscore goal. You can follow this podcast at reviewxtupodcast. You can follow me at paulactsbadly. Thank you for joining this very punctual party, the part 2, the sequel of it, the p storm.

P storm. Enjoy the last of your summer. Happy birthday.