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Studio: Paramount Pictures Corporation
Release Date: 3/3/2026
Rating: R
Film Grade: C-
The Story: Ben Richards is at the end of his rope. Having lost yet another job and been blacklisted by the megacorporation that controls all aspects of society, he’s desperate to find a way to provide for his family, including his sick daughter. With his display of righteous anger, TV producer Dan Killian sees him as the perfect candidate for the current season of The Running Man, a reality show where the contestant wages his life for a chance at financial freedom. He simply has to stay alive for thirty days while being tracked by a group of hunters that are aided by audience tips.
My Take: Director Edgar Wright has a wonderful track record for making interesting films, so it’s hard to tell just what went wrong with this one. As background, I’ve never read the original novel or seen the Arnold Schwarzenegger version, so this review is from an outsider perspective.
The movie sets up the story quite well visually, with a dystopian world controlled by the singular Network that controls everything from energy to healthcare to entertainment. Amusingly, the red N logo on its headquarters looks similar to a certain media titan, but I digress. It portrays an America in the not-too-distant future, with advanced technology, but still populated by regular old humans. The rules of the game are laid out well, with the risk and rewards clearly defined for Richards and the audience. All of the setting and background elements work well in creating a world for the story to work in, aided by good production values.
Let’s get to the parts that don’t work. First, the characters are downright dumb. This is sad, given Wright’s former movies, where even the dimwitted have their moments. Richards is being pursued by deadly hunters, with a money-hungry public assisting via a hotline. Yet he has no qualms about standing in front of windows, in plain sight. And that doesn’t just happen once. It sucks the desperation and believability right out of the story. Other plans to thwart the Hunters are filled with pitfalls that could have been avoided.
While partially presented as a satire of America’s love of game shows and reality TV, it doesn’t have much bite. One of the referenced programs is The Americanos, a thinly veiled take on various Kardashian-style shows that is both tame and dated. Perhaps it would have been amusing a decade ago but is unlikely to hit home with the movie’s target audience. Speed the Wheel is a combo trivia and physical challenge that may have been edgy at one time, but real game shows are so prevalent that it’s not sharp enough. Promotional bits for Fun Twinks cereal fail to land. Even The Running Man itself has had real world counterparts. In addition to a plethora of TV shows and movies with similar themes going back to The Most Dangerous Game and the more recent Hunger Games movies, 2025 just gave us another King adaptation with similar themes, The Long Walk.
Next is Glen Powell’s portrayal of Richards. The movie tells us that he’s a very angry man, but his performance comes short. For Seinfeld fans, there’s a memorable scene where Jerry is challenged to show that he can get angry, but his friends don’t buy it. I have that same general reaction to Powell when he’s trying to portray those kinds of emotions in this movie. Whether it’s his natural smile or genial style, he just doesn’t seem to be the right choice for this role, making his decisions feel like too much of a stretch. That isn’t to say that normal men can’t be driven by circumstance and anger, but his portrayal feels closer to the beginning stages of that tipping point than the end.
Josh Brolin plays the main foil, Network executive Dan Killian, giving him a manipulative edge, friendly on the outside, but inwardly always scheming. You want to like the guy but know he can’t be trusted. Other notable appearances are Colman Domingo as the show’s charismatic host, setting up different scenes with tension, and Martin Herlihy as the nerdy Tim, a fellow contestant. The cast is so large that they have to share screen time, so they don’t have much of a chance to really stand out.
One of the aspects that plays a role in the movie is the use of deep faked footage, which will become more relevant in the near future than any other themes in the movie. While not prominently featured, it does show the danger of having reality be whatever the creator wants it to be, which could have deep reaching consequences.
Visuals: While shot digitally there’s a large amount of artificial grain or noise to the image. I couldn’t find any information for the choice, but assume it was to give a retro, dystopian feel to the picture. Aiding that is the overall look of the movie that features lots of murky, drab scenes. Even outdoor shots are typically filmed with overcast skies and in the early or late hours. You won’t find an abundance of golden hour shots, which is understandable due to the subject matter and themes.
Sometimes it’s simple to find the differences between the 4K disc and the standard Blu-ray counterpart, but it took some hunting to find them with this title. Some of the scenes are meant to look like video, with one showing TV footage projected on a wall, which will inherently look messy. The overall drab tone and artificial grain obscure some of the higher definition picture, but some still stand out. There’s a red sign that reads Boston that appears to be made of single lights on the Blu-ray, but the 4K reveals that each light is actually composed of smaller light segments. There were also occasions were the glint of light off of objects displayed more contrast, detail, and color than on the Blu-ray. These instances were rare, and in a blind test it would be tough to tell them apart when watching at normal speed.
The editing is of the tight and fast variety that can make it a challenge to fully understand what’s happening while in the midst of action. Outcomes are clear, so it doesn’t harm the story, instead it just feels chaotic.
Audio: The Atmos soundtrack easily passes my bird test, at least if you count whirlybirds. There weren’t many instances where flesh and blood birds were prominent overhead, but top speakers are frequently active. Helicopters often appear with panning, while the hunt is on, as are the surveillance drones that monitor the action. Tops are also used for music, with some panning action between speakers, which is relatively uncommon for most soundtracks.
The score features a standard orchestral background, heavy with drums and strings, occasionally supplemented with horns. As is common for Wright’s films, songs are used as a scoring element, but not to the point they were in Baby Driver. Dialog is clean and clear throughout. Bass is strong and powerful when needed.
Special Features: The discs are packed with tons of extras, to the point where I ran out of time before watching all of them. The audio commentary offers closed captioning, which I don’t recall ever seeing before. Wright, Powell, and Writer Michael Bacall all have a fun time reliving the different moments that went into making the movie. They all show a great amount of love toward the project. The in-world TV show excerpts and promos offer a good collection of the various clips shown in the film and more. This is a fantastic example of adding extra value to a package.
- Commentary By Writer/Director Edgar Wright, Actor Glen Powell, And Writer Michael Bacall
- The Running Man Commercials: In-world commercials for the show you definitely shouldn’t audition for—but can’t stop watching.
- The Running Man Show: Dive deeper into the show with its hardest hits, signature opening titles, and the official rules every contestant has to face.
- The Runners - Self Tapes: Raw, unfiltered self-tape submissions from the show’s desperate, overconfident, and occasionally unlucky contestants.
- Speed The Wheel: A satirical in-world game show where running for your life is just another studio challenge.
- The Americanos: Meet America’s richest, boldest, most chaotic family in their hit reality series—glossy, ruthless, and always watching.
- The Apostle: Clips from the in-world series that expands the TV universe of The Running Man.
- Stunts Compilation: A full-throttle look at the hits, falls, wire work, wipeouts, and perfectly timed chaos that fuel the film’s biggest moments.
- Hair, MakeUp and Costume Test: Watch the cast get locked into their final looks before stepping into the arena.
- Deleted And Extended Scenes: Additional moments cut from the final film.
- Trailers & Digital Spots: A curated lineup of the campaign’s boldest cuts and hardest-hitting promos.
Featurettes:
- The Hunt Begins: Jump into the chase with Glen Powell, Edgar Wright, and the team as they rebuild Stephen King’s classic into a big, bold, break-the-system thrill ride for today.
- The Hunters and the Hunted: Meet the cast and the unforgettable characters that power this anything-goes game show of survival, strategy, and spectacle.
- Welcome To the Running Man: Designing the World: A look at how the team crafted the movie’s retro-futuristic style—from gritty street corners to the over-the-top Free-Vee studio set pieces.
- Surviving The Game: Shooting The Running Man: Step onto the set for a closer look at the stunts, fights, and shoot days that kept the energy high and the cast moving.
Final Verdict: I was really looking forward to what Wright was going to do with this property but couldn’t help but come away disappointed with its overall cynicism. It revels in its dystopian society, praising anger and anarchy as the sole solution, a theme that was equally nihilistic and depressing. The film may very well work on that level, but I found it both off-putting and simplistic. His characteristic witty humor would have done wonders to balance that out, but it’s been overcome by that oppressively dour cynicism. And, like many movies lately, it’s about 15 – 20 minutes longer than it needed to be.
Fans of the action genre, Stephen King, or Glen Powel may like it much more, and the production and sound design are worthy contributors. The SteelBook case is solid, with different art than the regular edition; well worth considering for collectors.
Fun Fact: The movie is filled with nods to the earlier film and King’s various works, including a portrait of Arnold on the currency and buildings named after characters and the pseudonym used for the original novel.
https://youtu.be/4wYJTN9ukxg
This review was written by a human without the use of AI.
My Review System:
JVC DLA-RS3100 4K Ultra High-Definition Front Projector
Elite Screens Sable Frame B2 117” Width with Infinitely Variable Height
Monolith by Monoprice HTP-1 16 Channel Processor with Dirac Live
Monolith by Monoprice 7x200 Watts Amp
Monolith by Monoprice 3x200 Watts + 6x100 Watts Amp
JBL Studio 590 for Left, Center, Right, Wides, and Rears
JBL Studio 580 for Side Surrounds
JBL Studio SCS 8 for Tops
JTR Captivator 1400 Subwoofer X 4
Panasonic DP-UB420 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
NVIDIA Shield Android TV - 4K
Xbox One X
HTPC Running madVR (work in progress)
Remote: URC MX-780
Mini DSP 2X4 HD controlling all subwoofers
APC S15 Power Conditioner with Battery Backup