MovieChat Forums > The Running Man (1987) Discussion > Decent '80s entertainment, would not hav...

Decent '80s entertainment, would not have ended that way in real life?

posted 10 years ago by Knightfall84
1 reply | jump to latest

It's a totalitarian American government that uses television to keep people ignorant. Maybe the idea is that the studio audience is so accustomed to believing everything they see on TV that a 20 second montage could sway them the other way, but that's also why things would have gone differently IRL. We're talking about generations having been born and raised to not only believe their government but love their stupid reality shows.

They wouldn't have immediately started a revolution. Within seconds Killian would have them pacified with "it's all liberal/Resistance media lies!" and nothing would have changed, even if they'd been led to believe the winners walked away from the public execution gauntlet show to go on sunny honeymoon vacations. Arnold would have been downed with a sniper's bullet and there would have been no fade out over a triumphant "the hero won!" John Parr song, unless it was meant to be cruelly ironic.

Then again, it was '80s. '80s movies were about fun and happy endings.

[–] DeRo64 10 years ago

Good points.
There is no certainty as to what happens next though. Even if Killian did somehow survive, I think he'd be the least of Ben and Amber's worries. Like you said before, a corrupt and oppressive government runs the media. A handful of revolutionaries would have an incredibly uphill battle on their hands, especially against battle helicopters that could shoot down a broadcast antenna before subsequently destroying the building with the rebels inside. Honestly, I think the war is just beginning. If a sequel was made, I think Captain Freedom would have made quite an entertaining ally.