WARNING: This review contains some spoilers. I’ll do my best to not reveal the big secrets. Be advised that I will be discussing the 2025 adaption and how it compares to the original release in 1987. While neither film is the exact same, there are similarities to the plot, and you shouldn’t read any further if you do not wish for anything to be ruined from your own viewing experience. 

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Preface: I did not know about this movie or the fact that both movies are based off of a Stephen King novel. The more you know, I guess! The 1987 version has a different credited name due him releasing it out under a different pen name. My husband was super interested in seeing it, and who am I to argue against visiting the theater? My loosely based information before seeing the 2025 release was that the cast was really good, this was a new adaptation of a 1987 film, and that the director, Edgar Wright, had worked on the following films that I’ve seen: “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World,” “Baby Driver,” “Last Night in SoHo,” “Hot Fuzz,” and “Shaun of the Dead.” 

Both versions follow the main character, Ben Richards — portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1987 release and Glen Powell in the newer version. While the same man, neither film had the same introduction or characteristics for Richards. After having seen both movies back to back, either film could be entirely different movies. 

I do think that the original film has a stronger push for its political message about how corrupt the ruling government is in truths about who they make and how they fabricate the truth to make them seem “better” than the street criminals. The corrupt government being this entertainment company that controls how people think, and The Running Man is a television show where “criminals” are put on it. 

Despite these parts, each film does handle these outcomes very differently. Schwarzenegger’s portrayal is based on the lie behind how he supposedly massacred over hundred of thousands unarmed civilizations and gets “volunteered” to be on the show whereas Powell’s version is he auditioned on the network to be put on one of their various but deadly game shows to win money for his sick child — Schwarzenegger’s character is not married, but we meet a love interest early on in his storyline. Amber Mendez, who first starts off as Schwarzenegger’s Richards hostage so he can escape — later on partner and love interest — this difference is why I feel like the 1987 film has a stronger lead on its political intents. In the 2025 release, we see Richards record a video of him telling the truths, but the network fixes it so it comes out differently and only Richards — and the audience — are aware of this. In the 1987 release, after Mendez escapes Richards and he is captured, the network releases “footage” in memoriam to the airport workers he “killed,” and Mendez releases that the government is, in fact, wrong.

The 1987 film also reads very standard action film that came out in the eighties, as there is no shortage of a fighting sequence of fire, guns, and violence. The 2025 is less movement and more thinking. The storyline is more intricate, stacking into past scenes and ones that come later on, building on some more anticipation to create a more well-thought pace. I like a good action film, and the 1987 one is a very straight forward start-to-end one. The 2025 release reminds me of a Christopher Nolan film where some scenes aren’t reality, and it was a dream sequence or the fabrication of the villains. The transitions between the moments are subtle and almost makes you think that your mind is still being played on. This choice of production makes me feel that the political message is more hidden, but not really — you just need to pay attention as it all unfolds.  It almost feels like a mind game is happening on screen.

The way that these two films counter each other also reveals how that political message is. The ability to be able to tell lies from the truth and knowing the reality in everything — it’s not straightforward, but it is? Or is it? 

Both films have a stellar cast, each befitting to the character they play. I’m going to knock on the 1987 release for feeling the need to use the “Ride of the Valkyries” song for one of the sequences where a character is “flying” through the air in a little car. Overused — let’s find some other songs to use in these kinds of build up scenes, please! 

Overall, I enjoyed both. I recommend both. I recommend watching the latest version more than once, as there are moments where your mind might think, “wait, did that actually happen?”

I give the 2025 release a nine point five out of ten, and I rate the 1987 release an eight out of ten.