Ep1178: The Running Man (2025) - Roundtable Review
2025 has been the year of Stephen King movie adaptations, and Earth's Mightiest Critics are here to chase down a consensus on Edgar Wright's The Running Man!
Glen Powell stars as Ben Richards, a desperate, down-on-his luck father and husband living in an urban dystopian hellscape. He signs up to compete in the titular game show, which will pit him against everyone in America bent on keeping him from winning a billion-dollar prize.
This version is markedly different from the 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. But does it actually show fidelity to King's harrowing tale of loneliness and poverty in a world gone mad--or merely use the premise as window-dressing for an absurd and over-long cartoon? And, if that's the case, does Wright pull it off?
Join us as we lace up and take off after a spoilerific evaluation. We also take your questions, comments, and SuperChats!
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Show Links
Watch the Running Man (2025) trailer.
Enjoy this flashback to Ian and David Fowlie's review of the original Running ManN from 1987!
As mentioned in the episode, Mark interviewed actor Patrick Miller, who appeared in another Stephen King movie, Maximum Overdrive!
For Ian's takes on the Hammer Frankenstein films (referenced in the episode), check out his reviews with Aaron Christensen of Horror 101 w/ Dr. AC in our "Hammerland" series!
Support all of Earth's Mightiest Critics at their various outlets:
Keep up with Jeff York's criticism and caricatures at The Establishing Shot and Pipeline Artists.
Check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room Podcast.
Get seated with The Blonde in Front!
Follow David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.
Get educated with Don Shanahan at Every Movie Has a Lesson…
...And Film Obsessive
...and the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.
Keep up with Annie Banks at The Mary Sue.
...and We Got This Covered.
Make Nice with Mike Crowley of You'll Probably Agree.
And save your celluloid soul with Dave Canfield’s Substack, "Creature Feature Preacher".
