barbara_schatz
Joined Feb 2022
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Reviews8
barbara_schatz's rating
I saw this movie back in 1989 and it blew my mind. Just like today it broke a lot of rules especially about endings.
I saw it in '89 when I was still dating my husband to be. We are still married today and haven't forgotten this movie. But in an era that is 30 years removed from Reagan Bush where males ensure that mass shootings happen 1.5 per each day in America this movie has less impact in the here and now then it did back when it was brand new.
The whole thing had and has a kind of surreal edge, somewhere between the aunjanue taking a Valium at the beginning and the fact that once 4 AM is reached Melatonin is the master of our minds. Somehow the creators of the movie gave it a feel that was very much like the substances that were dominant.
Everything is a little weird, stark, edgy, all from the point when we reach 4 AM and onwards.
Once we get beyond the intro it is real time and once the Mcguffin is dropped the tension just builds. There is a bit of comedy but things get worse and heavier as we tend towards the inevitable end in real time.
Another issue in this movie is that it is recommended to young people who are curious about how people dealt with crises before Internet connectivity.
Without having instant access to instant communication and information people rely on things like word of mouth, hoping people will relay messages, passing on rumors and pay phones. Otherwise they have to travel to the person to whom they wish to communicate.
The hero spends most of his time running around trying to locate his lady and find a way out. It is really weird and indicative of the Reagan Bush era how he is not really willing to say what the problem is and comes up with every excuse (toxic fire with cyanide cloud is just one) under the sun except impending nuclear war when dealing with people.
The closer we get to the very non Hollywood ending the more chaotic things become.
Our hero is never in control but it comes home poignantly as we proceed towards the final quarter of the movie when the surrealism and chaos amps up (cops abandoning the scene scene).
It only took an hour for a rumor to start spreading through the entire city. Without digital connectivity In the middle of the night.
This movie is commendable and recommended for a lot of reasons but be ready for a very non Hollywood ending.
In the end I was kind of left wondering did the war start the rumors or did the rumors start the war. Either seemed equally possible.
The extended ending scenes with them trying to comfort each other through the horror is a beautiful illustration of what love is really about.
Basically if you don't shed a tear at the end you don't really have a soul.
I saw it in '89 when I was still dating my husband to be. We are still married today and haven't forgotten this movie. But in an era that is 30 years removed from Reagan Bush where males ensure that mass shootings happen 1.5 per each day in America this movie has less impact in the here and now then it did back when it was brand new.
The whole thing had and has a kind of surreal edge, somewhere between the aunjanue taking a Valium at the beginning and the fact that once 4 AM is reached Melatonin is the master of our minds. Somehow the creators of the movie gave it a feel that was very much like the substances that were dominant.
Everything is a little weird, stark, edgy, all from the point when we reach 4 AM and onwards.
Once we get beyond the intro it is real time and once the Mcguffin is dropped the tension just builds. There is a bit of comedy but things get worse and heavier as we tend towards the inevitable end in real time.
Another issue in this movie is that it is recommended to young people who are curious about how people dealt with crises before Internet connectivity.
Without having instant access to instant communication and information people rely on things like word of mouth, hoping people will relay messages, passing on rumors and pay phones. Otherwise they have to travel to the person to whom they wish to communicate.
The hero spends most of his time running around trying to locate his lady and find a way out. It is really weird and indicative of the Reagan Bush era how he is not really willing to say what the problem is and comes up with every excuse (toxic fire with cyanide cloud is just one) under the sun except impending nuclear war when dealing with people.
The closer we get to the very non Hollywood ending the more chaotic things become.
Our hero is never in control but it comes home poignantly as we proceed towards the final quarter of the movie when the surrealism and chaos amps up (cops abandoning the scene scene).
It only took an hour for a rumor to start spreading through the entire city. Without digital connectivity In the middle of the night.
This movie is commendable and recommended for a lot of reasons but be ready for a very non Hollywood ending.
In the end I was kind of left wondering did the war start the rumors or did the rumors start the war. Either seemed equally possible.
The extended ending scenes with them trying to comfort each other through the horror is a beautiful illustration of what love is really about.
Basically if you don't shed a tear at the end you don't really have a soul.
So sad that the producers chose to not read or simply ignore the source material. The Running Man was an amazing and prophetic novella that I read in the early 80s.
It is eerily like today but without the internet. It is full of greedy male controlled corporations that have destroyed all safety nets. It is hard to get and keep a job, hard to make expenses if you have one or even three jobs. Healthcare is nearly impossible to access. New flu and other pandemics rage. Reality TV with surreally high stakes rule and billboards for legal cannabis are everywhere. The routine and institulinized racism, misogyny and homophobia complete the prophecy perfectly.
Of course none of us could have known this in the 80s. All we knew was this novella was dark and amazing.
Then this dreadful movie gets released. It is like they did not read or chose to ignore the important points in the source material.
It is as if they thought casting Swartzeneggar in the role of a small, weak, utterly unempowered main character in the story would make up for their plot oversights. It. Does. Not.
I mean, seriously, this was worse than David Lynch's Dune.
It is eerily like today but without the internet. It is full of greedy male controlled corporations that have destroyed all safety nets. It is hard to get and keep a job, hard to make expenses if you have one or even three jobs. Healthcare is nearly impossible to access. New flu and other pandemics rage. Reality TV with surreally high stakes rule and billboards for legal cannabis are everywhere. The routine and institulinized racism, misogyny and homophobia complete the prophecy perfectly.
Of course none of us could have known this in the 80s. All we knew was this novella was dark and amazing.
Then this dreadful movie gets released. It is like they did not read or chose to ignore the important points in the source material.
It is as if they thought casting Swartzeneggar in the role of a small, weak, utterly unempowered main character in the story would make up for their plot oversights. It. Does. Not.
I mean, seriously, this was worse than David Lynch's Dune.
I expected this to be reeaallyy baaad. Hellraiser movies like so many, get worse over time and typically remakes have little to offer.
This was a pleasant surprise and a fun ride for an old theatrical fan of the 1980s fare.
Young people get their hands on a demonic puzzle box and the more they change or solve it the more demonic characters we meet. Dark adventures ensue.
Oddly, a more coherent narrative than the original but also perhaps because it is more "sane," is less horrific than the original.
Of course now I am an old fart rather than a young adult so it does take a lot more to scare me these days.
This was a pleasant surprise and a fun ride for an old theatrical fan of the 1980s fare.
Young people get their hands on a demonic puzzle box and the more they change or solve it the more demonic characters we meet. Dark adventures ensue.
Oddly, a more coherent narrative than the original but also perhaps because it is more "sane," is less horrific than the original.
Of course now I am an old fart rather than a young adult so it does take a lot more to scare me these days.