The Running Man - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Running Man

Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
While Stephen King has been iconicized on and off screen with his books, 1987’s The Running Man was about as loose an interpretation of the book as we could get. It was simply an Arnie movie with late 80s sci-fi tropes, making it an “in name only” adaptation of the original works. Sure, the basic premise was the same, but it veered so far into left field that it holds very little semblance to the book. So along comes Edgar Wright (one of my favorite directors) and the promise that this was going to stick much closer to the novel. Plus, I actually like Glenn Powell. He does smirking smarminess quite well, and I liked the look of the trailer well enough. Edgar is not the type of person to get bogged down in too many controversial politics, and Josh Brolin is a massive pull for normies.

Sadly, I noticed that The Running Man 2025 was getting absolutely torn to pieces after it came out, and my expectations were sadly depleted. Thanks to a weird shipping delay for the reviewers, I decided not to watch the film on streaming, but to wait for the physical 4K UHD to come out and give it a virgin run by yours truly. And while I saw some definite dips in quality (the Michael Cera sequence was beyond silly), I wasn’t getting the hate for the film. The movie was different than the 87 predecessor, but it had its charms. That is, until the ending. Oh boy, the ending.

Ben Richards (Glenn Powell) is Ben Richards, a working-class man in a horrible future destroyed by the elites taking up all the wealth, and letting the populace live on scraps. His daughter has the flu, and he and his wife Sheila (Jayme Lawson) don’t have enough money to even buy her basic meds to combat it. With her life on the line and Ben having just lost his job for sticking up for his men, he does the only thing that he can think of to do. Sign up for media conglomerate game shows that have become the opiates for the masses in this day and age. Debase yourself on TV for the masses, and get a few hundred bucks.

But after he gets there, media mogul Dan Killian (Josh Brolin) recognizes the fiery potential within Richards and offers him the chance of a lifetime. Participate in the super-violent, barely winnable version of The Most Dangerous Game known as “The Running Man”. A real-life, month-long game where a person is hunted by mercenaries known as “Hunters”, and the longer he survives, the more money he makes. With the profits of the game, he can take his wife and daughter out of poverty and finally make something of himself. But like the original movie, the game is rigged against him from the start. Richards has no chance of winning except to lean into the bitter truth that this is all for ratings and force Killian into doing something he shouldn’t do. Let Ben Richards continue to dominate the ratings alive and well, and give the man the chance to get within striking distance of Killian.

I actually was quite surprised at the first half of the movie. While it didn’t have the same vibe as the original, it was fun. Glenn Powell does a good job playing a guy who suffers from depression and pent-up rage over the life that everyone is forced to live in. He’s a man on the edge, and that very same edge makes him one of the Running Man’s most dangerous contestants. Brolin is slimy and smarmy as only he can be, and it was kind of cool to see Sean Hayes show up as Gary Greenbacks. The plot is paper-thin, but it’s very relatable. Every day, man fights against the man, putting down every goon that comes after him. The action is fine, the effects good, and I liked what I saw up until the Michael Cera portion.

Right around the 2nd half of the film, when Ben meets up with Michael Cera’s version of “the resistance,” things start to waver. Michael Cera and his mother’s characters are too bizarre for even this film, and adding in Amelia (Emilia Jones, standing in for Amber from the first film) just felt odd. But everything was fine until the VERY controversial ending comes into play. I won’t spoil things too much, but needless to say, the ending goes off the rails. It’s a mixture of surrealist, satire, and too many reshoots (my guesses at least, as I’ve had no confirmation of any actual major reshoots). The film tries to stick closer to the original King story a lot more, but then it was as if a committee of suits took a look at that and said, “nah, that’s too dark, make a hero's ending”. So Edgar Wright took the ending he had planned and bookended it with a tacked-on ending that allows for a more “happy” ending. Both endings are working against each other, leaving the audience feeling like they got sucker punched in all the wrong ways. All of the momentum is gone in a flash, and we’re left feeling like “OK, that just happened”. Needless to say, it sort of sucked a lot of the fun out of the film at that point. It’s still a solid enough watch, but the last act just gets squandered. Which is a strange thing to say, as Edgar Wright is generally really good at wrapping his films up.




Rating:

Rated R for strong violence, some gore, and language




4K Video: Video:

Whether you choose the Blu-ray disc or the 4K disc found in the set, you’re in for a good time. The Running Man is a solid performing disc with some great visual aesthetics from Edgar thrown to boot. Fine details and visual clarity are top-notch. Check out the scene where Amelia and Ben are sitting in the car waiting for Killian to wave them through. You can see sweat, grime, and even razor burn on Powell’s face in every second of the shot. The visual effects work well enough, but there were some places near the end that suffered from “too much CGI” to the point where it started to look fake. Black levels are strong, and the included Dolby Vision color grading adds a ton of richness to all the reds and blues that the film employs. All in all, this is a stellar transfer all the way around.









Audio:

Now, probably the single best part of the entire package is the Dolby Atmos track found on board as the primary audio option. Wow! This is a powerhouse of a track. The Running Man is a sci-fi actioneer, and they gave it an action-oriented soundtrack with all of the goodies you could expect. Dialog is crisp and clean, and the surrounds get a ton of action as Ben runs and guns himself away from Killian’s hunters. Those Michael Cera sequences I was and moaning about? Well, the good thing is that it gives us probably the single best use of surrounds and subs in the entire movie, with a tour de force action scene that is for the books. Well, probably only matched by the final fight on the plane at the end vs. the remaining hunters. All the way, 5-star perfection.












Extras:

• 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.
• 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 Score: ​

While I know that I’m looking through rose colored glasses at the 1989 Arnie film (it was never a good movie; it was always just a good cult movie with some incredible Arnold one-liners), I feel both excited and let down about the 2025 remake. In many ways, the film actually does work, with Glenn Powell focusing his normal pretty boy persona into violent rage. But my goodness, that last act is a picture-perfect example of taking all of the goodwill you formed for the 2/3rds of the movie and flush’s a good chunk down the drain. Making a pretty decent movie loses momentum sharply in the last 30 minutes. Audio and video are certainly great, and extras are way above average in this day and age, making it a compelling package for fans of the film. Once more, this is Paramount’s pattern lately, but there is no Blu-ray release of the film, simply a 4K UHD / Blu-ray combo pack.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Glen Powell, Alyssa Benn, Sienna Benn, David Zayas, Lee Pace, Josh Brolin
Directed by: Edgar Wright
Written by: Steven King (Story), Michael Bacall, Edgar Wright
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), French, French (Canadian), Spanish DD 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Japanese, Spanish, Cantonese, Danish, Finnish, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Swedish, Thai
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Rated: R
Runtime: 133 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: March 3rd, 2026

Recommendation: Fun Enough Watch