Now Playing - The Movie Review Podcast · Venganza Media, Inc.

The Running Man (2025)

·2 hr 11 min

The panel opens by warning that the discussion is spoiler-heavy and not gentle. Arnie, Stuart, and Brock then introduce The Running Man as the latest stop in a Stephen King run that has also included Monkey and The Long Walk. They note the coincidence that two of the recent movies come from Bachman books, which helps them frame the film as part of a larger resurfacing rather than a one-off remake. The 1987 movie is never far away. The hosts keep comparing the new version to the Arnold Schwarzenegger film, especially the way this story has always been built around public performance and spectacle. The money gag gets a lot of attention. They talk about Arnold being printed on currency in this future, and they keep coming back to the joke that the movie seems anxious about letting his face dominate the frame more than once. That bit lands because they are still amused by it. From there, the conversation slides into the 1987 film's aerobics dancers and the kind of show-business staging that used to feel normal in broadcast entertainment. It is a strange little museum tour. They widen that thought into comparisons with modern competition shows and live-performance staging, which gives the movie a cultural context bigger than the plot. The announcer impresses them too. They specifically connect the voice to James Austin Johnson from Saturday Night Live, and that recognition becomes another reason the panel enjoys the movie's show-business texture. The cast list gets a fast pass. Glenn Powell, William H. Macy, Lee Pace, Michael Cera, Amelia Jones, Daniel Ezra, Jamie Lawson, Katie O'Brien, Sean Hayes, Coleman Domingo, and Josh Brolin all come up as part of the film's packed lineup, along with a special appearance by Brisket. The premise itself stays central. They keep circling the lie at the heart of the story, where Ben Richards is branded for public consumption and forced into a game the audience is meant to believe, and that keeps the discussion grounded even when the hosts drift into side jokes and memory lane. That drift is part of the charm. The episode ends feeling like a familiar movie-night table talk that uses The Running Man to revisit what this story, this actor, and this kind of future satire all mean to the panel.

As heard by us

A spoiler-heavy, bantering King-adaptation discussion with plenty of franchise memory.

Now Playing's The Running Man discussion keeps its focus on the new film with Glenn Powell, while threading in Stephen King and Bachman-book context without making a meal of it.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a spoiler-heavy Running Man episode with Stephen King baggage and dry banter.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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