The Running Man starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Image courtesy of TriStar Pictures.
1987's The Running Man is a bad film. The plot - about a game show where criminals are chased down and executed on live television - is not particularly compelling, the acting is wooden and the color balance is terrible. It's ridiculous and campy and if you are drunk, you might enjoy the silliness. After each bad guy that he dispatches, Arnold Schwarzenegger turns to the camera and delivers a Batman and Robin-style quip such as "I guess he was too hot-headed" after a guy bursts into flames. The AV Club notes that the character of Damon Killian, the host of the show, is played by Richard Dawson "in what could be considered the film’s only actual performance by a professional actor."
Despite this, I think the film is notable for one thing. The setting is the United States in the year 2017. Following an economic crisis, the huddled masses of unemployed are thirsty for a distraction and have turned to the Gods of Reality Television. A corrupt authoritarian government lies to the people, suspends due process and then stages ridiculous spectacles on television in order to distract from their lies and incompetence. And the bloodier and more obscene the spectacle, the better it works as a distraction.
Hmmm... Remind you of anything?