Review: The Running Man

Blu-ray: The Running Man (1963)

Rex (Laurence Harvey) is a pilot and owns his own aircraft carrying a variety of goods for businesses across the world.

When he is involved in a plane crash, he is lucky to escape with his life. However, he is not so lucky when he finds out that his insurance company won\’t pay out the £20,000 due to him for his wrecked aircraft, due to his payments to them having lapsed 2 days prior.

With thoughts of starting another business with the insurance capitol now scuppered, he concocts a plan with his wife Stella (Lee Remick) to fake his own death, claim on a life insurance that they took out 3 months previously, then secretly meet in Spain and live out a new life together with the insurance money.

When insurance investigator Stephen (Alan Bates) arrives at Stella\’s apartment to check the details of Rex\’s death, so begins a series of events which lead to the 3 main characters crossing paths in Spain and a string of lies and deceit slowly spinning out of control until the truth surely can be hidden no more.

Harvey, Remick and Bates all have great screen presence, with Bates being the standout as a slightly nervous, yet doggedly determined man whose infatuation for Stella sees him dragged into a web of duplicity.

When Rex has to assume another identity while in Spain, the \’Australian\’ accent spoken by Laurence Harvey has to be heard to be believed. Surely a contender for \’ most hilarious movie accent\’…move over Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins.

Directed by Carol Reed, The Running Man is a thoroughly enjoyable thriller with some twists and turns in the narrative that keep you guessing as to what may happen next, along with some superb cinematography which brings to life the Spanish landscapes and architecture.

The usual set of great special features from Arrow Films round off a superb package to a movie that you probably thought starred Arnold Schwarzenegger when you first saw the title. 

A great addition to anyones movie collection.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• 2K restoration of the film by Sony Pictures
• High Definition (1080p) Blu-Ray presentation
• Original uncompressed mono audio
• Isolated music and effects track
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary by Peter William Evans, author of British Film-Makers: Carol Reed
• On The Trail Of The Running Man, all-new featurette with crew members such as script supervisor Angela Allen and assistant director Kits Browning
• Lee Remick at the National Film Theatre, an audio-only recording of the actor\’s appearance at the NFT in 1970
• Image gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring original artwork

FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Barry Forshaw.

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Review by Dave from a disc kindly supplied by Arrow Films.