The Running Man (2025) (4K Ultra HD Review)
DIRECTED BY: Edgar Wright
STARRING: Glen Powell, William H. Macy, Lee Pace
RATED: R/Region: O/2:39/2160P/NUMBER OF DISCS 2
AVAILABLE FROM Paramount Pictures
Trying to remake The Running Man is already a bold move. Trying to do it in 2025 without either fully embracing the satire of the original or reinventing it in a meaningful way? That’s where things start to wobble.
The new The Running Man clearly wants to be relevant. It updates the concept with modern tech, social media voyeurism, and the whole “we are the content” angle—which should be a slam dunk. And to be fair, there are moments where it almost clicks. A few sequences tap into that uneasy feeling that we’re not that far off from turning human suffering into prime-time entertainment again (if we ever stopped).
But here’s the problem: for a movie about a brutal, high-stakes death game, it feels weirdly… safe.
Where the original leaned into its absurdity—with Arnold Schwarzenegger dropping one-liners like he was being paid per pun—this version trades that chaotic energy for a more grounded, serious tone. That’s not inherently a bad idea, but the film never commits hard enough to make it land. It’s not wild enough to be fun, and not sharp enough to be biting satire. It just kind of jogs in place when it should be sprinting for its life.
The action is competent but rarely exciting. You can feel the budget on screen, but not always the creativity. Set pieces come and go without leaving much of an impression, which is a problem when the entire premise is built around memorable, deadly “games.” Instead of iconic, over-the-top hunters, you get antagonists that feel like they wandered in from a more generic dystopian series.
Performance-wise, everyone does their job… and that’s about it. The lead has the physical presence, but lacks that larger-than-life charisma that made the original so quotable. No one here is giving you lines you’ll be repeating with your friends later—they’re just delivering dialogue and moving on.
To its credit, the movie isn’t a total miss. There’s a solid idea buried in here about media manipulation and public complicity, and a few scenes hint at the sharper film this could’ve been. It’s just frustrating that it never fully leans into those strengths.
In the end, the 2025 Running Man isn’t a disaster—it’s just kind of… there. A remake that looks good, sounds modern, and plays things so cautiously that it forgets to be memorable. Not dead on arrival, but definitely not running at full speed either.
Extras
- DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
- Audio Commentary By Writer/Director Edgar Wright, Actor Glen Powell, And Writer Michael Bacall
- Featurettes:
- 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.
- The Running Man Commercials: In-world commercials for the show you definitely shouldn’t audition for—but can’t stop watching.
- Let Them Run
- Hey You! Tough Guy!
- Watermelons
- Fate And Destiny
- Quadcopter
- 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.
- Hardest Hits
- Opening Titles
- Rules Of The Run
- The Runners – Self Tapes: Raw, unfiltered self-tape submissions from the show’s desperate, overconfident, and occasionally unlucky contestants.
- Ben Richards
- Jenni Laughlin
- Tim Jansky
- Hopeless Dude
- Negative Dude
- Final Dude
- 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.
- Title Sequence
- Episode
- Promo 1
- Promo 2
- Promo 3
- Promo 4
- The Apostle: Clips from the in-world series that expands the TV universe of The Running Man.
- The Apostle 1
- The Apostle 2
- 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.
- Optional English SDH, Spanish, and French subtitles for the main feature
