When Stephen King published his novel The Running Man under the name Richard Bachman in 1982, the book must’ve been seen like a piece of cynical dystopian fiction. Instead, like Jules Verne with the submarine and space shuttles, it turned into a predictive text in which corporate conglomerates operating under near-single person ownership have infiltrated high levels of government while trying to turn all forms of entertainment into state messaging and all consumer products into extensions of the surveillance state. Think me paranoid? How often does one of your digital assistants push adverts for something you researched online or spoke about near a phone? Did you agree to allow your streaming device to track your viewing habits? Allow your TVs camera to track you? Suddenly the tagline “Watching You, Watching Us” in Edgar Wright’s 2025 fresh adaptation, The Running Man, starring Glen Powell (Twisters), doesn’t seem so unrealistic and does seem far more of-the-times. Now out on home video to own, the making of Wright’s The Running Man is yours to explore with over two hours of supplemental materials, as well as a feature-length commentary track.
If you’re interested in a spoiler-free exploration of the film, head over to EoM Founder Douglas Davidson’s initial theatrical release review. Moving forward, the stakes go up and the shit goes down.
Having been fired from his job for reporting a safety concern and unable to convince his boss to take him off the black list, Ben Richards (Powell) opts to audition for one of Network’s programs in hopes of securing enough funds to pay for real medicine that can ease his daughter’s illness. Though he knows the dangers and has zero intention of taking on any of the high stakes games, he finds himself one of three selected for The Running Man — the show of shows that offers big rewards to off-set the matching danger that comes from a country-wide manhunt. Can he be the first to go the distance? Or will he be the latest sucker to be tortured for the public’s amusement and placation?
The following home release review is based on a 4K UHD retail copy provided by Paramount Pictures via Alliance Entertainment.
Having recently rewatched the prior 1987 adaption, which loosely borrows from the book, Wright’s (Baby Driver) is the superior adaption. This doesn’t mean that one can’t prefer the 1987 one over the 2025 edition as art and our reactions to it is entirely subjective, but, in terms of its approach to the adaption, it took something incredibly dark and violent and not only made it entertaining, it did so without losing any of its edge. Powell’s Richards is a thoughtful, compassionate man with anger issues who’s finally been given a target and permission. As a member of Co-Op 27, who has had to wait in line for medicine supplies that don’t come or cost too much, who has endured countless occupations paid for by the same company that has abused him (and the general populace) for some time, Richards is not a hero nor does he seek martyrdom (though he does get it), he’s a good man pushed too far and history has shown that any empire who underestimates its populace is doomed to be tried by it. While Wright manifests a country (mostly) unknowingly hobbled by its technological and corporate advancements, the weakest element of the adaption is the ending. In the book, Richard dies flying the plane into the Network building, whereas here he survives somehow both as a figurehead of the resistance and as a man reuniting with his wife and daughter. It gives the audience a happy ending, a present to make all the pain, violence, and surging anger evaporate before the credits roll. However, it also undercuts the fact that Richards wasn’t meant to live. He became part of the problem when he joined the show and provides a temporary solution through the destruction of the building. Yes, it’s cynical and dark, but it’s also close to the truth as we see each time a terrible truth is unearthed about the United States government and nothing happens. Providing a soft ending may make audiences happy, but what is that but more placation? Coming from the Ellison-owned Paramount Pictures, as truth melds with fiction, the divide between committing to the message and entertainment grows wider to a dangerous degree.
Having played in a variety of genres before this, Wright is particularly suited to present the required mixture to convey the grounded sincerity and elevated environment of The Running Man. He understands pacing as well as the power of the edit and the right song choice, whether to help communicate the internal where dialogue would be out of place, like the extended walking sequence that shows us the two-tiered world Richards exists within during his trek to the audition space or trying to survive the attack on the VA hostel as an untrained civilian. Powell is the right partner for this, utilizing his everyman appeal and surprising ability to disappear into different costumes and makeups (see: Everybody Wants Some!!! and Hit Man) as his pliability enables him to adjust and adapt to the necessary tonal and genre switches. If there’s a real complaint in the casting, it’s that we don’t get enough of Katy O’Brian (Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning; Love Lies Bleeding) who steals the spotlight anytime she’s on screen — a frequent occurrence whether she’s supporting or leading a film. The use of her as the “wild card” runner is divine, making the most of her explosive energy within the short period we, the audience, are allowed. Former collaborator Michael Cera (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) gives a hilarious performance that threatens to overtake Powell in their sequence together through Cera’s oscillating mania; however, I’d argue that this is part of the point of characters like Cera’s Elton Perrakis, O’Brian’s Jenni Laughlin, or Daniel Ezra’s (Twelfth Night) Bradley; they are meant to have more flavor than Powell’s Richards in the brief scenes they have, not because Powell can’t stand tall next to them, but because they are the people, like him, who are being screwed by the Network. These moments to shine provide additional amperage for Powell’s Richards so that when we get to the final confrontation between Powell, Lee Pace’s McCone, and Josh Brolin’s showrunner, Killian, he’s a powder keg on the verge of explosion.
If, like me, you found yourself enjoying the hell out of this adaption, even with what was done to make it palatable, then buckle up for the bonus features. Not only are there over 70 minutes’ worth spread across four featurettes which dive into the making of the film from the perspective of Wright and co-writer Michael Bacall (Jump Street films; Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), but also from Powell; supporting cast members William H. Macy (Train Dreams), Lee Pace (Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 1), Jayme Lawson (Sinners), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing), and Josh Brolin (Dune series); and members of the crew involved with makeup, costumes, production design, and stunts. It’s about as comprehensive an exploration of the creation of this film as one can get. Considering how infrequent home releases are providing supplemental materials these days on major releases (Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die only has a 5-minute featurette and Die My Love has none), just these four featurettes feel like a miracle. Going beyond this, Wright’s world of The Running Man includes Network programming like The Americanos and we get eight minutes of promos and an episode to watch. We get four commercials for other programs, three TRM-related vids like the full rules, 14 minutes of TRM in-film self-tapes, The Apostle (Daniel Ezra) videos, and a great deal more. Plus, the aforementioned feature-length commentary from Wright, Bacall, and Powell, whose total contributions are a mix of stories from the set and the three just having fun (like reveling in working with Sandra Dickinson (The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) or joking about a specific cowboy switch that occurs during the home invasion sequence), making for solid entertainment, even if not fully enlightening from a filmmaking perspective.
Be advised that while the 4K UHD disc and digital editions include all the listed bonus materials, the Blu-ray edition (included with the 4K UHD Blu-ray combo or solo) only has the commentary track and three featurettes: “The Hunters and The Hunted,” “Welcome to The Running Man: Designing the World,” and “Surviving the Game: Shooting The Running Man.”
It’s important to know that Paramount opted to place all the supplemental materials on both the 4K UHD and Blu-ray Disc included in the standard edition 4K UHD edition. This matters because with all of these materials on the 4K UHD disc, there’s far less space for the film itself which already runs over two hours. Though the picture and audio show no signs of issues, the bitrate for the 4K UHD edition hovers in the 50s Mbps range with the occasional jump to the 60s. The max bitrate on a Blu-ray is 40 Mbps with the max of a 4K UHD being over 100 Mbps; therefore, the on-disc presentation is hardly better than the best Blu-ray presentation. This could’ve been avoided by merely leaving the supplemental materials on the Blu-ray (as is often done with special edition Paramount Pictures re-releases of titles being upgraded to 4K UHD), so it’s odd that this choice wasn’t selected here. Again, there’s no noticeable degradation of frame when the bitrate shifts and the range of color is fantastic (important for both the practically-built Network sets and on-location sequences to convey the grounded nature of the film even in heightened circumstances) and the more bombastic moments (like the VA hotel explosion or house invasion in Derry) are enveloping. But both would be improved if the disc was allowed the proper space for the data.
L-R: Director Edgar Wright, left, and Glen Powell on the set of Paramount Pictures’ THE RUNNING MAN. © 2025 PARAMOUNT PICTURES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
This film isn’t going to be to everyone’s taste. Some may find the satirical elements too real to today’s world (despite being based in the ideas from 1982), while others may find the humor distasteful and as bringing down the intensity of the satirical bite. I’d still argue that the main problem is the late introduction of hostage-turned-associate Amelia Williams (Emilia Jones) whose speed run to the truth is hard to swallow — accurate to the book or not. All in all, however, all of the cast so perfectly understand their roles and the needs of the moment that, even when one feels aggravated by the inclusion of Williams or Richards’s survival, everything else before and after so smartly captures the real frustration of living in a hyper-surveilled society suffering from government corruption via capitalist takeover that it’s forgivable. At the very least, the ending feels far more earned and sincere amid all the ridiculousness that exists within the same runtime as the 1987 edition.
The Running Man Special Features:
- Commentary by Writer/Director Edgar Wright, Actor Glen Powell, and Writer Michael Bacall (2:13:05)
- 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. (11:31)
- The Hunters and The Hunted: Meet the cast and the unforgettable characters that power this anything-goes game show of survival, strategy, and spectacle. (16:35)
- 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. (16:46)
- 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. (28:38)
- Five (5) The Running Man Commercials: In-world commercials for the show you definitely shouldn’t audition for—but can’t stop watching. (2:18)
- Three (3) 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. (4:30)
- Six (6) The Runners – Self Tapes: Raw, unfiltered self-tape submissions from the show’s desperate, overconfident, and occasionally unlucky contestants. (14:54)
- Speed The Wheel: A satirical in-world game show where running for your life is just another studio challenge. (2:19)
- Six (6) The Americanos: Meet America’s richest, boldest, most chaotic family in their hit reality series—glossy, ruthless, and always watching. (8:20)
- Two (2) The Apostle: Clips from the in-world series that expands the TV universe of The Running Man. (4:23)
- Stunts Compilation: A full-throttle look at the hits, falls, wire work, wipeouts, and perfectly timed chaos that fuel the film’s biggest moments. (1:40)
- Hair, Make-Up and Costume Test: Watch the cast get locked into their final looks before stepping into the arena. (25:47)
- Deleted and Extended Scenes: Additional moments cut from the final film. (11:04)
- Trailers & Digital Spots: A curated lineup of the campaign’s boldest cuts and hardest-hitting promos. (7:49)
Available on digital December 16th, 2025.
Available on Paramount+ January 13th, 2026.
Available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD March 3rd, 2026.
For more information, head to the official Paramount Pictures The Running Man website.
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Categories: Films To Watch, Home Release, Recommendation
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