This is a great movie in a lot of ways. It gets remembered as a flop because it was released the same year as Predator which was released first and was a much bigger movie.
So it's a little like the guy who raced against Eric Heiden, broke all previous world speed records but lost, so his name never appeared in the record books. Instead, Heiden's name got listed for the person holding the new world record and this other guy got remembered as the loser.
I mean, IF he got remembered at all. (Nope, I can't tell you his name without looking it up. MY BAD.)
To whatever degree the US was on track to become some version of the dystopian future portrayed in The Running Man but did not, this movie played some role to some degree in making sure America made better choices. And to a large degree you can thank Richard Dawson for that.
Richard Dawson plays the evil gameshow host in this film. When he made the movie, he was an actual gameshow host for Family Feud and at some point they told him "You can't make this movie." He declined to quit the film and they FIRED him from his gameshow host job.
So anyone who might have thought the premise for this movie was ridiculous got to see real world evidence that maybe gameshows and the people running them weren't all sweetness and light and this movie premise wasn't just based on someone getting high and trying to be funny or some nonsense like that.
It turns out Richard Dawson was a much larger part of the success of Family Feud than the producers realized, its ratings got worse and worse without him and at some point they brought him back. But it was really too late. The jig was up. They cut their own throat when they fired him.
Ironically, odds are good he would have played the role with somewhat less gusto as well had he not been fired from his gameshow host job WHILE still filming this movie. He really sells it and I think he does so because it was very much true to life for him at that moment.
I don't hear too many stories about Americans with cushy lives taking a moral stand and getting fired over it. I usually hear that about some other country where things are supposed to be corrupt and bad and yadda.
Americans seem to share stories about people in places like Russia doing something they know will get them fired as if it is inspirational but not actually relevant to life in the US.
Well, I guess there is that guy who took a knee in recent years. BUT, you know, it's not something WHITE PEOPLE need to worry about.
Unless you are Richard Dawson, I guess. I cannot possibly tell you how much I respect the man for that.
(Well, both of them, really -- Dawson and that guy that took a knee. They both have my respect.)
So it's a little like the guy who raced against Eric Heiden, broke all previous world speed records but lost, so his name never appeared in the record books. Instead, Heiden's name got listed for the person holding the new world record and this other guy got remembered as the loser.
I mean, IF he got remembered at all. (Nope, I can't tell you his name without looking it up. MY BAD.)
To whatever degree the US was on track to become some version of the dystopian future portrayed in The Running Man but did not, this movie played some role to some degree in making sure America made better choices. And to a large degree you can thank Richard Dawson for that.
Richard Dawson plays the evil gameshow host in this film. When he made the movie, he was an actual gameshow host for Family Feud and at some point they told him "You can't make this movie." He declined to quit the film and they FIRED him from his gameshow host job.
So anyone who might have thought the premise for this movie was ridiculous got to see real world evidence that maybe gameshows and the people running them weren't all sweetness and light and this movie premise wasn't just based on someone getting high and trying to be funny or some nonsense like that.
It turns out Richard Dawson was a much larger part of the success of Family Feud than the producers realized, its ratings got worse and worse without him and at some point they brought him back. But it was really too late. The jig was up. They cut their own throat when they fired him.
Ironically, odds are good he would have played the role with somewhat less gusto as well had he not been fired from his gameshow host job WHILE still filming this movie. He really sells it and I think he does so because it was very much true to life for him at that moment.
I don't hear too many stories about Americans with cushy lives taking a moral stand and getting fired over it. I usually hear that about some other country where things are supposed to be corrupt and bad and yadda.
Americans seem to share stories about people in places like Russia doing something they know will get them fired as if it is inspirational but not actually relevant to life in the US.
Well, I guess there is that guy who took a knee in recent years. BUT, you know, it's not something WHITE PEOPLE need to worry about.
Unless you are Richard Dawson, I guess. I cannot possibly tell you how much I respect the man for that.
(Well, both of them, really -- Dawson and that guy that took a knee. They both have my respect.)