Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in this 1980s sci-fi action thriller set in Los Angeles in 2017. America has become a police state and its citizens are mollified with a steady diet of violent television shows. The most popular one is 'The Running Man', where convicts try to survive an invariably lethal obstacle course. One of the contestants is prison escapee Ben Richards (Schwarzenegger) who having been recaptured, finds himself running for his life on the show.