The Running Man (1987)

Arnold Schwarzenegger: Ben Richards

Photos 

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Quotes 

• Ben Richards : Killian, here's your Subzero, now plain zero.

• Amber Mendez : [1:11:48]  Me and my big mouth. We should have taken the trip to Hawaii.

  Ben Richards : I had the shirt for it, but you fucked it up.

• Ben Richards : [after ripping the surveillance monitor off the wall]  You cold-blooded bastard! I'll tell you what I think of it: I'll live to see you eat that contract, but I hope you leave enough room for my fist because I'm going to ram it into your stomach and break your god-damn spine!

  [Smashes monitor on the floor] 

• Amber Mendez : I'm warning you, I get sick. Air sick, car sick. I'm gonna throw up all over you.

  Richards : Go ahead. Won't show on this shirt.

• Ben Richards : [to Killian]  Hello cutie pie, one of us is in deep trouble.

  [Sven enters] 

  Damon Killian : [laughs]  Sven, do you wanna talk to Mr. Richards?

  [long pause] 

  Damon Killian : Well?

  Sven : I've got to score some steroids.

  [Sven leaves] 

• Ben Richards : Killian! I'll be back!

  Damon Killian : Only in a rerun. GO!

• Damon Killian : You look pissed, Ben. Believe me, you got every right to be. But hey, will you just let me explain. This is television, that's all it is. It's nothing to do with people, it's to do with the ratings. For fifty years, we've told them what to eat, what to drink, what to wear... for Christ's sake, Ben, don't you understand? Americans love television. They wean their kids on it. Listen. They love game shows, they love wrestling, they love sports and violence. So what do we do? We give 'em *what they want*! We're number one, Ben, that's all that counts, believe me. I've been in the business thirty years.

  Ben Richards : Well, I haven't been in show business as long as you have, Killian. But I'm a quick learner. So I'm going to give the audience what *I* think they want.

  Damon Killian : [Ben shoves Killian into the rocket sled and the restraints automatically lock in place]  You bastard. Drop dead!

  Ben Richards : I don't do requests

  [Ben launches the rocket sled into the game zone tunnel which later crashes into a billboard with Killian on it, exploding and killing him] 

  Ben Richards : Well that hit the spot

• Ben Richards : Uplink, underground! Uplink, underground! If you guys don't shut up, I'm gonna uplink your ass, and you'll be underground!

• Amber Mendez : [after Richards cut Buzzsaw in half with a chain saw]  What happened to Buzzsaw?

  Ben Richards : Aw, he had to split.

• Agent : [Richards is signing a contract given to him by the agent]  Here, here! Use my back, victim.

  Ben Richards : [Richards signs the contract on the agent's back and then stabs him with the pen, yelling out a painful scream]  Don't forget to send me a copy.

  Agent : [Runs screaming in pain while trying to get the pen out of his back] 

• Damon Killian : You bastard! Drop dead!

  Ben Richards : I don't do requests.

• Ben Richards : [trying to get Dynamo's attention]  Hey, Lighthead! Hey, Christmas Tree!

• Amber Mendez : [seeing Fireball enter the game]  Jesus Christ!

  Ben Richards : [seeing Fireball discharge a burst from his flamethrower]  Guess again!

• Ben Richards : I'm not into politics. I'm into survival.

• Ben Richards : [after strangling Sub-Zero with barbed wire]  Yeah, he was a real pain in the neck.

• Damon Killian : Hi, cutie pie. You know one of us is in deep trouble. You know who I am?

  Ben Richards : I've seen you before. You're the asshole on TV.

  Damon Killian : That's funny. I was going to say the same thing about you.

• Ben Richards : I told Killian I'd be back. I wouldn't want to be a liar.

• Ben Richards : Now I'm gonna untie you, and then you're gonna get dressed, and then you're gonna come with me.

  Amber Mendez : Oh yeah? Why should I?

  Ben Richards : Because I'm gonna say "please"...

  [Arnold tears up the bench Amber is tied to from the floor it was bolted to] 

  Amber Mendez : Well, why didn't you say so?

• Amber Mendez : They think I'm your girlfriend.

  Ben Richards : I can straighten that out. See that camera up there? I'll strangle you in front of the whole audience.

• Ben Richards : I'll be back!

• Fireball : [Richards rips his fuel line]  My gas line! My gas line! Go to commercial! Go to Commercial!

  Ben Richards : [lights a flare]  How about a light?

  Fireball : [Fireball screams and then explodes] 

  Ben Richards : What a hothead.

• Damon Killian : [25:15]  And that's why I'd like you to volunteer to appear on tomorrow night's episode of The Running Man.

  Ben Richards : [beat]  Fuck you!

  Damon Killian : [chuckles]  You're a brilliant conversationalist, Ben. A trifle limited, but brilliant.

• Buzzsaw : Richards, I love this saw. This saw's part of me and I'm going to make it part of you.

  Ben Richards : [after a brief struggle Richards successfully positions the saw between Buzzsaw's legs]  That's alright. Keep it!

  [Richards begins slicing him through the crotch] 

  Ben Richards : [Buzzsaw screams in agonizing pain as people are watching with shock] 

• [after killing Damon Killian] 

  Ben Richards : Well, that hit the spot.

• Ben Richards : [to a trapped Dynamo]  No. I won't kill a helpless human being. Not even sadistic scum... like you.

• [Ben had just killed Subzero] 

  Ben Richards : [to Damon]  Hey, Killian! Here's Subzero! Now... plain zero!

  Damon Killian : [sadly]  Ladies and Gentlemen, this is... just horrible. Words can't express what we're all feeling at this very moment. A great champion has fallen. We'll be back right after these important messages.

• Ben Richards : Women. Can't live with 'em, can't live... with 'em.

• Harold Weiss : We can jam the network once we find the uplink to the satellite. Then we'll broadcast the truth.

  Ben Richards : Truth? Hasn't been very popular lately.

• Damon Killian : We have one hell of a show for you tonight. Phil, please, if you will, introduce tonight's guest runner...

  Damon Killian : [to Mrs. Agnes McArdle and the audience]  ... and watch that screen.

  [an CGI falsified version of the actual events of the Bakersfield massacre is shown; the police heilcopter is flying over the city] 

  Phil Hiton : Our star runner tonight needs no introduction. He's Ben Richards, the brutal slayer of 60 men, women, and children in the Bakersfield massacre.

  Ben Richards : Food riot in progress. Approximately 1,500 civilians. Moving in.

  Dispatcher : [to Richards]  Yankee-nine-niner, the crowd is unarmed. Repeat, unarmed. Abort attack. Acknowledge, Yankee-Nine-Niner.

  Ben Richards : [to dispatch]  The hell with you.

  Dispatcher : Lieutenant Sanders, take command. Detain Richards and return to base.

  [Ben attacks Sanders and the crew; Thousands of shanty residents, the audience, and the guests in the locker room, including Captain Freedom, are watching the shocking events infolding] 

  Dispatcher : Acknowledge, Yankee-Nine-Niner! Acknowledge! Return to base! Those are innocent, unarmed people down there! Cease fire! CEASE FIRE!

  [Ben starts shooting at the crowd with an automatic machine gun and laying waste to the entire city using rocket launchers; The audience and the residents watch in sheer horror] 

  Damon Killian : Well, we all know the aftermath: Grieving parents, orphaned children, and a nation shocked to its very core. Here he is, ready to pay the price for our home audience. In person, the Butcher of Bakersfield!

• Ben Richards : If you're not ready to act, give me a break and shut up!

• Amber Mendez : [Fireball arrives in the game zone by jetpack]  Jesus Christ!

  Ben Richards : Guess again.

• Damon Killian : [gets thrown into the turbo slide by Ben and the restraints lock in place]  You bastard! Drop dead.

  Ben Richards : I don't do requests.

• Ben Richards : It's showtime.

• Dispatcher : Proceed with plan alpha. Eliminate anything moving.

  Ben Richards : I said the crowd is unarmed. There are a lot of women and children down there. All they want is food for God's sake!

  Dispatcher : As you were, Richards. Proceed with plan alpha. All rioters must be eliminated.

  Ben Richards : The hell with you. I will not fire on helpless people. Abort mission. We return back to base.

  Dispatcher : Lieutenant Sanders, do you copy?

• [first lines] 

  [a helicopter is flying at night] 

  Man : [over radio]  Yankee-nine-niner, what are your coordinates?

  Ben Richards : 0-2-0, flight level 1-5. We're above release point Echo-Bravo-one.

  Man : [over radio]  Move in and check it out.

  Ben Richards : Roger. Moving in.

• Richards : See you guys at the 10-year prison reunion.

• William Laughlin : Well, there's your ride. lt's all set.

  Ben Richards : Nothing like first class.

• Mic : What is it?

  Amber Mendez : It's the original video from the Bakersfield massacre, before they edited for broadcasting.

  Ben Richards : Where did you hide that?

  Amber Mendez : It's none of your business.