The Running Man (1987)

The Arnold Schwarzenegger film from 1987 based upon the book written by Richard Bachman who we all know is Stephen King, so you have a sci-fi film from the pen of Stephen King, I have never read the book but want to. This is another film that I have seen several times and I love it every time, it is the real height of Arnold's career where he gives all of his best one-liners including the I'll be back repeated from 1984's The Terminator.

I will see this many times again in the future and recommend that everybody gives it a go. You have a future where the corporations are running everything and the number one rated show on the network is The Running Man where criminals are sent in and killed by themed Stalkers, you have Schwarzenegger as Ben Richards who had been previously framed and escaped from jail and he is launched into the game zone. This film works so well as it puts the corporations with all the money as the bad guys and as liars.

This is a 4 star recommend for me, it suffers form being dated a bit and there are laws that some people will not get over but i think it is well worth seeing.

Alien (1979)

March 2011

When I was on holiday we were given the chance to view a film, this film was not my choice but I was still happy enough to see it again. I have a mixed history with Alien as I have to be honest and say that the action packed Sequel from James Cameron is more to my liking than the Ridley Scott thriller.

However since a weekend in 2009 when I watched all of the Alien films and their directors cuts and the Predator and AVP films I have a new love for this film. I do not think that the Directors cut brings that much to the film as it is tense and genuinely scary as it stands and the major scene that was added back at the end doesn't add that much to the overall film.

I love this series of films, it peeks with Aliens and 3 is a strange divisive film but Alien is definitely a 4 star film in my eyes, it will terrify you and intrigue you if you have never seen it. The Directors cut is not a must see in this case,