Talk About a Schizoid Movie!

Rating: 6/10 (19 March 1999)

Like The Running Man, an original concept is taken and bent pretty seriously to make a Schwarzenegger action flick. The parallels between the movies are uncanny. In both, the basically-written scenario of a fairly normal Average Joe thrust into a bizarre situation beyond his control...is turned into a hugely muscled supra-man blowing away folks left right and center. When TR forgets that it is a Ahnald flick it's actually pretty entertaining and intellectually engaging. But then the producers remember who their star is, and throw in some gratuitous violence and standard Ahnald one-liners. But the mind games aspects are few and far between. The casting is well done - Ironside, Cox, and Stone are great villains, and even underrated folks like Roy Brocksmith and Michael Champion get their moments. But don't go in expecting a great s.f. movie.