- 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.
- Damon Killian: [Over monitor] Hey Ben? Ben, I gotta hand it to ya, pal. You got the whole network here in an uproar. Why, they're shipping bicarb to the justice department in crates! So that's why this little call is just between you and I, it's not going out on the air. Listen very carefully, Ben. How would you like a three year contract, guaranteed, a cadre credit line, and a beachfront condo? Sound impossible? Ben, it's a standard deal for a network stalker. And I know real talent when I see it, Ben, and I'd just hate to see you get canceled tonight when you could go the distance. Say the word, Ben. You could be the one doing the stalking. Whaddaya think?
- [Richards yanks the monitor off its mooring]
- Ben Richards: You cold-blooded bastard! I'll tell you what I think of it! I *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 goddamn spine!
- [Smashes monitor on the floor]
- [after Richards cuts Buzzsaw in half with a chain saw]
- Amber Mendez: What happened to Buzzsaw?
- Ben Richards: Ah, he had to split.
- 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.
- [Ben shoves Killian into the rocket sled and the restraints automatically lock in place]
- Damon Killian: You bastard. Drop dead!
- Ben Richards: I don't do requests.
- [Ben launches the rocket sled into the game zone tunnel; it crashes into a billboard with Killian on it, exploding and killing him]
- Ben Richards: Well that hit the spot!
- Amber Mendez: 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.
- Damon Killian: There are still two crack stalkers out there. Dynamo and Fireball. Who do you think will make the next kill?
- Elderly Lady: Oh, boy. That's a tough one.
- Damon Killian: Come on. You can do it. Who do you think?
- Elderly Lady: Okay, I think the next kill will be made by... Ben Richards.
- [crowd murmurs in surprise]
- Damon Killian: Hold it, hold it, Agnes, Richards is a runner. You gotta pick a stalker.
- Elderly Lady: I can pick anyone I choose. And I choose... Ben Richards. That boy's one mean motherfucker.
- [crowd laughs; cut to the betting pool outside]
- Man: Two hundred dollars on Richards! Come on, two hundred on Richards! Two hundred on Richards!
- [the bookies look at each other for a moment, then take the bet and add Richards' name to the board at 100-1 odds]
- 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: Uplink, underground! Uplink, underground! If you guys don't shut up, I'm gonna uplink your ass, and you'll be underground!
- 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]
- [after Richards strangles Subzero with barbed wire]
- Harold Weiss: Sure glad we took care of Subzero!
- Ben Richards: Yeah, he was a real pain in the neck!
- Damon Killian: Huh? I... I know a stalker died! Well, it had to happen sooner or later!
- [pause]
- Damon Killian: Look, it is a contact sport, right? Yes, but you see, you guys at Justice. You cannot have it both ways. You want ratings. You want people in front of the television instead of picket lines. Well, you're not gonna get that with re-runs of Gilligan's Island.
- [pause]
- Damon Killian: Gilligan's Island.
- [hums the theme song]
- Damon Killian: Yeah. Yeah, the one with the boat.
- [the resistance airs the raw footage of the Bakersfield massacre, proving Richards' innocence]
- Damon Killian: Ladies and gentlemen! Ladies and gentlemen! If you'll please bear with us, we're experiencing technical difficulties!
- Elderly Lady: Bullshit!
- Dynamo: Thought it was pretty funny out there in the zone. What's the matter now, bitch? Why aren't you laughing?
- Amber Mendez: Because there's nothing funny about a dickless moron with a battery up his ass.
- 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.
- William Laughlin: [his last words] Don't let us down. I don't want to be the only asshole in heaven, Ben.
- Amber Mendez: [seeing Fireball enter the game] Jesus Christ!
- Ben Richards: [seeing Fireball discharge a burst from his flamethrower] Guess again!
- 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?
- Ben Richards: [to a trapped Dynamo] No. I won't kill a helpless human being. Not even sadistic scum... like you.
- 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.
- 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: 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.
- Tony: The Justice Department's calling every ten minutes.
- Damon Killian: Just give them an evasive answer. Tell them to go fuck themselves. You got my coffee?
- Amber Mendez: [finding the decayed bodies of three dead men, she reads their name tags] Whitman... Price...
- Fireball: Hadad.
- Amber Mendez: They're... Running Men. Last season's winners!
- Fireball: No. Last season's losers.
- Damon Killian: Get him out of here! What's the matter, steroids make you deaf? Get him out of here, now!
- [Amber is being introduced to the audience as a special guest 'runner']
- Phil Hiton: ... Later, she cheated on college exams, had sexual relationships with two, sometimes three different men in a year. And then she met Mad Dog Ben Richards. Her confederate... Her LOVER!
- Amber Mendez: That was a lie!
- Damon Killian: Dear, dear, dear. Let's reunite these little lovebirds! GO!
- [audience cheers; Amber is sent down into the game zone]
- 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]
- [Damon Killian is talking to the operator on the telephone]
- Damon Killian: Hello, this is Killian. Give me the Justice Department, Entertainment Division. No, no, hold that, Operator? Get me the President's agent.
- 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.
- [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.
- Captain Freedom: [on the TV commercial] Are you ready for pain? Are you ready for suffering? lf the answer is yes, then you're ready for Captain Freedom's Workout.
- Phil Hiton: Yes, it's America's own Captain Freedom, 10-time national champion, the greatest stalker to ever play the game. All right, now, all you runners, ready, get set, go!
- [last lines]
- Phil Hiton: *The Running Man* has been brought to you by: Breakaway Paramilitary Uniforms, Ortopure Procreation Pill, and Cadre Cola; it hits the spot! Promotional considerations paid for by: Kelton Flame Throwers, Wainwright Electrical Launchers, and Hammond & Gage Chainsaws. Damon Killian's wardrobe by Chez Antoinne: 19th-Century craftsmanship for the 21st-Century man. Cadre Trooper and studio-guard side arms provided by Colchester: the pistol of patriots. Remember: Tickets for the ICS studio tour are always available for Class-A citizens in good standing. If you'd like to be a contestant on THE RUNNING MAN, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: ICS Talent Hunt, care of your local affiliate, and then go out and do something really despicable! I'm Phil Hilton! Good night, and take care!
- Damon Killian: Brenda, if that asshole is mopping the floor tomorrow, you'll be mopping it for the rest of the week. Let's go!
- Ben Richards: Food riot in progress. Approximately 1800 civilians, no weapons are evident.
- 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 Saunders, do you copy?
- Lieutenant Saunders: Yes sir.
- Dispatcher: Detain Richards and proceed as ordered.
- [Saunders pulls a gun, they fight, Richards is knocked out]
- Opening Narration: By 2017, the world economy has collapsed. Food, natural resources and oil are in short supply. A police state, divided into Paramilitary Zones, rules with an iron hand. Television is controlled by the state and a sadistic game show called "The Running Man" has become the most popular program in history. All art, music and communications are censored. No dissent is tolerated and yet a small resistance movement has managed to survive underground. When high-tech gladiators are not enough to suppress the people's yearning for freedom... more direct methods become necessary.
- [Ben Richards finds a mortally-wounded Laughlin]
- William Laughlin: I'm going somewhere, but not with you. Buzzsaw took care of my traveling arrangements.
- 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.
- Amy: [seeing Richards walk by under guard] Wow. You're lucky he didn't kill you, too. Or rape you then kill you. Or kill you then *rape* you. I mean, a guy like that? What would stop him?
- Amber Mendez: [seriously considering the question] Yeah. What would?