This is another entry in my Complete Score Breakdown Series, focusing on the complete scores to films that have had abbreviated previous releases or have gone unreleased.
Today we are looking at The Running Man (1987) by Harold Faltermeyer.
I believe this was literally the first CD I ever owned. I used to be a huge Schwarzenegger fan and The Running Man was right up my alley, a Schwarzenegger sci-fi flick, heavy on action and one-liners. The score always stood out as something different from his other sci-fi/action films of the period to me, though, there was always something interesting about it. I think it was the pop sensibility and rock vibe that Harold Faltermeyer brought to it. I liked his work on Beverly Hills Cop II and Tango & Cash a lot, and I really liked it when applied to a classic Schwarzenegger film. I hope there is at least one other person out there that enjoys this score that might be curious about unreleased tunes!
Faltermeyer is an unusual choice for my Complete Score Breakdown Series as he’s not as popular as the others, and this one might not have much of an audience, nor is it one of his more popular scores, but I was very curious how much music was missing from the Varese Sarabande 40min45sec CD. There are about 21 minutes of unreleased material. This is based on the rather large assumption that Faltermeyer did not compose the music used for The Running Man TV show – the ads, the opening dance number, etc. If he did compose that music, the unreleased music maybe increases by about 7 minutes.
The breakdown of CD tracks/film cue versions/edited cues, etc. was very tricky, and figuring it out gave me a headache on this one, so my calculations may not be completely accurate. There are a some edited CD tracks in the film. There is an alternate film version of the CD track “Buzzsaw Attack” which features much wilder and all-over-the-place guitar playing. There is also an alternate film version of “Main Title” which may or may not track in music from “Mick’s Broadcast / Attack”. The CD track “Captain Freedom’s Workout” is barely featured in the film. The CD track “Intro / Bakersfield” is not in the film, at least not in the scene that it describes. Factoring all of this in, the total known complete score comes approximately to 61min45sec.
The unreleased music left off the original CD is fun stuff, though – I absolutely love the scene-setting opening crawl music, and the tune scoring Arnold’s capture at the airport is fun. Two other standout missing score moments are Fireball’s death-by-flare and the fight between Arnold and Jesse Ventura in the arena.
Side note, Faltermeyer wrote a song performed by John Parr that plays over the end credits called “Running Away with You” but I did not include it in my Breakdown.
CURRENT CD RELEASE RUNTIME: 40min 45sec ALL KNOWN ORIGINAL MUSIC WRITTEN FOR THE FILM: 61min 45sec UNRELEASED SCORE RUNTIME: 21min 00sec
Complete Score Cue Titles and Cue Times (unreleased cues named by me for the sake of identification):
+ – previously unreleased (or includes previously unreleased material)
1. Introduction (1:04) + 2. Prison Break (6:22) + – (could possibly have partially tracked music from “Mick’s Broadcast/Attack” or vice versa) 3. Collar Removal (1:53) + 4. ICS (0:35) + 5. Richard Looks for Edward (1:09) + 6. Airport Detainment (1:11) + 7. Medical Checkup (2:19) 8. The Butcher of Bakersfield (0:45) + 9. Amber Snoops (0:36) + 10. Launch (0:29) + 11. Raw Footage (0:34) + 12. Sub Zero Intro (1:55) 13. Sub Zero (3:51) 14. Weiss Discovers Dish / Amber’s Launch (2:20) 15. Buzzsaw and Dynamo Attack (1:50) 16. Buzzsaw Attack (1:50) + – (alternate film version) 17. Uplink Located (1:07) + 18. Buzzsaw and Richards (1:38) 19. Valkyrie (1:26) – (edited from CD track) 20. Spare Dynamo (2:24) 21. Fireball Intro (1:18) 22. Fireball Chase (2:00) 23. How About a Light? (2:05) + 24. Arena Battle (1:33) + 25. Revolutionaries (1:35) + 26. Mick’s Broadcast / Attack (4:08) – (edited from CD track) 27. Revolution / End Credits (1:58)
Current CD Release Track Titles and Track Times:
1. Intro / Bakersfield (2:02) – (not in film) 2. Main Title (3:44) – (partially in film) 3. Buzzsaw and Richards (1:50) 4. Captain Freedom’s Workout (2:30) – (partially in film) 5. Mick’s Broadcast / Attack (5:05) 6. Valkyrie (2:37) 7. Buzzsaw Attack (1:53) – (CD version) 8. Medical Checkup (2:22) 9. Fireball Intro (1:19) 10. Buzzsaw and Dynamo Attack (1:50) 11. Massacre Highlights (1:09) 12. Sub Zero Intro (2:02) 13. Sub Zero (3:51) 14. Fireball Chase (2:03) 15. Spare Dynamo (2:20) 16. Weiss Discovers Dish / Amber’s Launch (2:27) 17. Revolution / End Credits (2:02)
I was JUST thinking of this score on my way home from work yesterday evening. I would love an expansion. I only have a copy from my library. I've toyed with the idea of picking it up used but I keep holding out for an expansion. Is this one of those titles in perpetuity at Varese?
And I agree with the above post, including the John Parr song is a MUST.
Cool, I always felt the existing album could use a bit more than what we had and when I rewatch the movie (it is a guilty pleasure) there are cues that I wish were on there! Great job with this one.
Cool, I always felt the existing album could use a bit more than what we had and when I rewatch the movie (it is a guilty pleasure) there are cues that I wish were on there! Great job with this one.
Perhaps you are already aware of this, DeputyRiley, but there is a 1963 British production entitled "The Running Man" with music by William Alwyn (his final film score prior to his early retirement from the industry).
This is not related to your post in any way except for the shared title, so please excuse the interruption. It's simply a pet peeve of mine when a lot of older films continue to remain forgotten. When anyone mentions the title "The Running Man", hardly anybody is going to be referring to the '63 film - and I find that sad.
Did they ever reveal who the guitarist was on some of the tracks?
I have the Varese version, and they have very few credits on there, but I have a sneaking suspicion it may have been Steve Stevens. Around that time he was also working with Harold Faltermeyer on "Harold F.," and he played on a couple of songs on that.
Did they ever reveal who the guitarist was on some of the tracks?
I have the Varese version, and they have very few credits on there, but I have a sneaking suspicion it may have been Steve Stevens. Around that time he was also working with Harold Faltermeyer on "Harold F.," and he played on a couple of songs on that.
