The Running Man is a science fiction novel by Stephen King, published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1982 as a paperback original. And it's pretty good too, a nice sense of relentless pursual, and a frighteningly close hint at the reality TV to come in this decade. The film however moves the entire game show into a studio, which loses the real terror of the chase, puts Schwarzenegger in Lycra and blows stuff up. Tremendously disappointing. Check out the novel instead.
I couldn't disagree more. The book is ok, I guess. It didn't interest me that much. The film is Schwarzenegger in his heyday. An energetic romp in the hilarious and enjoyable tradition of Total Recall, and a nice satirical mass media gameshow turn from the gameshow host, in the tradition of all sorts of good sci fi.
It's like Starship Troopers. The book is a different kettle of fish from the film, but in its own way, taken as media in its own right, rather than measured as an adaptation, the films are rather good.