Plot hole: In the unedited video footage of the helicopter incident shown to the crowd, the last shot of Arnie getting knocked out is seen from his perspective and as such could never have been filmed by any camera.
The Running Man (1987)
Ending / spoiler
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Yaphet Kotto, Jim Brown, Maria Conchita Alonso
Richards (Ahnuld Schwarzenegger) and Amber (Maria Conchita Alonso) make it to the underground resistance base. Before being killed by Dynamo, Weiss told Amber the password of the network broadcasting signal. Amber tells the rebels the password and they play the real recording of the massacre Richards was framed for on the network broadcast signal. Now the audience knows that Richards was framed; Richards, Amber and the rebels storm the network building. Richards sends Killian on one of the game show cars down to the gamezone but the safety net isnt there to catch the car so Killian's car crashes into a billboard and explodes.
Ultra Magnus
More mistakes in The Running Man
[Footage of what really happened at Bakersfield has just been shown to the audience and home viewers.]
Damon Killian: Ladies and gentlemen, if you'll please bear with us. We are experiencing technical difficulties.
Agnes: Bullshit.
Trivia: When Killian is talking about the next possible contestant, he points out he's 120 pounds and wouldn't last 30 seconds. This is somewhat making fun of how they used Arnold Schwarzenegger to portray Ben Richards. In the book "The Running Man" (which has a very different structure), Ben Richards is described as "scrawny", the complete opposite of Arnold.
Question: At the very beginning of the movie, Ben refuses to fire on anyone even though he was under orders to do so. I can understand him being court-martialed for this but, why would they alter the video to show him killing innocent people with orders not to? And why send him to prison for allegedly killing innocent civilians?
Answer: They needed a scapegoat, someone to blame. The government controlled the people through violence, but at the same time tried to convince the people the government was fair (i.e. Runners who made it through were given their freedom when in fact they never left the arena alive). The people at Bakersfield were still massacred (that part wasn't made up) by the government in order to control the riot, but just not by Ben. But people would just riot more if they knew the government ordered their killing, so the footage was faked to make people think Ben acted alone and against orders. And to continue the ruse, they convicted him to appease the people and prevent them from rioting.
Bishop73