Did The Running Man create The Boss Fight?

[Matt Rogers]

So I was thinking, believe it or not.

And I started to wonder whether or not The Running Man was the origin of the modern day "boss fight". I realise that films such as Terminator had A boss, but I'm talking about a collection of distinctive villains, who are fought one at a time in set piece battles.

So, fellow 'Crappers, are the stalkers the original collection of maniacal weapon loving bosses, or can anyone think of an earlier example?


With that said...

I love this saw! It's a part of me...



...now I'm gonna make it part of YOOOU!

[Doctor Tull-eus S. Venture]

I always looked at The Running Man as being similar to Mega Man.

Each Stalker has a certain gimmick (fire, electricty, blades), and has his own domain or territory to operate in. Plus, they all had underlings of sorts.

I think Mega Man preceeded TRM, but I'm not sure.

[Back to being Cenanuff]

Commando had a boss fight. Ended with him letting off some steam.

[Deleted]

Bruce Lee's "The Game of Death", though that might not count since it's technically unfinished/ was unfinished at the time of his death.

[default]

Dec 10, 2009 11:20:30 GMT -5 @irontyger said:

Bruce Lee's "The Game of Death", though that might not count since it's technically unfinished/ was unfinished at the time of his death.

Yeah. Kung Fu had quite a few movies with distinctive villains battles. Look at Enter the Dragon. Not so much as Game of Death was likely going to have in terms of sheer colorfulness, but you had Bruce Lee fighting through different guys with different styles and skills. It's hard to tell how much this effected movies, but it definitely effected a healthy heap of fighting games. From Mortal Kombat to DOA.

There's also the influence from comic books. Spiderman was facing tons of distinct guys... and look at the Dick Tracy villains.

[AriadosMan]

Dec 10, 2009 9:58:26 GMT -5 Doctor Tull-eus S. Venture said:

I always looked at The Running Man as being similar to Mega Man.

Each Stalker has a certain gimmick (fire, electricty, blades), and has his own domain or territory to operate in. Plus, they all had underlings of sorts.

I think Mega Man preceeded TRM, but I'm not sure.

Megaman 1 came out in 1987, didn't it? Still older than Running Man.

[SHAKEMASTER TV9 is Don Knotts]

The Running Man premiered November 1987 and Mega Man released December 1987.

[AriadosMan]

Dec 10, 2009 17:45:27 GMT -5 SHAKEMASTER TV9 is Don Knotts said:

The Running Man premiered November 1987 and Mega Man released December 1987.

Didn't Rockman release in Japan prior to that date though?

[Cela]

Greek Mythology has it beat.

[andrew8798]

Dec 10, 2009 17:49:35 GMT -5 AriadosMan said:

Dec 10, 2009 17:45:27 GMT -5 SHAKEMASTER TV9 is Don Knotts said:

The Running Man premiered November 1987 and Mega Man released December 1987.

Didn't Rockman release in Japan prior to that date though?

Also came out in December

[Allie Kitsune]

Dec 10, 2009 17:49:35 GMT -5 AriadosMan said:

Dec 10, 2009 17:45:27 GMT -5 SHAKEMASTER TV9 is Don Knotts said:

The Running Man premiered November 1987 and Mega Man released December 1987.

Didn't Rockman release in Japan prior to that date though?

Let's not forget that the book version of The Running Man is quite a bit older than the movie version.

Although the book's plot was pretty much completely different, and is actually a semi-preachy anti-pollution tract more than it is anything else.

[SHAKEMASTER TV9 is Don Knotts]

Dec 10, 2009 17:49:35 GMT -5 AriadosMan said:

Dec 10, 2009 17:45:27 GMT -5 SHAKEMASTER TV9 is Don Knotts said:

The Running Man premiered November 1987 and Mega Man released December 1987.

Didn't Rockman release in Japan prior to that date though?

Finding more info, no. Rockman in Japan is the same time frame as Mega Man in North America, December. In fact, NA was first at Dcember 1 and Japan at December 17. Basically neither had an influence on the other and just developed their ideas on their own.