The 1980s were an era defined by certain things. Rubik’s cubes. The rise of MTV and music videos. The Walkman. The boom box. Leg warmers. The Reagan Era of American politics. Cabbage Patch Dolls.

Although Edgar Wright's adaptation of the Stephen King novel The Running Man, which hits theaters today, seems like a scathing rebuke of modern civilization, the story's critiques predate a host of ...