Runaway (1984)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I was led into "Coma" (personal 8 rating) by IMDb's reccos for me. Loved it, and went from there to "Star Chamber" (personal rating 7). That led me to "Runaway". Thanks, IMDb!I'm a long-time reader of Michael Crichton, but had not realized he had also plied his hand at directing. Not many people are lucky enough to have so many facets to their talent.This movie was gripping from the first. I meant to just bookmark it for tomorrow when I was not supposed to be sleeping. No dice. Not only did I finish watching this excellent movie, but now I find myself writing this review. It's that good.Not only do you get treated to a young Tom Selleck, who also appears in "Coma", but also Kirstie Allie, both of whom are youthful and trim in this movie. It's not just eye candy though, and I'm not really a fan of either of these actors, but they both did a very fine job here. The suspense is taught throughout.I could not get over the fact that I kept comparing Gene Simmons' (again not a fan) Luther character to Javier Bardem's Academy award winning Anton Chigurh's character in "No Country For Old Men". They are both unemotional psychopaths, and, to me, similar demeanors. I can highly recommend this movie to any fan of Sci-Fi and suspense.

People just don't realize how far practical and visual effects have come until they see a movie like this. Tom Select plays a cop who has to hunt down rogue robots with killing tendencies. These 'robots' are nothing more than glorified trash cans on wheels with some pathetic arm or tentacle sticking out. So no terminator-like adversaries. So to compensate they've got Gene Simmons as the bad guy, sure he looks evil/sinister, but that is his normal expression (he's got only one). He's assisted by some very toy like robotic spiders, who 'jump' on people, but in reality they just throw them on the actors who have to hold them to keep from falling of. It don't even want to know how many takes they had to do for every shot coz they must have all be rolling on the floor laughing each time they yelled 'cut'. Easily one of the most cheesy and ridiculous 'scifi' films of the eighties or even of all time.

I remember the first time I saw this movie I was at my cousin's house in Lexington, KY. She had been married for approximately 2 years and everyone decided to go and get some movies. I was about 12 at the time and picked this one out. I had no idea what kind of movie it would be, just that it had Tom Selleck and Gene Simmions from KISS in it. I just turned to my Cousin-In-Law and said this looks good. Out of the three movies we got this one was the best, not only was I surprised but he loved the movie. After all there years it still has that futurist appeal to it and to a point it makes you think. The movie came out in 1984; and it's about robots that have been altered to become dangerous and in some ways killers. In the beginning of the film you see Tom Selleck and his new partner Karen. They are apart of the police departments Runaway unit. A unit that gets calls about malfunctioning robots and they are the ones that go in to take care of the situation. One day a call comes in a 713 or something like that, a runaway call where people have been killed. Once on the scene Ramsey, Selleck and Karen, Cynthia Rhodes, get the info, that robot that helps with the house a lot has killed 2 members of the family. The baby has not been harmed, but the father on the scene knows more about what is going on than he is telling. Well Ramsey gets the baby out of harms way, but the father disappears suddenly. In comes Gene Simmons character,Luther, a robotics expert who is a homicidal maniac. Luther is partners with two other men, one being the father of the baby and another who is working with him to form genetically altered programming chips for robots, so they can be altered to become killing machines. Once the two partners ask for there share, they end up getting tracked down or killed after Luther get's what he wants. Luther also has engineered robotic spider's who are programmed to kill with acid.You will see this in the movie, and for anyone who has a sever phobia of spiders you have to see this, it will make your skin crawl. It's up to Ramsey, Karen, and Luther's girlfriend, Jackie, to stop this psycho before he wrecks havoc on everywhere. THX, Kris L. CocKayne

(www.plasticpals.com) The Terminator wasn't the only killer robot in theaters back in 1984 thanks to Runaway, written and directed by the late Michael Crichton. The mustachioed Tom Selleck stars as a cop who specializes in neutralizing bots gone bad in a near-future where they've infiltrated nearly every aspect of life. These aren't the replicants of Blade Runner, but plausible machines that are fun to compare with what exists today. This was another late-night Netflix pick, and to be honest I feel a little dirty for mentioning such sci-fi classics in my review of this film (it turns out Crichton was better behind a writing desk than a film camera).What we're really interested in are the robots of course, and the film doesn't disappoint. There's an irritating nanny robot called Lois, a security robot that tasers anything that moves, a small monocopter used for reconnaissance, as well as farming and construction robots. An autonomous cop car has a mannequin in the driver's seat and projects a map directly onto the windshield. Among the highlights is a small household robot that looks something like a Roomba with an arm, which ends up killing several people when it picks up and shoots a gun. Best of all are the killer hexapods that can jump and crawl on walls like a mixture between this locust-inspired hopper and Stanford's gecko-inspired StickyBot.It's comedy gold.The hexapods are supposed to be threatening, but they look like hobby kits you can buy today, which really cracked me up. There is some attempt to depict non-robotic technology of the future as well, such as the iPad-like devices that people are shown using, but otherwise everything looks pretty ordinary for the '80s.It all looks very silly, and it doesn't help that Gene Simmons is the central villain. He's armed with a gun that shoots smart missiles that can turn corners. It's hard to believe such a celebrated author penned this film, what with the immediate and clichéd romance between Selleck and his cute new partner, not to mention his son's creepy enthusiasm for it. As for the technological side of things, the ideas actually aren't all that far-fetched. There's genuinely something to a PR2-like robot picking up a gun and shooting people if tampered with by a hacker, for instance.Unfortunately, even if some bits can be considered ahead of their time, it's hard to take seriously with the ham-fisted acting and cringe-worthy plot. Runaway wasn't intended to be a comedy, but like many films that try to predict the near future it's now entertaining for all the wrong reasons. It's the details the film gets right and horribly wrong, at the same time, that make it fun to watch.