Runaway (1984)

Director:

Michael Crichton

Writer:

Michael Crichton (written by)

Release Date:

14 December 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Thriller | Crime

Tagline:

IT IS THE FUTURE. Machines are being programmed to turn against us. Someone must stop the madman who started it all.

Plot:

In the near future, a police officer specializes in malfunctioning robots. When a robot turns out to have been programmed to kill, he begins to uncover a homicidal plot to create killer robots... and his son becomes a target.

Plot Keywords:

Robot | Future | Killer Robot | Police | Bullet

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Tom Selleck	...	Sgt. Jack R. Ramsay
Cynthia Rhodes	...	Officer Karen Thompson
Gene Simmons	...	Dr. Charles Luther
Kirstie Alley	...	Jackie Rogers
Stan Shaw	...	Sgt. Marvin James
G.W. Bailey	...	Chief of Police
Joey Cramer	...	Bobby Ramsay
Chris Mulkey	...	David Johnson
Anne-Marie Martin	...	Hooker at Bar
Michael Paul Chan	...	Vectrocon Security Guard
Elizabeth Norment	...	Miss Shields, Reporter
Carol Teasdale	...	Sally (as Carol Teesdale)
Jackson Davies	...	Jerry, Inspector
Paul Batten	...	Harry
Babs Chula	...	Construction Foreperson (as Babs Chulla)

Runtime:

99 min | Germany:100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Alphacine)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Moses Lake, Washington, USA

Company:

Delphi III Productions

Trivia:

When Thompson and the police tech officer are assembling a mug shot of Luther (right after Luther kills Johnson) on a small computer screen, the image of Luther blinks.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the car chase scene, a few shots show strings attached to the little robots.

Quotes:

Luther: Drop it, sucker!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Shooting the Police: Cops on Film (2006) (TV)

OK, if unspectacular science fiction action thriller

I had been vaguely interested in seeing this film for a while before I got down to it, for the prospect of a film directed by Michael Crighton (RIP), starring Tom Selleck and Gene Simmons and featuring evil spider robots was very inviting to me. It is pretty fun, but never reaches the heights it could do. Selleck plays a cop who suffers from vertigo and has the job of diffusing robots that have gone astray. His job mostly involves stopping runaway farming robots or misfiring security drones, but unfortunately someone has got a hold of micro chips that can make robots turn evil. So, Selleck and his partner, ably played by Cynthia Rhodes get on the case and find themselves up against a malign Gene Simmons. Selleck can do this sort of thing in his sleep and is effortlessly convincing, whilst Simmons plays a bad guy pretty well. Sadly the film is underwritten and has a few plot holes as well as lacking any real sense of emergency. The effects are pretty nice mid 80's stuff and the robots are well made, especially the spider robots that are a tad underused, apart from the cool finale. There are some good action sequences and the film has a swell pace, but somehow its just never that impressive. It sorely needed more violence, more intensity, or at the very least better writing, with the scenes dealing with Selleck's home life absolutely horrible. There isn't much in the way of characterisation, but Crighton does at least handle the action well and there are at least two decent set pieces. Altogether, this is worth a look for robot movie buffs or 80's nostalgia fans and its easygoing good fun, but definitely no classic.