Runaway (1984)

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.

Director:

Michael Crichton

Writer:

Michael Crichton

Stars:

Tom Selleck, Cynthia Rhodes, Gene Simmons

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Selleck	...	Ramsay
Cynthia Rhodes	...	Thompson
Gene Simmons	...	Luther
Kirstie Alley	...	Jackie
Stan Shaw	...	Marvin
G.W. Bailey	...	Chief
Joey Cramer	...	Bobby
Chris Mulkey	...	Johnson
Anne-Marie Martin	...	Hooker at Bar
Michael Paul Chan	...	Wilson
Elizabeth Norment	...	Miss Shields
Carol Teasdale	...	Sally (as Carol Teesdale)
Jackson Davies	...	Inspector
Paul Batten	...	Harry
Babs Chula	...	Construction Foreperson (as Babs Chulla)

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

robot | killer robot | future | police | police officer | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Official Sites:

Michael Crichton: The Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 December 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fuera de control

Filming Locations:

Moses Lake, Washington, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

TriStar Pictures, Delphi III Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tom Selleck's character's name "Ramsay" is said approximately 52 times in the movie; a little more than once every two minutes.

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Goofs

When the domestic robot is examined, and the officer states "We've got a non-standard chip here", he's pointing at a chip marked CD4011 with the Texas Instruments logo on it. This is one of the most basic and common of all digital chips, and not at all "sophisticated", as he also puts it.

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Quotes

Luther: Drop it, sucker!

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Connections

Referenced in Community: Romantic Expressionism (2010)

User Reviews

A very enjoyable techno-thriller

Like quite a few of these 'forgotten' films of the 80s and 90s, I read about this before actually seeing it. Having an interest in Kiss, I wanted to see if Gene Simmons could act. As bad guy Luther, he does pretty well, but there's nothing particularly remarkable about his performance.

The other performances are okay. Tom Selleck and Kirstie Alley are rather good in their roles. POLICE ACADEMY's G.W. Bailey has a straight role as the Chief of Police (the typical by-the-book type who always chews the hero out). The storyline is very good. As it's written by Michael Crichton, it's another tale of technology gone bad, although this time, it was a deliberate human act which caused the mayhem. The film book I read about RUNAWAY in said basically that between WESTWORLD and JURASSIC PARK, two of the best known sci-fi films ever, Crichton made this film. This is true, but while WW and JP are remebered, this film is largely forgotten.

Granted, this film is hardly a classic, but in my opinion, there are times when you go 'who cares' and just sit down to a good, entertaining picture. I recommend RUNAWAY for a viewing. Although, this movie, and some episodes of STARGATE SG-1 seem to confirm that some people find tacky-looking mechanical spiders scary. Which I don't.