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	...	Jack Ramsay
Cynthia Rhodes	...	Thompson
Gene Simmons	...	Luther
Kirstie Alley	...	Jackie Rogers
Stan Shaw	...	Marvin
G.W. Bailey	...	Chief
Joey Cramer	...	Bobby Ramsay
Chris Mulkey	...	Johnson
Anne-Marie Martin	...	Hooker at Bar
Michael Paul Chan	...	Wilson
Elizabeth Norment	...	Miss Shields
Carol Teesdale	...	Sally
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 | future | killer robot | robotics | cornfield | 

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Taglines:

IT IS THE FUTURE. Machines intended to do our work are 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:

13+

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gene Simmons made his dramatic theatrical feature film debut in this movie if one doesn't count Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978). The leader of the rock group KISS discovered, much to his delight, that he had his master villain character down pat. When asked to describe his role, Simmons says simply, "His name is Charles Luther and he's a very bad guy ," Playing the villain is all right with Simmons, as long as the role has depth. "If you hate me in this movie, I'll be thrilled."

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Goofs

The movie supposedly takes place in the future, and yet in the background during the kitchen scene, a box of cereal can be seen, clearly it's a box of C3P0's, which only existed in the year 1984, when this film was released.

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Quotes

Chief of Police: You screwed up good, Ramsay. We got two dead officers, do you understand me mister? Two. Dead. Cops! We got two wounded - one of them your own partner - and we got two dead guinea punks! And no one knows why or what the HELL its all about!
Ramsay: I know what it's about!

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Connections

Referenced in Deathrow Gameshow (1987)

User Reviews

Great sci-fi thriller

The beauty of "Runaway" - . . . well, there are a few, actually. It's a good marriage of cop movie and plausible science fiction, a nasty villain (Gene Simmons with that creepy stare) and it works pretty much as well now as it did 30 years ago - which is something when we're talking a movie that's as unabashedly '80s as this. Selleck and Rhodes (hello!) have a good rapport, and the car "chase" scene on the freeway was pretty well don. On second thought, this probably shouldn't be as watchable as it is, but then again, Crichton actually manages to wring some nice suspense out of tiny robots.

7/10

Details

Official Sites:

Michael Crichton: The Official site Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 December 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Runaway: L'évadé du futur

Filming Locations:

Washington, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,198,279, 16 December 1984

Gross USA:

$6,770,587

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,770,587

Company Credits

Production Co:

TriStar Pictures, Delphi III Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1