Runaway

Another great movie

Movie 4 of 1984 and 114 overall in my journey through films of my lifetime.Story time: so as you can tell for being a pretty big film fan I have not seen very many hit movies. My dad was single and worked third shift, my grandmother worked during the day and we didn't have a lot of money. I was typically alone and when we did get time together my dad didn't value time in the movie theater. He would have much rather hung out on his Bayliner boat with me and a friend or two. How did he get the money for a boat? Actually the boat was one of the reasons beyond many others why we had so little money. However 1984 saw two trips to the theater (if you are from Louisville, KY it was the famous one on Bardstown Rd that serviced most of the city for decades). The first was on a Saturday night, on a whim, after boating all day my dad took my friend and I to see "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." Another night, not long later we just went blindly to the theater and hoped to get lucky. We narrowed our choices to two films based on the movie posters but neither looked all that appealing. There was no turning back because I had no idea the next time I'd get a chance to see a movie. One choice was "Dune." The other choice was "Runaway." I remember the poster had Tom Selleck hiding with a gun around the corner from a mechanical spider. We chose "Dune." Today I'm a pretty big Lynch fan but at the time I was pretty bored. I always wondered if I would have liked "Runaway" more. Well I'll put my cards on the table now and confidently say only an hour into the movie and 37 years later that I would have most certainly have liked "Runaway" more! Today? Not so much.Some may try to convince you that the technology in "Runaway" was way ahead of its time and predictive in nature. This, however, is flatly untrue. Just look at "GI Joe" or "Star Wars" figures and their sundry accessories for evidence. Kids have an active imagination and I can't think of a technology in this movie that we hadn't imagined and fit into functionality in our play sessions. What "Runaway" did do was realize the vision of this tech and tried, badly, to show it normalized in a future setting. There is one tech that I specifically came up with as a kid but thought it was a bad idea even for playing with action figures. That idea: a seeking bullet. Heat seeking missiles made sense but what would a smart bullet seek? I recall several times, at least two, where I thought about it and thought it didn't make sense so rejected it. Why was this really stupid idea good enough for "Runaway?" If the movie had answered my question then I'd at least have respect for it but of course it didn't. This was not the worst part of "Runaway" though. What about the fact that the mechanical spiders are "loaded with acid?" That reveal was definitely worse but did get quite a grin out of me. Unfortunately this was not the lowest point for the picture. The low point had to be the pointless inclusion of psychics in the film. Why, just - why? It wasn't even necessary to cover any plot holes as far as I could tell. Gene Simmons was comedically bad. He had a good look for the role but the director relied too heavily on this and it ended up being funny to see Simmons stare at the camera trying to look scary.On the bright side pacing was not a problem. Tom Selleck was compelling to watch as always. The best part was the unintentional humor. While it wouldn't make the producers happy or made the experience better for me.Pros-entertaining-unintentionally funny-big personalities on the screenCons-bad plot-bad story

Sci-fi, thriller, and action fanactics will love this 80's flick. Tom Sellick (Magnum P.I, Three Men and a Baby, Three Men and A Little Lady) was a good actor. He appears cocky at times but he certainly was a good fit for Michael Crichton's (E.R.) flick. Gene Simmons, (Family Jewels, the Lord of Rock, and member of Kiss) was great as the bad guy Dr. Luther who creates "spawns of satan" robots. These robots will kill! Gene has such an evil look and a stare that will frighten anyone. Kirstie Alley (Cheers, Look Who's Talking) plays Dr. Luther's girlfriend and a mule for his templates to turn robots evil. The movie is also starring Stan Shaw (Tough Enough and The Monster Squad) as a fellow police officer in the robotics division, Cynthia Rhodes (Penny from Dirty Dancing) as Sgt. Ramsay's partner, and G.W. Bailey as Sellick's Sgt. Ramsay's captain in the police force where he is in charge of robotics (runaway robots). G.W. Bailey as in Lt. Harris of Police Academy 1 and 4-6. A side note: If you saw Gene Simmons's Family Jewels you'll see that his mother has one of the robot spiders from this movie on display in her house with what she describes as the dedication room for Gene and his girlfriend and mother of his children Shannon Tweed (Gene refuses to get married but they've been together for more than 2 decades). This Sci-fi thriller takes place in the not to distant future where most homes have robots as maids, doing chores, or working on farms. Sgt. Ramsey gets calls about "runaway robots" since he is the head honcho in the robotics division in the police department. A runaway farm robot that's mowing down a corn field, to a robot that holds a .357 magnum and a knife holding a baby hostage while it cries in the crib (the baby is crying). The robot apparently is owned by a person who works with Dr. Luther. Sellick finds out Dr. Luther (Simmons) has been making microchips that turn robots into murderers. Simmons in the movie has a awesome missle gun and everything leads up to the showdown between Selleck and Simmons (for a fight to get Ramsay's son Bobby played by Flight of the Navigator's Joey Cramer taken hostage by Dr. Luther) which is not exactly 5 stars but is something you wouldn't fast foward to end it. The showdown between the police and Dr. Luther in the hotel room was great. Gene Simmons has the ultimate evil look perfectly excuted as was also his "you're not going to take me in" look (watch as Gene's eyes motion upward). Tom Sellick was an underated actor as well as Gene Simmons in his movie debut. If you like Gene Simmons, check out his show, Family Jewels which spotlights him and his family. I typed a review for it as well. It's funny!The high price for the DVD with minor extras is puzzling though. I thought it would have deleted scenes ect. The picture is great. I play it on a Philips upscaling DVD-R that I also reviewed.

With already owning the Region 1 DVD release of this movie, the expectations of having a nice clean Blu-ray transfer with this release from 101 Films was something to look forward to. What a major disappointment that turned out to be.. You've heard of 'bargain basement', well the print of this new Blu-ray release looks as though it not only belongs in the 'bargain sub-basement' but was actually scraped across the hard concrete floor a fair few times prior to it's Blu-ray transfer. Absolutely horrendous!! Severe film grain to the extent of ruining the viewing experience completely. Quality control is obviously a concept not yet realised by 101 Films. If a lovely transfer of this movie on to Blu-ray was your hope, you're going to be very -very, disappointed.

The idea of Michael Crichton (director of Westworld, author of Jurassic Park and so many others) returning to the director’s chair to direct a film about malfunctioning robots must have seemed a no-brainer. Add to that a plot that has the cops chasing down rogue malfunctioning robots element (going for a Bladerunner vibe?) and the dollar signs were no doubt flashing green. Shame then, that the end result is so disappointing.Tom Selleck plays a cop who hunts ‘runaway’ robots– a pretty two dimensional cop, but its not his fault, it’s the script. Mmhh, he’s got vertigo you say..? Wonder what the odds are he will have to fight a bad guy on a high rise..?? This cop gets a new partner he needs to show the ropes. (She’s single, you say? Tom is widowed? MMhh.. wonder if there will be an chemistry there..). The ropes being shown in this case, are the skills in hunting down malfunctioning robots. The robots in this case are definitely near future – helping with mundane tasks and not trying to be lifelike or androids. However a few cases come up which have evidence to suggest these are manipulated malfunctions, and the mystery deepens.Alas, despite Tom Selleck being reasonably engaging, and there being more than a few decent ideas neatly presaging the future, this is executed with such a lack of panache that it has aged terribly – and it wasn’t even much of a success when it first came out.It’s interesting to see ideas such as drones, iPads smart homes and video calling all imagined here way back in 1984, and married to the none-more-Crichtonesque idea of how technology might be used against us, there’s an interesting setup here. But it plays with the production value and script quality of an episode of TJ Hooker, and not the big budget cinema event it purported to be. You can see the wires holding the ‘drone’ in the air, and the fireworks look like the sparklers I had last Bonfire night. Script is on the nose, and gets increasingly cliched, sapping what suspense and mystery there might have been. Even the score has been made in ultra 80’s style, the normally reliable Jerry Goldsmith producing a forgettable piece of synth scoring.It’s a real shame, as there is imagination in the concept, but no flare at all in the execution, despite Tom giving it his best ‘leading man’ vibes.Save your desire for some 80’s retro, and give this a miss.

its not worth buying the blu/ray disc its a poor transfer it looks like a copy of a video it is not a clear picture so dont buy this if you are looking for an upgrade of this film

If ‘blimey, I didn’t know that <i>they</i> did/were in this!’ and similar such reactions was a competition then 1984’s Runaway would surely be a strong contender for the crown!After all acclaimed novelist Michael Crichton’s last directorial feature boasts not only a compelling, suitably electronic film score by none other than Jerry Goldsmith but also an unlikely acting ensemble of Tom Selleck, Cynthia Rhodes, Kirstie Alley and Gene Simmons of KISS fame!As Sergeant Jack Ramsay and rookie Karen Thompson respectively, Selleck and Rhodes serve as police officers in the ‘Runaway Squad’ - a division tasked with suppressing dangerous malfunctioning robots. Their hazardous vocation soon results in clashing with the ruthless yet enigmatic technological genius, Charles Luther (Simmons)...The cast in particular are one of Runaway’s greatest strengths boasting an eclectic array of then upcoming or else seasoned acting talent. Hulking Selleck in particular seems at first a strange choice as an electronics-savvy police sergeant debilitated by chronic vertigo. Yet as the genial Sergeant Ramsay he really sells this strange smorgasbord of a character, as does Rhodes as the ambitious if naive Thompson.But it’s legendary KISS frontman Gene Simmons that arguably steals the show as the wonderfully sinister and maniacal antagonist, Charles Luther. Simmons seems to positively revel in his unrestrained villainy and if looks could kill then he’s has got them in abundance (his evil stare reputedly won him the role no less)! In fact it’s a pity that Luther is a fairly underwritten character as one feels Simmons could’ve easily coped with more comprehensive material.For all the film’s strengths however there are some inevitable shortcomings. Whilst Crichton commendably attempts to credibly depict a society of the near future (consequently eschewing flying cars, personal jet packs and other familiar sci-fi staples) this more recognisable future feels frustratingly undeveloped and even nonsensical in places.Indeed, it’s never satisfactorily explained why responsibility for deactivating malfunctioning robots falls to the police or why, if they malfunction with such frequency - often with lethal consequences, nobody seems particularly outraged or concerned! Indeed, wouldn’t products with such a large, sometimes fatal defect rate incur mass litigation against manufacturers by outraged consumers? Everybody in Runaway just seems inconvenienced by it all really!To compound matters the robots feel largely impractical for the tasks they are supposedly designed for (perhaps unsurprising given that they are merely props, but still). Not only that but Crichton’s renowned attention to detail must’ve taken the day off during the opening house siege. After all how could he have overlooked that the murderous robot has demonstrably fired more than six bullets...from a six shot revolver! Worse, the homicidal unit’s only got one crude arm to hold the gun so couldn’t possibly have reloaded. It’s a bizarre, glaring oversight and one so easily remedied via use of a common, semi-automatic blowback pistol (with high capacity magazine) instead! Oh well.Still, for all these flaws it’s hard to dislike Runaway and perhaps the majority of it’s many idiosyncrasies serve to further endear this arguable hidden gem to it’s audience if anything. Cynics may deride the sparsely, sparingly futuristic world as merely reflective of budgetary constraints (certainly the cheaper Vancouver filming locations smack of limited resources) but one should give a film like Runaway, so enticingly brimming with high concept ideas, the benefit of the doubt!Highly recommended.

Finaly we have this great 80s kind of sci fi film available on blu ray. It's been forgotten about almost to the point that you never hear or see of this film any more. Although it was a flop when released in 84/85 it still has some thrills & enjoyment to offer up. Set in a very 80s style of the then not too distant future, where Robots do much of lifes tasks such as nanny, housemaid, crop cutter, & builder etc Tom Selleck (Three Men & A Baby) is Ramsey a widowed cop & single father to his son Bobby (Joey Cramer - Flight Of The Navigator) whose job is to confront the robots that have gone awol, he & his partner & possible love intrest Thompson, played by Cythia Rhodes (Dirty Dancing) have to protect Jackie,(Kirsty Alley - cheers, Deadly pursuit) the girlfriend of sociopathic techo villain Luther, Played by Rock band Kiss, bass player Gene Simmons. Jackie has come to police with evidence Luther is causing robots to malfunction & kill innocent people by replacing electronic chip with doctored ones. He wants the evidence & tecnology back & with his techno weapons, heat seaking bullets & robot acid injecting spiders, robot tracking devices, he will stop at nothing to get back what he wants. There are some cheesey noments of clunky very early 80s looking suposed robots that look more like a sound system from the period wandering around & a scene of one robot that looks like a 1980 vcr player holding a gun having taken a family hostage, that are played serious but just look ridiculous. But other than that the film is very memorable & really rather enjoyable. Writen and directed by Michael Chrichon (Jurassic Park, Westworld) the film has been almost forgotten but thankfully has been released again. The film also includes a feature length commentary from UK film critic Kevin Lyons (101 version of film) and is well worth a watch. Also as a side note this version came in a great little box, not like the usual blu ray boxes, more sturdy & translucent too.