Movielogr
Runaway (1984)
Directed by Michael Crichton
Twitter Facebook Google+Action | Crime | Science Fiction
Overview
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.
Rated PG-13 | Length 100 minutes
Actors
Tom Selleck | Cynthia Rhodes | Gene Simmons | Kirstie Alley | Stan Shaw | G. W. Bailey | Joey Cramer | Chris Mulkey | Anne-Marie Martin | Michael Paul Chan | Elizabeth Norment | Cec Verrell | Babs Chula | Carol Teesdale | Natino Bellantoni | Judy Johns | Andrew Rhodes | Louise Johann | Jackson Davies | Paul Batten
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/06/2013 | TV | Streaming | Video on Demand | 4 stars |
| (Average) 4 stars |
Viewing Notes
This movie really stands out as an archaic, not particularly good, sci-fi from the ‘80s. To be sure there were plenty of bad sci-fi movies in the ‘80s, but most were low budget and endearingly inventive. Runaway by comparison feels cheap even though it probably wasn’t (at least compared to other sci-fi movies of the era).
It also suffers from terribly misplaced mysogyny, right down to the last line of the movie where Selleck asks his female partner if she knows how to cook. Sigh.
The worst part is the actual sci-fi. The domestic robots are not terribly inventive or futuristic (especially now, but even then) and the technology in general, with the exception of the idea of the homing bullets, feels outdated even for 1984.
The only really interesting character is KISS’ Gene Simmons, who plays a sneering villain to pretty decent effect.
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