Runaway

A robotics division of the police force was created to deal with "runaways." Those would be robots that have gone haywire and need to be fixed or shutdown. Why that would fall under the police's jurisdiction is beyond me. I would think that the Geek Squad would be more suited for that job.

At any rate, when a mysterious computer chip is found in a runaway and a man is killed by a bullet that acted more like a guided missile, Jack Ramsay (Tom Selleck) uncovers a sinister plot.

This movie is not too far from reality. I don't ever see the police force getting a robotics division but check out what was in the movie that is now normal: floater cameras (known as drones today), robots doing all kinds of jobs, smart devices, and chipped bullets (OK, that's not normal but I could see that happening).

Like so many movies about technology and computers, this was about such things getting into the wrong hands.

Unjustly maligned science fiction action flick from the 80s, that greatest of decades, written and directed by Michael Crichton. Tom Selleck stars and it's probably his best film role. He's believable and likable here. Cynthia Rhodes and Kirstie Alley both are good in their parts. For years before I ever finally saw this I assumed Alley was the female lead but she's definitely not. For his part Gene Simmons is a great campy villain.

The best parts of the movie are the robots that are charmingly old-fashioned looking yet more realistic, especially with the technology available at the time, than any of the limber acrobatic humanoid CGI robots that we see in films today. These robots are machines built for practical purposes not as nerd action fantasy objects. I'm not sure why this movie gets as much grief as it does. I think it's an underrated little gem that's definitely worth a look.

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.

A lot of critics complain about this movie but it was very well made for it's time. Not only does the movie show robots going out of control but it also shows a society of complete distrust and characters that are very cold. Gene Simmons from Kiss is perfect in the role with his looks and his voice as a sadistic villain that keeps managing to circumvent authorities. Chris Mulkey a bit actor is also good as an idiot that gets involved with Simmons. The script and soundtrack are excellent. Tom selleck also goes well as a frustrated cop who is fiercely determined to stop the bad guy and is humorously sarcastic to the people he deals with.

Facebook, Amazon Alexa, Drones/Quadcopters. They're all here in 1984!