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.
Cast:
- Tom Selleck as Sergeant Jack R. Ramsay
- Cynthia Rhodes as Officer Karen Thompson
- Gene Simmons as Dr. Charles Luther
- Kirstie Alley as Jackie Rogers
- Stan Shaw as Sergeant Marvin James
- G.W. Bailey as Chief of Police
1984 memories
I missed this one in 1984. Didn’t rent it either. I remember seeing the trailer on TV and was intrigued by the concept of robots turning bad and attacking humans.
Tom Selleck was also a staple in my household with Magnum P.I. being a hit and Selleck being a heartthrob. But my mom and sisters had no desire to see him in a Sci-Fi movie.
Let’s see what this movie about robots running wild is all about…
40th Anniversary Re-watch
It’s not too bad. It could be better.
Tom Selleck stars as Sergeant Jack Ramsay, an officer on the Runaway Squad. Robots are common place in this alternate future and when they go haywire, or runaway, it’s up to Ramsey and his squad to neutralize them.
Ramsey is assigned a new partner, Officer Thompson, who wants to learn from the best on the Runaway Squad.
During one mission a household robot murders a family with a knife and then tries to kill Ramsey with a gun. After an intense standoff and confrontation Ramsey is able to disable he robot. While examining the robot he discovers the main chip has been replaced with an upgrade chip which bypasses all safety feature built into the robot.
Ramsey finds out the man behind the altered chips is the evil genius Dr. Charles Luther, played wonderfully by Gene Simmons in his first acting role. Well, first acting role outside of KISS productions. Luther is also being doubled-crossed by his ex-lover Jackie Rogers, who stole the chip template and is trying to sell it on the black market.
Ramsey uses Jackie as a decoy to lure Luther into a trap but it back fires and Luther captures Thompson. The final showdown between Luther and Ramsey, at a high rise construction site is full of acid shooting, exploding robots and some decent action.
Overall the concept of the movie is great, the execution is OK. The story is interesting and I think a re-make could be good with all the technology we have today. No CGI though, hire the people from Battlebots to make a bunch of cool, killer robots.
Favorite Line:
Congratulations, guys, you just staked out a roll of toilet paper.
I was surprised to find out Micheal Crichton of Jurassic Park fame (and so many other great books) wrote and directed this movie. What shocked me even more was he wrote and directed Westworld (1973)! Crichton is a powerhouse in the book world, I didn’t realize he wrote movies as well.
In true Crichton fashion the movie is ahead of it’s time. The robots and technology were ground breaking. Homing bullets, robots tracking people, smart devices, things that are common place today and can be done with your phone but would have seemed futuristic in 1984.
Interestingly, The Terminator also hit theaters in 1984. A movie about a robot uprising and the aftermath. Runaway could be the precursor to The Terminator, it all starts with a cute Rosie the Robot helper and ends with Skynet destroying the world.
If the Police Chief looks familiar, he should G.W. Bailey also played Police Lt. Harris in Police Academy. Office Thompson played by Cynthia Rhodes looked familiar but I couldn’t place her. She is a beautiful lady and her totally 80s hair was amazing in the movie! I looked her up and discovered she played Penny in Dirty Dancing.
Kristie Alley as Jackie was good too. She was a knockout! She was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Saturn Award (given to Sci-Fi and Fantasy movies) for her role. She lost to Polly Holliday in Gremlins.
Runaway was released on 14 December 1984. Sadly, it was a box office failure making just over $6.7 million on a $8 million budget.
Did you watch Runaway? If so let me know your thoughts in the comments below or on X(Twitter). The main Geekster channel is @GeeksterMedia and I’m @MileHighSamurai You can also find me on Bluesky @MileHighSamurai
6/10 stars
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