1984 Directed by Michael Crichton
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.
Spinnen des Todes, Runaway, brigada especial, Útěk robotů, Runaway - Fora de Controle, 电子陷阱
Monsters, aliens, sci-fi and the apocalypse High speed and special ops future, sci-fi, technology, action or technological action, explosives, exciting, action-packed or villain sci-fi, aliens, space, spaceship or earth earth, sci-fi, space, spaceship or mankind creature, aliens, monster, sci-fi or scary Show All…
Super fun sci-fi action techno thriller stages Tom Moustache vs killbots and a very insidious Gene Simmons. Hadn’t watched this in over 15 years and it held up—There’s some nifty camerawork, smart bullet seeking POV shots, nice chase scenes, and some cool ideas especially for 1984.
Extra half star for when the police chief randomly brings in a psychic to work her mojo on the smart bullet. Didn’t remember or expect that, kinda love it.
Judging from this and the earlier Westworld, I'm pretty sure a robot must have fucked Michael Crichton's wife at some point.
Futuristic sci-fi / action from Michael Crichton. Set in the future, where robots are ubiquitous. When these robots malfunction, they become a homicidal threat - known as ‘runaways’. Police officer ‘Jack Ramsay’ is assigned to track the runaways, while the diabolical ‘Dr. Luther’ sees significant profits in creating the problem. An entertaining cautionary tale, though a film which sadly fails to reach its full potential. It’s a great concept - a future in which domestic robots turn violent, triggered by human greed / corruption / evil, is particularly fascinating in this modern age of AI and automation. Posing wider ethical questions in the process. Generally well performed, well paced and well written. The seeker bullet stuff is very interesting. It’s certainly dated, cheesy, and loaded to the gills with clichés. Boasting a good climax in which Selleck’s ‘Jack’ is forced to overcome his vertigo atop an unfinished skyscraper, and a satisfactory synth score.
What’s the name of that dumb 80s sci fi movie about killer machines? A best selling author directed it? No, not MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE. Michael Chrichton’s RUNAWAY: the dumb and lame one.
A low-ambition GHOST IN THE SHELL precursor. Near-future buddy cop thriller where appliances, drones and other “smart” machines go haywire at suspicious frequency. The chunky robot production design is fun, but tends to undermine the tension. Tom Selleck shot at by a Roomba that could have wandered off the set of the Outer Limits can only come off as goofy.
Selleck and his partner have some needless romantic angle; they’re too underwritten for it to work. Gene Simmons’ villain is nothing more than the asshole face Simmons brings everywhere…
This is kinda fascinating as an artifact of future projection from the mid-80s. The spider-bots and drones seem pretty reasonable, but every other robot looks like someone stacked up four of the biggest 80s VHS players, and put it on wheels.
Unfortunately, I don't have any other nice things to say about it. Every single relationship is comically underdeveloped. The future weapons play by utterly inconsistent rules. I like Tom Selleck, but he's about as Sci-Fi futuristic as a covered wagon.
Cut rate bladerunner Tom Selleck and cute blonde sidekick versus Gene Simmons from Kiss, a bunch of Hexbugs, and a Roomba that’s really enthusiastic about the Second Amendment.
Also, the great Stan Shaw plays his 400th cop and Kirstie Alley smokes. A lot.
When two electrical engineers are murdered, it's up to Jack Ramsey and his colleague Karen Thompson to find out what happened to them. Jack and Karen soon discover that the murders are connected and that they are dealing with a highly intelligent psycho and his creepy killer robo-spiders.
I just love how futuristic movies made in the 80's usually look like they take place in the, well, 80's. I think it's so interesting and it adds so much charm seeing the future through their eyes. And those smart bullet pov shots looked really cool, gave me such Evil Dead vibes.
There’s defo a reason this movie never made my radar until now, when I’ve seen 88% of movies made in this era! It’s cos it’s a turgid mess!
Tom Selleck is half sleazy half heroic and some of the evil robots are made from mecano while others are like pasta cooking juke boxes! And the robots manage to murder humans despite the fact you could volley them out your way!
I kinda wanted Gene Simmons to be a scene stealer but all he does it stand about trying to look insane and he kinda succeeds in that.
Runaway /ˈrənəˌwā/
noun
-A person who has run away, especially from their family or an institution.
-An animal or vehicle that is running out of control.
-A dangerous malfunctioning robot that needs to be taken care of.
The late science-fiction legend, Michael Crichton, brings you another glimpse into what the near future may be with Runaway. Author of books like Sphere, Jurassic Park, and The Andromeda Strain, he's certainly written an assortment of stories that delve into the possibilities of science and technology, and how it could inevitably blow up in our faces, lest we not be careful. While it's not as catastrophic as resurrecting dead dinosaurs, Runaway does question how life will be like in the next decade or…
