Movie Notes: Runaway

July 18th, 2007

= 2 stars

Starring Tom Selleck, Kirstie Alley, Gene Simmons
Directed by Michael Crichton

Runaway is a real “meh” movie. It has one thing going for it, a story by Michael Crichton, the same writer responsible for The Andromeda Strain, Westworld, and Jurassic Park. However, the special effects are extremely dated (even for an eighties film), the music is odd, and there are no notable performances.

The story is moderately interesting: a future world where robots and microelectronics have become indispensable in modern life. Humans have become dependent on robots and so it really sucks when they go haywire and kill people. Jack Ramsey (Tom Selleck) is cop on the “Runaway Squad” that deals with malfunctioning robots gone bad. The police also have their hands full dealing with bugs and surveillance everywhere. Meanwhile, an evil mastermind Charles Luther (Gene Simmons) has developed a heat-seeking bullet with electronics that would be an extremely dangerous weapon if it fell into the wrong hands — he’s responsible for the “spider” robots that shoot acid.

Tom Selleck, Kirstie Alley, and Gene Simmons (the guy with the long tongue from KISS) try to bring this film to life. Selleck in particular does a passable job but doesn’t really exhibit much palpable tension. The result is a definite “made for television” feel, or at least a movie that plays infinitely on some late night cable channel.

What’s odd is how other than the robots, nothing else in the film has been “futurized.” It’s a world of 1984 except for the addition of robots and strange weapons. The effects are frankly rather pitiful, even in comparison with the surreal, otherworldly look of the much scarier Westworld.

Runaway falls into that strange category of movies that should be remade. I think modern day special effects could do the script justice.

IMDB: Runaway
Wikipedia: Runaway
Rotten Tomatoes: Runaway 45%