ALL SCI-FI

[Bogmeister]

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The title refers to runaway robots. Selleck plays a cop in the near-future whose specialty is apprehending or destroying these malfunctioning machines.

Such problem robots are a nuisance more than anything and Selleck's job is considered lightweight. He acquires a new partner (Cynthia Rhodes) as the film begins and they're off after one of these little machines in a cornfield.

The robots in this one do not seem very advanced — not compared to present-day technology but to the robots we're all accustomed to seeing in most films. In most films, robots mimic the human form or have very convoluted shapes. The robots we see here are mostly just moving boxes. It's all quite quaint and charming.

It's only later in the story, when Selleck has to deal with robots that have been purposely compromised, that we see the slightly more complex sort of robot, resembling metallic spiders.

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This was written & directed by Michael Crichton, who began his directing career with Westworld (73). As we know, the robots in that one were much more advanced, resembling the humans they were meant to mimic.

Here, Crichton either takes a step back or presents a story about robots that is more grounded in reality. These are robots that actually exist in our present-day world, performing menial tasks like sorting. However, some citizens — such as Selleck himself — do have robots in the home which seem to possess rudimentary a.i.; they can have actual conversations, even though they look like moving counters or tables. There are no other indications that this takes place in some future time — everything looks like 1984, though the police cars look a little spiffed up.

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The villain is an evil computer genius (Gene Simmons of the rock group KISS) who is after some valuable chips and has begun to eliminate his confederates (including a very frightened Chris Mulkey).

Besides the robot spiders, he also employs a gun which fires bullets that function like heat-seeking guided missiles, turning corners to hit their target; these travel only slightly faster than a running man, though. His paramour is played by Kirstie Alley (she did this film instead of continuing in her Saavik role for Star Trek III).

Simmons is well-suited for a movie villain - he looks very sinister — but he was also inexperienced as a film actor and made a very two-dimensional villain. The film itself lacks verve and is halfhearted; when the first killing by a robot happens, it's supposed to be unprecedented, but Selleck and the others behave like it happens a few times a year.

BoG's Score: 5 out of 10

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___________________ Runaway (1984) trailer


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BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus

[Bud Brewster]

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The small robots are so unimpressive in this movie that it seems clear the film needed the magic touch of CGI to give the audience something to look at that didn't look like windup toys! (Which they WERE, of course.)

They just don't look very menacing, despite the screams of the victims as they clutch the pesky little gizmos to their chest and "struggle" to pull them off.

______________________ "Runaway" Scene


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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__________________ Runaway (1984) Trailer


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IMDB has several interesting trivia items for this production.
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~ The film accurately predicts domestic robots, video mail, social media, the Internet, voice-activated computers, biometric security (retinal identification), camera drones, tablet PCs, wireless headsets, and that police officers would use semi-automatic pistols as sidearms (in 1984, most police officers used revolvers).

Note from me: Well, the list of good guesses about the future helps a little to offset the FX of the little robots. As for the way cops used to carry revolvers, that's like driving around with only six gallons of gas in the tank!

~ Writer-director Michael Crichton was a man who doesn't take filmmaking lightly according to the film's production notes. Every detail must be just right. Crichton said: "We're doing a story that looks to me like how the world is going to be in a few years. Many of the things in the film that are supposed to be in the future are already here".

Note from me: Sadly we've not yet perfected miniature autonomous robots which are driven large watch springs and wind-up keys . . .

~ "Runaway" was the first purely electronic score for composer Jerry Goldsmith. In order to give the synthesizers ambiance, several speakers were set up in a theater, and the playback recorded.

Note from me: By gum, when you listen to the soundtrack you can believe that it really is being played on speakers in large room and then re-recorded to give a slight echo.

If reminds me of the music in Tron.

___Jerry Goldsmith - Runaway - Soundtrack Music Suite


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~ During a scene in the kitchen of Ramsay's apartment, appropriate to the robot themed story, a box of Kellogg's C-Threepio cereal ( "The New -crunchy- Force at Breakfast") is placed in the background. The cereal has long been out of production having it's run in 1984.

Note from me: eBay has an empty box listed for $80. I'd be tempted to fill it up with Cheerio's, double the price, and list it as MIB (mint in box).


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)