Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I have to say that 33 years after first watching this film, it still looks very good to me. Tom Selleck and Cynthia Rhodes are both very believable as future robot specialist police officials. Gene Simmmons plays a very good bad guy. It is very well written. The special effects for 1984 are very good and it's just an entirely believable and entertaining film. I think that sometimes we get caught up in the Montague of modern cinema and forget about what is important. That is the story, the acting, and the artistic way that that film is presented to the audience.If it does that, it doesn't matter when it was made. it's just good.Good movie. Enjoy it.

It's fair to say that Michael Crichton's RUNAWAY is not one of the best of his sci-fi efforts. Although the presence of then-futuristic technology is heavy throughout the movie, this turns out to be an incredibly dated piece of film-making that gets completely blown away in comparison to the same year's THE TERMINATOR.The story isn't up to much either. The plot sees cop Tom Selleck on the track of some malfunctioning robots that have been killing people, although people hoping for some WESTWORLD-style android action will be disappointed; the robots are seldom seen, and either look like VHS players or little spiders. Instead, bad guy duties are handed to the creepy Gene Simmons (KISS singer) who seems to have some grudge against humanity.The main problem with RUNAWAY isn't that it's dated - lots of the older sci-fi films I watch are dated - but that it's dull. The characters are one-dimensional and even the big players, like Selleck, give performances lacking in passion. Kirstie Alley seems to be around purely for the purpose of stripping down to her smalls which must have been humiliating for the actress, while Cynthia Rhodes barely registers. It's left to reliable stars like G. W. Bailey and particularly Stan Shaw to shine in much smaller parts.I love Crichton as both a writer and director, but RUNAWAY remains one of his forgotten films and when you watch it you quickly realise why. It's no WESTWORLD, nor does it come close to the calibre of COMA or even Spielberg's JURASSIC PARK. An interesting misfire, then, with occasional hints of greatness bubbling beneath the surface.

(www.plasticpals.com) The Terminator wasn't the only killer robot in theaters back in 1984 thanks to Runaway, written and directed by the late Michael Crichton. The mustachioed Tom Selleck stars as a cop who specializes in neutralizing bots gone bad in a near-future where they've infiltrated nearly every aspect of life. These aren't the replicants of Blade Runner, but plausible machines that are fun to compare with what exists today. This was another late-night Netflix pick, and to be honest I feel a little dirty for mentioning such sci-fi classics in my review of this film (it turns out Crichton was better behind a writing desk than a film camera).What we're really interested in are the robots of course, and the film doesn't disappoint. There's an irritating nanny robot called Lois, a security robot that tasers anything that moves, a small monocopter used for reconnaissance, as well as farming and construction robots. An autonomous cop car has a mannequin in the driver's seat and projects a map directly onto the windshield. Among the highlights is a small household robot that looks something like a Roomba with an arm, which ends up killing several people when it picks up and shoots a gun. Best of all are the killer hexapods that can jump and crawl on walls like a mixture between this locust-inspired hopper and Stanford's gecko-inspired StickyBot.It's comedy gold.The hexapods are supposed to be threatening, but they look like hobby kits you can buy today, which really cracked me up. There is some attempt to depict non-robotic technology of the future as well, such as the iPad-like devices that people are shown using, but otherwise everything looks pretty ordinary for the '80s.It all looks very silly, and it doesn't help that Gene Simmons is the central villain. He's armed with a gun that shoots smart missiles that can turn corners. It's hard to believe such a celebrated author penned this film, what with the immediate and clichéd romance between Selleck and his cute new partner, not to mention his son's creepy enthusiasm for it. As for the technological side of things, the ideas actually aren't all that far-fetched. There's genuinely something to a PR2-like robot picking up a gun and shooting people if tampered with by a hacker, for instance.Unfortunately, even if some bits can be considered ahead of their time, it's hard to take seriously with the ham-fisted acting and cringe-worthy plot. Runaway wasn't intended to be a comedy, but like many films that try to predict the near future it's now entertaining for all the wrong reasons. It's the details the film gets right and horribly wrong, at the same time, that make it fun to watch.

This is a great cop science fiction combo movie. If you liked Robocop or Blade runner then you will dig this movie. Tom Selleck plays a cop from the special Police Robotics division, like a bomb expert except with robots. It has some bad words, violence and complimentary nudity, so caution with kids under 16.Wow I am surprised this movie is not more appreciated. It has great action for a 80s movie. And it is kind of set in the future where everybody has robots in their home. And even for the era the sci fi looked cool, even had some heat seeking mini missiles that were fired from a gun.Tom Sellek does a good job and Gene Simmons takes a break from KISS and is a awesome bad guy. Even Kirsti Alley is young and hot.