Film Review: Runaway

Runaway is one of those films I'm surprised I haven't seen before. It's got Tom Selleck, Gene Simmons and is written and directed by Michael Crichton, the man who brought us Jurassic Park, Twister, Westworld and E.R. It must have just got past me this whole time. Not being available in the U.K. didn't help (it is available on American DVD however, although the sound is pretty bad.)

Selleck stars as Ramsay, a police officer who works for a unit that deals with malfunctioning, or 'runaway' robots. You see, while the film seems to be taking place in it's present day (the mid 80s) robots now do everything. From look after the kids to construction work to mowing the lawn. This is what bothered me a bit about the film from the outset - such amazing advances are made in the world of robotics, but everything else is exactly the same. Phones, clothing, cars! It did bug me most of the film.

Anyway, Ramsay and new partner Thompson (Cynthia Rhodes) investigate the the killing of a family at the hands of their own robots and have discovered someone as overridden them with orders to kill. This leads them to Dr. Charles Luther (Gene Simmons) who is developing robots that kill to sell on the black market. Ramsay and Thompson must track him down, using one of Luther's employees (an early film role for Kirsty Alley) to assist.

After you get past the ludicrous 'futuristic, but not that futuristic' thing, Runaway is quite a decent film. There's some great action sequences, a freeway chase, and the climatic skyscraper encounter are both quite gripping. The spider robots that Luther creates are pretty creepy also, spitting acid and exploding shortly after so that no evidence is left.

And what of KISS legend Gene Simmons, in what was his first film? Well it's not the most brilliantly acted performance I've ever seen, but he doesn't half look menacing throughout. That was the reason he was cast, director Crichton asked Simmons to stare at him for a minute without making any facial expressions!

Obviously, Michael Crichton went on to bigger and better things with the success of Jurassic Park and E.R., but this could have been another hit to go under his belt. What stopped him? Another film about robots in a present day surrounding (well, cyborgs if you are going to split hairs) in The Terminator. Who knows what would have happened to Runaway.

***
Get past the ropey bits of the plot, and you'll find an interesting movie, with some thrilling moments.  If you're a fan of Crichton, Selleck or Simmons, check it out!