"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." (IMDb)
Runaway in an entertaining hi-tech action film written and directed by Michael Crichton. Starring Tom Selleck, Cynthia Rhodes, Gene Simmons, Joey Cramer, Kirstie Alley, Stan Shaw and always fun G.W. Bailey.
Selleck is great and Rhodes gives a solid performance and looks fantastic. Simmons plays the wicked villain Luther in his first film (if you don´t count Kiss film Phantom of the Park) and i like his killer spiders robots and that cool gun with the "smart bullets"
While a big budget film, Runaway has a sympathetic b-movie feel. It was planned as 1984's major science fiction draw but was overshadowed by The Terminator.
The ever reliable Jerry Goldsmith composed a cool score, his first purely electronic one and i love the ending - that kiss and those "love sparkles"
posted
i've just purchased this on dvd,well i'm still waiting for it to turn up actually,great movie runaway,remember watching it more or less as soon as it hit home video,not watched it for a few years so i'm looking forward to getting my copy.
it was your lassiter thread atomik that reminded me of runaway,everytime i come on the rewind lately i get reminded of a movie i've been meaning to get and then go away and end up spending more money.
i think i better hide the bank statement before the wife gets her hands on it Posts: 3243 | From: canterbury united kingdom | Registered: Mar 2011 | Site Updates: 0
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aTomiK
.... has green eyes as well....
Member # 6575
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I have the scandi dvd which is a bare bones release. I would love to see a making of - feature.
Yeah, i´ve heard few comments from my wife too but she just bought a dog so i think she´s going to keep it down for the next couple of months or so Posts: 7053 | From: Finland | Registered: Feb 2008 | Site Updates: 7
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posted
Good movie. I saw this one in the theater as well. (I used to go to the movies A LOT back in the 80's!)
Always liked Cynthia Rhodes and getting to see Kirstie Alley (who used to be hot) was a bonus. =)
Posts: 294 | From: Arizona | Registered: Mar 2007 | Site Updates: 0
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aTomiK
.... has green eyes as well....
Member # 6575
posted
I like the scene where they introduce Kirstie in Runaway. Ramsey has hots for her and smashes that eeevil office robot Posts: 7053 | From: Finland | Registered: Feb 2008 | Site Updates: 7
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It's light-hearted, comicbook-style, sci-fi / action entertainment, the way they did it only in the 80's.
Some funny moments include the opening with a agricultural pest-controller robot on the loose, and Selleck and (especially) Rhodes trying to capture it, providing the field-workers (and us) with some good laughs. And a little later on, there's a stacker robot on a construction-site gone berserk with hilarious results.
Gene Simmons keeps a straight face throughout, but has a great time being the bad guy. (He would go on to play another bad guy gone completely bonkers two years later in Never Too Young To Die)
Chris Mulkey (Twin Peaks) can be seen in a supporting role as an electronics engineer on the run.
And yes, Cynthia Rhodes does look quite fetching here !
I have the region 1 dvd from Columbia Pictures, which is a double-sided disc with a fullscreen version on one side, and a 2.35 anamorphic version on the other. Only extra's are the trailer and some talent bio's.
Posts: 2176 | From: The Netherlands | Registered: Jun 2011 | Site Updates: 0
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My favorite Gene Simmons bad guy role was in Wanted: Dead or Alive with Rutger Hauer. He's a little too hammy for me in Runaway with his "penetrating glare." But I have fond memories of seeing Runaway in a Philadelphia theatre when it opened on December 14, 1984. Apart from being really cheesey B-movie fun, my girlfriend at the time liked Cynthia Rhodes and Tom Selleck so the movie was a win for me... We both had liked Crichton's Looker too--as silly as that thing is. While the relationship didn't last another year (Kiss of the Spider Woman was the last movie we saw together), my fondness for goofy movies that could only have been made in the 80s, JRiR, has survived. So I certainly have no regrets! Posts: 2008 | From: Dixieland | Registered: Oct 2008 | Site Updates: 0
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aTomiK
.... has green eyes as well....
Member # 6575
posted
Simmons said that director Michael Crichton's casting of him was based primarily on this: Crichton asked Simmons to stare at him for about a minute without making any facial expressions.
I love Wanted: Dead or Alive and in that one he might had expression and a half
Still haven´t seen Never Too Young To Die Posts: 7053 | From: Finland | Registered: Feb 2008 | Site Updates: 7
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He plays a psychopathic hermaphrodite in this one. I'm pretty sure not a lot of actors can say they played one of those ! Posts: 2176 | From: The Netherlands | Registered: Jun 2011 | Site Updates: 0
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quote:Originally posted by Johnny Roarke is reckless: Here's Simmons in Never Too Young To Die :
He plays a psychopathic hermaphrodite in this one. I'm pretty sure not a lot of actors can say they played one of those !
Love Never Too Young to Die! Love that Gene Simmons has no limit for self abuse.
Posts: 215 | From: Central TX | Registered: Aug 2008 | Site Updates: 0
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aTomiK
.... has green eyes as well....
Member # 6575
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awesome movie and at least they had the sense to keep the original artwork,is that age rating certificate meant to be for the short sighted though as it's a bit on the large side Posts: 3243 | From: canterbury united kingdom | Registered: Mar 2011 | Site Updates: 0
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posted
Almost all German imports have that extra-large certificate printed on the sleeve. Usually they use reversible sleeves though. The same artwork without the certificate is on the flipside.
Posts: 2176 | From: The Netherlands | Registered: Jun 2011 | Site Updates: 0
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aTomiK
.... has green eyes as well....
Member # 6575
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This was a very underrated and under appreciated film. Loved it. Technology for the time was great, Gene Simmons was great.
Posts: 5319 | From: KANSAS | Registered: Sep 2003 | Site Updates: 2
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