Mr-Fusion The beauty of "Runaway" - . . . well, there are a few, actually. It's a good marriage of cop movie and plausible science fiction, a nasty villain (Gene Simmons with that creepy stare) and it works pretty much as well now as it did 30 years ago - which is something when we're talking a movie that's as unabashedly '80s as this. Selleck and Rhodes (hello!) have a good rapport, and the car "chase" scene on the freeway was pretty well don. On second thought, this probably shouldn't be as watchable as it is, but then again, Crichton actually manages to wring some nice suspense out of tiny robots.7/10

gwnightscream Tom Selleck, Gene Simmons and Cynthia Rhodes star in this 1984 sci-fi film. A cop must stop a madman and his killer robots. Jack Ramsay (Selleck) is a veteran cop who works a robotics shift and has a son. He meets his new partner, Karen Thompson (Rhodes) and shows her the ropes. They begin hunting runaway robots discovering they're created by madman, Charles Luther (Simmons) that begin killing people. Jack stops at nothing to hunt Luther which becomes a deadly game of cat and mouse. I've always liked this film and Gene is a great villain. I also like Jerry Goldsmith's excellent score and recommend this good, underrated 80's sci-fi flick.

Robert W. There are a few key details to this flick that should have simply made it better than what it was. Instead it was completely forgettable with a slow story that often feels slapped together. The problem is there is just far too many, much better 80's sci-fi flicks with similar stories. I watched the film because I do really like Tom Selleck and I like sci-fi films and had never heard of this so I gave it a chance but unfortunately it is truly forgettable and even as I write this I can't really remember a lot about it. The film was much lower budget than most films of its type so the special effects were poor.Tom Selleck was and is a big enough star to carry a film but his heart doesn't feel like its in this. His character is empty and just not very fun. Cynthia Rhodes, and Kirstie Alley are decent in their supporting roles but aren't give a lot of depth either. Gene Simmons is just bizarre in his role, his acting debut but he doesn't do a bad job either.If Runaway suffers from anything its being mundane. Perhaps the biggest surprise in all this is director and writer, the one and only Michael Crichton, who is one of the most brilliant adventure writers having done plenty of sci-fi but this one just didn't translate well. Perhaps it was the lack of budget or maybe just a substandard effort on all their parts but this one is completely forgettable and completely missable in every way. 4/10

kclipper Rock band Kiss front man Gene Simmons, Tom Selleck, Kirsti Alley (when she was hot), and numerous elements of the Man vs. Machine genre highlight this low grade thriller based on a story by the visionary science-fiction writer Michael Crichton. This little movie is worthy of the typical 80s cheesiness due to it's predictable storyline and Simmon's good portrayal as the 80s TV villain. The set pieces are excellent. (when robotic engineering was taking off). One especially innovative scene has a horde of metal robot spiders equipped with poisonous needles attacking Selleck and his son on an elevator. Programmable bullets that turn corners and robot car bombs along with good pacing and suspenseful situations make this a good evening's fun. All of the laughable dialog and obviousness are played with straight faces by the cast, and the violence is pretty stiff for this not to receive an R rating twenty some years ago. You can't go wrong if Magnum P.I and Terminator were your thing back in the day, and Michael Crichton's realistic approach always delivers a story worth pondering over.