RP@SCRC-STONY-BROOK.ARPA@caip.RUTGERS.EDU (01/31/86)
From: Richard Pavelle <RP@CUPID.SCRC.Symbolics.COM> There is a 1984 SF film called Runaway with Tom Selleck on cable this month. I found it quite enjoyable and wonder whether it ever made it into the cinemas. I do not remember it. Does anyone recall whether it did? A related question: It often seems that good movies appear on cable that have never played in the cinemas. How does this happen?
leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (02/03/86)
>From: Richard Pavelle <RP@CUPID.SCRC.Symbolics.COM> > >There is a 1984 SF film called Runaway with Tom Selleck on >cable this month. I found it quite enjoyable and wonder >whether it ever made it into the cinemas. I do not remember >it. Does anyone recall whether it did? It played for a few weeks around here and was reviewed on, I believe, AT THE MOVIES. It did not get very good reviews. >A related question: It often seems that good movies appear >on cable that have never played in the cinemas. How does >this happen? Many ways. Some films are made just for cable (e.g. THE TERRY FOX STORY). Some get narrow distribution before they come to cable, playing for only a few days and/or only in a few cities, or only in Europe (e.g. LOVESPELL (good adaptation of the story of TRISTAN AND ISOLDE), and ANDROID). Some films are made for theatrical release but no distributor thinks that it will be profitable enough to distribute the film. Cable needs a lot of films and does not worry as much about profitability (they have a sort of paying audience already). Cable often uses as a selling point the fact that it has "little gems" that it was quite unlikely you saw in a theater. Mark Leeper ...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper
ndd@duke.UUCP (Ned Danieley) (02/04/86)
In article <1137@caip.RUTGERS.EDU> RP@SCRC-STONY-BROOK.ARPA@caip.RUTGERS.EDU writes: >From: Richard Pavelle <RP@CUPID.SCRC.Symbolics.COM> > >There is a 1984 SF film called Runaway with Tom Selleck >on cable this month. I found it quite enjoyable and >wonder whether it ever made it into the cinemas. I >do not remember it. Does anyone recall whether it did? > >A related question: It often seems that good movies >appear on cable that have never played in the cinemas. >How does this happen? I believe that Runaway was out, but not for long. The answer to your second question is that the tastes of the general public (which determines the longevity of movies) do not necessarily represent your (or my) tastes. Selleck has had a couple of other movies, neither of which stayed at the theater very long. Perhaps he just doesn't translate very to the movies. Ned Danieley
thornton@kcl-cs.UUCP (ZNAC468) (02/04/86)
In article <1137@caip.RUTGERS.EDU> daemon@caip.UUCP writes: >From: Richard Pavelle <RP@CUPID.SCRC.Symbolics.COM> > >There is a 1984 SF film called Runaway with Tom Selleck >on cable this month. I found it quite enjoyable and >wonder whether it ever made it into the cinemas. I >do not remember it. Does anyone recall whether it did? RUNAWAY did make it into the cinemas, I recall seeing it at a local with a few friends.. It was an above average film, made better to me as it was the first film I'd seen after the awful 'LIFEFORCE' which I slagged off a few months ago. It concerns good guy Tom Selleck against bad guy Gene Simmons (KISS) who is likely to get typecast as Mr Boo..Hiss.. evil looking guy. (Turn It Up!) Gene has a nasty gun that fires heat seeking missiles, or person seeking which only Tom Selleck seems able to avoid. He also designs chips which turn domestic robot appliances into killing machines! Gene's tongue does not make an appearance. ANYWAY... - - - ->)===- buzz..buzz..buzz..BOOM! Gene gets killed by his own creations and then makes half the audience jump out of their seats (Why do they always put bits like this in films?). Kirstie Alley (S.T. II Saavik) turns up and is killed in a nasty way. Tom Selleck has his face washed with a highly corrosive acid ,but obviously not for long enough,it still looks the same:-). THAT WAS WORTH SEEING! (sorry...) Also I hope that the *spoiler* warning was justified (whatever it means). Andy T.
guadagna@daemen.UUCP (Dale K9 Guadagna) (02/04/86)
> From: Richard Pavelle <RP@CUPID.SCRC.Symbolics.COM> > > There is a 1984 SF film called Runaway with Tom Selleck > on cable this month. I found it quite enjoyable and > wonder whether it ever made it into the cinemas. I > do not remember it. Does anyone recall whether it did? Yes it did make it to the cinemas. At least in Buffalo, NY it did. I've seen it quite a few times (that's because I worked at the same theater that played it) and thought it was quite good. -- Dale K-9 Guadagna UUCP :{decvax/dual/rocksanne/watmath/rocksvax}!sunybcs!daemen!guadagna ================================================================================ Doctor Who quote: "Doctor, sometimes I think your not quite right in the head." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cartoon Quote: "OOPPS. I DISTINCTLY HEARD AN OOOPPS" -Opus ================================================================================
leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (02/05/86)
>Selleck has had a couple of other movies, neither of which >stayed at the theater very long. Perhaps he just doesn't >translate very to the movies. (Let's move this discussion to net.movies.) This is not actually true. HIGH ROAD TO CHINA got bad reviews but it had really had staying power in some parts of the country. It was released in March or so, as I remember. I think over a year later it was still playing in other parts of the country. I know I saw it on cassette and months later I noticed it was still playing in North Carolina in October. The following summer someone I know saw it in Kansas. I had some interest in how the film played because I and anyone I actually know who saw it thought it was a pretty good film. The critics hung it, but it is quite enjoyable. Mark Leeper ...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper
ccc@meccts.UUCP (Chad C. Cooper) (02/06/86)
Just a slight blurb for those con goers out there... Minnesota's MINICON is coming up easter weekend(not the best timing). For those interested in more info, the address is: MINICON P.O. Box 2128 Loop Station MPLS, MN 55402
CS.MCGRATH@R20.UTEXAS.EDU@caip.RUTGERS.EDU (02/06/86)
From: Tim McGrath <CS.MCGRATH@R20.UTEXAS.EDU> Sorry to bother the net, but I can't use the original sender's address. I wasn't enthusiatic about the film `Runaway' (I felt than the SF was im- plausible and the plot ridiculous), but I believe that the film was in the theatres around Christmas '84; it disappeared after only a few weeks. It's common for a movie not to go into general release. The studio bean-counters cancel a movie's distribution when they feel that promotion and release costs will be more than box-office income (ie, they will lose less money by just sitting on the film). Unfortunately, the `quality' of the film has nothing to do the decision to release it. Terry Gilliam's `Brazil' very nearly met this fate, except for some extraordinary measures taken by Gilliam. It's cheaper to release the film through video cassettes and cable than to release the film to theatres; studios try to recoup their losses in these ways. -- Tim McGrath [CSNet and ARPA: CS.MCGRATH@UTEXAS-20.ARPA] -------
mclean@nrl-css.arpa@caip.RUTGERS.EDU (02/07/86)
From: John McLean <mclean@nrl-css.arpa>
I don't remember Runaway being at the movies, but if you liked it you
may be glad to know that it's out in video. I saw a VHS version a
couple of weeks ago and, like you, enjoyed it.
Johnref0070@ritcv.UUCP (Robert Fortin) (02/07/86)
Runaway did make to the cinema in the Albany, NY area. I just recently
saw it on HBO, and in my opinion it had a poor plot and was completely
unbelievable. The killer spider robots were particularly stupid, and I
think the movie would be better as an episode for Super-friends or
maybe even Voltron.
I don't think that this movie has enough class to be considered
Science fiction.
These are just my opinions.
{allegra seiesmo ucbvax}!rochester!ritcv!ref0070