ted@usceast.UUCP (Ted Nolan) (02/03/85)
I'm surprised to have seen no reviews of _Runaway_ on the net.
It's started to hit the dollar cinemas now, so I thought I would throw in
a few comments.
_Runaway_ stars Tom Selleck of TV's "Magnum PI" and Christie Alley
the original Savvik from _Wrath of Khan_. (I'm sure I've spelled
at least one of these wrong).
_Runaway_ takes place in a world very like our own, except that robot
research is about 20 years in advance of ours. Selleck is a cop on
the department's runaway squad. He is responsible for rounding up
robots that break down but don't stop. It's not a glamourous job
or usually especially dangerous. Two of his typical cases are a
harvester robot that doesn't stop at the end of it's field and a
construction robot that keeps dropping bags of cement even after the
hopper is gone. Alley is his new partner and he is showing her the
ropes.
Things start to heat up, though when Selleck has to deal with a household
cleaning robot gone murderously berserk. A post mortem of the robot carcas
reveals that it was no accident; someone had put in a "killer chip".
Selleck vows to find out who.
That's pretty much the plot; needless to say he does find the killer and
defeat him. What makes the movie above average is not the plot, but
the background. Runaway throws out several very plausible ideas in a very
casual natural way. For instance :
1) Land torpedoes. Get behind someone in traffic, let one down
through the floor, wait for it to speed under the desired car
and then watch the pieces fly.
2) Smart bullets - only go after the initial target. Around
corners if necessary.
3) Police psychics
Selleck does a fairly good acting job here, better I thought than in
_High Road to China_. He has some funny scenes and some very tense ones
(especially the climatic elevator scene). Alley doesn't have that much
to do, but she does look very decorative.
There were some flaws in the movie . I thought that the way Selleck
endangered a civillian witness/prisoner was implausible, and the link
between Selleck and the killer was a little murky (as were the killers
psychic powers if any), but all in all, I thought it well worth my
1.50. I recommend it.
Ted Nolan ..usceast!ted
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Ted Nolan ...decvax!mcnc!ncsu!ncrcae!usceast!ted (UUCP)
6536 Brookside Circle ...akgua!usceast!ted
Columbia, SC 29206 allegra!usceast!ted@seismo (ARPA, maybe)
("Deep space is my dwelling place, the stars my destination")
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------disc@homxb.UUCP (S.BERRY) (02/05/85)
I also enjoyed this flick, but thought I'd point out two problems with the *review*. 1. For the umpteenth time, it's KIRSTIE Alley! (Not a flame on you, Ted) 2. She did NOT play Selleck's new partner (I don't recall THAT actress's name); she was the villain's (Gene Simmons, late of Kiss) "moll". SJBerry