Two years after Blade Runner hit theaters, Runaway arrived and explored some similar themes. The influence of the former is clearly felt in the latter, even though Runaway goes in different directions. But they’re both fundamentally about technology gone wrong, and they both had recognizable stars in the lead. Harrison Ford led Blade Runner, while the man that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg originally wanted as Indiana Jones, Tom Selleck, took the leading role in Runaway. But while Blade Runner is widely regarded as a sci-fi classic, Runaway has been all but forgotten.
Upon re-watching Runaway, it’s not hard to see why this film wasn’t embraced by science-fiction fans despite being written and helmed by Jurassic Park novelist Michael Crichton. This movie makes several missteps, especially in its depiction of the near future. And yet there are certain aspects of Runaway that are intriguing and could have potentially made for a much better movie in someone else’s hands.
West of Westworld
Prior to this movie, Crichton had already established himself in Hollywood as the director of Coma, Westworld, and a few other films. As an idea man, Crichton was incredible, and several of his novels became blockbusters when they were adapted by experienced directors. Left to his own devices, Crichton struggled to make his concepts compelling on-screen, and that’s evident throughout Runaway.
A recurring theme in Runaway, Westworld, and Jurassic Park explores the scientific breakthroughs of man turning against humanity. It just isn’t as entertaining in this movie as it was in the other two. This film really does feel like Crichton saw Blade Runner and tried to make his own version of that story.
Even the opening of Runaway has a few music notes that sound like faux-Vangelis, the musician who composed Blade Runner. Jerry Goldsmith, one of the best film composers in Hollywood’s history, had a rare misstep with his electronic score for Runaway. It simply doesn’t work for this movie. An ill-fitting score could have been overlooked if Crichton had made the rest of the film interesting. But Runaway feels oddly dull and lifeless.
The future as envisioned in 1984
Forty years from now, assuming we’re all still around, we may look back at 2024 and laugh at modern movies and their depiction of the future. Unfortunately for Runaway, that’s the reaction it inspires now with its laughable rogue robots. That image above of a household robot with a gun is unintentionally hilarious, and yet it still manages to murder multiple people at the beginning of the film.
Having said that, there are aspects of the future that Runaway got right. The police floater camera resembles commercially available drones that anyone can purchase today, and Roombas are more compact versions of the household droids seen in this film. But the most damning aspect of our present is that no robot has been created that is even remotely as functional as the robot nanny, Lois, is in this story. Lois can cook, clean, and look after a child with moderate degrees of success. Crichton’s concept of a smart bullet is also intriguing, but technology hasn’t caught up to that either.
He’s no Magnum
In the lore of Indiana Jones, Selleck lost the role because he was contractually tied to keep making Magnum, P.I. for CBS. As Thomas Magnum, Selleck was a fan-favorite hero, but his role in Runaway drains almost every ounce of charisma out of the actor. Police Sergeant Jack R. Ramsay isn’t very fun to watch, and he’s kind of a glorified repairman who has to chase down “runaway” robots that malfunction. Ramsay doesn’t actually fix any of these robots, but sometimes he needs to hop on a helicopter just to turn something off.
As a sign of the times, the movie thinks nothing of Ramsay trying to court his new partner, Officer Karen Thompson (Cynthia Rhodes), even though what he does probably wouldn’t be considered sexual harassment by ’80s standards. It’s oddly presented and it feels unearned when Karen finally returns his affection near the end of the movie. To be fair, he does save her life, but it’s hard to root for a romance that has so little life to it.
Cheers to this actress
Kristie Alley made her screen debut two years earlier in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and her performance as Saavik is still beloved by Star Trek fans decades later. She didn’t fare as well in Runaway, which gave her a small role as Jackie Rogers, a woman connected to the out-of-control robots.
Alley’s part in this movie is minimal, even though she’s the only one who shows some real fire when she gets angry at Ramsay. She probably would have been a better choice for the co-starring role than Rhodes was. Alley simply doesn’t get as much to do here, and her time in the movie comes to an end right when Jackie was starting to become interesting.
This villain doesn’t rock
KISS frontman Gene Simmons had his first major acting role in this film as Dr. Charles Luther, the man behind the robot rampages and the former lover of Jackie Rogers. While Simmons isn’t the first rocker to try their hand at being a movie star, he’s just not very good at it. Crichton didn’t do Simmons any favors by failing to flesh out Luther’s character or properly explaining his motivations.
Instead of a menacing mastermind, Luther comes off as a creepy stalker who barely tries to hide his glee when his chips cause ordinary household robots to become murder-bots. Luther lacks credibility as a villain, and aside from a scene where he attempts to sell the chips that cause these malfunctions, he doesn’t seem to have a real goal for making this technology profitable for him. Runaway settles for making Luther obsessed with getting his revenge on Ramsay for daring to get in his way.
Memory drain
If Runaway had been a better movie, it may not have been buried so deeply decades later. There’s a lot of nostalgia for the best sci-fi films of the ’80s, and Runaway is obviously not one of them.
Although there are some interesting things in this movie, it’s hard to watch in 2024. Not every movie can be a masterpiece, but this film’s fate is a cautionary tale for every sci-fi flick that can’t deliver something for viewers to latch on to.
Rent or buy Runaway on Prime Video.
