Review – Runaway

The robots are the main draw in this near-future sci fi thriller from the 80s. The thesis here is that robots will come to occupy an awkward middle ground between mere tools and actual sentience, thus requiring a special branch of the police department to go deal with them when they go haywire. One of these cops (Tom Selleck) finds himself pitted against a sinister mercenary (Gene Simmons) trying to lay his hands on some powerful microprocessors. The coolest part of the movie are the spider-like assassination robots the bad guy uses to do in anyone who gets in his way. They’re crude and stiff by modern effects standards, but their MO – first they jump on you, then they inject you with acid, then they blow themselves up just to make sure you’re good and dead – lends significant appeal. As is not uncommon with Michael Crichton projects, this one’s a little too fascinated by its own cleverness. But despite its flaws, it turns out to be a reasonably entertaining experience. Mildly amusing