Title: Runaway (1984)Starring: Tom Selleck, Cynthia Rhodes, Gene Simmons
Directed By: Michael Crichton
Runaway is a perfect example of a bad movie. The characters make bad decisions that don't make sense, and they apparently have no inner monologue. The enemy is predictable and foolhardy. The "tech" is cheesy and needlessly overcomplicated (even for the 80's). The direction is all over the place. The performances are stiff. It. Is. Bad.
Having already explained my stance on defending action movies, allow me to provide for you the exception that proves the rule. There are good "bad" movies. You know, the ones you can't help but enjoy even though you know it's crap. There are bad "good" movies too. These would be the films that are superior from every technical standpoint, yet they're just not enjoyable. You don't know why, but something irks you about it and you just don't like it. Runaway is neither. It's the "bad bad movie that you wanna watch with a group of friends so you can all laugh at how excruciatingly terrible it is" movie.
Watching this, I was amazed that it wasn't Crichton's first time in the director's chair. Then I remembered Westworld and how much I liked it when I saw it as a kid (maybe that'll have to be reviewed for this blog!). It was baffling how truly awful some of the ideas that ended up on the screen were. Add to that phoned-in performances from Tom Selleck & Kirstie Alley, a way-too-excitable Cynthia Rhodes, and a "Look at me! I'm evil in a movie!" Gene Simmons and you've got a big hot mess.
You probably haven't seen it yet, so don't. Unless you've got a 12-pack and 4 or 5 buddies to truly embrace the suck.
Score: 3.5/10
Oh I have seen this movie and I've seen it more than once. The first time was when it was at the Penn Theater (the first time seeing a movie there and I think it was during the Plymouth Ice Show). My mom was in love with Tom Selleck at the time (who wasn't) and the family saw this together. At the time it was pure fun and it was 1984 so I was only 10-11 years old. When it aired on cable we watched it several times. The moments I remember the most is the "lil bug" in Kirstie Alley's undies and the bug killing Gene Simmons in the end. Now all that said, I haven't seen it since the mid-80s and I'm sure like HOWARD THE DUCK (which I loved as a teen) it does not hold up very well.
ReplyDeleteNo, it doesn't. It's VERY possible that this'll be shown at BAMF. I'm sure if you REALLY really wanna see it again, we'll watch it!
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