I recently came across a copy of Runaway on DVD in excellent condition at my local Goodwill. For the first time in decades, I gave it a rewatch.
Runaway is a science fiction movie from 1984 that was written and directed by Michael Crichton. It features Gene Simmons in a business suit as the villain and Tom Selleck as a near-future LAPD officer who handles “runaways” which are robots that have gone off their programming in some way (see, because, in this near-future so many robots help with jobs and domestic tasks it needs its own police division).
It’s a fun 80s movie with some decent nostalgia value, but what really caught my eye this time around were several examples of futurology related to technology. Given that Runaway released 36 years ago, I’m impressed.
Let’s take a look.
Tablets
Not only did Runaway predict tablets, but it also nailed kids sneaking them under the covers after bedtime to learn about dinosaurs and other cool stuff.
Drones
The police use a machine they call a floater to investigate a dangerous situation by flying it into a house and using its camera. This is a straight-up drone and amazingly well predicted.
Video Doorbells
While investigating a crime, the cops in Runaway decide to check the video messages on the victim’s “door recorder” as part of casual standard procedure.
What was intriguing then is now fairly common technology that kids are using to send messages to their deployed military parents.
Self-Driving Cars
A lot of movies have predicted autonomous vehicles and Runaway did it with a cheesy mannequin in the driver’s seat, but I’ll still give it credit for doing it before it became almost a standard in sci-fi flicks. I’m not sure if the “robot” was doing the driving or if the car was driving itself.
Bluetooth Earpieces
We’ve had earpieces in sci-fi before, not the least of which being Lt. Uhura’s famous Star Trek prop. Runaway, however, is almost spooky in how well it predicts the sleek design of Bluetooth earpieces decades later.
Digital Photo Editing
While doing the police sketch artist thing, Runaway shows a sort of portable computer where the artist is practicing her craft using digital photo editing. In this case, maybe it was a set of stock hair and facial features she kept swapping in and out until it got close? Anyway, that’s not Gene Simmons with a thin mustache, it’s the space between image sections.
Smart Bullets
Luther, the movie’s villain, has a sweet pistol that fires smart bullets that use a sophisticated heat-seeking system to chase their victim while changing course during flight and even pulling a tight u-turn if needed before striking their target and exploding. I doubt the military has anything this precise, but smart bullets do exist now.
Check out the movie version in this clip:
Honorable Mention: Lens Flare
I’m being snarky here, but just look at that lens flare, baby! Decades before J. J. Abrams went nuts with it in his Star Trek movies, here’s director Michael Crichton rocking lens flare like a pro.
That’s it, shoo! Run away and go do something else now 🙂 Thanks for visiting. Keep an eye on your robots.