Runaway (1984) Dir: Michael Crichton

Tom Selleck stars in this futuristic thriller, and just about manages to get away with it.

The plot:
In the near future, mankind's reliance on robotic technology has become all consuming. every aspect of life is either controlled or assisted by robots, to make the life of the living safer, more comfortable. Problem is, more often than seems normal, the damned things go wrong and, when they do, terrible things can occur. be it a 'bot designed for construction hurling slabs from a building, or a 'bot about the house turning kill crazy and slaughtering an entire family. That's where the special Runaway division of the police come in, to control, handle and, if needs be, take down the errant robots. And, as if all that weren't bad enough, Gene Simmons turns up as an unlikely villain, determined to corrupt the technology even further....

Writer director Crichton has something of a fascination for 'when technology attacks' plotlines, being the mind behind Jurassic Park, Westworld, The Andromeda Strain. Here, handling directorial duties as well, this was clearly perceived as the big budget big hitter of the year, but never quite made the impact expected. Selleck is likeable enough in the lead role, but the movie is hampered somewhat by some shocking design choices - seriously, these robots couldn't have looked cool even in 1984.
With a streak of silliness running through it that I thoroughly enjoyed, this borders on the terrible, but somehow manages to be most entertaining throughout.
Liked it.

4 out of 5

Cowboys and Aliens (2011) Dir: Jon Favreau

With a title that just screams popcorn entertainment, Jon 'Iron Man' Favreau behind the camera, and the acting talents of both James Bond and Indiana Jones on screen, this has to be fantastic, right?

The plot:
It's the Wild West, and Daniel Craig's Jake Lonergan is a wanted man.
Awakening in the desert with no memory, and with a Predator-like gauntlet strapped to his wrist, Jake winds up in Absolution, a fading mining town that has seen better days. Having got on the wrong side of pioneering businessman Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) it seems Jake is to spend the rest of his days behind bars, that is until an attack squadron of alien spacecraft strafe the town, metal chains descending from the heavens to ensnare the townsfolk and carry them off.
Then Jake's gauntlet activates, and the fight back begins.....

Let's begin with a bit of a complaint.
All of the reviews of this I have heard and read seem to suggest that mixing the Western and sci-fi genres is somehow dazzlingly new and inventive.
Joss Whedon must be pissing blood from his eyes in frustration.
Does no-one remember the simply excellent Firefly, and spin-off movie Serenity? Or Westworld for that matter.
Anyway, that gripe aside, this begins as a surprisingly serious straight ahead Western, as the Man With No Name (sic) arrives in town and ruffles a few feathers and, it has to be said, it's pretty entertaining stuff.
Daniel Craig is excellent as the tall, handsome, hard as fucking nails stranger - seriously, you would not want to fight this man - and Harrison Ford is a welcome presence too as the crotchety, dangerously blood thirsty old fart.
Then the aliens turn up and things begin to fall apart.
See, this is a much better Western than it is a sci-fi movie and, frankly, the sci-fi stuff just feels like it has been added in for the sake of the gag title. It's almost as if they thought of the title, then had to figure a way to crowbar a plot from within it.
Though Craig and Ford get most of the screen time, the smokin' hot Olivia Wilde is a bit wasted, really, which is a shame as she is a fine performer, not just eye candy.
With a plot that peters out with a depressingly predictable special effects fest that goes on for fucking ages, this really needed tighter editing, as they could easily have shorn thirty minutes off the run time and vastly improved it in the process.
A bit of a wasted opportunity, then, and one reflected in the poor box office takings both in the UK and The States.
Disappointed.

3 out of 5