One of my favorite parts about watching old sci-fi movies set in the future is looking at how the writers/directors thought technologies would change. Runaway, featuring an all-star cast including Tom Selleck, Kirstie Alley, and Gene Simmons, came out in 1984 and was set in the “near future.” Michael Crichton, slightly more well known for Jurassic Park and West World, wrote and directed the movie. Apparently he foresaw absolutely no opthalmological advancements, as evidenced by Selleck’s ridiculous eyeglasses. Also, look at those police cars. Those were never top of the line. I suppose it was the 80’s. Maybe Crichton expected Reaganomics to force a cutback in public safety funds? Probably not, since Selleck and his buddies are armed with all sorts of fancy gadgets. Also, they have robot arms that can hold things in place for them! What a world Crichton thought we would be living in. Battlebots could shoot guns, but thick rimmed glasses would be your only option for reading his next best seller. And let’s not forget the computers. They were still gigantic, and generally sort of a beige color.
Crichton may not predicted some advancements, but there’s one thing that Crichton was more or less spot on about. There were basically T.V. monitors/cameras everywhere, allowing for very little privacy, and 24 hour media coverage. In the movie this was always a bad thing. I can understand that. In fact, being a science-fiction-apocalypse theory enthusiast myself, I can really get behind that. Watching T.V. all the time is bad for us, and reporters exposing dangerous details about crimes really could jeopardize a case; however, I think citizen journalism can act as a good check for certain public jobs, such as police work. But in this case it’s just not necessary. Obviously Selleck’s character, Jack Ramsay, is working in the best interest of everyone involved.
Regardless of your stance on a world saturated with the presence of news media of one form or another, I think we can all agree that robots should not take care of our children. Crichton really hammered that point home. That, and never trust Gene Simmons. Ever. He’s a bad man.
Note: Everything that I said about the cheesy music in old slasher movies does not apply here. In fact, it enhances the experience.
the little guy 