EPISODE 114 — Runaway

[OoofMaGOOF 348]

The visual of Gene Simmons handing a gun to the little box robot absolutely slayed me. Totally not something I thought about, but when they brought it up I thought it was brilliant.

[Blast Hardcheese 636]

Not only that, but who the Hell wants to deal in cash? I'm assuming these robotics guys are somewhat smart, why not force him to pay via wire transfer to a Swiss bank account? Luthor may be a murderous scumbag, but as long as he wants something only they can provide, they have the upperhand.

 

Take back the power fellas!

 

Or, get the cash first, count it, THEN hand over the microchips.

 

Also (and I'm fuzzy on Luther's motivation), but doesn't he already have a couple of the microchips in his possession? Does he really need the schematics he's after? Couldn't Luther reverse engineer the chips he already has and produce more of them on his own?

[walterwoodsiv 215]

I really want a podcast where Jason just asks June philosophical questions?

[Blast Hardcheese 636]

Holy Shit! I forgot about my favorite scene in Runaway:

 

After the de-bugging scene, Ramsay and Thompson are putting Christie Alley in the back of the mannequin-driven squad car when the police mechanic walk over to say hey to Ramsay. He seems chummy enough, but Ramsay's not having it (not today), and tells the mechanic to definitely NOT touch the car (for fear of inadvertently contaminating it with more tracking bugs). Then the mechanic seems to go WAY out of his way in an attempt to touch the hood of the car. Ramsay yells at the mechanic to get the fuck away from the car, and the mechanic slinks off all butt hurt.

 

I like to imagine a scene that takes place the next day, with Ramsay apologizing to the doofy mechanic and allowing him to smear his hands all over the squad car of his choosing.

[CoryFrazer 1]

Wow. So happy I watched this movie! Just started listening to the podcast about a month ago and I'm working backwards from the most recent episodes and this one has been my favorite so far! I have seen many of the others featured (such as the AMAZINGly awesome Nic Cage duo of Con Air and Face OffI) but so far this one has blown my mind the most. I'm quite certain that the reason for the whole "unconventional hero" ending is actually extremely heroic because the demons he must face are his alone. The film throws some weird "mother savior" role to Cynthia Rhodes (Ramsay's partner/Flashdance girl) where they could've done something progressive; instead of giving her a strong character/personality they dress her in a floral print dress and have her rescue the child from harm(Kirstie Alley would've SO rocked as this role if the characters had been swapped. I totally agree with what either Rhea or June said [i believe]) The rescue of Ramsay's son allows for our hero to go out on his own to face his own "masculine" issues now that his child is being cared for again by yet another surrogate mother. This movie drips with testosterone and odd Freudian comments on the structure needed to provide a hetero-normative household while attempting to make comments on the future of technology. SO RAD and BAD lol!! Thank You!! I will and do recommend

[Lukas Holmes 2287]

Not for nothing, but that's a really great picture of Paul on the episode page.

[fenster77 17]

I'm no police tactician, but when entering a house being held by a armed killer robot, it's probably not a good idea to just walk straight up to the wide open front door. Hey Magnum, maybe approach along the front of the garage?

 

 

Also, when Ramsey emerges without the cameraman...not even the reporter seems to care. Her news partner is dead and it's just business as usual...

 

 

Yep, just doin' my job. Takin' some notes. Jesus, lady. Don't you know that cameramen ALWAYS drive the news vans? How are you getting home?

 

And why in the hell does Ramsey bring Thompson home with him afterwards in the first place? Makes no sense.

[starri 116]

I'm kind of sad that Star Trek: TNG is not something in Zouks' wheelhouse. Zouks, you and I have been doing so well.

 

 

"They're here!" I really want to go out drinking with June. She's like the wacky sister I never had.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

So, the explosive shell removal audio was one of the best parts of this episode (along with Rhea's assertion that this movie is 3 Men and a Baby with robots). But something I still don't understand about that scene is that when Selleck is about to take the shell out of her arm, he puts a kevlar vest on her. Why? If that thing explodes, she's not just going to lose her arm. She probably going to bleed out in a matter of seconds.

 

Also, where did they get the shell to examine in the lab? Did I miss something there? The one Selleck removed exploded, so it shouldn't be completely in tact. If they found it somewhere else that I completely missed, why the fuck is the scientist dude cutting it open with a goddamn blowtorch? They have literally no idea what this thing is or how it works, so the first thing they do is put some fire on it.

[Joven 373]

Also, where did they get the shell to examine in the lab? Did I miss something there? The one Selleck removed exploded, so it shouldn't be completely in tact. If they found it somewhere else that I completely missed, why the fuck is the scientist dude cutting it open with a goddamn blowtorch? They have literally no idea what this thing is or how it works, so the first thing they do is put some fire on it.

 

They got it because there were 2 of the bullets sitting in a pen case on a table in the shootout room, either they were the guys spares, or just example units when he was trying to sell them to the Ivy League Mafia.

 

It looked to me like they froze it (that wasnt a torch, there wasnt fire, and it was dripping liquid and the bullet changed color to look kinda frozen anyway), which according to Metal Gear Solid 2 means it was as good as disarmed. What I found weird about that scene was Ramsay started bitching at that guy for not knowing exactly how it worked literally seconds after he just cut the stupid thing open. Give him some damn time dude.

[OoofMaGOOF 348]

I'm really glad they all recommended watching this in the end, and noted it's a fun goofy movie. This is one of those episodes where I was just on the same wave length as everyone the entire time.

 

But man, they made me realize that what separates this and something like Blade Runner is the humanizing element. The question of hunting down human-like androids that have implanted memories and emotions and think they're human VS stopping a boxy robot who somehow got a gun in his claw...yeah. Not many emotional stakes in the latter.

[EricScroggin 9]

I'm suprised no one in the show pointed out this is our second encounter with a spaghetti robot

[fenster77 17]

Ending. Was. Bonkers.

 

[FisterRoboto 7499]

 

They got it because there were 2 of the bullets sitting in a pen case on a table in the shootout room, either they were the guys spares, or just example units when he was trying to sell them to the Ivy League Mafia.

 

It looked to me like they froze it (that wasnt a torch, there wasnt fire, and it was dripping liquid and the bullet changed color to look kinda frozen anyway), which according to Metal Gear Solid 2 means it was as good as disarmed. What I found weird about that scene was Ramsay started bitching at that guy for not knowing exactly how it worked literally seconds after he just cut the stupid thing open. Give him some damn time dude.

I totally did not get any of that. Maybe I wasn't paying as much attention as I thought I was.

 

I'm suprised no one in the show pointed out this is our second encounter with a spaghetti robot

This might be the best catch of this thread so far.

[Incep-Shawn 3]

I loved this movie as a kid.

 

In re-watching it now, I can't help but feel that the robots were products of the inventive genius of Billy's dad in Gremlins. I was half expecting to see the logo "Rand Peltzer Murder-Matic Spider-Robo" emblazoned on the little bugs.

 

The eighties idea of "robots" was exceptionally stupid.

 

Gene Simmons is gloriously pervy when trying to act "sinister." When he would give the "look," it was far too easy to imagine the camera panning down to reveal he was furiously rubbing one out.

[Stringer_Bell 2]

-Corrections and Omissions

 

Supporting June’s concern about the use of our tax dollars policing privately owned robots, on Ramsey’s first call he’s flown to the farm on a police helicopter. He appears familiar with all the various controls in the back; leading me to assume that the runaway squad has dedicated air assets along with two pilots. That would mean that the police department allocated funds not only to buy a helicopter, but also to keep two pilots staffed and on call to chauffer Ramsey to locations that permit a rotary winged aircraft to land. How frequently are run away farming robots requiring urgent police intervention that a dedicated helicopter becomes necessary for the runaway unit?

 

Second issue. When Ramsey suited up with medieval fencing armor and bulletproof vest to save the baby. He sneaks into the house through the front door. Seconds later he is followed by the cameraman who choose not to use the night vision function on his camera. Why would the rest of the police force blocking off the house allow the cameraman to waltz in the front door? He clearly made no effort to sneak in, he just casually strolled into the house only to get smoked seconds later by a 357-wielding robot. This displays a serious level of overall incompetence in the police force. The kind of incompetence that would fail to screen for crippling vertigo in police recruits and allow for the wasting of police resources by dedicating a helicopter to the runaway squad.

 

Lastly, the model 12’s were sold with a flesh light attachment. Ramsey programmed Louis to remove it when he brought guests over.

 

RIP OL Dirty, WU TANG FOREVER

[Cameron H. 23786]

Did anyone else feel like the helicopter pilot at the beginning of the movie was kind of a cock?

 

All Ramsay was asking for was an ETA for their arrival, and instead of using the instruments in front of him to give him a straight answer (the very same instruments he seems to be using to pilot the copter since there aren't any windows), Dave the pilot decides to "take a look" and forces a heaping spoonful of cold, irrational fear down Ramsay's throat.

 

Considering that he and Ramsay are on a first name basis with one another, you'd think he'd be more sensitive to Ramsay's fear of heights. And there's no way he doesn't know about it--EVERYONE knows about it!

[FisterRoboto 7499]

Considering that he and Ramsay are on a first name basis with one another, you'd think he'd be more sensitive to Ramsay's fear of heights. And there's no way he doesn't know about it--EVERYONE knows about it!

Ramsay was afraid of heights? But they BARELY mention it in the movie!

[Cameron H. 23786]

Well, this is just goddamn embarrassing...

 

[Cam Bert 8145]

Hold onto your hats guys and gals because I think we're all overlooking something huge here. In a movie full of wonderful future technology the biggest one and most fantastic one is also the one that nobody is talking about! Gene Simmon's "Dr." Luther has invented... density control or matter phasing! Just like Marvel's Vision, Luther and his robots can walk through solid objects!

 

No? Don't believe me? Two scenes clearly demonstrate this. The first is the shoot out/hostage scene in the house at the beginning. Now after the death of the camera guy Tom Selleck was fired upon twice. Now based on how the shots came through the wall the robot had to have been on the other side of the wall. If it was firing from the hallway the bullets would have gone through two walls not just the one. Next we see Tom Selleck dive behind a baby jumpy chair and go into a closed room on the opposite side of the hallway. Then after he dives behind a bed we see the the bathroom door opposite the bed open. These robots are about a foot tall or so and cannot reach the height of a door knob, and this one cannot turn a door knob because it is too busy holding a gun in its lone hand. How did this robot bot get from one side of the hall to the other and get behind two closed doors while still holding its gun? Obviously when Luther was giving it the gun and fitting it with a kill chip he also gave it the ability to phase through walls!

 

Still not convinced? Let's look at the death and betrayal of the chip maker who may or may not have had a name. After showing the chip templates to Luther they retire to a closet that has been turned into a changing room or locker room with a windowed door so pervs can easily spy in on people. It's a tight small room, and while the scientist is distracted by the sentry on rounds Luther makes his escape. However the scientist is at the only door in the room, and when he turns around Luther is nowhere to be scene. There is nowhere else to go in that room. If there was the scientist would have looked for Luther or they would have done their shady deal not right in front of a window that anyone walking along the hallway can look in and see them from. Instead the scientist eagerly sits down to open the briefcase only the be killed by a spiderbot which was hidden well in advance of Luther knowing where the chips were kept. We can only assume that Luther using his mater phasing technology went through the walls and followed the other scientist who happened to stumble across this murderous betrayal just a few seconds too late.

 

The proof is clear, "Dr." Luther has this incredible phasing technology which he seems to only use sometimes.

[Cam Bert 8145]

I kinda poked fun of it in my above comment but did anybody else notice how oddly highly educated people were criminals in this film? In the chip betrayal scene the scientist constantly refers to Gene Simmons as Dr. Luther. So he's using his real name, and he seems to know what he's looking at in that microscope. We can also assume he invented the spiderbots and his bullets and gun. Yet later in the movie when he's identified he's a convicted murdered with mob ties. So he's a engineering or robotics PhD who also happens to be a sociopath and mobster? Crazy. Also the "guineas" and "hoods"(the chief's words not mine) that Luther was meeting with at the Ritz. According the the cop who talked to Ramsey when he arrived they had degrees from Cal Tech and MIT and well as very Italian names. This brings up a much larger and more interesting story about the mob reaching out to scientist in the future to help them.

[RyanSz 3140]

Just watched this after hearing the episode, holy shit is it nuts. I agree with June that a department that basically amounts to flipping the on/off switch is completely unnecessary. I also think this movie is a prequel to The Closer/Major Crimes but that robots went out of style by the time those two shows came about with G.W. Bailey and Michael Paul Chan. Since I watched it a bit late tonight I thought I was losing my mind near the end of the movie when Selleck gets on the slowest moving elevator lift of all time and doesn't say much of anything for what felt like 10 minutes. And am I the only one who thinks the husband killed his wife and her sister in the beginning and blamed it on the robot because that machine wasn't even knee high but apparently sliced up two people enough to where they both bled out?

[McSmashington 521]

Also, when Ramsey emerges without the cameraman...not even the reporter seems to care. Her news partner is dead and it's just business as usual...

 

Yep, just doin' my job. Takin' some notes. Jesus, lady. Don't you know that cameramen ALWAYS drive the news vans? How are you getting home?

 

I don't think it was intentionally written this way, but for my mind, that reporter is the pure manifestation of evil. She is a much better villain than Gene Simmons.

[McSmashington 521]

Well, this is just goddamn embarrassing...

 

 

Now that I get a better look at Lois, I can tell that arm could easily accommodate a fleshlight attachment. We have to assume Tom Selleck fucks this robot right?

 

By the way Kirstie Alley looked great in this movie.

[MarcusIrving 286]

The picture for this episode is probably my favorite picture of all four of those people individually. June & Jason especially.