ThiefHott Too much of everything

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

sandcrab277 Judge reinhold never did a serious role in his life...he acts like a child most of the time and a teenager the rest....this isn't a very comical plot but the zany antics by reinhold and wahl try hard to turn it into a comedy without success...the bad guys can't shoot, drive or make a roadblock...some serious destruction of some 1957 chevrolets makes it more like mayhem...

colleencouch10 This was a good action packed movie without a lot of foul language. I watched this on HBO and can no longer find it anywhere to watch again. I fell in love with Judge Reinhold after watching this movie. Would love to own a copy of it. I am not sure why this movie was over looked and why I cannot find it when I search for it by title. I get annoyed when the only search comes up with the movie by Gregory Hines. Don,t get me wrong, that was a good movie but I would really like to find a copy of this one to own. I am wondering if this movie was so overlooked because it was released on HBO without any advertising as a couple of other movies have done. Like this movie Judge Reinhold has also been overlooked as a good actor. He is famous for his part in Fast Times at Ridgemont High but Running Scared really showed his talent as an actor.

kevin olzak 1980's "Running Scared" hasn't been seen on the TV airwaves since its heyday in the 80s, and its ongoing obscurity is rather mystifying to me (I caught its HBO debut in 1982). After all, it boasts a terrific cast for a low budget actioner of the time, with rising stars Ken Wahl and Judge Reinhold supported by veterans such as Bradford Dillman, John Saxon, and Pat Hingle, all of whom contribute good performances. Still, it's the relatively unknown Annie McEnroe who steals the film as the tough rich girl who helps the unwitting fugitives fight back against the odds (she prevents things from becoming too grim). I first saw the pretty brunette topless in 1981's "The Hand," liked what I saw (who wouldn't?), then caught her in this, her feature debut after a pair of TV movies. She is so solid and dependable that I would have thought her career would skyrocket, but such was not the case (perhaps "Howling 2" really did turn out to be worse than I first believed). Other reviewers are throwing brickbats at this feature, and it's rather unfair, as it was never intended as anything more than the PG rated quickie it clearly is, delivering on everything promised (including the happy ending). Were it rated R, and failed to deliver on violence or nudity, that would be different. Catch it and find out what others seem to be missing. As for Annie McEnroe, thanks for the memories.

rsoonsa Sundry video titles for this sloppily made movie include DESPERATE MEN, BACK IN THE U.S.A., and PANIC ESCAPE, but by any name it is fundamentally a mess, with weak performances on display throughout, and with production values being wantonly neglected as are normal measures of logic and continuity. Set in 1961, the scenario involves two young GIs: Chas (Ken Wahl) and Leroy (Judge Reinhold), freshly mustered out from tours of duty in Panama, who while hopping an Army cargo plane to Florida, native state of Leroy, take advantage of an opportunity for the latter to test his new infra red capability camera by snapping a picture of what turns out to be a clandestine U.S. military base, and when it is revealed that such a photograph is made, a less than cordial reaction is naturally forthcoming from Army intelligence officers. These latter, preparing for the Bay Of Pigs invasion of Cuba, pursue the former servicemen, and although it is not explained how their identity is learned, this is apparently of little concern to those responsible for this foolishness, and it will come as no surprise that the chase after the two young men is enacted by only Cuban soldiers who cavort about the Everglades terrorizing U. S. citizens while utilizing weapons and vehicles not manufactured until well past 1961. In the course of their flight, the youths are reluctantly joined by Sally Mae (Annie McEnroe), and the trio is tasked with surviving numerous rounds of machine gun ammunition fired at them, bombs dropped from a plane upon them, and so forth, all this while doing a good deal of shouting and screaming, with Leroy determined to lug his Army issue foot locker with him no matter the hazard or whenever the writers are disposed to remember this particular plot motif. Poorly written, directed, and edited, the film wants focus from its outset, and only one filled with admiration for a featured player is likely to weather these moronic goings-on, as the dialogue is woefully trite, with Reinhold particularly unbridled.