Review
Blade Runner (Sci-Fi, Thriller) (1982)
Director: Ridley Scott
Writer: Hampton Fancher, David Webb Peoples, Philip K. Dick (Based on novel by)
Stars: Harrison Ford, Sean Young, Rutger Hauer, Joe Turkel
Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is a Blade Runner; his task is to track down four replicants that had left earth years prior. They have now returned in search of their creator since replicants are no longer allowed; they have to be terminated.
Blade Runner is an absolute cult classic, one of Ridley Scott's most popular films in the sci-fi genre. Watching it years later to review both the classic and reboot (both of which I've never actually seen). It is to be seen if the classic holds up and how good it is from a fundamental film standpoint.
With almost two hours of total running time, Blade Runner is quite average in length, while it could be called an action movie to today's standards it is a slog. It takes around an hour until Deckard finds the first replicant and ends up in a chase scene, before that it takes it's time to introduce the characters and perhaps more importantly, the stunning environment. It is certainly a darker sci-fi look in the cyberpunk sub-genre loosely based on Philip K. Dick's work "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" the writers and director Ridley Scott had actually never read the books nevertheless the short segment the novelist was shown impressed him immensely, capturing what he tried to describe in his novel.
To imagine the world shown in the film to be realised in the way it was is impressive even more so for the time, the boxy skyscrapers, land speeder-esque flying cars and projected billboards with models drinking Coca-Cola spectacularly sell the environment. The near-human replicants are an exciting twist in a familiar genre; they're manufactured to look and seem like humans having been imprinted with thoughts and experiences to appear as normal as they can in a regular world. There's questions of morality to be asked, questions such as if a robot feels or thinks, and if their emotions and memories are valid and worth anything.
While the portrayal of Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) was purposefully cold-blooded and serious so were the other roles. It stands out, every single character seems monotone, there is some emotion, but everyone's outlook seems bleak using their actions as a means of expression. This doesn't much help the already sluggish script.
If anything Blade Runner is worth it just for the old-school yet interesting and unique environments bolstered by special effects that effectively attain that feeling of our world yet more futuristic. Then after near two hours set up, the final showdown between Deckard and Batty which is blood-curdling.
Verdict
Would a replicant be able to watch and review a film and be convincing enough to persuade fans to watch any movie? That's for you to ask yourself.
7,8
