Our ongoing series reviewing the greatest Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror movies. Note that these reviews may contain spoilers.
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Produced by: Michael Deeley
Written by: Philip K. Dick (Novel); Hampton Fancher and David Peoples (Screenplay)
Starring: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Daryl Hannah, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos
Original Release: 1982
Reviewed By: John J. Joex
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)
Synopsis: In the year 2019, the Tyrell Corporation manufactures androids known as “replicants” who resemble humans in all ways except their artificially shortened lifespan. These replicants have been banned from Earth because of a previous uprising and are now used only for labor in the off-world colonies. Those who attempt to return to Earth are hunted down and “retired” by police officers known as “blade runners”. A group of genetically superior replicants, Nexus-6, returns to Earth, causing problems for the usual blade runners so the previously retired Rick Deckard is called back into service to bring them in. As he hunts them down, though, and also starts to have feelings for another of Tyrell’s replicants, he begins to question his own actions and perhaps even his humanity.
Comments/Review: This film changed the game for Science Fiction movies. Like Star Wars and Alien before it which raised the expectations for the genre, Blade Runner upped the ante yet again through its innovate use of the technology available at the time to create a very real, very bleak dystopian world. It offered a stylized, film noir take on the Science Fiction tale which caused a course change in the visual realization of the genre for years to come. This was particularly apparent with Anime which picked up on its cyberpunk elements and recreated its visual style in many productions for that genre from the 80’s and 90’s.
But what makes Blade Runner such an important movie is the fact that it triumphed in substance as well as style. The story did not get lost in the special effects like so many big budget movies (I’m looking at you Avatar), instead, the visuals complemented the tale and help propel it along. Too often today, the script for a movie acts as little more than an excuse to string together multiple special effects sequences. With Blade Runner, the story of Rick Deckard and his moral struggles with his assignment to terminate four very human-like, though deadly, beings holds its own on the screen and actually begs for multiple viewings to fully appreciate the multiple layers of the story that unfolds onscreen.
The world of Blade Runner feels real, as do the people. Not the dashing heroes of previous Hollywood blockbusters, these people are the downtrodden, struggling to survive in a world that appears to be crumbling at the seams. And moral ambiguities abound as we no longer have the clear-cut good and evil characters to which we have grown accustomed. The leader of the replicants, Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), may be a brilliant, deadly killer, but he is also fighting for the survival of himself and his people. Perhaps he is a killer, perhaps he is just a revolutionary. The movie explores these questions through Deckard’s internal struggles as he finds it more difficult to kill off this new type of artificial human. And all of that plays out against the palette of the dystopian, Metropolis-like world that Ridley Scott brings to life and draws the viewer into.
The movie did not do well at the Box Office during its initial release as it polarized critics and viewers. But it has since achieved an esteemed status amongst Science Fiction movies and its influence changed the direction of the genre for years after its debut. It has also gone through several incarnations as studio executives tinkered with it upon its initial release adding the voice-over parts by Deckard’s character and tacking on a more upbeat ending. Both of these moves have been much maligned and were removed from later director’s releases, but I personally like the voice-overs as it added to the noir feel that the movie emulated. With or without that, though, the movie is still a classic and one that stands up to, even improves with, multiple viewings.
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