Country: United States
Genre: Science Fiction/Action
Director: Ridley Scott
Year: 1982
Rating: 
TRASH CINEMA ESSENTIAL MOVIE
Watching director Ridley Scott’s final version of Blade Runner, I marveled at two aspects of the film. The first thing that strikes you is that the world he has created seems to stretch on into infinity — that’s how detailed it is. You get a sense of different social strata which aren’t even touched on in the screenplay, a process of immigration and assimilation, the total breakdown of urban planning, all sorts of stuff. This feels like a real world that’s being lived in.
There’s a good reason for that. Scott employed a futurist to consult on the look of the film, who actually worked in the real world, mocking up and creating industrial designs for the future. By happy accident, there was an actor’s strike while Blade Runner was being prepped, so the Art Department had an unheard of 9 months to brainstorm and bring all the architecture, vehicles, fashion, and so forth to life.
The second thing you notice is that the script is like a haiku in it’s directness and economy. If you took out one line, you would irrevocably harm the film — that’s how lean the writing is. At the same time, everything that needs to be said is said.
The plot is simple enough. Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) has been assigned to hunt down six replicants (androids) who hijacked a spaceship and murdered it’s crew. The replicants, headed by Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), have come to Los Angeles to track down their maker, Dr. Eldon Tyrell (Joe Turkel), the head of the Tyrell Corporation. Since getting past the security of the Tyrell Corporation directly is impossible, Roy, Pris (Daryl Hannah), Zhora (Joanna Cassidy), and Leon (Brion James) must find other ways.
As the story continues, we find that the replicants often behave in a more human fashion than the actual humans, which leads to the question, “What does it mean to be a human being?”
Blade Runner ends with a plea for the sanctity of life that is one of the most delicate and beautiful moments ever captured in the movies.
Reading back on this review, I realize that I’m making Blade Runner sound like an art movie, and you know what? It is. But it’s also quite provocative in it’s prediction of a dystopian future. There is also nothing coy about it’s depiction of violence. It’s raw and ugly, and we’re made to feel the awful finality of death in full measure.
If you’ve already seen Blade Runner, you might want to see this Final Cut anyway. As with the original Director’s Cut, there is no voiceover narration. Director Scott has restored some subtleties that were taken out by the producers. The fatuous happy ending that was tacked on after disastrous preview screenings is gone. This is the grandly pessimistic vision with a grain of hope that director Ridley Scott intended it to be.
There is nothing light or easy about Blade Runner. But if you give it a chance, it will transport you to another world, touch your heart, and engage your intellect.
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