Review - Blade Runner (1982)

Earlier this week, one of the CineTV admins posted an article about how they miss Science Fiction from the ‘80s and ‘90s. I have to agree with the general thought there was a lot of great SF produced during these two decades, a lot of which are quite memorable, and some of which have continued to live on within the “culture”. Sure, a game of Global Thermonuclear War sounds like a lot of fun, but maybe stick to a nice game of chess. I had mentioned in the comments of the post a couple of other stellar films in this category, and thought, heck, it’s been a long time since I last watched Blade Runner, why not pull it off the shelf and give it a run. Problem – I don’t have a copy. Fortunately, the local library does have a copy of the collectors DVD edition, or what ever it is called, with all the releases of the film spread out on 4 DVDs. You can find the original article at - https://peakd.com/hive-121744/@cinetv/i-miss-the-sci-fi-of-the-80-s-and-90-s

Blade Runner (1982) poster - IMDB

Blade Runner (1982) is based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (1968) by Philip K. Dick. Although I have not read this novel, I have read a few other novels by Dick, and he is a fascinating writer. The CineTV article mentioned another film, Total Recall, which is also based on a story by Dick, and there have been numerous other adaptations over the past few decades of his work.

Cityscape from Blade Runner - IMDB

Back to Blade Runner. The film is directed by Ridley Scott, who is known for rather dark and foreboding atmosphere in hi films, and this one is no exception, paining a rather dismal Los Angeles in the year 2019. Artificial animals are being manufactured for use on Earth, while artificial humans are produced for strictly off-world use as slave labor and combat machines, the latter being strictly banned from Earth, and the detection of these artificial people, referred to as Replicants, are subject to being terminated, or, “retired” as the people involved call it.

Harrison ford as Deckard - IMDB

Harrison Ford, who is now a top action hero thanks to two Star Wars movies and Raiders of the Lost Ark, plays one of these cops charged with eliminating Replicants, while Rutger Hauer portrayed Roy Batty, a Nexus 6 combat model Replicant. Roy is leading a small group of Replicants who are looking for answers, specifically how long do they live, and how to extend their lives. Just like regular people, they don’t want to die. For Hauer, this is one of a couple of films he is best known for, at least to me, along with Ladyhawke which was released a couple of years after this film.

Rutger Hauer as Roy - IMDB

I recalled that Hauer had passed away a couple of years back, and checking on that, found that there is an interesting coincidence that he died in 2019, the same year that Blade Runner takes place, and his character, Roy, died.

We also see Sean Young as Rachael, in a very early career performance, this being her third film, and Daryl Hannah as Pris, also in her third film. Both characters are Replicants, although Rachael did not know it when we first see her. They are amongst the cast of very familiar faces in this film.

The film itself, as expected being a Ridley Scott film, is masterful, with a lot of subtle details presented early in the film that play an important part later on. The set design and background art setting up the world view is exquisite, the technology of the world futuristic, and sadly, we’re still waiting for flying cars and other cool tech that is seen in the film. The version my Bonnie Bride and I watched, The Final Cut from 2007, is different from the original U.S. theatrical release from 1982, especially being a bit more graphically violent than what I remembered, to the point where I found the violence a bit too disturbing for my taste.

Although Blade Runner is an excellent film, it isn’t the fun cinematic romp that Raiders of the Lost Ark is. There is virtually no humor in it unlike some of its contemporaries in genre films. But that is fairly typical of a Ridley Scott film. As good as his films are, they are not films I can pop into the DVD player and watch three or four times per year, more like once every 5 to 6 years or so. However, if you have never seen Blade Runner, ignore the fact that it is set in the now past year of 2019, kick back, and enjoy it. And, if like me, it’s been more than a few years, give it another run.

That’s about it for this time around. Thanks for stopping by.

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