BLADE RUNNER
dir: Ridley Scott
"Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave. " - Batty
Brief Synopsis
In 2019 a police squad known as Blade Runner's hunt down humanoid clones who have become a threat. Deckard, a newly retired Blade Runner is called back in to duty to track down four on-the-run Replicants.
Why It's Here
Ridley Scott's adaptation of Philip K. Dick's classic sci-fi novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" is a masterpiece in science fiction. One of the earliest examples of great cyber-punk, the film paved the way for future sci-fi classics, most notably, "The Matrix". The film was years ahead of it's time and it is no wonder that in 1982 both audiences and critics didn't know what to make of the movie, leaving it to be a critical and financial failure. "Blade Runner" changed the norm's of science fiction before anyone even realized it. "Star Wars" set the bar for commercial sci-fi, audiences were expecting intergalactic action and unusual alien races, but "Blade Runner" went in a different direction. It moved towards a more atmospheric, dark, and gritty drama. It's not a film for everyone, it's slow pace may be a turn-off, but those who can truly invest their time in this film will come out satisfied. The first time I saw this movie, I thought it was terribly overrated, thinking more about it, I re-watched it a year later and changed my opinion completely. I understood it better, and now consider it to be one of the most important science fiction films ever made.
While slow-paced, the film is outstanding in the vivid world created in the future. Every day that passes, "Blade Runner" becomes more relevant and important. The film implements concepts of over-population, animal cruelty, dangerous technology, pollution, and an overload in commercialism. These details fill in the voids that usually plague science fiction films. They populate the background and scenes without shoving themselves into the plot. There is a highly unstable world at play here, yet our only true indicator of how truly shook up the human race is is our anti-hero Deckard. He takes jobs for the paycheck and the hope of true retirement. He is a character in no higher moral ground then the bums that surround him, he's just trying to make a living. Trying to find his place in the world, same as the Replicants, only on the opposite side of the spectrum. This is an element of the concept of good vs. evil that is spun on it's head in this film. Deckard hunts these Replicants to protect the everyday human, and yet we never see the Replicants cause harm unless they feel it necessary to survive (you may argue the toy-maker though). Yet, Deckard fires his weapon through a crowded street to take down a fleeing Replicant, all for the good of mankind of course. The Replicants are a threat, yet in their position, they simply want to live, like any of us. We briefly have a glimpse as to what life as one of them is like. They run, hide, and live in fear for reasons beyond their control. They have feelings, the ultimate flaw that science fiction gives human created cyborgs, feelings. The Replicant's travel their dangerous mission for the sole purpose of finding a way for one of their own to live longer, a full life. Had this movie been from their perspective, we would have had a very different, sympathetic story. Morally the story treads ground that we've crossed before, and yet it feels powerful and new. Even Deckard, a character depicted with only the slightest hint of human emotion, essentially more numbed and mechanical than the Replicants himself, find his role and missions to be misguided when he falls in love with one of them. Someone (or thing) that was only a target of fear, he discovers is as human as he is, and suddenly his perspective is shifted and he understands the fear-mongering system that he is a slave of. The film perhaps speaks out about the capitalist system spiraling out of control where individual corporations have become the face of society (literally in the case of Coca-Cola) and when Replicants become more problem than profit, they are nothing more than a product being discontinued in drastic measures.
Thematically, the film is a benchmark, yet it would not work if it weren't for the terrific atmosphere the film creates by the subtle musical score that constructs the mood and tone of each scene. Never more than a few dings or hums, the music is cryptic and eerie, evoking the sense of paranoia that is spread in this world where no one knows who is a human and who is a Replicant. A state unsure of it's identity and people who look at each other suspiciously and with hostility. We are now again in a recycled phase of this age, same as in 1968 when Philip K. Dick originally wrote the novel during the counter-culture era, we can once again relate and understand this reflective and cynical future that may lie ahead for us.
While slow-paced, the film is outstanding in the vivid world created in the future. Every day that passes, "Blade Runner" becomes more relevant and important. The film implements concepts of over-population, animal cruelty, dangerous technology, pollution, and an overload in commercialism. These details fill in the voids that usually plague science fiction films. They populate the background and scenes without shoving themselves into the plot. There is a highly unstable world at play here, yet our only true indicator of how truly shook up the human race is is our anti-hero Deckard. He takes jobs for the paycheck and the hope of true retirement. He is a character in no higher moral ground then the bums that surround him, he's just trying to make a living. Trying to find his place in the world, same as the Replicants, only on the opposite side of the spectrum. This is an element of the concept of good vs. evil that is spun on it's head in this film. Deckard hunts these Replicants to protect the everyday human, and yet we never see the Replicants cause harm unless they feel it necessary to survive (you may argue the toy-maker though). Yet, Deckard fires his weapon through a crowded street to take down a fleeing Replicant, all for the good of mankind of course. The Replicants are a threat, yet in their position, they simply want to live, like any of us. We briefly have a glimpse as to what life as one of them is like. They run, hide, and live in fear for reasons beyond their control. They have feelings, the ultimate flaw that science fiction gives human created cyborgs, feelings. The Replicant's travel their dangerous mission for the sole purpose of finding a way for one of their own to live longer, a full life. Had this movie been from their perspective, we would have had a very different, sympathetic story. Morally the story treads ground that we've crossed before, and yet it feels powerful and new. Even Deckard, a character depicted with only the slightest hint of human emotion, essentially more numbed and mechanical than the Replicants himself, find his role and missions to be misguided when he falls in love with one of them. Someone (or thing) that was only a target of fear, he discovers is as human as he is, and suddenly his perspective is shifted and he understands the fear-mongering system that he is a slave of. The film perhaps speaks out about the capitalist system spiraling out of control where individual corporations have become the face of society (literally in the case of Coca-Cola) and when Replicants become more problem than profit, they are nothing more than a product being discontinued in drastic measures.
Thematically, the film is a benchmark, yet it would not work if it weren't for the terrific atmosphere the film creates by the subtle musical score that constructs the mood and tone of each scene. Never more than a few dings or hums, the music is cryptic and eerie, evoking the sense of paranoia that is spread in this world where no one knows who is a human and who is a Replicant. A state unsure of it's identity and people who look at each other suspiciously and with hostility. We are now again in a recycled phase of this age, same as in 1968 when Philip K. Dick originally wrote the novel during the counter-culture era, we can once again relate and understand this reflective and cynical future that may lie ahead for us.