Blade Runner

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 Is it morally right to make lifelike androids with human needs and feelings just to keep them your slave? Who's to say that androids don't feel the need to be free? Blade Runner asks many of those questions and more. Based of the Philip K Dick novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" Blade Runner is set in a not so distant Los Angeles, where nuclear war and pollution have ravaged the Earth leaving behind only a few livable pieces of land. To combat this problem humans decided to expand into space or "The Outerworld Colonies." To do this they needed some help and created genetically engineered robots or replicates for slave labor. But these replicants have been causing revolts and have since then been banned on Earth. When four Nexus 6 replicants commandeer a space shuttle to Earth, and Deckard (Harrison Ford) is sent to "retire" them.

 The first thing you notice when you watch Blade Runner, is the massive, immersing world the story is set in. This futuristic cyberpunk version of Los Angeles is visually stunning and is complete with everything you'd expect to find. Giant clouds of pollution? Yes. Crowded Streets? Yes. Japanese ladies swallowing pills on billboards? Surprisingly, yes. Everything from robots to flying cars can be found, and when this movie was made in 1982 that was no easy feat. One of the cool things about Blade Runner is the tint of Noir that gets thrown in. The dragging monologue by Harrison Ford combined with the abstract music and raining city streets combine together to form almost a noir story in the future. Whether is was the studio's nervousness about the audience not getting the story, or if it was intended to be like that, the monologue by Deckard helped set the mood of the film tremendously. Too bad Ridley Scott cut out the monologue in The Final Cut.

Blowing Minds since 1982

This noir theme stays with us throughout the whole movie. If you watched noir movies before you know that it almost usually involves a detective trying to figure out a case, his love interest, sparse music, close ups, and the use of shadows and smoke. In Blade Runner, the use of shadows and dark light can be seen everywhere from the interrogation room to the city streets. There are more close up shots than a makeup model photoshoot. The use of close ups and wide angled shots provide good contrast. The score by Vangelis is haunting and beautiful, never upfront in the action but always supporting the scene. The direction of Ridley Scott and cinematography of Jordan Cronenweth have succeeded in not only reaching the standard of what could be done in a movie; but by surpassing it, creating a totally new style.

(Looks like a Noir tribute to me.)

 The characters of Blade Runner are an interesting group of people and replicants. You have Roy Batty ( Rutger Hauer) the replicant leader of the Nexus 6 group who is determined to live longer than 4 years. Pris (Darryl Hannah) the femme fatale replicant of the group. J.F Sebastian (William Sanderson) the genetic engineer who takes them in. And Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) the detective that takes them out. There is not a single bad performance in the cast, and that is saying something. Hauer plays his role with a devoted fire, and a devotion that you can really feel. Hannah is a classic femme fatale using Sebastian for her own gain. Sanderson plays the role of Sebastian with such solidarity, that it's just creepy. And what is there to say about Harrison Ford. Besides being one of the most famous and successful actors of all time, his performance in Blade Runner is great and his complex of his job and personal life is something we all can feel. Harrison Ford has this ability as of all great actors do to take a thing fictional or not, and make us relate to it, to invoke emotion out of us. This is something in Blade Runner that drives the film over the top. The world may be stunning, but it's the characters and the problems they face inside this world that are the true draw.

(Roy Batty)

 Overall, Blade Runner is a phenomenal movie, everything flows together to create one solid work of art. The pacing is great, and the action is never over the top. Every scene flows and transitions beautifully into one another with cuts and fades to satisfy even the most hardcore editor. I would like to say that Blade Runner can be defined as a noir film set in the future, but it is so much more than that. It raises questions that are still relevant today and will be in the near future. While it masquerades as a detective story it is really a forewarning of what could happen to us soon if we aren't careful. Blade Runner joins an elite group of films, that are not only entertaining but makes you think; and has become a classic in film circles everywhere since its release.

(I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I've watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain.)