1982
Directed by Ridley Scott
If I ever finish A Dance To The Music of Time (which might take approximately 70 more years), I would love to explore Philip K. Dick's work, who is obviously a brilliant writer. I can't say I loved this film, but it certainly has its merits.
The film takes place in 2019, so Los Angeles is now a dystopian nightmare. Wow, that's happening rather soon. Replicants, that are virtually indistinguishable from humans, are used to do work in space colonies, but some escape to Earth. It is the job of Blade Runners to hunt down and kill these replicants. Harrison Ford stars as Deckard, a retired Blade Runner who agrees to take on one more assignment.
That sounded rather complicated and there were quite a few points in the film that I was really confused. I will own to my attention faltering sometimes; the middle portion of the movie dragged a bit. It was also hard to enjoy the Deckard/Rachael relationship as he seemed to really force himself on her. I do love the idea of combining noir with science fiction, but the result wasn't quite as great as I expected. I'll blame the voice overs like everyone else does.
RATING: ***--
Interesting Facts:
Philip Dick was only able to see the first twenty minutes of this film before his death. He was quite impressed with what he saw.
Harrison Ford calls this the most grueling film he has ever made.
I think I have watched this movie like a hundred times. That of course means that I am a big fan and can quote most of the movie. I realise though that that is not a universally held view. It is confusing on the first watch and a lot of what is going on is not explained.
ReplyDeleteOh I love it when you learn an entire script. I can do that with Grease which is rather less impressive than Blade Runner.
DeleteI heavily disappointed Andrew by not siding with him in giving this a big down. OK, Sci-Fi can be very hit and miss for me, but this is a hit. Partly because it's more a Noir.. it just happens to be set in the future.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a stance as to which version? I gather 'real fans' are supposed to loath the original theater release, with the voice over. Well, to someone who saw it as a Noir, I took that as standard and don't mind it at all. I guess (SPOILER ALERT) the origami unicorn suggests ...well, if you have seen it, you know what I mean. if you haven't, that would be a huge spoil.
I figured you might it enjoy it because I know you like noir. I think I only saw the theater release!
Delete