Review of Blade Runner (1982) by Josh T — 08 Dec 2012

Blade Runner is possibly my number one favorite on the laundry list of good sci-fi flicks to come out of the 80's. The happy colorful ending of the theatrical version seems incongruent to the rest of the film, but the voice-overs seemed like a good idea.

Until of course I not only heard them (yes, I saw the director's cut first, sue me), but when I learned about how reluctant most everybody who worked on the film was to go through with them. It's as if at the time there was just no way the audience could be trusted to comprehend the movie otherwise, regardless of the creators' collective vision.

Maybe if Scott had been allowed to release his movie the way he ultimately wanted to, it would have done better at the box office in '82. Anyway, the cast, the writing, the special effects, the setting, the score, all were perfect for a detective story.

Every time I watch it I'm blown away all over again by the originality of it's melding of the compelling feel of film noir with the fantasy of futuristic science fiction. Dick Tracy and Batman were heroes for me as a kid, as were Captain Picard and Han Solo, so Blade Runner couldn't possibly have disappointed anyway.

Magnificent performances abound. Rutger Hauer absolutely nailed his crazed, poetic replicant's role. I'll never forget the line, "All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain.

.." Sean Young's portrayal of the innocent replicant is intriguing. Man, those eyes. Edward James Olmos' character and his amazing origami, and creepy countenance. The guy who played Tyrell, Joe Turkel.

His character got under my skin; his weird philosophy, his nearly robotic attitudes and diction, as if he aspired to be a replicant himself. And of course Ford's Deckard. Gritty, washed out blade runner, on that one last job.

I've always wondered if Deckard is a replicant too. I love how that was left open to the imagination. My imagination, in any case.