Review of Blade Runner (1982) by Lachlan D — 05 Nov 2017

This is a review of the final cut.

Spoilers:

Blade Runner is a very odd film to talk about. This film is often hailed as a classic piece of cinema. If you look on a list of the best movies of all time it's likely to appear on there. However a lot of people either think of Blade Runner as average or even bad. It's weird, opinions on this film are really split. Blade Runner is in my opinion a great movie, it's not perfect but I do really like it and think the gold out-ways the bad. I think the biggest positive is the look of the film. This movie is over 35 years old and yet it's still a visual masterpiece. The cinematography is excellent as every shot looks beautiful. Some of the effects may be dated but a lot of them still really hold up, especially the designs of sets and characters. The film also sounds amazing. A lot of the scenes are enhanced by the beautiful synth score which perfectly fits the atmosphere the film builds. The sound design and mixing is all amazing, some may not pick up on it but all the vehicles and machines sound distinct and unique. Ridley Scott really did a fantastic job directing the film, it's a technical marvel and one of the best looking sci fi movies of all time. The film is a noire sci fi and I think it creates a good atmosphere and sense of mystery throughout. The world of the film feels like a classic noire with plenty of sci fi elements, but it isn't a squeaky clean futuristic world it's gritty and harsh, filled with consumerism and dodgy machines. While Blade Runner does have brilliant direction a lot of people complain about the performances. Harrison Ford is often criticised for his performance but personally I think he's really good. It's a different role for Ford as he isn't playing a charismatic character like Han Solo or Indiana Jones, he's a broken and sad character that has a very negative approach to the world. Ford does a really good job and while at times he sounds bored he's still really good. Sean Young stars as Rachel and she's good also. I can't admit I've seen her in much else but here's she's good and does a good job at selling her emotional scenes. Rutger Haur plays the villain Roy Batty and he gives easily the best performance. He's really creepy and menacing performance throughout, he's a great villain but at the end he gives a surprisingly emotional performance and you can't help but feel sorry for him. The problem with Blade Runner is that while it's really good the first 30 minutes are rather slow paced. They are interesting but very slow paced which can put people off. Also there's a very controversial scene of Deckard forcing himself on Rachel that is very uncomfortable and a scene I wish had been taken out of the film. Without a doubt the most talked about element of the film is the question of whether Deckard is a replicant or not. For being such an infamous question of cinema it's weird that the film doesn't really address it. The final cut of the film gives the somewhat conclusive answer that he is, due to Gaff leaving Deckard an origami unicorn as he knows that Deckard dreams of the unicorn. Also there's a scene in which Deckard is talking to Rachel and while he may be out of focus you can still see his eyes flash yellow, which is something the eyes of the other replicants do. I'm interested to see whether Blade Runner 2049 answers this question. Blade Runner is a really good film, it's very flawed but it's really great. A-.