Review of Blade Runner (1982) by Robert L — 28 Apr 2013

Great Scott!

It's time to admit it, until recently I had never seen Blade Runner! It's one of the cult movies that has alluded me for so long; it's a film that has been built up so much in my mind that I was scared the real thing could never do it justice, so I suppose the reel question is will Blade Runner force me to slit or cut to the bone?

You know the story, we all know the outline of Blade Runner, even if we think we don't, we do. Because every sci-fi film since Blade Runner takes at least some of it's cues from the iconic movie, and that's what Blade Runner is, iconic. But why?

It could be that it was the perfect storm, two heroes of Sci-Fi, in Ridley Scott hot off the heels of Alien wanting to take his work in a new direction and Harrison Ford the ultra cool and super slick man behind Han Solo, together for the first time, for the last time, and boy did they make it count.

The films brilliance has (like a lot of movies) a lot to do with the source material. Philip K. Dick was an incredible author and had exceptional ideas, he had at least one stroke of genius in each of his novels and Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? Is no different, it is a book that asks "what is it to be human?" and the same question is asked via the film.

I think that's another one of the films strengths, that it's a movie still debated, I could tell you the ending right now and it wouldn't take away from the movie at all, because the meaning and true meaning of the ending is left open to interpretation, giving us all food for thought long after the credits have finished. This is a movie that was designed to be debated.

That's clear from this cut of Blade Runner (Directors Cut), Scott wanted people to have to think about the ending, to consider what they have just seen and it's that conceit that has demanded multiple viewings by almost anyone who has seen it.

Actually, that's a lie. The film demands multiple viewings because it's a masterpiece of cinema with every single element of the movie working together perfectly to compliment all others, from the original book, to the scripts, to the special effects, to the acting, to the score to the cinematography, everything in Blade Runner works to create a mood that can't be changed and a film that can't be beaten.

I get the feeling that no matter how many times in my life I've watched Blade Runner, every time I see it from now on it will be new, and will draw me in all over again. That is the test of a truly incredible movie, one that can be new forever.

Something which I feel shouldn't go un-praised in this review; is firstly how cutting edge the special effects much have looked back when the film first came out, but also the acting of the supporting cast, each of the actors put on a performance that could (and rightly does) define them, the speeches made by the characters are delivered with purity and dedication that you just don't see any more.

Blade Runner is a film, that every movie after it owes a debt too, how can I praise it any more then saying it's one of the greatest movies I have ever seen?