The flames erupt from mile-high towers as flying police cars zoom over a Hades landscape. It is Los Angeles 2019.
Five Replicants who have escaped from the Offworld Colonies have arrived on Earth hoping for more life. They were
designed with a four year lifespan, designed to serve humankind. Replicants are banned on Earth and any replicant that
violates that rule is retired by a Blade Runner. Retirement is another word for termination.
What am I talking about? I'm here to talk about my favorite movie. Everyone has one.
BLADE RUNNER is one of the most influential science fiction movies ever made. Released in 1982 to poor box office
and mixed reviews, BLADE RUNNER has grown to to the status of cult classic over the years. A director's cut of BLADE
RUNNER was released to 58 theaters on September 11, 1992 (my 18th birthday) that came closer to the original version that
director Ridley Scott had intended. Now Ridley Scott says in the latest issue of Cinescape that BLADE RUNNER is being
restored with several minutes added back in. What is this new director's cut going to be like? Is it a new
cut? If it is, will it improve what already is a great film and do a perfect director's cut (that the people who did
the director's cut said they would have done if they had more time eight years ago)?
BLADE RUNNER starred Harrison Ford as Deckard (who doesn't like this movie in what I consider one of his best acting
jobs), Sean Young as Rachel (whom Harrison supposedly hated), Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty (who stole the movie from Harrison
due to his great performance), Daryl Hannah as Pris, Edward James Olmos as Gaff, and the late Brion James as Leon. BLADE
RUNNER is loosely based on the sci-fi novel, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" (the movie veers off the book's plot after
chapter three), by crazy author Phillip K. Dick (who was putting his religious experiences in his novels during the last ten
years of his life, but it was probably all the drugs he did to write so many novels in the 1960s that made him go crazy).
Sadly, the author died three months before BLADE RUNNER opened. BLADE RUNNER was a movie with budget problems and time
restraints including pressure from the company that backed the movie. If it didn't have these problems, you wouldn't
have little mistakes like how many replicants escaped to Earth (and the add-ons like the narration and the happy ending that
were removed for the director's cut).
BLADE RUNNER is my favorite movie because it has so many things in it from the great scenery and imagery, and extraordinary
music score by Vangelis, layers within layers as we ask questions about the ethics of humanity, and there is always something
new to spot each time I watch it. Ridley Scott was the master who put all the great detail into this masterpiece.
Are the replicants "more human than human" (the Tyrell Corporation motto)? Is Tyrell less human than the replicants
because he created a form of slave labor? Does Deckard have any rights to kill the replicants (who want to live)?
BLADE RUNNER has influenced many movies (Cyborg 2, Brazil, Strange Days, Judge Dredd, and Johnny Mnemonic) and
cyberpunk novels since it came out. Max Headroom TV series was influenced by BLADE RUNNER. BLADE RUNNER has been
the subject of many books (including two novel sequels by K.W. Jeter) and magazines including being well talked about on the
internet. Three books I recommend if you want to know more about BLADE RUNNER are: "Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep?"
by Phillip K. Dick, "Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner" by Paul M. Sammon, and "Retrofitting Blade Runner" (a collection
of essays). You can rent it if you haven't watched the movie.
BLADE RUNNER is a movie that stands the test of time. BLADE RUNNER asks questions about life and humanity.
It is a movie that will last forever even past the closing of the elevator doors as Deckard and Rachel leave for an uncertain
future together.
BLADE RUNNER: 10+ (Enterline's 20th Century Movie Pick)
this article is (c)2000 David Blackwell and it can't be reprinted without the author's permission.
