Better late than never? Well, five years late since I’m guessing Blade Runner‘s owners have a stake in 2049 being a hit by reminding us how incredible the first chapter is. It was disappointing to end The Summer of 1982 festival with TRON.
Firstly, I need to lead with a confession. Until this screening, I have never seen Blade Runner all the way through. I know, I know. How did this happen? Well, when it debuted in 1982, I wasn’t allowed to see R-rated movies, being only 14. My parents ditched cable by the time it hit HBO. I never got around to seeing it in college. More years passed and I went to see a midnight showing at the now gone Dobie Theater around 1998…I fell asleep. Now I’m grateful I did put it off. Until 1992, the movie had that awful voiceover narration and uncharacteristic happy ending. Then the “Director’s Cut” wasn’t truly Ridley Scott’s take on how he would tell the story given a second chance. The above version came out, I think 10 years ago but I would like to leave the final answer to my cousin Dana who calls Blade Runner her favorite Sci-Fi film.
As the title states, I attended a newly 4K-restored print. Ridley Scott even had a brief introduction before the movie started, saying this is his definitive telling of the story and he supervised the restoration. It was gorgeous on the big screen.
Blade Runner has become a landmark film in may ways:
- It solidified Harrison Ford’s status as a bankable star and Ridley Scott as a director, namely in Sci-Fi or Action.
- Introduced us to Rutger Hauer and gave Daryl Hanna her best gig until Splashed. I think it was also Sean Young’s big debut. William Sanderson and James Edward Olmos received big boosts as they returned to TV: Newhart and Miami Vice respectively.
- Dystopian future flicks never looked this good before. They usually went with ruins or dilapidated buildings. Logan’s Run would be an exception but its domed city looks cheesy. The point is, the settings on past movies were cheap. Blade Runner‘s 2019 Los Angeles is fascinating, lived-in, depressing and likely. The setting is the movie’s biggest uncredited character.
- The story is really a futuristic film noir involving philosophical questions and mysteries regarding human existence, the nature of memory and are manufactured beings property or people. We’re still grappling with these matters given how much we’ve progressed with genetics.
- For a Sci-Fi movie, Blade Runner doesn’t have a “big” ending like its cousins Star Wars or Alien yet Roy’s quiet death is brilliant and memorable.
I was creeped out by Deckerd’s actions toward Rachel in his apartment. He practically rapes her but I’m guessing the character doesn’t see it that way because she’s just a Replicant. Despite this cultural shift in attitudes, Blade Runner easily earned its spot as one the greatest films made both Sci-Fi and “regular.”
Ratings:
1982 (13-year-old me): A. Hands down I would’ve loved this at 14 despite the romance and slow pace. Blade Runner had flying cars, super-strong Replicants, computers, bare boobs and fights. All the Asian influences around Los Angeles fit the mood then as Americans felt the Japanese were taking over the world economically, ergo they would have succeeded culturally in the near future. The constant rain seemed implausible then as it does today.
2012 and 2017: A+. Blade Runner is almost a perfect movie which is quite a feat with the Sci-Fi genre. The performances hold up after 30-35 years. The effects are still believable. The score by Vangelis sets the mood without sounding dated. This dark future thankfully didn’t happen but it remains a possibility given advances in genetic engineering and corporate power. Most importantly to me, the story provokes thought and questions and not just the easy one…is Deckerd a Replicant too?
Since Blade Runner was slated to be part of the key nine films in the 1982 celebration, I want to close with the three life lessons initiated by Conan the Barbarian:
- Question your reality, memory is flawed
- Manufactured life might be more human than Human
- All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain