Blade Runner - then and now
“Man has made his match . . . now it's his problem!”
When we think in terms of the future, we likely think of sleek cars surging through the clouds, skyscrapers that touch the stratosphere, and life-like robots that serve us our meals in high-tech restaurants.
However, the best science-fiction films aren't necessarily the ones with futuristic gadgets or alien-like creatures that ooze terror, they're sometimes the ones based on unique and creative ideas – not complete erroneous or fabricated ones, but ideas that produce a world that we could envision ourselves facing in the near future, which allows us to have a greater sense of involvement in the film.
In 1982, Warner Bros.' Blade Runner accomplished that very thing.
Harrison Ford's character, Rick Deckard, is tasked with the responsibility to “retire” four bioengineered beings known as Replicants; cyborgs which are virtually indistinguishable to humans, but are believed to possess a more sinister motive for their existence. As a former police detective, Deckard's task doesn't seem so difficult, that is until he falls in love with one of the female Replicants.
The movie's setting depicts a futuristic, yet dystopian Los Angeles, California in the year 2019. Blade Runner gives a refreshing experience to the genre of science-fiction in the fact that it takes a different story path than your typical sci-fi action movie. It has a deeper, more philosophical storyline, which forces the viewer to contemplate the story's plot and climax, rather than mindlessly stare with glazed eyes at a TV screen like other sci-fi films (I'm pointing at you Speed-Racer).
The movie is based on Philip K. Dick's novel: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (you have to assume he was high when he thought of that name). Blade Runner maintains the qualities of Dick's book, while also developing its own original traits.
Despite great expectations and Ford's favorable acting job, the film was a box-office bomb in North America, and earned just over five million globally. A modest achievement, yes, but certainly not the result investors and shareholders were anticipating.
Though, a subpar outcome didn't stop Warner Bros. or Harrison Ford from making a sequel over thirty years later, Blade Runner: 2049. From the snippets we've seen via trailer releases, the story picks up thirty years after the first movie and focuses on a new Blade Runner, Officer K, (Ryan Gosling), and the disappearance of Ford's character, Rick Deckard. The sequel features a delicious cast from Ryan Gosling to Jared Leto to Ana de Armas.
This is the third time in Harrison Ford's acting career that he has reprised a role decades after the release of the original film: Indiana Jones: The Crystal Skull, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Blade Runner: 2049. When Ford was asked in a recent Q&A interview about why he agreed to return as Rick Deckard, he responded, “The character [Rick Deckard] is woven into the story in a way that intrigued me. There’s a very strong emotional context. The relationship between the character Deckard – that I play – and other characters is fascinating. I think it’s interesting to develop a character after a period of time – to revisit a character.”
The film is set to be released later this year.
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@troydearbourne It's really a quality movie. nice post
@hknyasar Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
The first movie left many unanswered questions such as "is Deckard human?" or "Will Rachael live?" which I'm curious to see how the second movie addresses.
If you watch the Director's cut, they subtlely answer the "is Deckard human" question at the end...but I'm not going tell you.
Yes it's just hinted that he's a replicant and I do believe so too, but even if that's the case, it raises a lot more mysteries such as 'was he created different?' and 'what will be his lifespan?'
So, just to be clear, I'm not in anyway trying to thread-crap here; I appreciate the post. This just seems like a good place to ask the question.
I really like Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, The Fugitive, Clear and Present Danger, U-571, etc. I also really like Sci-Fi. I think Aliens is probably my pinnacle in that genre, or The Prestige, if it counts (which, to be clear, I realize Harrison is not affiliated with.) I should probably also acknowledge Aliens is more of an action film than pure-sci-fi, but I'm also a Star Trek fan, Event Horizon, etc.
However, on two separate occasions several years apart I have had to turn off the Blade Runner: Director's Cut (which I was told to definitely get that specific version over and over by the internet) because both I and my date (two separate ones) were too bored to finish it. Harrison's acting in it is certainly not a problem. The general plot idea is good, and I have no problem with the darkness or grime, as you can see from my pick of Aliens.
I just find that the plot of this movie seems to go tremendously slowly, and I don't care about any character in the slightest, save perhaps Harrison. I've also deduced from Google that which version you watch wildly changes the result and the tone of the ending, so I have no idea what is really canon there.
I feel like, for how much I've heard about this movie being great, that I ought to be able to at least get through it. I very rarely turn movies off; I think the last one before this was The 40 Year Old Virgin, which my love of Steve Carell just could not get me through the writing. Is the problem that I did not first attempt to watch it until around 2010?
/end rant.
I get where you're coming. It didn't blow me away on my first viewing either. But, it just became a film that I kept going back to watch. Especially after I watched the Director's cut, which is far superior. And now it's definitely one of my favourites. In terms of the sci-fi films you referenced, it's not really on the same level.
The story is about the characters and the world, rather than the events surrounding the plot. In particular, the character of 'Roy' played Rutger Hauer, who for me, steals the show from Harrison.
But hey, different strokes different folks... Aliens is also a cracking film though!
Thanks for the reply. Aliens is really more of an action film, but the color and style are a little similar. I think I was probably reminded more of Logan's Run than anything else by Blade Runner.