Blade Runner (1982)

The Original Release of this Movie is BEST!!!

+++++

"EARLY in the 21ST century, the Tyrell Corporation advanced robot evolution into the nexus phase-a being virtually identical to a human-known as a replicant. The nexus replicants were superior in strength and agility, and at least equal in intelligence to the genetic engineers who created them.

Replicants were used off-world as slave labor on the hazardous exploration and colonization of other planets. After a bloody mutiny by a nexus combat team in an off-world colony, replicants were declared illegal on Earth-under penalty of death.

Special police squads-Blade Runner units-had orders to shoot to kill upon detection, any trespassing replicant.

This was not called execution. It was called retirement."

These are the actual printed words that begin this classic science fiction movie (based on the 1968 novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick).

The plot of this movie is simple. Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is a policeman or "blade runner" of Los Angeles (in the year 2019) who's after four criminal "replicants" named Roy Batty (Rutger Haur), Pris (Daryl Hannah), Zhora (Joanna Cassidy), and Leon (Brion James). Deckard accidentally develops a romance with the more sophisticated replicant Rachael (Sean Young).

Unlike "The Director's Cut" version of this movie, this original version has Deckard's voice-over narration. I found this voice-over especially emotionally appealing when the Roy Batty replicant "dies" at the end of the movie.

I think I deduced the reasons why the voice-over is so important for this movie:

(1) It allows the viewer to follow the action. (A friend of mine who watched "The Director's Cut" with me and who did not see the original release with Deckard's voice-over could not follow the story!!)
(2) It provides the human touch to counterbalance all the technological and visually stunning special effects.
(3) It adds a "retro" feel that reminded me of old-time detective movies.

The ending, unlike "The Director's Cut," was not abrupt. This ending gave a feeling of hope that Deckard and the replicant Rachael would have a future together.

All the acting in this movie is first-rate. Special mention should go to Harrison Ford who as the blade runner Rick Deckard carries the movie and to Rutger Haur as the leader of the replicants, Roy Batty. Also, Sean Young does a super job portraying the more sophisticated replicant, Rachael.

The special effects that highlight the steel-and-microchip jungle of twenty-first century L.A. and the background music by Vangelis are fantastic and exhilarating.

The only problem is that this original version of this movie is not available on DVD (as of the date of this review). This is truly unfortunate. ("The Director's Cut" is available on DVD.)

BOTTOM LINE:

With its voice-over narration, this is a magnificent and classic science fiction movie with emotional impact. It's easy to see why this movie won the L.A. Film Critics Award and three British Academy Awards.

(1982; 2 hr; fullscreen)

+++++
August 10, 2005

The tape arrived broken

The tape was broken and I cannot find the sellers's name to return it July 7, 2005

The most overrated movie in history?

To the above statement I would have to say yes. If I were to go over every film made I'd be hard pressed to find one that's more overrated. Ok, the movie has cool special effects and music. I bought the soundtrack and can get the special effects jolt I need from Lord of the Rings or some other such vehicle. I have no idea why time and time again I see glowing reviews for this very unpleasant movie. There's nothing compelling or likable that I can find in either the characters of the dialogue. Which version would I recommend of the original or the director's? Neither. June 5, 2005

A wonderfully dark film!

Blade Runner tells of human-like robots which are in danger of gaining emotions and becomming too human to exhist by human laws. I loved this movie when I first saw it and I find it wonderful to notice in the background the company logos (which at the time were powerful up and coming companies) of which most are out of business (though Atari has made a comeback). The soundtrack sets the tone and the weather (which it always is raining in the film except for the very ending) also keep things looking bleak. I do enjoy the directors cut cause I am a big fan of Widescreen... but that is the only reason I like it. I wish they had kept the narration (or at least had a two sided disk so a person could chose to have the original unedited narration or the directors cut version). I know some people think the narration is the studios way of saying that the audiance cannot understand the film without dumbing-it-down with narration. This is definitily not the case. The narration reminds me of those old TV Cop dramas where the cops thoughts are always stated as the action is happening. I do feel that it adds to the film. I highly recommend the movie regardless of which version you see. Rutger Hauer is my favorite. May 25, 2004

on the Director's Cut

I love the film, both versions. HOWEVER, one thing most reviewers seem to overlook regarding the Director's cut is that we already know the film and are familiar with the general film noire approach to the story, character interaction, development, and so on.

Classic film noire often needs narration. Even if Ford initially narrated poorly on purpose, it kind of fits in with the character. Besides which, the D Cut does nothing to replace the narration, so there are great gobs of panoramic dead air, with maybe a bit of background music. It becomes a struggle to stay focused. I tested this with two of my Media Studies sections, and the narration kept the most audience attention hands down, not to mention a keener grasp of the film.

I think a perfect marriage would be to include the extra footage, the D cut ending, and selected portions of the narration. December 28, 2003

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