"It's too bad she won't live...but then again, who does?" My favorite line from Blade Runner and quite possibly one of my favorite lines ever.
This is the much anticipated second part to my Ode to Ridley. And we're talking about one of the best SciFi movies ever...Blade Runner.
This film is about a detective who catches/kills rogue androids. His current mission is to terminate 4 androids who hijacked a spaceship, killed some people, and returned to earth. Armed with a Voight-Kampff test (determines if someone is a replicant), a pretty cool gun, and that Harrison Ford swagger, the detective, Deckard, sets of on his journey.
This ends up being a pretty by the books movie. He seeks them out one by one and kills them, with some help of course. The movie excels mainly because of it's look and atmosphere. The writing and acting are fine. Actually Harrison Ford does quite well, but it's Rutger Hauer who really produces the best performance. His maniacal android searching for his maker was extremely satisfying. He was very motivated to meet his creator so he could figure out if he could extend his life (all replicants have a pre-set life cycle by the way).
The best scenes in the movie are the cat and mouse scenes of Hauer and Ford. And as we have been content in thinking of Hauer as the villainous android, he shows more humanity in the final scenes than any human in the whole movie. The final scene between him and Ford is cinema gold.
This movie actually flopped when it was released. Edward James Olmos blamed it on Ford. He stated something about Ford not promoting it and that Ford's fans were expecting something more action filled like Star Wars or Indiana Jones. Screw you Olmos. Your part in this movie was so small. Almost any other actor at the time could have been cast and done just as good of a job as you did...maybe even better. (Yes I know the quote I stated at the beginning was from his character. But it wasn't that he said it, it was that it was written is why I liked it). Ford wasn't and still isn't too fond of the film. He and Scott did fight quite a bit.
Much like most of RS's movies from this time period, there are like 80 different versions. And the Final Cut version is the best. And here is where the controversy starts. In the Final Cut, at the end, it is heavily implied that Deckard is in fact a replicant as well. Man, talk about people getting their panties in a bunch. I actually like this concept. It opens up some plot holes though like: Why did Deckard not have superhuman abilities like Batty (or Pris to a lesser extent)? Ford also did not like the fact that all of a sudden, more than 20 years after making the film, Ridley said Deckard was a replicant. Ford stated they all agreed while making the moving that he was a human. You have to admire Ridley for his disregard for everything but his artistic vision. What a pompous ass; I love it! As my sister-in-law stated, the day of the "real" director is over.
This is a great movie; it can be slow in parts. But if you really love SciFi, you must watch this...or I will destroy you. 9 out of 10!
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