Essential Viewing for a Human Being

Rating: 10/10 (6 October 2005)

It is not often a film warrants 10/10. Bladerunner, spearheaded by Harrison Ford (Rick Deckard) and Rutger Hauer (Roy Batty), delivers both cinematically, with its designer sets and innovative clothing, to its script and acting quality. Based on Philip K. Dick's book, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", Bladerunner has surpassed beyond what an ideal film is. Often times, for instance, there is double meanings in scenes, that run as deep as the cosmos.
For its visuals alone, it has ingrained itself in history when sci-fi was coming into CGI. CGI, unfortunately, pales hopelessly, even today, in comparison to yesterday's Hollywood models. From the cars to the streets to the VidPhon, the future is so well depicted that nothing has challenged it before neither after. Demolition Man with Sylvestor Stallone was formidable, but it fails in so many other respects that it should not even be considered as a challenge.
Entering Bladerunner, it explores what it means to be a human, and, how important emotions are in shaping who we are. It also exploits other, complex philosophical issues, as Deckard tries to understand "what" he is and whether anything is, in fact, "real." Sounds like the Matrix, except the correct clause would be: The Matrix sounds like Bladerunner, with the addition of the Matrix being a gross misinterpretation. While the Matrix provides us with a possibility of what reality is, Bladerunner is less ambitious, focusing on and questioning what memories are, how they shape us, and what our "reality" means in relation.
It questions our morals; our history; our identities; our entire logically constructed world. As we have a myriad of qualities in common with the Replicants, they only live for 4 years. It teaches us about the importance of understanding, or, at least attempting to understand, life's nature and what that means to ones personal subsistence. With only 4 years to live a life span, the Replicants show us that they have the ability to get wise quickly, rather than the situation with humans: growing old so fast but wise so slow.
Philosophically, this film is significantly accurate. The scene where Batty meets his maker, Tyrell, is compelling and is one of the best scenes in film history. Each scene is a journey, and, together, it completes a fine story - blessed with deep irony and valuable information about how we arrived at our present intellectual states. There is much action, too.