Dull, shallow SF film

Rating: Null/10 (26 October 2002)

I saw this film several years ago and remember being disappointed with it. I saw it again after I read the book recently, and was again disappointed. For all the hype and critical acclaim, there's very little to recommend "Blade Runner."
It's based on "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep," by the great SF writer Philip K. Dick, and the film is a very loose adaption. That might be okay, except that they took out all the deep, interesting aspects of the book- especially the spiritual themes dealing with the futuristc religion, which is central to the novel. Guess they can't have anything to do with religion in a Hollywood film. Also, the characters are so bland. I know, that's the point, humans have been dehumanized by technology, etc. But I haven't found this to be true in rel life and it certainly isn't true in the novel. the humans are very human in the novel, concerned with being accepted by society, being loved, rising in social status, etc. And it is easier to relate to Deckard in the novel, than Deckard in the film b/c he is more like us in the novel. Also, the movie mostly ignores the animal aspect of the book (in the book most animals are extinct so if you own one it is a sigh of social status- also it is considered very wrong to eat an animal) so when the few references are made to animals, like the electronic owl or the empathy test Deckard gives, it remains unexplained.
Okay, aside from taking out all the good parts of the book, it's not a good film anyway. As to it being a film noir, this is true. Stylistically it is very dark, no heros, murder plot, etc. However, the great film noirs like "Double Indemnity," and "Chinatowne" are great because they have engaging plots, with many twists and turns. "Blade Runner" has a plot that can be summed up in one brief sentence.
This is basically a film that puts style over substance. The cinemetography and art direction are impressive. The score by Vangelis is awesome. But there's nothing to the film except some suggestiveness that technology is bad because it dehumanizes man, and androids as "the other" should be accepted maybe. Of course these themes are nothing new, and the film does not present them in a fresh way, but rather within the confines of a dull film.
It was a bad film, but I will say that the ending where Roy Batty makes his speech on top of the building was a great scene, surprisingly moving, especially considering that the rest of the film is so tedious. For a minute it almost made me want to like it.