Sci Fi + Film Noir = Stunning, Yet Believable, Vision of the Future

Rating: 10/10 (13 November 2007)

There are so many reviews of "Blade Runner," most of them, mainly, positive. It forms, I think, a significant milepost in film history.
I just got the "Director's Cut" DVD... which is, they say, much better than the original "commercial" release of the film. I know I saw that release, but cannot remember it after seeing the DVD.
I would really love to sit next to Sir Ridley Scott for one good evening meal. I'd ask him just how much "Film Noir" movies really influenced his "Blade Runner," if he studied and viewed them extensively beforehand, if they had any significant influence... Or if, somehow, his own vision just happened to coincide with that dark genre. In any case, I think it is Scott's dark vision in "Blade Runner" that makes it truly great.
There are all sorts of arguments for/against the human (and replicant) characterizations in "Blade Runner," but playing them out in that apocalyptic view of 21st-century Los Angeles somewhat reduces their importance as rating factors. For example, Harrison Ford's lead character is quite understated, compared to any other role he's played, as far as I am aware. And I love his, and other, characters for that very reason.
Yet there is more-than-ample plot to interest thoughtful audiences. This is _so_ refreshing compared to the usual Hollywood pandering to idiotic 12-year-old brains. For example, try a super-intelligent android who, knowing he must die soon, finally comes to understand, better than anyone else in the film, that killing in revenge just makes no sense at all. Think about it.
Great film. I could count some factors as negative, but that dark vision just rules supreme. 10-out-of-10.