More Human than Human ... that's Our Motto ...

Rating: 10/10 (15 May 2008)

Careful ... contains a few spoilers ...
Having seen this movie probably more times and in more different formats than most people, I thought it was time I write a few words about this masterpiece of film-making. Truly, I wasn't boasting with my assertion that I've seen this movie as much as I have (I watch this movie almost once a week and have done so for almost 10 years). I own several, still unopened, VHS tapes that for a large part of the nineties I did my best at collecting. I own the Japanese Laserdisc version, a rare bootleg VHS version that was distributed over the internet a handful of years ago that has the narration selectively placed back into the Director's Cut version of the film, not called the Esper Version as some would want to label it, the Director's Cut and now the HD version of the Final Cut. That makes 5, but 6 if you count the Workprint version that comes with this box set. So, I would say that's one more than most.
Blade Runner first and foremost, is probably the greatest film ever made, from beginning to end and in all of its variations. A bold statement when the film doesn't even rank in the top 10 in the American Film Institute or on IMDb. Spots #97 and #104 respectively (ahem). But as these kind of lists are subjective and truly under the control of mere mortals and their own strange whims, and I take no offense that so many so-called aficionados have over-looked this film for so long. Roger Ebert slammed Ridley Scott and the film during the first theatrical release by stating that 'Scott cared more about the lush environment of the film than he did of the story', which as we all know - and even Ebert now, in hindsight, has stated that he was unkind and grossly unfair to both Scott and the film.
For years, Blade Runner was divided into two different camps, or rather four and they are: Those that preferred the narration and those that did not and the other camp was those that thought Deckard was a Replicant and those that thought he was either human or felt it was left ambiguous. Ridley Scott has very gracefully over the years, given homage to these thoughts and made many statements that most readers are aware of, chiefly - that Deckard was a Replicant. Unfortunately, due to the studios fingering with the film during post-production, Warner Brothers had the right to trim anything after the 120 min mark, and thus butchering the nuance of the film and leaving several things vague and forcing Scott to tack on the Happy ending and the narration - because as we all know ... we're all just too stupid to get it.
The new and most refreshing part of the new argument, evinced in the 210 (wow!) min documentary 'Dangerous Days' is that Scott gives equal time to those that enjoyed the film with the narration, with Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth / Hellboy) in the forefront, with his very candid telling of how Blade Runner changed his life and launched him down the road into film-making. We also get to hear a very lucid and warm retelling from Harrison Ford of the nightmare that he not only endured making the movie but the further commitment of having to do the Voice Over narration months later, which ended up having its own strange story as well.
So, now with 5 versions available in this box set, you get to see Blade Runner in every single angle imaginable and it is engrossing every time. Ebert also said in the Nineties that the re-release of the movie for the Director's Cut gives you yet another version of the film, but fails to handle the main problems that were so apparent the first time around. As the film has changed Ebert has gone from student flippancy to utmost respect and enjoyment. Ebert's own site has all three versions of his reviews which are interesting to read in context to the passage of time if you're interested.
There are so many layers to Blade Runner and so many things that can be said from the brilliant look of the newly restored cut, the awesome remixed sound, the Original Score by Vangelis, and the story itself. Blade Runner is probably the high water mark of all films and will probably stay that way for quite some time. Internet voting puts the film as the 4th greatest movie of all time, according to AFI's own user polls - so that really puts perspective on AFI's and IMDb's so-called Final Lists.
On a final note, when people watch this film, a lot of people come away with a strange feeling of familiarity regarding the content, the story and the character of Rick Deckard the protagonist, the Detective, the Blade Runner. You should know that Philip K. Dick was an incredibly huge fan of Raymond Chandler and absorbed every one of his stories on a personal level. Hampton Fancher, the screenwriter was privy to this when he penned the screenplay while making the adaptation for 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' and did his best to not only pay homage to this for Dick but for Chandler as well. Movies like 'The Big Sleep' really bring it home and make it evident to the viewer. The novel almost reads like the narration and in latter years I find impossible to not hear Harrison Ford's voice as I read 'The Big Sleep'.
"What do you think of my Owl, Mr. Deckard?" "Is it real?"