Seminal, awe-inspiring

Rating: Null/10 (4 September 2004)

I actually saw Blade Runner in the theaters in 1982 when I was just 12. I remember it distinctly because they didn't want to sell me a 12-or-under ticket because I was so tall (I started growing fast around 10 y.o.). In any case, the theater was not especially large but I remember the crowd being rather thin (though it was a matinée).
Beyond that, I can't say why such an impression was made on me by a movie that is way over the head of a 12 year-old. I probably merely embedded the memories to draw upon for a later time.
I grew to consider Blade Runner my favorite sci-fi movie. Its tone, nuances, and characterizations are subtler and more seductive to a "thinking" film viewer vs. the visual bludgeoning of much of modern action-/explosion-driven sci-fi popcorn movies.
I was so obsessed with it when I got older I actually bought a ridiculously expensive laser disc player just so I could have highest quality letter boxed version of the Director's Cut. Ah, how I wish I could recapture those absurdly-spent dollars and spend them on DVDs instead--but such is the toll of staying on the bleeding-edge of technology.
The pacing and action of Blade Runner will not be to everyone's liking and Harrison Ford plays Deckard pretty tight to the vest. There is none of the garrulousness of Han Solo, but, then there really shouldn't be. Deckard is a dramatically different kind of character (literally and figuratively) and Ford plays him exactly as he should. Deckard is anything but a cocky, shoot-from-the-hip cop.
Nearly everyone remarks on the visuals of BR, so let's get that out of the way: amazing, stunning, and remarkable. The fact that they still impress and hold up 20+ years later where our senses have become blown-out and numbed from over-exposure to CGI is all the more remarkable. It is evidence of the movie's powerful artfulness. "The Return of the King" is the only movie I've seen in recent memory that meshes live action and CGI in a truly believable (and astonishing) manner--though occasionally Jackson cannot bely his horror-movie director instincts. The opening scene of Los Angeles, 2021, is one of the most memorable and breathtaking in modern film. Vangelis' ethereal score seals the deal and enhances the visuals and drama perhaps better than any soundtrack ever has. I'm a huge fan of electronic music (a la the "old school" like Tangerine Dream, not the pure techno music of today necessarily) so perhaps I have more of a propensity for Vangelis than others.
If you like the pacing of typical film noir translated to sci-fi, Blade Runner is for you. Its vision of the future is bleak (aren't they all?), but that vision is stunning and powerful. If you like the lurid, music video-like editing of most modern sci-fi/action movies, then you'll probably find Blade Runner dull and anemic and will disregard its artistic achievements.