Intelligent Sci-Fi

Rating: 10/10 (10 June 1999)

There are people out there, I know, who are interested in Sci-Fi for the way it can incorporate larger issues into its limitless potential. These are the people for whom movies like Blade Runner, 2001 and Solaris are made (12 Monkeys is also worthwhile viewing). These are the people who don't ever go to Sci-Fi conventions, who've never dressed like Chewbacca (except maybe at Halloween) and who don't know what Spock's wife's name is.
You have to be prepared to be awed when watching this movie. Clear your mind, start the movie, and just watch it from beginning to end. The beauty is in all the details - in the sound the police spinner makes as it whizzes by, in the soft glow of reddish-orange light when Deckard is at the top of the Tyrell building (when every other part of the city seems to be in perpetual darkness), in the noirish yet electronic score. The plot needs to be taken on its own terms - if you can accept the basic premises of Deckard's job, then you can be drawn into the unfolding story. Sure it can be slow, because all good Sci-Fi is. It needs to be slow, so the audience can think about the implications of what's happening. If you rent this movie because you heard it was like The Matrix, and you expect the instant gratification of violence and a swift plot, you'll be disappointed. But if you allow yourself to think about the ideas put forth during the lulls in the movie, you'll find that this movie stays with you in a way that no popcorn-movie, blockbuster ever could.