An Artistic Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (26 April 1999)

Well, with 70 user comments already, I feel intimidated to add one, but there are a few things I HAVE to say about this masterpiece. "Blade Runner" was unrecognised and the recipient of very mixed reviews by critics when it first hit the cinemas in 1982. It was the first big sci-fi film since "Star Wars" and its sequels and was unjustly compared to these very different kinds of sci-fi movies. It is only recently that it has been recognised as a great film. Its original soundtrack was unavailable until recently as well.
I remember watching the Academy Awards and being disappointed by the nominations and the results. Didn't Vangelis' ("Chariots of Fire", "Missing") deserve a nod for best film score? "Blade Runner" was nominated for best visual effects and, as usual, the Academy went for the SENTIMENTAL favourite, much less deserving of an Oscar. "Blade Runner" had virtually a whole city created by a computer (computer graphics weren't as easy to generate back in 1982!) while, the winner of the Oscar, "E.T.", simply had some kids ride bicycles in the air.
"Blade Runner" was not a film with a complicated and original plot with surprises and twists randomising the heart-rate of the viewer sitting propped up on the edge of his seat. Nor did the film have intensive dialogue and interesting characters. Its plot was simple. Its script was concise (although there are some memorable lines). Its characters were somewhat plain (except, perhaps, for J.F. Sebastian). But all these were meant to be, for Blade Runner was not intended to be a high-powered drama; it was meant to be an artistic masterpiece, a film about ambience and atmosphere, a film directed at creating particular moods in the viewer, a film intended to dazzle the eye and exhilarate the ear. And it succeeded at these aims marvellously. It is art and film noir at its best.
A gloomy, dark, rainy, depressing Los Angeles, in the future, is the scene of a "blade runner" assigned to bump off rebellious "replicants" - artificial life forms created for slave labour in space. The film opens with columns of fire spouting into the air next to flying automobiles and chillingly smooth melodic synthesisers from the composer Vangelis. It is crowded, smoky, and various ethnic languages have melded together in the local Creole dialect. I liked the idea, also, of the umbrella stems being fluorescent lights.
"Blade Runner" seemed to be a blessing on the actors that played in it; for, many unknowns became famous after the film and had the good fortune of winning roles in blockbusters. Rutger Hauer who plays the leader of the replicants became well known and starred in "The Hitcher". Sean Young, until this film, unknown, appeared in such films as "Dune", "Wall Street", and "No Way Out" with Kevin Costner. Darryl Hannah, another unknown, made it big in "Splash", "Roxanne", and teamed up with Sean Young again in "Wall Street". Edward James Olmos emerged from obscurity and acquired the role of the police chief in TV's Miami Vice series. He won a number of Emmy Awards. William Sanderson became "Larry" of "Larry, Darrel and my other brother Darrel" in the TV series Newhart.
I was sorely disappointed with the Director's cut of the film. One would expect a D-Cut to ADD footage, but footage was only removed - Rick Deckard's voiced over dubbing, the ending, and so on. All that was added was some silly dream of a unicorn. LEAVE THE ORIGINAL CUT ALONE!!! The D-Cut took away from the film's charm. Again: Leave the original cut alone! Why mess with it? DON'T!
I wish that more films were made in a similar spirit to "Blade Runner". Recently, "Dark City" re-captured some of its charm of it but lacked much of the old "Blade Runner magic", a great score to name but one lacking element. I give "Blade Runner" 10 out of 10.