Fiery The Angels Fell

Rating: 10/10 (7 April 2011)

Blade Runner is a masterpiece, both in terms of visual realization and screenplay. The direction is superb, the lighting atmospheric, many performances sublime. Rutger Hauer as lethal replicant Roy, and delicious Sean Young, as the vulnerable Rachael are particularly memorable.
Neither should we overlook a highly original score, delivered by musical genius Vangelis. His association with Jon Anderson, on the album "Short Stories", took synthesized orchestration in new directions during the 1980s. As for Bladerunner, we receive a unique soundtrack few other sci-fi films can equal.
For those with a taste for science fiction, Blade Runner is a nod to those richly drawn, intellectual films that audiences were lucky enough to experience in the late 60s and 70s. (I'm thinking of such incredible cinema as Silent Running, 2001 A Space Odyssey and Barbarella). Alas, Hollywood has opted for more predictable and violent fodder in recent years, leading me to suspect films of Blade Runner's quality will remain rare.
Blade Runner's beauty lies in a commitment to present the audience with a panoramic future, yet still rooted in a world dominated by the fragility of human experience. The characters that inhabit this world are flawed, tragic and meaningful. There's no two-dimensional superheroes here. We're presented with the realities of cruel commerce and technocratic supremacy. However, the technocrats receive their comeuppance. In this way, Blade Runner is also a moral parable, though never preaches.
The replicants seek "more life", although it's Rachael and Deckard that illicit our sympathy. Rachael is deceived by the Corporation, while Deckard is a reluctant "fixer", charged with "retiring" that same organization's mistakes. This is very clever writing. Hampton Fancher's screenplay interweaves plotting and sub-plot with ingenious skill. Such literary craftsmanship is rarely translated so successfully to film.
The script itself is one of the best I can remember in a sci-fi film, including wonderful quotes from such luminaries as William Blake. (I can't remember the last occasion an English Poet was quoted in a Hollywood Movie, though such references add unforgettable texture to an already deeply symbolic piece).
With this in mind, I'll leave you with Roy's moving epilogue: "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain. Time to die."