Not just a sci-fi movie

Rating: 10/10 (23 October 2000)

This film is, simply, a great work. The direction, photography, and sound are all superb - the cast is great, and the story is - well, the story is special. I'm a great fan of Philip K. Dick, the author of the story on which the film is based, and i'm pleased to say that the film does him great justice (even though it is only very loosely based on his story, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"). Without this story, Bladerunner would still have been a good sci-fi film, but with it, it moves into the realm of philosophy, and commands a much greater impact.
It is basically a story about what it is to be human, and like most good philosophical works asks more questions than it answers. The oft-discussed question of whether Deckard is or is not human himself is, to a degree, irrelevant - the significant point is not _what_ he is, but _who_ he is, and whether his origins matter more than his actions. This question is asked of every major character in the film - Deckard, Batty, and Rachel, and mirrored in many of the minor characters. While we know which characters are biologically Human, which of them are most human-natured is much more ambiguous, and the final question (amongst many others) asked by the film is not 'What are they?' (asked of the replicants), but 'What are we, as humans?'.