Visionary

Rating: 9/10 (29 August 2000)

I've owned Blade Runner for quite a while and watched it enough, to be sure. However, I recently read an article about robotics in Wired Magazine that really drilled the point of Blade Runner home: What happens when machines are indistinguishable from human beings?
Blade Runner offers two simple answers: the human emotion element, which is prejudice, fear and surprise; and the artificial intelligence aspect, which is that these robots are SO human that they will stop at nothing to get answers from their creator.
Harrison Ford plays a cop chasing down some renegade "replicants" (cyborgs). The dark, futuristic setting blends well with the detective/film noir tone of the film.
And, while in 1982 the average person would not necessarily feel that the scenario presented could happen in his lifetime (at the time it was likely easier to believe that Atari would be taking out huge lighted add space on the sides of buildings), lately Blade Runner has gained a whole new poignancy.
One more thing: Dark City could be considered this film's cousin. Let's hope THAT movie does not gain poignancy any time soon.