A dark vision of the future.

Rating: 9/10 (22 October 2011)

The critics seem to say that the visuals in this movie are outstanding but the rest of the movie is somewhat dry. I have a differing opinion on this matter: if we take the movie purely on its visuals, and even on the action, then we loose a large part of what this movie is about. Ebert's comment on the unrealistic nature of Tyrell's death is unimportant for if one is concerned more about how the replicant got into his office then you have missed the entire point of this scene.
The original release was not how Ridley Scott wanted the movie. I thought the original was boring but the Director's Cut (1993) has turned the entire style of the movie around. Ford's dubbing has been removed, there is an extended scene with the love affair between Ford and Young, and the ending has been changed completely. The original ending has Ford and Young driving off through a lush green countryside with their eyes on a beautiful future. The other ending is far bleaker with the words "It's too bad she won't live, but then again who does," A very existentialist ending, which really is the whole point of the movie.
Blade Runner is about life, death, and the nature of humanity. Six replicants, advanced, genetically engineered robots, have escaped from their offworld colonies and have come to earth to confront their maker, Tyrell. The reason they come to Earth is because they have had a limited life span, four years, built into them, and they are reaching the end of their life. The whole purpose of this reminds us that we are all destined for the same end, and the point of the movie is that there is no way to end it. The close is superb for there is no huge gun battle where Roy (Rutger Hauer) goes out in a blaze of glory, but rather just dies because his time is out. Scott uses a dove in this scene as a possible symbol of the ascension of Roy's doll. In the end we are reminded that we all die. No dream world where the good live forever and punishment for evil is to have this eternal life ended. But then this dream world is not so fantastic after all for we all fall short of the glory of God, and as Romans 3:11 says "there is no one who is righteous, not even one. There is no one who does good, no one who understands, all have turned away, together we have become worthless." We are all evil thus we all die "the wages of sin is death." There is a very interesting idea in this movie though, about the nature of humanity. The ascension of the Roy's soul is a suggestion that there is more to the nature of the replicants than just a simple work tools. The idea is that these replicants are in a way more human than we are. There is a suggestion that Decker (Harrison Ford) is a replicant. We are not told directly but hints are dropped, like one replicant saying to him that he will live longer than him, and also the nature of Rachel. She is a replicant with a full memory implant. As far as she is concerned she is a human, and as far as Decker is concerned he is human. Also notice that there seems to be a glint in the eyes of the replicants. The owl in Tyrell's office always glints.
There is a lot to this movie. Not only is it a cinematic masterpiece but it also goes down as a literary masterpiece. The critics, when approaching this movie, obviously want huge action, but Blade Runner does not deliver, rather it reminds us that we will all die.