Must See

Rating: 10/10 (1 February 2003)

One of the great films of all time.
This one has had to simmer in my brain for a few years, and it's not finished yet. I've never been so impressed with a message at once profoundly spiritual, and also humanist--in fact, integrating those two stances, antithetical for some. Is it true?: That it's only meet and just to want to kill God and then forgive all others?
I'm also reminded of the line from Voltaire's proto-sci-fi short story Micromegas: "J'ai été dans des pays où l'on vit mille fois plus long-temps que chez moi, et j'ai trouvé qu'on y murmurait encore." (I've been in countries where they live a thousand times longer than we do, and they still complain that life is too damn short).
Yet another observation about the brilliance of the movie (and *not* a spoiler, but perhaps an enhancer): The background depiction of off-planet "white flight" is utter genius. Was that P. K. Dick's concept? But the in-your-face-yet-understated way Scott showcases this setting is a powerful...what?...indictment? Hard to say; he simply tosses the image onto your lap like a 400lb lap dog and says, "Deal with it." Incredible, and all-too-seldom seen in cinema.
Also: A usefully oblique precursor intro to our present day (2003) wrangling over the ethics of cloning.
A must-see; even for those for whom sci-fi is not their "thing". Watch it and deal with it.