over rated but still fun to look at

Rating: Null/10 (22 August 2009)

The artwork by futurist and designer Syd Mead is this movie. Many of the drawings that were used to create the sets in this film are available on the web and I think they are worth looking at as Syd Mead has got good talent when it comes to creating interesting looking futuristic panoramas. I thought the script of the film was middling to very weak, and the end sequences were not very enjoyable to watch, taking the film down a kind of black hole, compared to the interesting scenes in the beginning and in the middle of the film. I was surprised to see multiple versions released a few years ago in a sort of pricey box set, as the versions differ only slightly. I did some research and learnt that Sir Run Run Shaw, credited in the film, is a Chinese media mogul, who must have been around 90 when the film Blade Runner was made. I have read a not bad sequel, but there seems to be no interest in creating a movie sequel based on the book sequel, which I think is kind of sad, because despite the often dim witted script, the film had interesting visuals. People who think this is the best thing ever made visually should explore more SF art, particularly the work of Jim Burns. With a better script this would be an easy ten, but as it stands it sounds like fifth rate detective fiction from the 1940s, so I gave it a seven, not a four.