Great, but requires more than a single viewing

Rating: 9/10 (13 December 2004)

When I first saw "Blade Runner" I was severely disappointed as I felt it had wasted a great deal of potential. I didn't like the acting much, I didn't like the music and the whole neo-futuristic-film-noir thing wasn't very impressive as it's been aped in films for the past two decades and some of them have done it a bit better.
I felt the romance between Harrison Ford and Sean Young was entirely unbelievable and given very little time to develop - it's him suddenly wooing her and romancing her without much actual chemistry forming. Their romance is a vital part of the story but I felt it was given very little focus.
However on second and third viewing I suddenly realized what a masterpiece "Blade Runner" is. I seemed to "get" it; perhaps I understood the point of the film's ending more. I originally loathed the wacky OTT climax, considering it stupid and unoriginal/unimaginative - but on second viewing I picked up on all the subtleties and was touched by Hauer's final speech, particularly the "like tears in rain" moment.
Overall this really is a fantastic sci-fi film noir story - it successfully mixes various genres. Its effects are a bit outdated now and if you sit down to watch it expecting too much you're likely to be disappointed - it has its fair share of flaws (from technical to story-wise) but if you can overlook some of these it really is a great deal of fun, even if it's not "the" best science fiction film (as some people have claimed).