Unfortunately Disappointing But Still Great

Rating: 8/10 (9 October 2017)

After reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, I finally watched Blade Runner at a double feature last week. While it was really great, I couldn't help but be disappointed in it, primarily because of how much I'd expected it to be the most grandiose piece of sci-fi ever seen, thanks to how unbelievably hyped up it is, but it just felt remarkably shallow in all kinds of philosophical discussions when compared to the book, not that they should be massively compared.
A movie should stand completely alone from a book it is based on, and I'm trying not to link them too closely together here, but it's hard because the best draw of the book was how much it had to say in 200 pages, and the movie just has very little to say on humans and existence, period, making what I'd hoped to be the best part really just one of many good things in the movie.
However, the film is a technical masterpiece. This is one of the greatest technical achievements in film. Everything looks unbelievably realistic, and makes the future feel incredible grounded. The neon lights and expansive cityscapes make for some of the most striking visuals I've ever seen in a sci-fi movie.
Rutger Hauer pulls off the best possible performance he could've for this character. He is easily the best character in the movie, and the movie as a whole makes Roy Batty an interesting case study, which the book really doesn't do at all.
Where the book and the movie both flounder though, is creating believable romance between Deckard and Rachael. In the book, however, this is not a central piece of the plot, and instead of just being sudden and weak-ish, feels incredibly off-putting and bizarre in the movie. The implications of them falling in love is still interesting, and that's easily the best part about Deckard's character in the movie, but it still doesn't make it a compelling love plot.
The way the plot is set up is incredibly standard too. "Here are four guys you need to kill; have fun." And there is no mystery or sleuthing in this cyberpunk noir, save one hilarious scene of Harrison Ford enhancing an image to ridiculous levels over five minutes.
Harrison Ford is decent here, but is let down by incredibly weak character writing and a few strange acting decisions. His character is incredibly weak and bland, which was sad considering how many interesting dynamics there are with the Rick Deckard of the book.
In the end, absolutely stellar production design and world detail elevates a decent story with decent writing and one really great aspect of the plot.