Blade Runner is deserving of its reputation.

Rating: 9/10 (27 July 2018)

Blade Runner is a classic Ridley Scott sci-fi film that follows Rick Deckard as he pursues fugitive androids in the city of Los Angeles. The film gets its title from the job title Deckard uses. Those that hunt these androids are called Blade Runners, and they aren't seeking to arrest the androids, but to gun them down. Deckard is played by Harrison Ford in the prime of his career. He pursues four androids with the most prominent being Roy Batty, played by Rutger Hauer, and Pris, played by Daryl Hannah. Deckard also develops a romantic relationship with a woman named Rachael, played by Sean Young.
The theme of Blade Runner intends to cause us to question the morality of building machines with the capacity to feel and think as a person would. It's difficult to argue that some of the androids in this film aren't persons. I think the film does an excellent job establishing that with the relationships we witness the androids build and the feelings they demonstrate. One of the motifs the film uses is a repeated line that equates living in fear to living as a slave. This excellently scripted line establishes the androids' personhood because they show an understanding of emotion and remind us of the immorality of the literal slavery the androids are born into
.
The most distinct part of Blade Runner is probably the setting which demands impressive special effects, lighting and most importantly set design. As Blade Runner is a futuristic sci-fi story set in a major city, the film must show an advanced metropolitan landscape. Blade Runner uses some special effect heavy aerial shots to do this. These shots show flying cars, skyscrapers, flame billowing industrial towers, and large futuristic moving advertisements. This shows us a city that looks far more advanced than our real world, but also very believable.
The lighting in this film is also well done. As Deckard and the androids traverse the city the grim and dank lighting of the sets tell the viewer that this city is far from a utopia. For the little people, the city is an unpleasant place to live despite the prosperity of business. The lighting differs for different environments. In Deckard's meeting with the Tyrell corporation, the lighting is low-key and primarily a golden hue. This worked well to suggest the prosperity and shadiness of the corporation. In another setting, the apartment of an eccentric genetic engineer, the lighting makes the engineer seem strange and lonely. The bizarreness of the robots that roam is home is only enhanced when they're casting their shadows.
The set design in this film is great. The set for the high-rise meeting room at the corporation is beautiful and exudes wealth and style while it overlooks the futuristic city. The street level sets the tone of the movie as a noir film with frequently foggy and wet sets. The use of water has an extra benefit of reflecting the futuristic city's lights. My favorite set design is the genetic engineer's apartment. This set uses strange mannequins, puppets, and costumed actors to set up a strange environment. The difference between this apartment and the businessman's apartment work well to show the income disparity and their different personalities.
Although the film presents its themes well and has great world design, it does have some small issues. One problem is that it's paced pretty slowly. I think this is because the director really wanted to immerse the viewer in the world, but this causes some unnecessary downtime. A good example is when Deckard is investigating the snake scale he finds. This scene is uninteresting and too long. It has poor dialog audio during Deckard's confrontation of the snake seller. These scenes probably could have been edited down without taking much from the film.
In closing, I enjoyed this film and how all the parts work together. It presents its themes very well through characters and their dialog. The special effects are appropriate and never overdone or distracting. The lighting adds to every scene and helps the viewer immerse themselves in this setting. The sets are expertly done and feel like they could be real places with real people living in them. It does have some issues, but the film overcomes them with the quality of everything else. I think this film deserves its reputation.