An absolutely fabulous movie.

Rating: 10/10 (1 January 2008)

It is amazing how well this film stands the test of time especially on the new HD discs. Simply put after watching the bare bones DVD for several years, the magic of Blu-Ray has let me see how enveloping this movie is. The score by Vangelis is perfect in almost every sense of the word, creating a tension filled fear that resonates throughout the movie. There is no real horror in this film, only the sneaking suspicion that this world is ours in the not too distant future. The severe overpopulation, the destruction of natural wildlife, and the onset of genius level IQ in computers are things that won't happen in the next 11 years, but could begin to show itself in 50 years.
The joy of watching this movie though is how it reveals another layer to you with every viewing. The last time I watched it, I really could sense the acting of the Replicants. After all these were mostly B level actors performing as androids trying to come off as humans. They all nailed it perfectly (except Zora). Watching their eyes reset after determining that they had either achieved one more goal to their eventual meeting of Tyrell or knowing that what they were doing was clearly not working. Then watching Ford doing his best to present a unflinching work ethic in solving his goal of eliminating the other Replicants, you can see how Deckard's computer was turning inside as well.
The main issue I always felt raised though was at which point in the development in AI in computers will they indeed be living? And if this point does come, will we be a fearful enough society to just systematically eliminate them? I don't know the answer to that question, but I know 50 years from now this movie will resonate in real life issues and be dissected by the top minds in the world. Philip K. Dick was a genius indeed and kudos for Ridley Scott for realizing this in one magnificent piece of celluloid. If you have never seen this movie and you definitely like deeper meaning films, it is probably worth buying a HD DVD player to see it in all it's glory.