Blade Runner Theatrical *Spoilers!*

Rating: 10/10 (7 February 2015)

****Warning: Spoilers**** Blade Runner is a fantastic film that was released in 1982, which is taking a futuristic look into the year 2019 taking place in Los Angeles. The main actor in the film is Harrison Ford, who plays Rick Deckard, Sean young as Rachael, and Rutger Hauer as Roy. Deckard is an ex-cop whose job title is a Blade Runner. A blade runner is a person who has the task of hunting down and retiring replicant's that are human clones that were utilized for labor on other planets that was created by Tyrell Corporation. A group of replicant's became very violent, killing humans. A law was set in place making them illegal on Earth and the penalty was execution (Retirement). Early in the film the leader of the replicant's Roy is seeking out answers for how he and the others can live past their four year life span. Deckard through the film starts to have feelings for a special replicant Rachael and learns replicant's have memories of other people implanted in them. In the end, Roy begins to understand what it's truly like to value life and saves Deckard after their violent encounter. In the very last scene, Deckard leaves with Rachael to live out the rest of their lives.
One of the themes to Blade Runner is morality. Deckard early in the film says that if replicant's are dangerous it's his problem otherwise they are fine. This shows he knows that is wrong to retire a replicant when they are not threat. This grows further later in the film after Rachael saves Deckard life from another replicant. Deckard's boss wants him to track down Rachael, but he ensures her that he won't do it, but someone else might. Then in the final scene where Roy is chasing Deckard on the roof and saves his life is another example. Roy had the opportunity to kill Deckard but pulls him up from the ledge of the building. Roy speaks to Deckard for one last time before his life span ends. Deckard comes to the realization that Roy had truly loved and valued all life which is why he let him live.
One of the biggest techniques utilized in Blade Runner was the usage of the lighting. The overall movie was very dark, and the different lighting they had used was well done. The darkness had helped show the futuristic looking city of Los Angeles. I also noticed the film remained dark the majority of the film until the end when Deckard and Rachael were driving away to live out their lives together. Another scene that stood out to me is the final speech Roy gives, the lighting had helped strengthen the emotion. Another technique utilized was motifs. The one that I spotted was origami, I believed the origami is there to remind Decker that Rachael is not real or about their relationship. The origami appears several times and again at the end of the film when Gaff played by Edward James Olmos leaves it outside Deckard's apartment.
I believe this movie is outstanding, this is now one of my top favorites. It shows that you can do what it is right and if you value life enough you can find your own answers to what's most important. I'd like to also point out that I had watched both the original theatrical version and the director's cut. The major difference between the two is the original had narration and the director's cut did not. I preferred the original because the narration added more detailed explanations of what was going on. The acting was very good, especially with the actors who played the replicant's. They had to try and show fake emotions, which I imagine was difficult to pull off.