Maybe not the best movie ever, but my favorite !!SOME SPOILERS!!

Rating: 10/10 (23 June 2000)

ok, i don't feel comfortable saying this is the greatest movie ever. i am not a film expert, i'm just a dumb average viewer. judging a film as the greatest or not is the jobn of people who know more about the appropriate criteria for such a judgement. i can only say that this is my favorite film, one i can watch over and over again and like more every time i see it. harrison ford is one of my favorite actors (after robert deniro and someone else for some reason i'm blanking on - as you can see though i prefer underacting), but in this movie i think surprisingly enough rutger hauer steals the show. i heard somewhere that his monologue at the end he created himself. very poetic. i loved it. some would not like this movie because they say its too slow. hey, this isn't an action movie; in fact i wouldn't even say its sci fi in the traditional sense. it is at its core (i think, don't take the following as gospel cause this is just my impression i haven't read up on this much) grounded in the fiolm noir genre, inspired by such fellow masterpieces as maltese falcon and chinatown (oh oh and l.a. confidential is awesome too!!). on another note, i've read the book its based on and can't say one way or the other which is better. i thought they had pretty opposite philosophical messages though. in the book the replicants are in stark contrast to humans, incapable of the most basic quality of empathy. the book focuses on this as the distinguishing and most important element of the human condition. the movie, though, tries to blur the line between the replicants and humans. there is a huge grey area. indeed, deckard is not a good guy. he is insensitive and cruel to rachel(even the love scene is aggresive and brutal). gosh, he shoots an unarmed woman in the back!! but he is complicated. one of the most subtly complex character studies ever. he doesn't even say much throughout the movie but his actions, his smallest inflections speak volumes. anyone else notice he is drunk and/or drinking in almost every scene?! and the replicants, notably rutger hauer, are not just bad guys. rutger hauer is the christ figure (a little hit you over the head symbolism, but whatever it's awesome), and he make his last action on earth one of mercy. the acting and writing overall is sheer brilliance! now for ridley scott. dude, you rule!! i think this movie is the most successfully detailed panoramas ever. every time i watch it i see something new. it's an work of art. 10+++