something different....

Rating: 8/10 (19 October 2009)

There are certain movies that pose a challenge for a calm, unbiased viewer. Blade Runner is one of these films. Over the years this film has acquired the status of a religious cult, something almost akin to Scientology or Objectivism, and so its difficult to simply dismiss it as long, slow, tedious and overrated. Let me start by comparing this film to other "sci-fi" movies. Scott's previous 'Alien' struck a precarious balance between commerce and art - not as hopelessly shallow as Star Wars, and yet hardly as ambitious as 2001. Blade Runner abandons the traditional narrative style altogether; it communicates almost entirely through images, symbols and motifs, and it has a loopy, splintered, chaotic, upside-down narrative pattern.
The future is incredibly bleak. Corporations rule the roost. The government and police are totalitarian. A new type of technology allows us to play God - to CREATE human beings, and USE them for our purposes. And then to KILL them, once they cease to be useful, or before they acquire enough volition to become dangerous. The central question seems to be - who is truly human, the "clones" or the "natural" people ? The powerful seem to be inhuman in their exploitation of the clones, and the people on the lower rungs of the social ladder tend to be robotic in their behavior, since they are powerless and live only to follow orders. And so, as a friend remarks, the main idea here seems to be that the clones are the ONLY humans, since they are the final victims of a vicious cycle, and they alone experience any authentic emotions at all.
First the pros. Money has been spent, and some shots are absolutely amazing. The remastered Final Cut is dazzling to look at in Blu-Ray. If you love production design, photography and original visual effects, you will be in heaven. Its obvious, however, that no consensus was reached during pre-production on what the final film was going to be. Now come the cons. Recall how streamlined and systematic 'Alien' was; Blade Runner sits on the opposite extreme of the discipline scale. No care has been tendered on producing a cogent, coherent screenplay. Shot composition and editing are terrible : the timing and sequencing of consecutive shots is shockingly bad, resulting in a distracting, unfocused and overly long narrative that will not appeal to most viewers. Terrible choice of music that works only for one scene (the "tears in the rain" speech). Another thing that is, in retrospect, a failure, is the casting and acting. All the actors are consistently, terrifically bad.
Blade Runner is a movie that will mean different things to different people. I don't think this is a film that communicates well at all. Its about ideas all right, but I think you should have a solid, fool-proof plan in place before you embark on any big project. Easier said than done, of course.