Sleep-inducing film smothered by its production design.

Rating: 5/10 (14 April 2013)

I tried. I really did. After all these years, this critic finally forced himself to watch Blade Runner from start to finish. I guess I got the more recent director's cut since I recall Harrison Ford narrating parts of the film I'd previously seen, but alas this time he had very little to say. They should have kept the narration. If nothing else it may have helped the audience understand and care about him a little more. But with such a moody and gloomy picture combined with its snail pace story, I'm really not sure what could have saved this.
The story is interesting enough. Its kind of a police thriller but played out in a futuristic version of Los Angeles. Ford plays some kind of a detective who is assigned to locate and exterminate a handful of "replicants". These are androids created to do some type of slave labor on other planets. Apparently they have been deemed too dangerous to be allowed back on earth and must be killed if they are found here. A few scenes show us in graphic detail that they can be capable of psychotic mayhem. Too bad the film isn't even half as interesting as this paragraph makes it sound. Ridley Scott had already struck gold with Alien, but here he tries a much grander kind of science fiction. It just doesn't work.
First off, Harrison Ford is miscast. He himself was critical of this film which failed at the box office at a time when he was on top of the world with his Han Solo and Indiana Jones characters. The star power and energy he brought to those roles could never have been allowed on the set of Blade Runner. The production design is grand, yet dreary. Its always raining, and the L.A. we are introduced to seems to never see the sunshine. The street-level sets are impressively detailed, and populated with some wonderful character-actors. The cast, aside from Ford, is terrific. Hauer is perhaps at his best here. Remember when Sean Young was actually a star? Some of the special effects like wide cityscapes and flying objects are unconvincing to say the least. The giant pyramids look just like the models they were, only filmed at special angles attempting to give them the proper scope. The synthesizer score did little for me. Worse than anything though is the fact that its just boring. This plot could have really been crafted into an exciting thriller. It hardly sounds like the script was faithful to the source material, so why not pump some life into this film? There are plenty of "cult films" that I like too, so I can understand some of the positive reviews. I just found Blade Runner neither deep enough intellectually, nor compelling as a thriller. Very little action, either. 5 of 10 stars.
The Hound.