Intruigingly detailed, tense, a great landmark in sci-fi thriller history

Rating: 10/10 (14 September 2008)

THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE FINAL CUT (ON BLU-RAY ALSO) It has taken Ridley Scott 25 years of re-edits to deliver his perfect vision of the original 1980's cult phenomenon, but under the pressure of beating a world-wide marvel, delivering a better cinematic experience is a overwhelming task. The ultimate question is whether Ridley Scott's perfect vision is any good. I can emphatically say it has earned itself a place on the podium of the most extraordinary films ever.
Set in a dystopian and perpetually raining Los Angeles during 2019, the story begins when five replicants escape onto the streets. Replicants are terrifying androids that are visually identical and superior to humans in every way. However, they do have a life span of four years and possess no memory, features which distinguish them from the genuine article. We then discover the lonely main protagonist of the story named Deckard, played convincingly by Harrison Ford, whose job is to eliminate these replicants.
From here a dense noir thriller quickly evolves, fizzling from one visually stunning element to another. However, the best ingredient of this science fiction film is its wariness of not being too tedious by stuffing itself with sci-fi gibberish. Instead, it concentrates on absorbing themes, such as the question of identity or the value of being human. In spite of this, the thing that truly makes it a cult classic is the characters and environment, which are richly detailed and compelling.
To everyone reading this, I leave you with one of the films marvellous quotations; 'I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.'