Dated, but still a classic.

Rating: 9/10 (2 April 2001)

Blade Runner is one of Ridley Scott's earlier films, which, being science fiction, takes place in the future and deals with the common theme of man vs. machine. It seems that there are cyborgs (called `replicants') mixed in with society that resemble humans in every way (they are, in fact, `more human than human,' a statement that all White Zombie fans are sure to notice), and, because they have turned against their makers, they need to be exterminated Â– or `retired,' as it is eloquently called. Clearly, the influence on the Terminator films is unmistakable.
Blade Runner was made in 1982, back when Harrison Ford was working more in sci-fi than anything else, and even though the technology in the film is badly dated, the effect is still impressive. While it's setting is no longer in the distant future (2019), the film is still effective, despite the fact that with each passing year, it becomes less and less likely that the year 2019 will look like that. Besides its obvious influence on the Terminator, Blade Runner also pays subtle homage to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, in a scene where a video phone call charge is $1.25, the exact same charge as a video phone call in 2001 from the space station back to earth.

(spoilers) One of the best features of this film, besides Ford's always-excellent performance, is the skilled direction of Ridley Scott. Also, the special effects were also very impressive, both in creating the futuristic atmosphere and in other areas, such as some very impressive and amazingly violent replicant deaths. Pris' death, in particular, was incredibly convincing. The conflict in this film stems form the fact that Ford's character develops emotional feelings for one of the replicants, and he has to face the reality that she must be destroyed. Clearly, there are numerous scenes in this film that verify the fact that the replicants do, in fact, experience emotion, and this is not shown only by the replicant that Harrison falls for. The nazi looking replicant pushes Pris' tongue back into her mouth with his own tongue after her violent death, which left her tongue protruding slightly. Sure, that's not a real appealing sight, but it makes a pretty strong point.
Blade Runner very much deserves the classic status that it has achieved. It is a very well thought out and very involved science fiction story, and it reflects influences from earlier classic science fiction films like 2001 and even, from the distant past, Metropolis. Harrison Ford delivers a better performance than he did in any of the Star Wars films, and Ridley Scott returns from his brilliant direction of Alien to once again prove his skills as a filmmaker.