Blade Runner (1982)

Based on the book by Phillip K. Dick

Available to buy/rent on several streaming services

Directed by Ridley Scott

Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young

A few weeks ago, I watched Apocalypse Now, a genre-expanding movie classic. As I wrote in my review, it exceeded my expectations.

Still in the afterglow of that experience, I decided to watch another breakthrough film from the past. My choice was Blade Runner.

I loved Blade Runner when I first saw it. I loved the imagined future – a steampunk devolution of Los Angeles – created by Ridley Scott and company. And I loved the story – the quirky, noir, sci-fi plot about a cop (Harrison Ford) assigned to eliminating errant robots (“replicants”).

I wondered, before watching it again, whether the special effects would still work. The movie is almost 40 years old. Ancient by technology standards.

And yes, the special effects were dated. But the set design and the photography and the sound effects and score more than made up for that. Those were – and still feel – brilliant. And Harrison Ford played his role pretty much perfectly.

Critical Reception 

As noted in Wikipedia: “Initial reactions among film critics were mixed. Some wrote that the plot took a back seat to the film’s special effects and did not fit the studio’s marketing as an action and adventure movie. Others acclaimed its complexity and predicted it would stand the test of time. Negative criticism in the United States cited its slow pace. Sheila Benson from the Los Angeles Times called it ‘Blade Crawler,’ and Pat Berman… described it as ‘science fiction pornography.’ Pauline Kael praised Blade Runner as worthy of a place in film history for its distinctive sci-fi vision, yet criticized the film’s lack of development in ‘human terms.’”

Over the years, appreciation of Blade Runner has grown and its influence has spread. It currently has an 89% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes (based on 125 reviews) and an Audience Score of 91% (based on 250,000+ ratings).

You can watch the trailer here.

Interesting Facts 

The eventual success of the film brought Phillip K. Dick, author of the book it was based on, to the attention of Hollywood producers. Several of his other books were then made into big movies, including Total Recall (1990), Minority Report (2002), and A Scanner Darkly (2006).

A sequel, Blade Runner 2049, was released in October 2017.