Ridley Scott's sci-fi classic brings a film noir feel to a futuristic Earth where human-like renegade androids called replicants are hunted by blade runner assassins. However killing a replicant isn't murder; it's retirement. Perfectly paced for its haunting material, BLADE RUNNER is a moody detective story, but also ponders bigger issues about the meaning of life. If you knew that the day of your death was predetermined, but didn't know the day, how would that affect the way you live your life?
Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford, INDIANA JONES) is the best blade runner around. Detective Bryant (M. Emmet Walsh, BLOOD SIMPLE) calls on his services after four top model replicants escaped an off-world site and since coming to Earth killed a police officer. Deckard is losing the taste for killing replicants, so Bryant keeps creepy detective Gaff (Edward James Olmos, STAND & DELIVER) on his tail. Meanwhile the renegade replicants, led by the military model Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer, TURKISH DELIGHT), begin searching for Eldon Tyrell (Joe Turkel, THE SHINING), the creator of the replicants. In his mission to retire Batty, Deckard visits Tyrell and meets the seductive woman Rachael (Sean Young, NO WAY OUT), who turns out to be the most advanced replicants he has ever seen. Sadly she doesn't know she isn't human.
A masterwork of tone, Scott crafted a world that has influenced dozens upon dozens of sci-fi films since. A dirty future that looks like an exaggerated version of the modern world, especially when it comes to over-exaggerated advertising. Scott has tinkered with the film ever since its original theatrical release was hampered with a studio-insisted voice over. Considering the film was a box office failure, but has since gained a classic status since with most fans having long forgotten the original cut, Scott's true vision has been vindicated. Those fans are the ones that look for something more than the visceral in their sci-fi. BLADE RUNNER is a moody piece, draped in shadows. This has stayed the same across all the versions.
As for the characters, Deckard is a typical film noir, grizzled private eye. He's manipulated by the cops, who offload their dirty work on him. He falls for a marked woman; one he's supposed to kill. Ford makes the character a beaten man whose indifference is a hazard of the job. For a top killer, he can be awkward and vulnerable at times. His soft spot for Rachael is against everything he's supposed to be, but I think he feels sorry for her, because it's not her choice to be a replicant, just like his role as a blade runner has become. Depending on whether you read Deckard as human or replicant (there are supporters on both sides), the film takes on different nuances. Though Scott has declared that Deckard is a replicant in his mind, the film's ambiguity allows viewers to make up their own mind, giving the film different readings.
As replicants get older they begin developing emotions, which makes them dangerous. They begin wanting respect. Born fully-grown, Roy Batty is nearing his termination date and like a bitter terminal patient lashes out against God for the bum wrap. In his case, God is Eldon Tyrell, a man who likes to play God. Hauer's "villain" is one of the most unique in film history, because we develop such sympathy with a character whom we should be scared of.
This sad tale deals with the grandest issue of all — life and death. More specifically, it deals with the quality of life and the mark that we leave behind. If our life at the end amounts to our memories, what was our life worth if there is no one to be a witness to our lives, or even worse discover that part of those memories are completely false? Deckard and Rachael's unorthodox love becomes key to this idea — life is too short to not follow your heart.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
