Blade Runner

With Ridley Scott's newest film, Exodus: Gods and Kings coming out within the next week, I figured that now was as good a time as any to finally watch the "holier-than-thou" Blade Runner. It's no secret that Scott has been in a bit of a slump lately...I liked Prometheus more than most, but last year's The Counselor was abysmal. So I wanted to see one of his "classics".

I've never seen the film before I watched it for this review, which instilled quite a bit of fear in me. I've always heard stellar things about it and I know that it is incredibly highly regarded among sci-fi nerd circles of which I include myself.

So what would happen if I didn't like it? Or at the very least if I wasn't as impressed with it as I felt I should be?

Dare I incur the wrath of those who hold this film in the highest regard?

Regardless of the blowback, I think that Blade Runner falls into a very specific category that has become a bit of an emerging trend in my Retro Reviews: films that blew audiences away when they released (in this case, 1982), but, for several different reasons, fail to impress as much to first-time viewers in this day and age.

Blade Runner is a film with a wild imagination and in my naivety of older films, I imagine that many aspects of it have been replicated and copied numerous times in the 30+ years since its release, which is probably a significant reason as to why I wasn't completely blown away. But just because I had seen many of these aspects before shouldn't take away from the film's originality and the fantastic, if a bit weird, world that it creates. With the fantastic visuals, unique take on law enforcement, flying cars, and robotics, I can easily see how this film became a cult sci-fi classic back then.

"Pretty birrrd. Pretty birrrd. Polly want a cracker?"

Not so tough without Chewie, huh?

I found the story to be highly interesting, as it poses some interesting questions in the realm of science fiction, mainly stemming around slavery, allowing robots to create memories and emotions, and the law. In that regard, it feels like a classic and it shows a lot of imagination and unique thinking coming from Scott. The characters were also memorable, not just because of their appearances, but because of the script that lends itself to some good characterization. That being said, the way the film is presented is incredibly disjointed and I found it much harder to follow than it needed to be. I know that there are umpteen-million different cuts of this film out there (which I think is ridiculous) and I'm not entirely positive which one that I watched. But in classic 80s fashion, the editing was sloppy and jagged, presenting many scenes that felt out of place, shoehorned in, or incomplete. Given that this is Scott we are talking about, I was surprised by this and a little bummed that a movie with as much potential as Blade Runner was marred by this issue (kind of reminded me of some of Interstellar's recent issues). Much like with that film, it's not the end of the world, but it is an issue nonetheless. Another issue that I had was just how weird the film got on several occasions. It sets up one type of world that was a cool sci-fi environment, and near the end the finale happens at some freak show circus place with one replicant doing flips in a horrendously choreographed fight scene. The term "off the rails" began to apply.

Oh 80's fashion and hair...you're hilarious!

It's interesting to watch Blade Runner from another standpoint because you immediately begin to  see Scott's visual skill and his ability to capture some amazing frames. The cinematography of the film as a whole is stunning and certainly echoes a type of filmmaking that was before its time back in 1982. It also has an awesome, and super 80s, original score combined with some great sound editing of the futuristic sci-fi world.

So this is what 2019 is supposed to look like?
Man we got a long way to go.

Blade Runner is a perfect example, at least in my mind, of a film that blew audiences away with it's world and creativity upon first release and is still impressive to a first-time viewer in 2014, although one with its fair share of flaws. Luckily, other than the painfully obvious 80s aesthetics, it ages really well and I enjoyed my viewing of it, despite having already seen many films that borrowed from it before.

While I may not love and view it as a sci-fi classic or cult classic, I understand how it acquired those adjectives and groupings.

CONS:

• Not a con against the film per say, but it's been borrowed/copied in many ways since its release, making it a little less impressive to me in 2014
• Sloppy editing and pacing tends to lead to a film that is harder to follow and slightly duller than it should have been
• One of the fight scenes near the end is idiotic
• The "weirdness" at the end seems out of place

PROS:

• Imaginative world that is bursting with originality and interesting ideas
• From a science fiction perspective, it has a lot of interesting things to say
• Good characterization
• 80s awesomeness
• Original score
• Classic Scott cinematography
• Strong ending despite its oddities

 Retro Rath's Review Score: 8/10