I first saw the original Blade Runner on VHS, but I eventually saw it on a big screen at a revival theatre in Nashville, the Belcourt in the early 2000's. Some time ago, likely in the mid-to-late 90's, I also saw the "Director's Cut" on VHS or DVD, I can't recall which.
I put "Director's Cut" in parenthesis, because technically, it is the "Final Cut" version that filmmaker Ridley Scott directly oversaw to his specifications, making it the "real" Director's Cut. It was that latter version of the film I saw most recently, which is why I was more inclined to see an older cut of the film, for reasons I'll get into in a moment.
As you might guess, I was really looking forward to the sequel, but alas, I got a hold of the flu around the time it was released, and never was quite able to get over it in time to see it in theatres, and was wary of getting it again simply by going to one by the time I was. I don't think that was entirely unwarranted, giving that the latest flu going around was quite literally killing people.
Now, as I build up to finally doing just that- unfortunately, the film fell by the wayside in my scramble to see as many Oscar bait-type movies as possible, in order to both make my own list and be prepared for the Oscars and award season in general- I felt it necessary to re-watch the original so that it was fresh in my mind when I saw the sequel.
Unlike my father, with whom I watched the original for the first time, I loved Blade Runner from the moment I saw it. My father is a bit of a traditionalist, and his tastes run towards Westerns, war movies, and, of all things, Disney films and movie musicals.
Aside from Disney, of which I am also a huge fan, our tastes completely differ down the line, though I have since embraced certain classics within the aforementioned genres. (I think my father's filmic schizophrenia instead was passed along to my musical tastes, which are likewise all over the map.)
I personally adore horror movies, certain types of comedy and serious dramas- dad isn't a big fan of anything I love, as a rule, but mom is on board with everything but the horror and cult movie-type stuff, so we got along much better in that area.
Good thing for me she primarily raised me instead of my dad, I guess. Not a big shocker, regardless: we all think our parents' tastes are uncool at some point (if not always), even if we later come around.
Anyway, all of this is to say that, dad was more of a Star Wars person than I was- after all, what is that series (or the original trilogy, at least), if not a glorified Western? Actually, as I would later discover, it's kind of an Eastern-Western, as much influenced by the likes of Kurosawa as it was by movies about Cowboys and Indians. (Or Native Americans, if you prefer, PC types.)
Blade Runner is not that kind of sci-fi movie, to say the least. I'd say it was more of a hybrid of sci-fi, action and Film Noir than anything else. I'm a huge fan of Film Noir, and I think Blade Runner is the primary reason for that. After initially seeing it, I eventually went on to watch a whole bunch of the sub-genre, mostly via the movie networks AMC and TCM.
Let's face it, though, it's hard to shake one's original experience of a film- or music, for that matter, as anyone who's listened to a demo version of a song can attest- though there will always be those who swear they prefer the "original" version of something, I suppose, just as there will always be those who prefer the intended "final cut" of something to something in its rawer form. To each their own.
That said, as I prepared to finally see the sequel, I opted to go for one of the alternate cuts of the film, in order to see one of the many versions I haven't seen for the first time. As fans know, there are a LOT of different versions of this film. The most readily available are the original, the "Director's Cut," the "Final Cut" and the so-called "Workprint" version.
There's also a bunch of fan-edits out there, which incorporate deleted scenes and the like and vary in terms of whether they include the voice-over narration or not, the "happy ending" or not, and/or the "unicorn dream" bit. Though I wouldn't rule out watching one of those at some point, I have yet to see any of these versions- I'm still working my way through the others.
Though I considered watching the "Workprint" version, ultimately, I went with the "International Cut," which is basically just a slightly longer, more violent cut of the original version. My main reason for this was that I assumed the new film would follow in the footsteps of the original version, and not any of the multiple other ones, which change certain things, and not always for the better.
I've avoided reading too much about the sequel, not wanting to spoil anything, so I can't be sure, but if worse comes to worse, I can always re-watch the "Final Cut" again and re-watch the sequel a second time. I don't expect it to ruin things either way, save the fact that I sadly won't be able to see the sequel in a movie theatre for the first time.
Somewhat ironically, as those who've been reading my reviews for a while are aware, I'm actually not a big proponent of voice-over narration. More often than not, I hate it and find it completely unnecessary. But whether or not it's because I saw the film before I had such prejudices or whatever, it works for me here. Sometimes it does- most of the time, it doesn't.
Here, I think it works for me because I was so young when I first saw the original, and kind of needed things spelled out for me a bit more. But not only that. Since then, as I've mentioned, I became a big fan of Film Noir, and, as many fans of that sub-genre know, there's a lot of that sort of thing in films like that, so that's probably part of it as well.
But really, even beyond that, I think I just prefer the idea of Deckard (Harrison Ford) and Rachael (Sean Young) getting their happy ending, even if it's a bit of a cheat. You'll recall that the voice-over mentions that, unlike other replicants, Rachael is "special," and thus, doesn't have a short-term life span, like most of the replicants Deckard has to deal with throughout the film.
While I get why some find that to be a bit tacked on, it's the version I grew up with, so the more open-ended later cuts didn't sit well with me, and the absence of the narration admittedly took me out of those versions somewhat, not to mention how abrupt the ending was. For once, I actually prefer the glossed-over Hollywood happy ending. Go figure.
(I have similar feelings about David Lynch's version of the book Wild at Heart, which also opts to forgo the more open-ended, sadder ending of the book for a happy one, which is interesting, because I tend to prefer my Lynch more open-to-interpretation. But I saw the movie before I read the book, so... you know the drill.)
Whatever the case, and whatever version you prefer, there's no denying that this film is a bona fide masterpiece, and near perfect in execution. Yes, I'm aware that the film didn't exactly set the box office on fire when it was originally released, and critical reception was mixed, to say the least, but you could say that about a lot of films that are now regarded as classics, so who cares?
My point is, everything about this film feels right to me, including the dream-like pacing, which I can understand how some people- like my father- would find slow and sleep-inducing. That's not always a bad thing, IMHO, though, as I have a number of films I actually like falling asleep to, as they serve as sort of a creature comfort in helping me relax. Maybe that's just me, but I don't always see something being trance-inducing as a negative.
I also get why Ford fans who prefer him in action hero-mode, a la Han Solo or Indiana Jones, wouldn't care for it, given that Deckard basically has his ass handed to him almost every step of the way in the movie, even if he eventually comes out on top- albeit barely, and not without some help from Batty.
One could also make a case for his being kind of a vicious killer, given that he shoots a lot of his prey in cold blood, including one in the back- and a woman, at that. I mean, technically, it is a robot, so "killing" isn't exactly the right word, really- any more than calling one a "woman" is completely accurate. It may look like a human and act like a human, but is it?
Of course, it's precisely these sorts of questions that make a film like this so fascinating. Should a robot taught to feel, taught to think of itself as human- who, in fact, may not even know they aren't human- be treated cruelly? Does it matter if we mistreat them, or make them into slaves, when they're technically just machines, after all, and intended for just such a purpose?
Of course, dozens, if not hundreds of sci-fi films have explored precisely such quandaries, perhaps most notably, as of late, the HBO series Westworld, which takes such things to a whole 'nother level. It's a fascinating thing to think about, especially as android-type robots become closer and closer to being a reality.
Though I do have one quibble: the film is set in, heart be still, 2019, which is, of course, next year, as I write this. As such, where the hell are our flying cars? We were promised flying cars! Hell, they haven't even figured out the hover-board quite yet, lol. Sci-fi movies, you lie! 😃
That said, it's a minor quibble, obviously. (Though I do laugh every time I see the Atari logo- it would be more accurate if Deckard slid and fell on a pile of unused E.T. video-game cartridges, given how south that company went shortly thereafter.) This film, even by today's CGI-heavy standards, looks amazing. Everything looks so real, save maybe the somewhat primitive computer-related stuff. (Speaking of Atari, lol.)
Though, even there, the movie totally called picture-enhancing software and being able to zoom in on specific things in a photo and print them out, which would become a reality not too long after that. So, points for being on the money about some things, at least.
The atmosphere of the film is amazing, and feels so real, so lived-in. A lot of that is helped by the real-life location-shooting, which includes scenes shot at, fittingly enough, the Bradbury Building in L.A. Though not named for Ray- and if you don't know the name Ray Bradbury, you really need to brush up on your sci-fi, stat- it's still a cool coincidence.
Another thing I love is the music. The score, by Vangelis, of Chariots of Fire fame, is top-notch, and so good that, even the loads of music that wasn't used is just as good as anything in the movie. Talk about an aural, mood-setting experience. If ever there were better chill-out music released, I have yet to hear it, save maybe some of Tangerine Dream's stellar work, which also includes plenty of film scoring.
The cast is, of course, also pretty stellar throughout. If anything, as much as I love Ford, he may well be the least interesting actor here, which is saying something. The supporting cast is fascinating and involving from top to bottom, from the one-offs, like James Hong (of the still-underrated Big Trouble in Little China fame) and Morgan Paull (The Swarm, the criminally under-seen Fade to Black), to the main attractions, like Daryl Hannah (Splash, Kill Bill), as the sexy, sinewy Pris, and an arguably never-better Rutger Hauer, as lead replicant Roy Batty.
Hauer is, by turns, scary, charismatic, alluring, intimidating, philosophical and near-feral- often all at once. It's a mesmerizing performance, to be sure, never more so than in his final, rain-drenched scene on the roof, where he delivers one of the more memorable monologues in sci-fi history.
I don't want to sell him short, as an actor, so if you haven't seen his work in other movies, be sure to check him out in Lady Hawke, Flesh + Blood, Nighthawks and plenty more where that came from- he's pretty great, and while he may have had more expansive roles in other movies, I will probably always think of this one first, and I certainly don't mean that as an insult, in spite of his limited screen time here. Sometimes the best performances are the ones that do a lot with only a little, you know?
I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the solid work by several others, including M. Emmet Walsh, as the cantankerous Harry Bryant, who brow-beats and threatens Deckard out of his self-imposed retirement to work for him again. Walsh went onto to even greater heights, acting-wise, in another modern Noir, the Coen Brothers' excellent Blood Simple.
There's also Edward James Olmos as the mysterious, origami-happy Gaff- he went onto to even more sci-fi with the TV reboot of Battlestar Galatica and Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.- as well as roles in genre-friendly fare like Wolfen and The Green Hornet.
Shout-outs are also due to Joe Turkel (The Killing, The Shining), as the mad genius Dr. Tyrell; William Sanderson (The Rocketeer, TV's Newhart, Deadwood and True Blood) as the gentle robot-maker J. F. Sebastian; the intense Brion James (48 Hours, The Fifth Element, lots of TV, circa the late 70's-90's) as the murderous Leon Kowalski; and the sultry, snake-handling Joanna Cassidy (Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Vampire in Brooklyn, Ghosts of Mars).
Finally, there's the inimitable Sean Young, who should have been a bigger star, but never quite was, thanks to some iffy choices along the way. She's just perfection as Rachael, the replicant that captures Deckard's heart and challenges everything he knew- or thought he did- about androids.
You can check her out in the Bill Murray vehicle Stripes, the underrated Lynch adaptation of Frank Herbert's epic Dune, and several Noir-ish flicks like No Way Out, The Boost, A Kiss Before Dying and Love Crimes. More recently, she appeared in some decent horror flicks, including Parasomnia, Jug Face and the Western-Horror hybrid Bone Tomahawk.
Though she never quite got the success she deserved, in part due to an alcohol addiction (Young was in and out of rehab several times in the 2000's) and erratic behavior (she famously showed up at WB studios unannounced in a home-made Catwoman outfit to lobby Tim Burton for the part), she's worked steadily from the moment she entered the business on both TV and the movies from the early 80's onward.
That's more than some can say, even if a lot of her movies were of the straight-to-video type. She couldn't be more gorgeous and alluring than she is here, that's for sure, and I just love her costuming- and the costuming in the movie in general, really. Cool hair, too.
All of the aforementioned elements come together, under the visionary direction of Ridley Scott, then-hot off of yet another sci-fi classic, Alien; as well as the sumptuous cinematography of Jordan Cronenweth, also hot off another sci-fi classic, Altered States, which I covered previously, and you can read about here.
The latter won several awards for his cinematography in this film, in fact, including a BAFTA. Cronenweth also did the honors for another sci-fi fave of mine, the criminally underrated Buckaroo Banzai, as well as one of the all-time great concert films, the Talking Heads flick Stop Making Sense.
Scott, of course, went onto to lots of successful films, notably Legend, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, American Gangster and The Martian. He also re-visited Alien territory with Prometheus and Alien: Covenant and served as an executive producer on the recent sequel to this film, Blade Runner 2049.
In short- though I've admittedly gone on a bit long here- this is flat-out one of my all-time favorite films in any genre, which I do believe I said about Altered States as well. I'm not a huge sci-fi person, but when done right, as it obviously is here, I really appreciate it.
I know stuff like the Star Wars franchise is more celebrated and "fun"- just ask my dad- but I'll take more cerebral material like this any day of the week, no matter what version of Blade Runner I watch, even if I do prefer the original incarnations. Something about Deckard being implied to be a replicant doesn't sit well with me, and, respectfully, you can save the unicorns for Legend, Mr. Scott.
That said, Blade Runner is a spell-binder in any form, and justly deserves its classic status, "cult" or otherwise. If you haven't seen it, then you owe it to yourself to watch it at least once- but I personally recommend this version, which retains the elements I like about the original with more gritty action and violence that makes it feel that much more "real." It's a keeper.
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