*MAJOR SPOILERS*
Okay, so this movie has one of the best soundtracks I’ve ever heard. I know I said 2001: A Space Odyssey had good music.. but I lied. Vangelis’ score is absolutely phenomenal; one of the best I’ve ever heard. Now on to the review!
Blade Runner is a 1982, Ridley Scott sci-fi/thriller set in the not so distant future of 2019. The story follows a blade runner that goes by the name of Rick Deckard (played by the great Harrison Ford), who is called back into action when four Nexus 6 replicants (or humanoid androids) escape to earth to find a way to beat death and continue to live. Blade Runner’s idea of the future is spot on, yet kinda far away in some aspects. I enjoyed the technology featured throughout this movie, but I almost felt it was unnecessary at times. By the end of the film I asked myself if this movie could have been set in any other time; ancient, industrial, modern. That’s where Blade Runner lost some of its glory to me. This movie didn’t need to be set in the future, but it was. Was it necessary to the plot? No. Was it awesome? Yes. Truth be told, it was pretty cool to see how many things have become a reality since the film’s debut. I absolutely love seeing movies that actually make well educated guesses on what technology is possible, and how it might benefit us in the future.
Blade Runner is a film about morality, and what it means to be alive. Throughout this film we hear how everything is replicated, or “human designed”, as nothing is real or original; kinda like today’s movies (just kidding). This is what I feel Blade Runner struggles with, as it has a hard time presenting its theme of morality clearly, and making sure that its plot points are transparent and clear to the audience. For example, there are plenty of scenes throughout this movie where I felt misinformed or just plain confused. Why did Roy let Deckard live? Why do replicants bleed? What are the Nexus 6 replicants looking for? Why are they killing people? All these things were left unanswered, or hidden behind deeper meanings. To be honest, I had to go online after watching the movie to read about what the hell went on in the film. If I have to look up a movie’s ending online to understand what actually happened, then the film didn’t do a good job at explaining its story. After doing some post-viewing reading, it seemed to me that a lot of the key elements in this film are hidden in deeper meanings and cues; both done by visual execution, and also hidden in specific lines of dialog. Yes, I believe it is good to have some deeper thoughts and meanings included in your film, but when your story specifically relies on those elements to carry your plot, you ultimately end up leaving your audience confused as to what actually happened.
The most interesting part of this film (for me) was that this was a story about Roy told from the eyes of Deckard (most people will disagree, but hear me out). We see Roy go on a hero’s journey while Deckard’s progression is quite smaller when compared to that of Roy’s. We see this mostly when Roy meets with Tyrell as Roy wants to find a way to cure his short life, yet there is no such thing as a cure for his rapid decay. He’s lived, and he’s going to die; just like everyone else. Roy’s story is very much related to the Epic of Gilgamesh, almost “to a T”, and applaud Ridley Scott for making that parallel (although it is never clearly stated to be). To be honest, Blade Runner should have been about Roy, and not Deckard, since Roy represents the anti-hero and tells the “real” story of morality throughout this film.
Blade Runner succeeds in many different aspects, and fails in others. Like I stated in the opening for this review, Vangelis’ score is absolutely phenomenal, and probably one of the best scores featured in any movie.. Ever. The characters are well portrayed by their actors, and show clear definition as to their progression throughout the film. The scene where Roy talks with Tyrell is one of my favorite scenes in any movie, as it is played out so well. I can’t begin to tell you how much I loved that scene. The cinematography was well done, and I will say it is on the same level as Kubrick and other great sci-fi directors. The places where Blade Runner falls short is with its pacing and story’s development. The movie opens with a text scroll which I feel is completely unnecessary as it could have been told through visual scenes instead of the scrolling text. Star Wars does the text scroll so well because there is so much backstory to be told, while Blade Runner on the other hand, could have shown the audience the events that led to the start of the film instead of telling us by text. I feel like this affected the pacing and story development, as it just threw the audience into an odd start. There aren’t many other places where Blade Runner falls short in its pacing in plot development but the scenes where it does really holds down the pacing of the film and I feel that this confuses the audience.
Overall, Blade Runner got an “Alright” on theVade Review Bar since it was by no means a bad movie, but it was not an amazing film either. I was completely torn between giving this movie and “Good” and an “Alright”, but I felt my honest opinion after watching the film was just.. eh.. So in conclusion, Blade Runner looks great, sounds great, and is an alright movie overall. It does lack, however, in some of its pacing and confusing plot design. This is not the end for Blade Runner though, as a sequel is in the works right now, and I will review it when it comes out as well.
