Release date: June 25, 1982
Genres: Science Fiction
Director: Ridley Scott
Writer: David Webb Peoples
Starring: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young
Blade Runner is about Deckard (Harrison Ford), a Blade Runner - someone who hunts down genetically-engineered humans called replicants. He’s been retired but when four replicants kill their human captors and flee, Deckard is brought back to “retire” the replicants.
The story to this film is pretty straightforward, but what makes it special are the visual effects and the questions it raises towards the end. This film was released in 1982, way before computer- generated effects were being used in movies. And yet everything in this film feels completely realistic. The world that is this movie is so well-realized that you are immediately immersed into it. Even though this is common for science-fiction movies, I think Blade Runner is second to none when it comes to creating a perfectly believable world.
And the themes it employs make it even more believable. The replicants in this film are just as intelligent as humans and are genetically engineered so that they match human anatomy in pretty much every way. This film raises questions of what makes humans human and what really is the difference between a genuine human and a synthetic one. There is a character in this movie revealed to be a replicant that doesn’t know it’s a replicant. How could that be possible and what does that imply about humanity and what we think we are? There are so many questions raised by simple plot details like adding a short lifespan to a replicant. What will happen when our lifespan expires, to use the terms in Blade Runner? If we meet our maker, can we increase our lifespan? What would it even be like to meet our maker? This movie is just so fascinating! There are so many questions that this movie really addresses without even much dialogue - you just see it in the actions of the lead replicant, played to perfection by Rutger Hauer.
But for all of the great visual effects and philosophy, this movie has some problems with its story. There is a completely unbelievable love story in this film that is both completely unnecessary and literally forced that actually hinders the movie’s more interesting storyline with the replicants. Deckard is just not an that interesting a character and does some downright stupid things in his attempts to kill the four replicants. So if you’re picky about your central story, you might be a little frustrated by this film.
That having been said, there is too much here to like. The movie is packed with little clues about its story and what it means that you pick up on new things with each viewing. I think the visual effects are absolutely fantastic and the implications of the story make me think every time.