Movie Details
| Title: | Blade Runner | |
| Director: | Ridley Scott | |
| Year: | 1982 | |
| Genre: | Science Fiction | |
| Times Seen: | 2 | |
| Last Seen: | 10.27.25 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (10)
- Alien: Covenant
- American Gangster
- Black Hawk Down
- Body of Lies
- The Counselor
- Kingdom of Heaven
- Legend
- The Martian
- Prometheus
- Robin Hood
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 10.27.25 | Internet | I wound up watching this along with the one twitch streamer i follow who frequently paused to give his commentary as a life-long nerd and fan (he did the similar thing with the musical 1776 as well as The Stone Tape and several shows which I enjoyed (The Sandbaggers, one oor two episodes of The Prisoner, a handful of Star Trek: The Original Series eps)). As such, it took him about four hours to get through the movie, constantly pausing to talk about stuff. It's an interesting way to watch a movie for sure. I knew a bunch of what he said but not all, agreed with a lot that he said but not all. We watched the theatrical cut with the voice over where he had several strong arguments for its inclusion. I'm sure I've already written this in other entries but I'm a pretty lukewarm Ridley Scott fan. The two of his movies i do have to agree with those who hold him in the pantheon of great directors are this and Alien. And both movies I don't think have great, or even good stories, but the design and presentation of an entire lived-in world are undeniable. A thing that sort of dawned on me during this viewing (something the twitch streamer did not call out) was that I wonder if Scott intentionally chose iconic Los Angeles locations like Union Station and the Bradbury building to show us how different his world is? This movie was heavily discussed in that doc about L.A. location shooting and at the time I thought it was because Blade Runner's look and photography were so striking that the documentarian got good bang for buck (like that Todd McCarthy doc on cinematography Visions of Light that makes your jaw drop at all the amazing shots he uses), but now I'm thinking it was more because Blade Runner is intentionally a Los Angeles movie. It's not Neo-Tokyo or some other made up cyberpunk city like Night City, it's specifically L.A. in 2019. Soo I enjoyed watching this again under this very particular circumstance. I also got a kick at recognizing even more stuff (like Zhora's clear-plastic coat) that Cyberpunk 2077 took. I don't know that I'll be diving into all the different cuts any time soon, but it's nice to see movies like this again. |
| 11.22.07 | Paramount | Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. I saw two movies today. soooo... ok let me just get this out in the open. I like Blade Runner and see how others could love it but do not love it myself and feel Ridley Scott has traded too much on this and Alien over the years to become a really overrated director, which takes the film down a few notches in my mind. That said, it's been a while since I've seen it (I believe I've only seen the theatrical cut once and the director's cut once and that's it) so I figured I owe it another viewing and a chance to see it theatrically shouldn't be passed up. My feelings on the movie are largely unchanged. I mean yes the visual design is striking, the ideas are interesting, Rutger Hauer is badass (except for when he howls) and the music's great. I just don't feel the actual story. Looking at the scenery is fine but there's something about the pacing and the actual plot that rubs me the wrong way. Plus, why are there 6 rotating spotlights right outside of every window on the Bradbury building? is that some future-thing we can all look forward to? But anyway... I want to really like Deckard but he doesn't really do much. Other than killing Joanna Cassidy, he's awfully reactive. The same could be said for The Dude and lots of other noir leading men so I shouldn't complain but... he's kind of a wuss. Plus I really don't like how Scott went on record with Deckard being a replicant. If he is a replicant... why is he a replicant? Was all the "i walked in here quit, I'm walking out twice as quit" just implanted memories and the cops were going along with the little charade because this replicant can hunt other replicants better than any human? Do they program replicants to be alcoholic? If he's designed to hunt other replicants, shouldn't he be a bit stronger and less wussy? It seems like that would be a more usefull skill when hunting replicants that believing you're human. What, do they have to make him believe he's a human to avoid hurting his feelings? he's a robot! You can tell him what to think! I don't get it (because it doesn't make sense). The same thing with the spotlights through the windows... just doesn't make sense to me. I like my science fiction to make sense. Still, the movie looks beautiful and a few shots (like the last handheld shot with the door closing and Deckard going with Sean Young) are really iconic and classic and such. I dislike the term "neo-noir" but do appreciate how they use the archetypes like the private detective and Sean Young's look (which is also why I liked the narration). Overall, I still like it but not love it, and that's probably the way it'll stay. |
