THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Dreams can lead to a great desire or something that is beyond one’s control. I never realized that until I saw Blade Runner.
PLOT
Based on Philip K Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the film takes place in a fictional 2019 Los Angeles. Bioengineered humanoids known as Replicants became illegal after a bloody off world mutiny caused by Nexus 6 models. Former police officer Rick Deckard is assigned as a blade runner to execute or ‘retire’ the escaped replicants. There are four known replicants he must take down: Roy Batty, Zhora (Joanna Cassidy), Leon (Bruno James) and Pris. Deckard visits Eldon Tyrell, the corporate head of Tyrell Corporation that produces replicants, to administer a Voight Kampff test to determine his newest models apart from humans. He tests it on Eldon’s assistant, who believes she is human despite the fact that she is proven to be a replicant instead. When he returns to his apartment, Rachael visits him to prove her humanity, but he explains that her memories were implanted. He later tracks Zhora down to a strip club and shoots her down. This would lead to being ambushed by Leon, only for him to be killed by Rachael. Deckard is then assigned by his former supervisor Captain Bryant (M Emmet Walsh) to also retire Rachael, which he plans not to do. In the meantime, Roy and Pris have encountered genetic designer JF Sebastian (William Sanderson) in order to reach their maker Eldon. When he confronts him at his penthouse, he demands an extension of life as he is designed for a four year lifespan. He then kills him and Sebastian when being explained that it’s impossible. When Deckard finds out of their deaths, he searches Sebastian’s apartment, only to find Pris who he kills. When Roy appears, he chases him down as his body begins to fail, reaching the end of his lifespan. As Deckard gets to the roof of the building and tends to jump onto another roof, he misses and hangs onto the edge. However, Roy chooses to save him before reaching the end. When Deckard tends to leave California with Rachael, he finds an origami unicorn left behind by his partner Gaff. While the final cut cuts to black by the time he enters the elevator, the theatric cut concludes when it shows him and Rachael on the run, revealing that she has no expiration date.
THOUGHTS
I have been seeing this film since during my time in high school being mind blown of the whole thing. Years later, even after a sequel caught me off guard as well, I still can’t get this one out of my head. When I’m thinking about Vangelis' majestic score or the visual effects that is aging fine like wine, I think about how Director Ridley Scott is trying to show what it means to be human. It teaches us on the importance of empathy, which is what divides humans from everything else. In a way, humanity does not have source but multiple, and if we choose to spend our time differing, then we're really not getting anywhere as we wouldn't deserve it if we choose to be self proclaimed. It's clear to me that we are human is self awareness, how we are capable of reflecting on past judgments and emotions we have. I felt all of this this through one of the most diverse characters I've ever seen. Harrison Ford gives another home run performance in the prime of his career for making Rick Deckard the most complex of characters he's ever played: He is someone who acts as a drifter by living at his own pace and doesn't exactly think twice about his actions. He looked at his job as a job nothing more until this very investigation. When first retiring replicants, he didn't put any thought of it because he was only getting rid of what were identified as hazards. However, he finally took notice of how they're just as alive as him. I personally don't think he is a replicant because I identify unicorn dream is a coincidence. I also didn't mind the narration from the theatric cut because it helps viewers understand his perspective and notice how he changes his way of thinking. Aside from Rachael's beauty, he grows so attached to her because he sees how innocent she is and doesn't deserve to die. And when he killed Zhora, he grew regret because he realized that she was minding her business in the life she was living. His newfound happiness may have been temporary, but it definitely good while it lasted as he truly embraces humanity for the first time. Sean Young makes impact of her own in the role of Rachael. You quickly connect with her based on how naive she is, because that is believable she is in what she thinks she is. You quickly feel bad for her as the life she thinks she's had is false and it crumbles so quickly upon realization. She accepts Deckard's advances because he is the first and only one to accept her for who she is and doesn't act dishonest towards her. I also enjoyed Edward James Olmos because he portrayed Gaff as the total opposite of Deckard, flamboyant. Whenever he spoke English or the fictional Cityspeak, he always tried to make himself stand out in front of him, particularly with his hobby of origami. I personally believe that he left behind the unicorn origami not to tease his partner, but to let him know he respects his newfound morality. I also grew interest of Joe Turkel as Tyrell because he is honestly the true villain of this story. He is quietly a greedy man because he chooses to minimize the life of replicants only to give Rachael immortality, which honestly feels illogical. I didn't hope for him to die, but it was felt bound to happen as a consequence to play God. While Daryl Hannah's Pris can be living switch, as in going from harmless to psychotic in the blink of an eye, Rutger Hauer's Roy Batty is the most interesting replicant because he doesn't feel like a villain as humans view him to be. He is a violent figure, only because he is fighting to live like the others by his side. I don't think it is wrong to fight for fundamental rights and not be recognized as disposable. He definitely felt the most evolved because the life he got to live made him come off more eloquent than any replicant before. And that eloquency sparked the emotions he never thought he'd have. He chooses to spare Deckard because he remembered how precious life is and if his is, that includes someone who is against him. So when he dies as expected and accepts his fate, you feel bad because not even he deserved to go out in such a cruel summer. The fact that he found beauty in a futuristic wasteland made him more human than anyone he's ever encountered. This film is without question a timeless one, but even with such given praise, I can admit some issues I had when re watching. First off, it was a wild cold open to see Leon shoot his way out, but how was he not patted down for the gun? I know you can’t predict the future, but even in a fictional one, I’m surprised that this was not a factor for those you worry could be replicants. I respect Bryant for expositing the further origin of replicants in order for the audience to understand what they’re in for, but I’m thrown off that he’s gotta tell this Deckard, an experienced blade runner. If you wanted us to understand the replicants better, that should’ve been part of the opening reading. You guys know I hate continuity errors, so consider me very confused of Deckard not having a stain of goo on his finger when he picks up the scale. Also, how is Pris not being cautious in public when she is a wanted replicant. I understand she needs to find Sebastian to get to Tyrell, but she isn’t trying to have a disguise until after meeting Sebastian which is ridiculous. I generally enjoy the majority of this film’s production design, but I am not onboard with a light fixture on a couch behind someone’s head. No wonder Deckard struggles to sleep, because he rests his head on that light which’ll bother him like crazy. I even had a hard time believing that he caught up to Zhora when he was stumbling the whole time and she was sprinting her way to life. I know we need to be shown that he’s good at his job, but it’s still gonna hard to but that he caught up like he’s the Flash. And how the hell did Roy escape after killing Tyrell? That building should’ve been on lockdown immediately and it’s crazy that even a place like that was lacking on security systems. If that wasn’t confusing enough, my head is spinning on how he knew who Deckard is because it’s not like replicants would know such a thing before the end of their lifespans. If someone told him about Deckard the way he was told about Tyrell and Sebastian, that should’ve made every cut possible. Ignore these issues and you’ll still be able to enjoy this movie for what it is. In short, Blade Runner lives on as a sci fi classic for opening our minds on what is and isn’t real. If being thought provoking is your kind of film, see this now.
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