Considering the robot uprising is imminent, the fact that I hadn't seen Ridley Scott's humanoid masterpiece "Blade Runner" was a massive hole in my preparation for my future enslavement by the machines. I heard many things about the film, some good and some bad, so I was intrigued to see if it would provide me some answers. I got a copy of the film* on Blu-Ray, notified my roommate John Connor that I would definitely fight against SKYNET, and dove into the world of Blade Runner.Watching the film on Blu-Ray was an incredible experience, the cinematography by Jordan Cronenweth is astounding. I read here how Cronenweth and director Scott wanted the film to look like a noir and they totally succeeded. And it's not just the look of the film screams noir, it's the entire story. You have a detective played by Ford, his fat tubby boss, a femme fatale, a pure evil bad guy, a damsel in distress, and the wise-cracking partner. They're all here, granted with a wild sci-fi twist.
But beyond the fact that it's a very well put together future noir, what really struck me about the film was the ideas it presented. Sure they weren't as mind blowing as the space mind melt extravaganza that is "2001," but they seem more timely. With Watson on "Jeopardy," and the singularity on the cover of TIME, the issues of sentient computers is still prevalent almost 20 years after it's initial release. Shit, some people even think that Watson got that last question wrong on "Jeopardy" on purpose to keep us calm (before the uprising). Ridley Scott was ahead of his time with this one and I'm happy to report the film still holds up as a borderline masterpiece. No word if the film will serve as a template to stop the robot uprising though.
* I know there are like 7 versions of the film, I watched the 1992 directors cut.
THIS IS FACE OF OUR FUTURE ROBOT ENEMY
This is one of my all-time favorite films. I can hardly believe you hadn't seen it. Darryl Hannah is a vision in her raccoon makeup, Rutger Hauer is just plain scary, and William Sanderson is brilliantly naive and creepy (a great prelude to his future awesomeness in "Deadwood" and one of my favorite later episodes of Lost "He's Our You.")
ReplyDeleteSlight correction: you said it's been nearly 20 years since the films initial release, but since the film came out in 1982, it is on the verge of its 30th anniversary now.