Blade Runner Review

Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott tells the story of a world destroyed by nuclear war. Set in a nihilistic, dystopian future, Harrison Ford plays Rick Deckard, an ex-cop turned bounty hunter who's job it is to hunt down and "retire" androids, or "replicants". These replicants are like people in every way, except they have stunted emotions and they are programmed to have a four-year lifespan. They are meant for slave labour, but are illegal once they escape from their owners. Four of these replicants escape the outer-world colonies back to earth, led by by the intelligent and ruthless Roy Batty, played by Rutger Hauer. His goal is to prolong life, and seeks answers in Los Angeles while Deckard hunts for this group in order to kill them. Deckard also has time to meet Rachael, a young woman working for the replicant producing Tyrell Corporation, though she doesn't know she's a replicant herself. This might sound like a post apocalyptic action thriller, but it's more like a film-noir detective thriller, with shades of grey and a flawed hero set in a decaying society.
I was attracted to this film because I'm a fan of Phillip K Dick, whose novel, 'Do Androids Dream Electric Sheep?' provided the basis of the story. The film deals with themes of humanity and good and evil; the replicants all experience human emotions, they cry and feel loss and love. At first it seems the antagonistic replicants are soulless killing machines, but as the film goes on, it is Deckard which fits this mold: he says very little, he seems detached from other characters and he forces a distraught Rachael into having sex with him against her will. Roy Batty, however, grieves for each of his comrades, cries when confronting his "father-maker", Tyrell and shows both child like mischief and sexual desire with JF Sebastian and Pris, who herself is a Puck-like figure of innocence.
There are numerous versions of Blade Runner I'm told, one involving Deckard having a voice over narration. I have only seen the "final cut" Ridley Scott chose on the DVD, and that's the one shown on TV nowadays. I prefer the fact that none of the characters except Batty say what they really mean. Everyone's an enigma, from Deckard to Gaff to Rachael to Deckard's superior. Instead of being told what's happening, we experience it, we discover new things for ourselves, usually as Deckard's discovering them.
There's an apocalyptic, claustrophobic noir atmosphere throughout the entire film, which I love. The lighting, the gorgeous sets and scenery, the visuals. The cast are all great, with Rutger Hauer standing out of a great ensemble. A special kudos to Edward James Olmos for making the best of his short role as Gaff. In the documentary it's stated how Hauer and Olmos interpreted their characters and so added to them and expanded them, like for instance, Batty's hair and final speech, and Olmos' dress sense and accent.
As Deckard picks off the replicants, a disenfranchised Rachael escapes from the Tyrell Corporation and ends up with him, even though Deckard is assigned to kill any replicant that has escaped. The climax shows Deckard hunting down a decaying Batty, who taunts him and calls him a killer. In the end, Deckard is saved from death by Batty who laments his brief life and memories being lost like tears in the rain. This whole sequence with Deckard running in shadows and the rain was stunning, a triumph in film making. Visually, this film is 10/10, the story-telling is fine, but it isn't paced well and seems rushed. There was an awful lot of time spent watching Deckard mill around his flat drinking and the seduction of Rachael was boring. But I digress, everything was done well, it was hauntingly beautiful and frightening, but not an action-filled shoot em up the plot suggests. The film ends on an uncertain note, with Deckard and Rachael leaving his apartment on the run from the police. There is no happy ending, only doubt. I highly recommend it.