Blade Runner(1982)- User Reviews

Based on the highly successful Philip K Dick story “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”, and directed by Ridley Scott, Blade Runner is a combination of a futuristic almost sordid movie and a sensuous film noir. Rick Deckard, a lonely almost reclusive man, is a retired Blade Runner, a policeman in decayed, rain-soaked Los Angeles of 2019. Played by Harrison Ford, Deckard’s prime objective is to find and destroy shrewd replicants that are artificial humans, indistinguishable from the real thing in every way but two; they have no memories, and they have life spans of only four years. It has been deemed that their superior strength and agility, combined with their intelligence (that more often than not is superior to their human counterparts), is a threat to their creators (the Humans). This 'almost' life leads the androids to lead almost stolen lives as they fight against implanted memories and reality. Ford falls in love with Rachael (Sean Young), a replicant who is a unique case, by having false memories and at the same time she doesn’t realizing that she’s replicant.
The world of Blade Runner is a world of contrasts, it is at the same time familiar and strange, grand and grubby, futuristic and yet every day, sprawling and confined. Set against the backdrop of the Los Angeles of the not too distant future with its dramatic skylines, and urban decadence is a cast of characters who almost seem as updates from a 1950s cop movie. This is a standard detective move set in the future, it’s just that this time the criminals are genetically engineered human replicants, the cars fly and the trappings are a bit more high tech. The rest of the scene seems known territory, sleazy bars, grim, dark and over-crowded streets, rain filled skies. It is a city, which is dominated by different ethnic groups, where English speaking whites have become minorities (don’t forget that the setting is Los Angeles). By this Ridley Scott gives a kind of warning that some day this may become reality.
Although “Blade Runner” is visually stunning film, it has many drawbacks. It has very poor story line; the plot is complicated and there are gaps in logic; Characters are hard to understand because many of them are androids and thus, lack emotions; Harrison Ford gives incredibly low-key performance as Deckard, whose origin stays unclear, whether he is a replicant himself or not is a secret that we will never find out. Rutger Hauer's portrayal of the terrifying yet sympathetic android Batty is noteworthy. He played his part much better than Ford did. Batty represents a “human” who just wants to live and does everything to fulfill his aim.
One of the pluses of the film is its music score. Vangelis sound track somehow manages to tie into the undertones of the movie and make them into mournful yet invigorating music. The score is often sad and daunting as it melds itself into the world, yet at the same time, perhaps in line with the movie it has an emotional feeling that threatens to break free.
Ridley Scott is trying to convey the message that nothing in life is clear cut, no-one has all the answers, and in conveying this message he is forcing you to look at yourself critically and realize that you are not perfect.