BLADE RUNNER – Harrison Ford – d: Ridley Scott
Blade Runner (1982)
Direction: Ridley Scott
Screenplay: Hampton Fancher and David Peoples; from Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Cast: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, M. Emmet Walsh, Daryl Hannah, Joanna Cassidy, Brion James
By Dan Schneider of Cosmoetica:
Director Ridley Scott’s dystopian 1982 sci-fi drama Blade Runner is one of those Hollywood productions whose initially mixed reviews were actually closer to the mark than the decades of hagiography that followed. That’s not to say that Blade Runner is a bad film; it’s only a much-ballyhooed mediocrity — due mostly to its sluggish screenplay — rather than a great film.
Adapted by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples from the equally so-so novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick – a writer whose ideas for stories always outstripped his ability to render them into good prose — Blade Runner pales in comparison to Paul Verhoeven’s later Dick adaptation, Total Recall (1990), as well as to Scott’s prior sci-fi classic Alien (1979).
Nearly twenty years ago, when I saw on VHS the Blade Runner cut as presented in its original theatrical release — the first of seven or so different versions — there was little that stuck with me about the film, save that it was at its worst a pretentious bore and at its best a moderately interesting effort. This review will chiefly discuss Scott’s 2007 DVD edition, "The Final Cut," which follows along the same lines of the 1992 "Director’s Cut" (which was not actually done by Scott) while altering quite a few elements found in the original.
I should add that after having watched the DVD version, I did go back to my old videotape and rewatched the original (which is two or three minutes shorter than the final version’s 117 minutes). Therefore, I can state that while "The Final Cut" improves a few elements (similar to the way George Lucas tweaked THX 1138 and Francis Ford Coppola added things to Apocalypse Now) it takes away more from the original than it adds — again proving that directors can make mistakes.
In fact, the original Blade Runner was released not long after Michael Cimino’s disastrous Heaven’s Gate (as well as Coppola’s Apocalypse Now), a time when studios started reigning in the directorial excesses of the 1970s, which had often led to self-indulgent films. In watching the better, sleeker (although still nowhere near great) original version and seeing Scott’s later tweaks, there’s little doubt that Scott’s penchant for artistic masturbation (on screen and in the DVD’s audio commentary) needed to be checked by the studio suits.
The basic problem in all versions is that Scott does nothing to make the characters in Blade Runner seem real or empathetic, for they are all emotionally castrated archetypes, lacking believable human interactions. Given the suffusion of technical detail on screen, ostensibly to add ‘realism’ to the futuristic tale set in 2019, there can be no falling back upon the excuse that those are intentionally symbolic or metaphoric characters whose bland portrayals was intentionally marionette-like, such as Michelangelo Antonioni’s characters in L’Eclisse or Alain Resnais‘ in Last Year in Marienbad.
Here is the nub of the problem not only with Blade Runner, but with its currently positive critical assessments: like what’s found in most modern MFA fiction writing, Scott believes that depth of story and characterization comes not from the ‘moments’ on screen or by the way an actor makes a banal scene work, but by flooding the screen with excessive detail and description even if those are not particularly noteworthy. A well-written film like It’s a Wonderful Life will reveal little details in the background or moments between characters in ‘minor scenes’ that in rewatch illuminate something to come. There is nothing of the sort in Blade Runner. Instead, there are little trinkets tossed on screen that are simply meant to set technogeeks aflutter.
Having watched Blade Runner five times on a single day — "The Final Cut," alone and with its three commentaries, and the VHS original version — I reiterate: there are no such moments or scenes in Blade Runner. As mentioned, one might spot an interesting neon sign or a silly-looking character, but nothing that adds to the film’s core. In fact, Scott’s removal of the initial version’s voice-over by Harrison Ford, is a big blow to the film (which I’ll delve into later) because its loss removes narrative elements, including the humanization and complexity of Ford’s character, that simply do not exist elsewhere.
In fact, the voice-over helps to clarify and condense the often inexplicable things Ford’s character does, as well as things not readily known due to the dark murk that infests the film’s major scenes. Additionally, the voice-over, in a playful manner, directly ties Blade Runner back to 1940s film noir, whereas the voice-overless final version makes it more grim, somber, and murky, while turning Ford’s character into a far less appealing figure — especially considering that Harrison Ford doesn’t act with his face or body.
But let me step back, so I can provide a concise précis of the film, with the original elements noted when differing from "The Final Cut":
In 2019, androids called Replicants have rebelled at an outer-space colony, and laws back on Earth have made it legal for cops called Blade Runners to execute them on sight. A few are known to have made it to Los Angeles, which resembles a futuristic Tokyo, where an ex-Blade Runner named Rick Deckard (Ford) is forced back into service after a fellow Blade Runner is killed by one of the rogue Replicants.
The Replicant in question seems intent on infiltrating the headquarters of the corporation that made them, possibly to force their creator, the company’s titular founder and CEO (Joe Turkel), to extend their lives, which are pre-programmed to end after four years. The rebel Replicants know what they are — what amounts to slave labor — despite the company’s implanting of false memories to make them believe they are real humans.
The Replicants that Deckard needs to kill are the leader, Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer, above), plus Leon Kowalski (Brion James), Pris (Daryl Hannah), and an Amazon sex dancer named Zhora (Joanna Cassidy). Deckard’s police partner is an oddball named Gaff (Edward James Olmos), whose main contribution to the film seems to be to add ‘color’ by speaking an Esperanto-inspired slang, and leaving little origami figures wherever he goes. Gaff, in fact, is a perfect example of all that’s wrong with the Blade Runner screenplay, for despite his quirks he is essentially a cipher. Again, pointless detail is just superfluousness, not depth.
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Tags: Blade Runner, Classic Movies, DVDs, Film Reviews, Harrison Ford, Oscar 1982, Oscar Movies, Ridley Scott, Rutger Hauer, Science Fiction Movies, Sean Young
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An interesting comment about the Esperanto language!
It’s unforunate that however that most people do not know that this new global language is also a living language.
Esperanto is in the top 100 languages, out of 6,800 worldwide, according to the CIA factbook. It is the 17th most used language in Wikipedia, and in use by Skype, Firefox and Facebook.
Native Esperanto speakers,(people who have used the language from birth), include George Soros,World Chess Champion Susan Polger, Ulrich Brandenberg the new German Ambassador to NATO and Nobel Laureate Daniel Bovet.
Further information can be seen at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8837438938991452670 A glimpse of the language can be seen at http://www.lernu.net
Dan, Dan, Dan.
Why waste so much time and space to criticise a movie you don’t like?
- Beacause it is Blade Runner and it will get people riled up.
I speak to a lot of people who don’t like Blade Runner. They are usually younger than 20 and almost never film critics.
I first saw Blade Runner when I was about 15 and I didn’t like it. To be more precise: I didn’t get it.
Now I get it and it’s good. Very good.
And the Final Cut is the best version and the Theatrical Version with the narrative by Ford is more or less a joke.
Why waste so much time and space to criticise a movie you don’t like?
- Beacause it is Blade Runner and it will get people riled up.
***My liks or dislikes have little to do with criticism. I dislike most Bergman films but recognize his quality. As for riling up. I don’t care, although it seems your Johnson got up; so are you saying you like being so easily manipulated?
I speak to a lot of people who don’t like Blade Runner. They are usually younger than 20 and almost never film critics.
I first saw Blade Runner when I was about 15 and I didn’t like it. To be more precise: I didn’t get it.
Now I get it and it’s good. Very good.
***It’s a dull and pretentious film. Lgan’s Run, at least, did not take itself seriously.
And the Final Cut is the best version and the Theatrical Version with the narrative by Ford is more or less a joke.
***And we also see that you are a joiner. Good luck with your enjoyment, sayeth your heart to your brain.
Well, Blade Runner has several unique qualities. The first is the hypnotic cinematography and slow pace which creates a new space in the mind of the viewer.
The second is the highly allegorical story, which deals with existential issues – fully on par with Bergman.
Why are we here, who made us, why do we die and what happens then?
Acting is also outstanding with best performances from most of the cast.
As for your critique of Ridley Scott, I’d say it is misdirected. In fact any scene from any Scott movie is instantly recogniseable. His films are totally iconic. Except his latest three films.
Next time, try a big shot of scotch before you watch Blade Runner. It might quieten your own thoughts and open your mind to the film.
Dan,
What exactly do you know about directing, script writing, acting or film in general ? Stick to rating poetry. You obviously know little about film. Spielberg and his movies and the other acclaimed films you bash will ontinue to be considered great, nothing you can do about it.