"Blade Runner" is a film of which at least everybody has heard the title on one occasion or the other and many, many people have seen it too if we take a look at the amount of ratings here on imdb. It is from the year 1982, so it will soon have its 40th aniversary and maybe this happened already depending on when you read my review. It runs for minimally under two hours and is based on a novel by Philip K. Dick, who sadly died of heart failure only months before this film got released. The two writers in charge of the screenplay here were Fancher and Oscar nominee Webb Peoples and both are still alive in their 80s now. But the big name here is of course director Ridley Scott, who has worked on many big movies over the course of his really long career, but the fact that this one here is a massive contender for being his biggest career success still says it all about the film's popularity. The one person where this is probably not a contender for most popular film is lead actor Harrison Ford, but this is only because he was also a crucial player in the Star Wars franchise. And let's not forget about Indiana Jones of course. I have never been a big fan of either and consequently also not a big fan of Ford, but he was alright here. The fact that he does not necessarily play a very likable man as I would say is kinda explained at the end. But I will get to that later.
First, a few more words on the cast: There are many cast members in smaller roles that I am not familiar with, even if they are/were also prolific actors. But one mention goes out to Sean Young, who plays the maybe most interesting character from this film. Easily the most stunning though I would say. Daryl Hannah's character is called "perfect" on one occasion by another character, but I could not disagree more. Young is perfect here in my opinion. Then again, I have always had a soft spot for dark-haired girls, so certainly biased here. So I mentioned Hannah now, she was very young here of course and most people are also familiar with her from the Kill Bill films and I must admit I did not even remember she was in this film here although, especially with the makeup, her character here is pretty memorable and interesting too. The scene right before the fight when she is in disguise in a similar manner like Bond going against Scaramanga was nice too, but Ford/Deckard is too much of a professional to not spot her quickly, even if he is still taken by surprise by her. Edward James Olmos, another very established actor in here, also plays an interesting character who kind of could have deserved his own film too. And last but not least, Rutger Hauer. Sadly he passed away not too long ago, but this film is maybe his most iconic performance and with the twist towards the end, I can totally see why. He is strong, he is ruthless, but he is much more than that. I will elaborate a bit on that later on.
Just one more thing here about the main character and his love interest: We see the two leave eventually and it's not safe to say if others will be on their tails, on her tail especially, but the scene with the little thingey on the ground in the end implies that they may have gotten help from the Asian guy, who made it look as if she was dead, so nobody will know she is still alive and on the run. Actually, a strong premise for a sequel too and that sequel came, but no less than 35 years later and I must say I did not like the sequel at all, maybe because I hadn't seen or wasn't too familiar with the original, but then again it should never be essential to have seen a film in order to appreciate another. Still, it got Roger Deakins an Oscar finally, so it's good it exists. Also, another interesting thing about the original here is that it is set in 2019 as we find out at the very start, so in the past now as we are in 2020. Always an interesting aspect how people saw the future back then.
Okay, now I want to elaborate a bit on the story and scenes and inclusions that I liked the most. Must initially give a brief summary of the premise. Mankind created replicants, man-like creatures that are as smart as the smartest men and stronger than the strongest. And they are very pain-resistent too. On one occasion, they said that the only way to hurt them, is to kill them. However, conflicts arose and war was declared against said replicants who were at distant planets and had to work as slaves. In this movie, six replicants manage to flee and come to planet Earth. Two of them were killed immediately and a bit of a pity that we find out nothing else about those. The other four get decent inclusions though, at least two of them also considerable screen time. The snake woman does not. She is the first who gets found by Deckard and he manages to take her down after a fight. Immediately afterwards, the protagonist runs into the second replicant and is basically caught with his pants down by him (just metaphorically), but luckily an unexpected ally is there to save his life. Two remain.
Hannah's character is the third. It is kinda interesting how Deckard takes down one by one just like the Bride does in "Kill Bill". Anyway, as for this one here, Hannah is eventually still at her buddy Sebastian's home and that place is indeed very creepy somehow and extremely bizarre with all the lights and of course the mechanical creatures that Sebastian considers his friends. He is a weirdo, but not an evil man. He has no real choice other than helping the replicants. Hauer's character is mostly interested in an idea how he can keep himself alive for more than four years. Or actually cares more about keeping Hannah's character alive. This is how long the replicants have. Not a lot. There is a good quote about a parallel they have compared to light bulbs. And that is why he wants to see Joe Turkel's character and well, of course it is pretty shocking and violent and brutal how the latter gets murdered eventually, but you can make a bit of a point for this being not motivated by hate or anything, but just by hopelessness and desparation against the man who caused this by creating the replicants with a life span of four years and there is no option to have them live longer as we find out while they discuss all kinds of scientific processes.
Now, the one thing I want to elaborate on most of all here is the definition of who is the offender and who is the victim. We follow Ford's character and he represents one side here and of course we side with him sooner or later, but at the same time we forget how he was recruited here early on. He had no choice, but was literally forced by his boss to follow his orders. Apparently, he worked for him or for the agency in the past already and he clearly was not happy at all with it back then and just hoped he could get away, but he has no choice. Maybe the one thing missing here a bit is an explanation of why they are called blade runners, but that is just a minimal criticism. Anyway, take a look at how Ford's character shoots the first replicant. She is running from him, trying to be safe, to get away, but gets murdered in cold blood. You can call it that. There is not too much to say about the second victim. Of course, it is another fight about life and death for him. But seeing Hannah's character die is also very telling being in disguise before that and eventually on the ground like a severely wounded animals. That is what the replicants are: Animals. Slaves. But all their violence results from what was done to them and not from being evil or anything. Not at all.
Then with Hauer's character, there is the big revelation. Yes he breaks Deckard's fingers, but he does so because his loved ones were taken from him and apparently he also knew that it was not Deckard who killed the other male replicant, so only two fingers. Also pay attention to the hands. Roy (Hauer) easily could have broken Deckard's hand in that situation, maybe torn it off even, but he lets go. And his own hand is very injured. It may be the wildness, the muscles we see as Hauer's character runs around topless that has him appear like a beast to us, but that is what he is, again an injured monster and one who is stronger than the others. He is called the prodigal son for good reason earlier. And when we have that shot outside in the pouring rain with Deckard being in danger of falling to his death, but Roy lends him a hand and pulls him up before dying himself making his last deed an act of mercy shows us that he is not evil and neither are the other replicants. That camera shot from down there pointing up to Roy with the dove in his hand is pretty massive and very memorable, also how he lets the dove go in the moment of his death. Okay, maybe a bit unrealistic that this exact moment the Asian guy is there, but okay. Everything before that was so brilliant that I can accept it.
In-between, I had several moments where I thought I could actually give this four stars out of five and not just three and thus declare it as one of 1982's finest, but the final sequence with Hauer's character on the chase was initially a bit underwhelming I felt, so I was hesitant, but the final twist and explanation about goodness, mercy and perspective (like I said in the title of my review) were just too good to be ignored. The film also could have ended the moment Hauer's character died, but the epilogue is also tolerable I suppose, even if it was not necessarily required. Without it, we would have thought that Rachael left and will not be followed and hunted down by Deckard as he owes her. That's what he said himself. But yeah, it's the message about (not just) slavery and about people only wanting the best for them without being evil. Only being heartbroken and disappointed may bring out the worst in them. Or how it matters so much from which perspective you watch a movie in how you perceive the characters. But they are 100% authentic, also showing their "love" in front of Sebastian. Watch it!
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