Pimps in purple suits, men in Russian uniforms with silly hats, bikini clad girls with hockey masks, Hare Krishna's, people with face paint, male nuns & futuristic trench-coats. Michael Kaplan and Charlie Knode collaborated on some of the weirdest and coolest looking outfits this side of 2019 to populate the L.A. street(s) of Blade Runner. And to think they used 1940's film noir as a starting off point (still visible in some of the ladies hairdos). This is what they call Fashion Forward: a combination of the future and retro, according to make-up artist Marvin G. Westmore, who also invented a shade of 'Adian Blue' face paint by request of Ridley Scott.
Over the course of this short documentary, the look of each of the the main characters is discussed separately and every one is introduced with a quite from the film. Starting off with Harrison Ford as a Sushi lover called Rick (just like Bogey in Casablanca) who carries off the classic gumshoe look with his own addition of a short, un-eighties brush-cut that is kind of all the rage at the time of this writing, 2009. They had originally wanted him to go Humphrey Bogart all the way and have him wear a fedora, but of course this notion was nixed as Ford had just finished shooting an entire film wearing the same kind of hat. A young Sean Young was cast on her looks, and Marvin G. Westmore says she has the most beautiful lips he's ever made up. Her character, Rachael is all about wearing furs, smoking and pompadour haircuts. So in that context she is probably the most Film Noirish Spider-woman of them all. Either that or smoking and fur will get back into style within the next ten years.
It's funny that a lot of the actors praise Ridley Scott's imagination for coming up with the zany costumes. Tyrell (Joe Turkel) wore a white cocoon of a bathrobe and slippers with owl motives embroider on them. White dove Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer)'s coat was sort of inspired by Marlon Brando's motorcycle jacket from The Wild One. His skin tight leotards were also quite prolific. A map made out of tattoo's was another idea for Roy but not very visible on screen. James Hong says the costume he wore as eye-man Hannibal Chew was one of the best things he ever put on. Origami expert Gaff (Edward James Olmos) dressed like a dandy pimp daddy not unlike some of today's rap artists. For her stage act, Zhora (Joanna Cassidy) just wore jewels and glitter. Three layers of 'snake' scales took three hours to be applied. And of course then she swaps them for that unforgettable bra and clear raincoat.
Darryl Hannah brought in her own wig to the audition because she was terrified of being forced into a punk haircut a la Rutger Hauer as Pris. She didn't mind the Raccoon airbrushing or the leotard with heat molded breast, though. Not quite sure what that last one means but it sure sounds kinky. As the mousy Sebastian, William Sanderson is described as having more of a fairy tale look, wearing functional but hotchpotch and quilted outfits of the kind that would not have looked out of place in The Dark Crystal or Labyrinth. Towards the end of the piece they try to cram in as many of the background costumes as possible, from Sebastian's toys, the fascist looking cops, large hats made out of baskets for poor people and light up umbrellas to fend off the acid rain for better off pedestrians. So much to look at, so little time. Just like the movie itself. It's a good thing there are 5 different versions to choose from in the final cut Deckard's briefcase edition.
8 out of 10
Over the course of this short documentary, the look of each of the the main characters is discussed separately and every one is introduced with a quite from the film. Starting off with Harrison Ford as a Sushi lover called Rick (just like Bogey in Casablanca) who carries off the classic gumshoe look with his own addition of a short, un-eighties brush-cut that is kind of all the rage at the time of this writing, 2009. They had originally wanted him to go Humphrey Bogart all the way and have him wear a fedora, but of course this notion was nixed as Ford had just finished shooting an entire film wearing the same kind of hat. A young Sean Young was cast on her looks, and Marvin G. Westmore says she has the most beautiful lips he's ever made up. Her character, Rachael is all about wearing furs, smoking and pompadour haircuts. So in that context she is probably the most Film Noirish Spider-woman of them all. Either that or smoking and fur will get back into style within the next ten years.
It's funny that a lot of the actors praise Ridley Scott's imagination for coming up with the zany costumes. Tyrell (Joe Turkel) wore a white cocoon of a bathrobe and slippers with owl motives embroider on them. White dove Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer)'s coat was sort of inspired by Marlon Brando's motorcycle jacket from The Wild One. His skin tight leotards were also quite prolific. A map made out of tattoo's was another idea for Roy but not very visible on screen. James Hong says the costume he wore as eye-man Hannibal Chew was one of the best things he ever put on. Origami expert Gaff (Edward James Olmos) dressed like a dandy pimp daddy not unlike some of today's rap artists. For her stage act, Zhora (Joanna Cassidy) just wore jewels and glitter. Three layers of 'snake' scales took three hours to be applied. And of course then she swaps them for that unforgettable bra and clear raincoat.
Darryl Hannah brought in her own wig to the audition because she was terrified of being forced into a punk haircut a la Rutger Hauer as Pris. She didn't mind the Raccoon airbrushing or the leotard with heat molded breast, though. Not quite sure what that last one means but it sure sounds kinky. As the mousy Sebastian, William Sanderson is described as having more of a fairy tale look, wearing functional but hotchpotch and quilted outfits of the kind that would not have looked out of place in The Dark Crystal or Labyrinth. Towards the end of the piece they try to cram in as many of the background costumes as possible, from Sebastian's toys, the fascist looking cops, large hats made out of baskets for poor people and light up umbrellas to fend off the acid rain for better off pedestrians. So much to look at, so little time. Just like the movie itself. It's a good thing there are 5 different versions to choose from in the final cut Deckard's briefcase edition.
8 out of 10
