Blade Runner

Blade Runner is a cold, bold, bizarre and mesmerizing futuristic detective thriller that unites the British-born director of Alien with new box-office dynamo Harrison Ford for results that are as impressive as any film that's exploded through a projector so far this year.

This movie is great in any version...I don't miss what has been cut from the new version. The overall effect is so beautifully wrought, a few details aren't going to bring things crashing down.

The grafting of 40s hard-boiled detective story with SF thriller creates some dysfunctional overlaps, and the movie loses some force whenever violence takes over, yet this remains a truly extraordinary, densely imagined version of both the future and the present, with a look and taste all its own.

Blade Runner is a rare science fiction movie so full of material that pages can be written about it without scratching the surface. A review like this can provide little more than an overview. A detailed exploration of the movie, its style, and its mysteries requires dedication that only someone immersed in Blade Runner lore can provide. Currently, the film is available in the United States only in the director's cut. Warner Brothers, however, has promised an exhaustive box set next year with multiple versions. It will be interesting to see whether those editions offer new insights or expand upon the film's already rich tapestry.

What remains is a great Vangelis score, astonishing production design, Hauer's career role -- and a movie that deserves its cult reputation despite an unloving heart. [11 Sept 1992]

There may be little point in deploring Blade Runner's lack of entertainment value. The production values, a reported $30 million worth, are nearly the whole show. They are impressive, to be sure. [26 June 1982, p.D6]

As before, the movie is more impressive for its finely detailed vision of Los Angeles as a futuristic slum than for its story, acting, or message. It's all downhill after the first few eye-dazzling minutes. [2 Oct 1992]

Blade Runner. The ultimate masterpiece. Outstanding. Outrageously graphic. So dark and so beautiful. Zhora crashing through the store's windows, leaving a helpless Deckard. My favorite is the producer version. I still can feel the relief of the last scene with the off-voice saying "However, who knows ?". This is just detail. The film punched me back in my seat. It inspired so much. And still keeps me dreaming.

I get the appeal, but I just could not get into this movie. I found the plot fairly uninteresting and only really liked the climax and the ending.

Are replicants just like people? Why do they act so weird? We essentially get a barebones noir/action film with this somewhat interesting background that is never properly fleshed out. I wish that the film paid as much attention to its characters as it does its visuals. What we are left with is a run of the mill chase flick with one romance that has aged very poorly.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Excruciatingly boring. Less dialogue than Castaway. Slower than 2001. Less plot than Coffee and Cigarettes. Uninspiring acting. The only reason this film has a non-zero score is the effects, but that's not a good enough reason to watch this one.