Los Angeles, California, 2019. With towering skyscrapers looming over the dystopian mega-city, grizzled Blade Runner, Rick Deckard is called out of retirement when rogue Nexus-6 replicants steal a spaceship to get back to Earth. The order is crystal clear: Deckard must seek out the illegal replicants and destroy them before they locate their creator. However, as Deckard tries to fix the mistakes of those who want to play God, unprecedented, conflicting emotions cloud his judgment. Blade Runner isn't one of your typical movies but more of a piece of art to be experienced. It is certainly one that will require you to have an analytical mindset before watching it, as it throws plenty at you. There is a lot of visual storytelling alongside the laid-out story with plenty to be picked apart and dissected with all sorts of meanings behind every scene, action, etc. On my first viewing of this futuristic gritty film-noir-esque story, I was simply blown away by the visuals. Seeing a 'futuristic' 2019 where skyscrapers tower across L.A. with flames and lights covering the landscape as far as the eye can see was exquisite despite its dystopian reality. Equally, the phenomenal score of Vangelis brings a hauntingly beautiful element that carries the tone of this film throughout and is a true highlight. Such a summary can apply to the entire production with its beaten down, dark and dreary setting is still visually pleasing to look at with a lot of praise going to Ridley Scott's directing. His other film, Alien (1979), is one of my all-time favourites and has an equal style that carries over. We follow Deckard whose job is to destroy rogue replicants and although he is the protagonist he is not always displayed as a hero. He makes some poor decisions being flawed and in some scenes, he is framed as not someone simply doing a job, but being a killer. His destruction of replicants shows some truly graphic executions that further make us question his actions and the replicant's humanity. The replicant's story is an intriguing one mainly due to Roy Batty who is such a powerful villain and his hunt to meet his maker, be more human and protect his fellow replicants is so interesting. His 'Tears in the Rain' scene is one of the most incredible monologues I have witnessed in a film and is phenomenal. The other most important character is Rachael whom Deckard has feelings for despite being a replicant, which makes his job all the more conflicting. One of the most complicated parts of this film is its history of different cuts with there being a total of seven, but when discussed, five mainly come to mind. The key differences between them are the voice-over, the alternate ending and the unicorn daydream. The voice-over was an inclusion by WB after a poor screening with a test audience but was not what Scott wanted nor did Ford like the addition. It is an aspect not all that popular among fans being badly written and poorly spoken but also because it explains things in the movie dumbing it down for audiences. This was removed from the later versions, like the Final Cut, which I saw. It was funny having not known about the monologue beforehand, yet, whilst watching, I almost felt like scenes were missing one. I don't know if that's just me, but it was an interesting realisation such already existed. The alternate 'happy' ending of them driving off to a greener landscape was also a scene removed from the later versions, which I agreed with as it didn't really fit in with what came before. The most important addition was the inclusion of a scene where Deckard has a daydream of a unicorn, which fundamentally alters the whole movie considering the ending with the origami unicorn. It leads to the age-old debate, is Deckard a replicant or not? For me the answer is clear but what do you think? Overall, Blade Runner is a cinematic masterpiece that finally got its realisation with The Final Cut. It is a film I think multiple viewings are required to truly get it. I found myself repeatedly thinking on it after my watch and couldn't stop playing it over in my head. Any movie that gets you to think about it after it's done must be very impactful. It's not a film I'd put on any old time but certainly one I was glad to have seen. Also, check out the sequel Blade Runner 2049 (2017).
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