A One Mann’s Movies review of “Blade Runner (The Final Cut)” (1982).
As I have talked about many times, I greatly enjoy some of the Everyman Cinemas “Throwback” films that get shown weekly… with a free drink and a popcorn thrown in! And occasionally I get moved to write a retrospective review about the film, the last one I did being the classic “Se7en“. “Blade Runner” equally falls into that “classic” category that deserves a write up. So, here goes.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
“Blade Runner (The Final Cut)” Plot Summary:
It’s 2019 (LOL). A bunch of humanoid androids is lose in L.A. and Deckard – a Blade Runner – is assigned the job of tracking them down and “retiring” them.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: R. (From the BBFC web site: “Contains strong violence”.)
Talent:
Starring: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, M. Emmet Walsh, Daryl Hannah, William Sanderson, Brion James, Joe Turkel, Joanna Cassidy, James Hong.
Directed by: Ridley Scott.
Written by: Hampton Fancher & David Webb Peoples. (Based on the novel by Philip K. Dick).
Running Time: 1h 57m.
“Blade Runner (The Final Cut)” Summary:
Positives:
- Awe inspiring visuals set to Vangelis’s fabulous music score.
- Harrison Ford has seldom been better but Rutger Hauer almost steals the show.
- Incredibly brilliant and sexy turns from both Sean Young and Daryl Hannah.
Negatives:
- Almost perfect, but there is some curious dialogue in this cut that seems duplicated.
Review of “Blade Runner (The Final Cut)”:
That opening!
There is something pretty awe-inspiring about seeing the start of “Blade Runner” on the big screen. Once you get over the caption (see below) you are swept into a futuristic landscape that you fly through accompanied by the fabulous electronic chords of Vangelis.
In general, the production design of this film is off the charts. It lost out (to “Gandhi”) at the 55th Academy Awards, but at least it was nominated (as it was for Special Visual Effects). The combination of the great VFX, the great production design and the cinematography by Jordan Cronenweth combine to make you go “Wow!” at a number of points throughout the film. Even ‘simple’ internal shots of Harrison Ford being transported in a flying car are just so perfectly lit and filmed that you can’t not be impressed.
It’s also neat in using the “Alien” trick of not making everything too futuristic and shiny. Underneath all of the gleaming skyscrapers is a dirty, mucky, rat-infested city of old. It also seems to rain non-stop, no doubt the result of Trump’s reckless “drill baby drill” extraction of fossil fuels. (God help us).
A simple story with a lot underneath.
On the face of it, the story told here is a really simple one. Five rogue replicants need to be tracked down and ‘retired’. But underneath that tale is woven so many interesting themes. What does it really mean to be human? Who indeed is actually human? How can memories play tricks on you? What would you say to your creator if you met them? Can love exist between humans and ultra smart androids? Can androids show mercy?
Key to many of these themes is the relationship between Deckard and Rachael which is both complicated and immensely touching. Harrison Ford turns in one of his best ever acting performances in my book and the vulnerable, exposed and extremely sexy Rachael is brilliantly realised by Sean Young. In the original version, they fly off into the wilderness together (with a terrible sonorous (bored?) Harrison Ford voiceover – hateful!). In this “Final Cut” Deckard and Rachael leave his apartment together but you are left to wonder “what next?”. (Rachael of course “returned” in “Blade Runner 2049” but in a rather different form. But you never discover what happened in the intervening 30 years.)
The bad guys.
Another standout feature of the film is the prominence of the villains of the piece, notably the ‘pleasure droid’ Pris (played in incredibly erotic style by Daryl Hannah) and the agressive ‘soldier droid’ Batty (Rutger Hauer). The whole sequence where the intelligent replicants share the apartment with the inventor Sebastian (William Sanderson with a fabulous and underrated turn) and his absurd robotic inventions is surreal and memorable. Then of course you have one of the classic sequences of cinema: Batty doing his famous finale monologue – “All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain”. Simply brilliant.
Almost faultless.
The film is pretty near faultless.
Naturally, the film now raises a bit of a giggle when the opening title pops up saying “Los Angeles, 2019”. I thought the same as a young teen when “UFO” came on the tele, stating it was set in 1980: only 10 years in the future! These filmmakers really need to take a strong dose of pessimism with their films and add a hundred years at least to all of their estimates.
There was only one other aspect of the film that jarred with me on this rewatch, and that might be to do with the cutting together of this specific version. In an early scene, Gaff (Edward James Olmos) explains how the replicants mutinied on board a space vessel and massacred the crew. But in a later scene, Gaff explains all of that again to Deckard, using virtually identical language, as if it was entirely new information. It’s almost as if Ridley Scott filmed both versions but accidently stuck them both in the same cut of the film. Most odd.
Summary Thoughts on “Blade Runner (The Final Cut)”
A sci-fi classic that I can watch over and over again without it getting boring. Pure class.
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
Trailer for “Blade Runner (The Final Cut)”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoEyZoOTtss.
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