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"Wake up, it's time to die!"
This is one of the most chilling and most memorable lines
from the cult classic, "Blade
Runner."
This movie is a confusing at its worst, but if you pay attention,
you'll easily get the hang of the plot. I found it helps to see
it with someone who knows what's going on. (For more details
on Blade Runner, check out another Web page devoted to the movie:
2019: Off-World |
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Taking place Los Angeles in the near future, the story begins
with a quick prologue that describes man's adventures in space,
and the invention of robots called Replicants for use on mining
colonies on other planets. These Replicants look and act very
much like Humans, but with a fundamental difference: they have
a complete lack of emotion, and a four-year lifespan.
As it turns out, a few of these Replicants have nabbed a ship
and gotten a ride back to Earth, which is frowned upon by the
Authorities. Call in the Blade Runners, a kind of detachment
of the police force that seems to deal especially with tracking
down and terminating Replicants.
The entire film has a very distinct feel to it, one that reflects
(and in a way pays homage to) the old black-and-white detective
movies. It even features occasional voice-overs by Deckard (played
very well by Harrison Ford), a gritty and somewhat depressing
ex-Blade Runner who just wants to be left alone.
The biggest difference between this and other movies that
depict the future and what it will be like is that this movie's
view seems a lot more realistic. It's dark, dirty, and a little
scary. There are huge blimp-style billboards floating around
the city and nearly everyone on the street speaks a mesh of different
languages mixed into one.
Over the course of the film, Deckard is reluctantly pulled
back into service as a Blade Runner and he must track down and
confront the Replicants gone amok. This leads him through a variety
of different situations, but in the end, it all boils down to
your classic detective movie. It's a touch violent in parts,
but as some of the Replicants come to terms with their shortened
lifespans, there are also some very deep questions raised about
life and emotions.
The performances are excellent, the special effects (for the
time) are very good and the gritty, and the realistic feel of
the movie definitely gives you a feeling that this could happen.
The ending seemed a little "tacked on," as if the writers
weren't sure what they wanted, but were giving the audience what
they thought it might like. For a better, or at least different
ending, you might try getting the Director's Cut of this movie
at your local video store.
If you go for Sci-Fi, detective movies, or even just an intriguing
story that touches on some really deep stuff, you should try
this movie. |
