Blade Runner: Final Cut
An overwhelming work of art and one of the greatest motion pictures, sci-fi or otherwise, ever made, by Ridley Scott coming off of Alien. Perhaps the most amazing thing about it, at least in this Blu Ray release, is that the film was actually made in 1982 and yet looks like it could have come out last summer, again putting CGI to shame while reinforcing the notion that precision, craftsmanlike miniature model work when done right was way more uncannily realistic than any computer graphic could ever hope to be. Unlike many movies, which you can watch 2 or 3 times and never need to see again, Blade Runner requires minimum 10 to 15 viewings in a lifetime to pick up and absorb every little detail, with the famed ongoing debate about whether the main character was a replicant himself just adding to the pile of enigmas located in every aspect of the film. The themes of humanity and mortality are timeless, and will keep the film a popular staple for many generations to come as it asks us, what if we were destined from birth to die at a certain specific age, and to what lengths would we go to keep that from happening, even if it meant taking the lives of others not cursed with such a fate? Seemingly every shot is a thing of beauty, articulately composed and lit, bringing the future world of Los Angeles to life in such a way that many could argue that that vision has actually come true today. As for the acting, Harrison Ford takes some of his biggest chances as an actor, and comes off incredibly well, playing a flawed, bitter, and extremely cynical type not afraid to take a couple of shots of booze and display a nasty attitude in a way that neither Han Solo nor Indiana Jones ever would. Daryl Hannah as the stunningly punked out “pleasure droid” scared for her life deftly moves between innocent and vulnerable to maniacal and deadly. Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, M. Emmett Walsh, William Sanderson, Joe Turkel, Brion James, et al. all fit their roles perfectly to a tee, but in the end this movie belongs to Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty, ultra powerful leader of the replicants on Earth in one of the more intense “bad guy” performances ever, even though the issue of who is good and who is evil is one that is best left up for debate. His final speech in the movie should have been enough to warrant a Supporting Actor Oscar Nomination, but alas he was screwed, as was the film itself out of any number of deserving awards it could or should have gotten, mostly because it was amazingly considered a failure upon its original release and only then within the next couple of years afterwards did the hype start up trumpeting this as a true milestone in the history of cinema. And anyone who could watch Hauer deliver the “Tears in the rain” monologue in context and not well up themselves is probably made of stone. In short, arguably Ridley’s best film outside of Gladiator, and truly one of a kind in every conceivable way, shape, or form…
10/10