Zachary Bellis: Blade Runner

Zachary Bellis
Ms. Taylor
AP Language and Composition
11 February 2012

The 1980s were a boom decade for science fiction movies. The success of Star Wars led movie studios to invest more and more money into sci-fi movies that they thought could be a comparable success critically and commercially. Released in the summer of 1982, Blade Runner was overlooked by audiences who were more attracted to the releases of E.T. and The Thing. The film polarized critics upon its initial release, but has since become recognized as a genuine classic of the genre for its thematic complexity and brilliant visual design. Blade Runner is indeed a classic science fiction movie and among the greatest films of all time.

A classic film combines strong visual design, a first-rate plot and thematic richness to provide an experience that stands the test of time. Blade Runner is a motion picture which has all of these elements in abundance, from the strong visuals of director Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator) and script of Hampton Fancher and David Peoples to the performances of Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer.

Blade Runner is set in a dystopian future where pollution and environmental decay has forced most of the human population off of Earth to live in colonies on other planets. Humans employ genetically engineered androids known as replicants to perform dangerous or menial work on these colonies. They have an artificially shortened lifespan so as to prevent them form developing human emotions. Replicants are banned on Earth, and when they return, special police officers known as blade runners are sent to hunt them down and kill them. In the film, blade runner Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is assigned the task of tracking and neutralizing four renegade replicants who have come to Los Angeles with the goal of forcing their creator, Tyrell Corporation CEO Eldon Tyrell, into extending their life. Combining elements of noir detective films and science fiction tropes, Blade Runner succeeds in providing an engaging plot from beginning to end with its futuristic game of cat and mouse. A good plot is multi-layered and thoughtful, but also entertaining and easy to follow. Blade Runner delivers on these points, never suffering from pacing problems or becoming too boring from a lack of on-screen action.

The best films are not afraid to address the human condition with the use of themes. The plot of Blade Runner provides a backdrop for many of the philosophic themes the story addresses. In the world of Blade Runner, replicants are a device to challenge the audience’s perception of what it means to be human. Ironically, the replicants, and especially their leader Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), come across as more empathetic to the audience than do their human creators. The Voight-Kampff empathy test is one of the main ways to detect whether someone is a human or a replicant. Yet, in the film, the mass of humanity on the streets of Los Angeles is cold, paranoid and detached from each other, while the replicants show concern and even love for each other.

The human protagonist Deckard is portrayed as a hard man who has no problem killing and is largely incapable of emotional contact, while the antagonist, the replicant Roy Batty, possesses a strong desire to be free and a very human flaw: the fear of death and desire for life. Batty also wishes to protect and care for the other androids he has led to Earth, and loves one of them, a female replicant named Pris. Replicants were manufactured by humans to essentially be slaves, and are meant to die before they can attain free will. Humans’ domination of the environment and even life through technology has resulted in a society where pollution has destroyed Earth’s natural resources and there is an omnipresent police force. Technology has separated the rich in their glowing skyscrapers from the rest of the population on the filthy streets, and enthroned corporations in the role of government. This has resulted in a kind of police state oligarchy where technology is meant to control all problems and is blindly accepted without any thought of the ethical consequences of its use, as in the case of replicants. The thematic richness of Blade Runner has allowed it to become more renowned as time has passed, and is one of the most important elements which make it a classic.

Classic visual design makes a film’s visuals unique and fits with the script to form a complete “world” within the film. Blade Runner’s visuals are quite simply beautiful, even by today’s standards. Filmed before the days of computer-generated imagery, Blade Runner relies purely on models and matte paintings to provide the backdrop for its aerial shots of its future version of Los Angeles. The artistic design of future technologies, from the flying “spinner” police cars to the costumes worn by the characters, makes the look of Blade Runner inimitable. The design of these elements makes the film immediately identifiable. The use of a shadowy, gritty color palette accents the film’s dark themes perfectly, providing a look which matches the ideas with the visuals. Even the score fits perfectly with the cinematography of the film.

The layers of effects composited onto the film such as moving billboards and the flying spinners are timeless, and do not look “fake” like CGI. This has ensured that the visual elements of the film do not look dated even thirty years later. Each shot is carefully composed and tells a story in its own right. Blade Runner was nominated for a myriad of awards for its immaculate visual effects, including two Oscars and six BAFTAs in that category, of which it won three, for best cimematography, costume design and production design. The movie uses the unique visual aspects of the film medium to create a fully realized world which unfolds before the viewer’s eyes. Every time one watches Blade Runner, it is probable that they will see something that was previously unnoticed.

Blade Runner is a film that has undergone a thirty year transformation from box office failure to genuine classic. Listed among the American Film Institute’s top 100 films of all time at number 97 and at number 6 on its top 10 science fiction films, Blade Runner effortlessly combines a strong plot with complex themes and spectacular visuals to create a truly one-of-a-kind film experience. It is a film I recommend highly to those who are sick of mindless action blockbusters and seek an intellectual alternative. Blade Runner’s action is tempered by its thoughtfulness, and it remains stunning visually even thirty years later. Blade Runner is unquestionably a classic film that should be seen by cinephiles and science fiction lovers everywhere.

Sources
Dangerous Days: The Making of Blade Runner. Dir. Charles de Lauzirika. Perf. Ridley Scott, Michael Deeley, Harrison Ford. Warner Bros., 2007. DVD.

Savage, Adam. “Blade Runner at 25: Why the Sci-Fi F/X Are Still Unsurpassed.” Popular Mechanics Online. Hearst Communication, Inc., 1 July 2007. Web. 10 February 2012.

Various Authors. “Themes in Blade Runner.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 8 February 2012. Web. Feb. 10, 2012

Various Authors. “Blade Runner.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 7 February 2012. Web. Feb. 10, 2012