Blade Runner (DVD 1999)

Despite the plethora of reviews of this brilliant movie I’ve decided to add mine as this is one of my favourite films. “Bladerunner” is one of those films that seems to have passed from being a mere film into something of a cultural icon. Under appreciated on its original release, it is now rightly considered to be a seminal work, hugely influential, not only one of the greatest science fiction films of all time, but one of the greatest films of all time.
I had the pleasure of seeing “Bladerunner” in the cinema on its original release and the outstanding visual impact of the film (Its miniature cityscapes still blow away any C.G.I. Of a similar nature) and its central themes of love and essentially what it is to be human were something I had never seen so poetically approached in cinema before. When the directors cut was released without the unnecessary voice-over and the tacked on happy ending (All originally inserted by a panicking studio) the film was improved. Prior to this it was a very ,very good film. Now it was a masterpiece.
Like all great sci-fi “Blade runner “says more about humanity than any number of romantic comedies and psychological thrillers. The replicants attempts to avert their shortened life-span is a very human reaction and Rachel’s gradual realisation of her replicant origins and the lie of her implanted family history is akin to someone being told they are adopted and have terminal cancer at the same time. These beings like us, indeed like any life form just want to live free of fear and supplication, as free sentient beings. Their struggle is one that resonates through human history but the story’s central premise that we have created a slave race to lord it over is chilling and horribly plausible.
The much debated unicorn dream of Deckard’s is interesting but is irrelevant to the movies narrative, after all no one in the film wants to die wether they are human or replicant.Though it is worth noting that if he is indeed a replicant it gives him a synchronicity with Rachel that could explain why they are drawn so irresistibly to each other.
I’ve watched this film more time than I’ve watched any other and it never fails to impress and fascinate. The acting is uniformly terrific and the casting is spot on, particularly Rutger Hauer as Roy who imbibes the part with a steely moral determination but in the sublime death scene endows him with a dignity and humanity beyond any other character in the film. The ending is now suitably ambiguous, leaving the lovers fate in the air and a further tantalising clue to Deckard’s origins. The Vangelis soundtrack is superb, it could have been a soulless clunking nightmare but like the film it looks beyond the sum of the machine to peer into the heart of the sentient being within and adds another layer of emotional resonance.
The films final message that all of us hold memories that are unique to us and that all life is precious is of universal relevance and resonates loudly down the years as the world continues to crackle with the tragedy of continuing conflict. A must see movie, a stunning DVD.Unmissable.