As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I’m a huge fanboy of the movie Blade Runner. I thought I’d dedicate a post to explaining my love for this great film.
If someone was to ask me what my favourite film of all time was I’d say Blade Runner without any hesitation. Its partly because of my love of the Sci Fi genre and its also partly because of my love of philosophy. Blade Runner managed to encompass both these into one cohesive whole. It was both a straight up sci fi action film as well as a dissertation on the essence of what it is to be human. In the 1980s this was a far cry from anything that had ever come before, and it is still far ahead of its time even compared to today’s movies. Its also probably the best adaptation of a Phillip K. Dick work for the big screen. Ridley Scott didn’t stick close to the original book, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, but managed to adapt it perfectly so that it would keep the core principles of the book intact. Phillip K. Dick himself expressed how pleased he was with the film just before his death.
It managed to create a beautifully decrepit vision of a bleak dystopia. Apartment blocks that tower above the streets in a rainy metropolis. Gigantic ad boards are plastered throughout the cities beaming messages of a brighter future off world. The citizens all walk hunched over on their way to who knows what. Its a very Asian influenced feel, almost as if Ridley Scott had foreseen how animé would look today.
What really sets this film apart for me though is the story. It follows Rick Deckard (played by Harrison Ford) as he attempts to bring several cyborgs to justice. He slowly manages to kill each one of them. though in the film it is specifically stated that they are not killed, but are ‘retired’. Eventually he comes face to face with Roy Batty (played by Rutger Hauer) who is the leader of the cyborgs. Here is probably one of the most extraordinary pieces of film dialogue I’ve ever heard. As Batty is killed by Deckard he utters the following:
I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.
It really manages to encompass the entire point of the film in my opinion. It questions our capacity to declare ourselves as humans. To what degree can we proclaim ourselves to be human? Is it because we have the comprehension to see ourselves as having an identity separate from others? The Nexus models manage that as well. They have a desire to remain alive and keep their kind alive. They even begin to show emotions and comprehension beyond what they should be able to do. We even start to question Deckard’s humanity. Is he a down on his luck cop or is he in actual fact also a Nexus cyborg with implanted memories? Its this capacity of Blade Runner to evoke thoughts and questions to this very day that has made it my favourite film. I really can’t see anything else surpassing this at all in my mind. Only the films of David Lynch have come anywhere close to evoking the same thoughts in my mind.
Related posts:
0 Responses to “Blade Runner – My Passion”