A classic that will never be retired. (Blade Runner (Remastered Directors Cut) (DVD))

Member Name: theblackstar

Product:	Blade Runner (Remastered Directors Cut) (DVD)
Date:	25/10/04 (55 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The best of its kind., A true masterpiece., More than a Sci-fi flick.

Disadvantages: None that I can think of.

Starring: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, et al.

Director: Ridley Scott

First released in 1982, with the popular Director's Cut coming out in 1993, Blade Runner is in a class of its own. Part Sci-Fi part Noir, the film was to be a seminal moment in movie history. Although it took people a while to catch on, as initially Blade Runner was pretty much ignored as another naff Sci-Fi flick. Not until it hit video, did the cult start to develop.

Based on the novel 'Do Androids Dream Of Electronic Sheep?' by Philip K Dick. The film is set in 2019, in a future when Replicants (robots) are used as slave labour in Off World colonies. All but the last dregs of humanity have left what is a dying Earth, not unlike the planet and its densely packed cities of today! Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is a Blade Runner forced out of retirement to deal with a renegade band of Replicants who have escaped to Earth. Lead by Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), the Replicants want to find out their incept dates, the day when they are programmed to die. This is in the hope that they can reverse the process. The film then becomes a cat and mouse chase through the rain drenched streets of Los Angeles, with the hunter eventually becoming the hunted.

Beautifully shot, this is Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Alien) at his best. Special effects used with subtle grace, as the soundtrack by Vangelis (Chariots Of Fire) creates the most atmospheric film experience you will ever have.

On a personal note... I sneeked away from school as a child to see this film. I fact I had to lie about my age to get. I sat in the auditorium alone, and was presented with a film that effected me for the rest of my life. Never has a film had such a impact like this since. Still to this day the film stands up. The original format is not so easy to come across, as the favoured version is the Director's Cut, with added dream sequence, no voice over, and tagged-on happy ending taken off. I do feel that original had its place, and the voice over did add to the noir-ish atmosphere of the film. However the Director's Cut is as Ridley supposedly intended the film to be seen. With only differences that use Blade Runner geeks truly care about, either version is worth a look.

A film I can return to time and time again, without a seconds thought. If you've never seen it, why not?! If you have then give it another go, and see why it is the cult classic that it has become.

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