Blade Runner. My Journey into Science Fiction Part 3.

VIEW. 

My journey into science-fiction now takes me from The Rocketeer to Blade Runner. The premise is simple, all the next review has to do is somehow be linked to what came before it. Even though I am only on part three of my journey I am really starting to enjoy learning new aspects of each of the subjects I review. Blade Runner is a difficult film to take speak about as it probably one of the most analysed films ever. I do enjoy following different groups associated with this film and the interest and passion show towards this franchise are immense. I thought the best way for me to approach it is to just let you know how it makes me feel and think, therefore; this could be different from someone else’s point of view but at least I am not trying to prove something that I know nothing about. It’s really important for me to give my own personal view on everything. Also, it’s important to me that I leave enough meat on the bone that someone who may be learning about Blade Runner still has enough interest to go and watch the film once my review has finished. Well let’s start the test; I’m kind of nervous when I take tests.

VISION.

I first watched Blade Runner when I was very young and its one of those films that have always been there and you just can’t remember the first time you watched it. I can always remember being in awe of the effects and thinking this is unlike anything I have seen before, pure escapism for the mind. I am watching this film again now as I am writing this. I have had to stop just to watch the spinner as it heads towards the toward the Police Headquarters, breathtaking. I find it hard to imagine that so much time has passed since this film was made, all the big moments in my life and all over the world because it feels so new, even today. It’s reminiscent of a great album that never succumbs to time and still sounds great and is still relevant today. The Tyrell Corporation Headquarters has always been that cherry on top of that visual mountain for me, it’s so monolithic and reminds me of a place that you were never meant to see. The water shimmering on the walls is a huge contrast to a city starved of that very element itself. Now don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t like to see this dystopian future ever happen on our planet but the appeal of some many different cultures in one zone all living together has always held a strong appeal to me. To walk those streets as an actor back then must have been such an out-of-body experience in 1982. In terms of getting away from my own real life for a few hours, well I wouldn’t like to think how many times I have put this film on before falling asleep and having some of my best dreams ever.

VOICE.

What is Blade Runner trying to tell me? I will admit that when I watched this film when I was younger it was the visual look of the film is what I enjoyed and the story went right over my head. I don’t know if this has something to do with my intelligence but something tells me it has more to do with becoming an adult. I think it’s only after I hit thirty that I started thinking about my own existence a little bit more and understanding metaphors about life and this film has plenty of them. It is well known that Ridley Scott lost his own brother just before the start of this film so I’m guessing he would have been thinking a lot about life and death around this time himself. One of the main questions people seem to think about all the time and that’s if Deckard is a replicant or not! Now I am going to remind people that this is my view only and people may not agree with me but I don’t feel that question is as important to the film. I feel the film was made to remind us that we are we living as replicants in our current society? The issues raised in that film are no different than some of the plights people live through today. There are still huge amounts of poverty whilst only a small majority of people control most of the earth’s wealth with more money and property than we could ever imagine, yet we still accept it! The real replicants in the movie are the only people who ask why? I know this film has a lot more layers than this though and if I wrote a thousand posts on each topic I still wouldn’t run out of things to discuss. Like I said, this film really appeals to me know more than it ever did before. What is Life, Love, and Death? Also, how can you approach each of those subjects without going mad? The final fight always reminds me of that fact and I personally think you to learn to appreciate everything life has to offer. The beauty of this film is that it could mean something completely different to someone else. That is why it is so special.

VERSE. 

The soundtrack to Blade Runner again is something special and was composed by Vangelis. It seems there are just as many different versions of the soundtrack as there are cuts of the film. I have been listening to the orchestral version today and it’s amazing. Again, I go back to that adult theme of the film and this gives me that same feeling as it uses a lot of jazz and synthesizers in the score. I wasn’t listening to jazz when I was younger but I kind of always felt familiar with a John Williams score which in itself is quite bizarre as I wasn’t listening to classical music either. Totally original score and otherworldly.

END. 

So where does this lead me to next? I was going to go with A Scanner Darkly because that was also based on a book written by Phillip K Dick. I was contemplating on going with Star Wars: A New Hope because as we all know Harrison Ford played the legendary Han Solo. The next review is a pretty simple connection but it leaves me smiling and quite excited as I don’t believe I have watched this film before!  That film is Legend starring Tom Cruise and was directed by Ridley Scott himself and this is why I am starting to love this journey now because nothing would have taken me to that film, only this review.  Well did I pass the test? that is completely down to you!

Also if you are interested in Blade Runner then I also wrote another review on why Blade Runner 2049 is the best film since The Empire Strikes Back and you can find that on my homepage.

Well, I’m really getting into this now, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did then please leave me a like or comment. It would be really appreciated. See you next time for Legend on my Journey into Science-Fiction.