“Blade Runner” might have its flaws, but it is still the quintessential cyberpunk blockbuster. The undercooked love story and the goofy action sequences are the inevitable product of its time, but aesthetically it was miles ahead. I recently watched the director’s cut 4K remaster and, hairstyles and old TV sets aside, it could almost pass as a fairly recent film. Ridley Scott goes for a neo-noir kind of investigation and paints the dystopian streets of Los Angeles in a decadent, almost gothic tone that reminds of his rainy London.
Thematically, the plot raises questions about what it means to be human in a time where there is no perceivable difference between man and machine, to the point that even the nature of memories is to be questioned. These are pretty common reflections in sci-fi literature, and I always thought that “Blade Runner” limited itself to giving some cues without digging too deep into the mind of its characters for the sake of the few moments of action (the critics basically did the rest writing pages and pages of overanalyzing). Rick Deckard’s motivation for what he does is never fully explored, and so is his rather forced relationship with Rachael. He walks around and defeats one replicant after another like in an arcade fighting game. The film makes a point to show how the androids are more united and human than the morally decayed men of 2019, but little screen time is devoted to exploring their nature.
An impressive film for its time and solid cyberpunk neo-noir, but definitely not what I would call an all-time masterpiece.
Review by manicureVIP 4BlockedParent2021-05-01T13:55:10Z
“Blade Runner” might have its flaws, but it is still the quintessential cyberpunk blockbuster. The undercooked love story and the goofy action sequences are the inevitable product of its time, but aesthetically it was miles ahead. I recently watched the director’s cut 4K remaster and, hairstyles and old TV sets aside, it could almost pass as a fairly recent film. Ridley Scott goes for a neo-noir kind of investigation and paints the dystopian streets of Los Angeles in a decadent, almost gothic tone that reminds of his rainy London.
Thematically, the plot raises questions about what it means to be human in a time where there is no perceivable difference between man and machine, to the point that even the nature of memories is to be questioned. These are pretty common reflections in sci-fi literature, and I always thought that “Blade Runner” limited itself to giving some cues without digging too deep into the mind of its characters for the sake of the few moments of action (the critics basically did the rest writing pages and pages of overanalyzing). Rick Deckard’s motivation for what he does is never fully explored, and so is his rather forced relationship with Rachael. He walks around and defeats one replicant after another like in an arcade fighting game. The film makes a point to show how the androids are more united and human than the morally decayed men of 2019, but little screen time is devoted to exploring their nature.
An impressive film for its time and solid cyberpunk neo-noir, but definitely not what I would call an all-time masterpiece.