It’s exactly 25 years since “Blade Runner” was released in the UK. Directed by Ridley Scott, it’s widely ranked among the greatest sci-fi movies of all time.
If you’ve seen it, you’ll be familiar with Harrison Ford as Deckard - a former “Blade Runner” charged with hunting down a group of illegal androids called “replicants”.
Ridley Scott directed “Blade Runner” following the success of “Alien” in 1979. The script picked up by the director was loosely based on Philip K. Dick’s novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”. Despite compliments from the author saying that the director had nailed his vision of the future, Scott claimed never to have read the book.
Harrison Ford was hired for the lead role following the success of “Star Wars”. He would later say that the gruelling “Blade Runner” shoot was one of the most frustrating experiences of his career.
It’s been a source of much debate between “Blade Runner” fans since the original release: Is Deckard a replicant? Scott has claimed that the character is an android. Ford has always maintained that the character is human.
Ridley Scott and Harrison Ford didn’t get on during the shoot of “Blade Runner”. Ford has been uninvolved with Scott’s soon-to-be-released “Definitive” cut of the film.
The story sees Deckard fall in love with an experimental replicant called Rachael (Sean Young) on the hunt for the illegal replicants led by Roy (Rutger Hauer).
Ridley Scott’s vision of the future is one of the most striking features of “Blade Runner”. The massive futuristic sets were inspired by a factory the director worked at earlier on in life. The arduous process of building the film’s sets led some of the crew to call the film “Blood Runner”.
The most famous still from “Blade Runner” has been mirrored repeatedly ever since. It shows Deckard hanging desperately to the ledge of a gigantic Metropolis building.
The above picture shows Rutger Hauer (Roy), Daryl Hannah (Pris) and Edward James Olmos (Gaff) promoting the forthcoming “Definitive Cut” of “Blade Runner” at The Venice Film Festival.
Ridley Scott has gained a reputation for tinkering with his films following new versions of “Kingdom of Heaven” and “Blade Runner”. Following the unpopular “Director’s Cut” and years of legal battles, Scott is finally unveiling his “Definitive Cut”.
Text & Picture © msnmovies.com
If you’ve seen it, you’ll be familiar with Harrison Ford as Deckard - a former “Blade Runner” charged with hunting down a group of illegal androids called “replicants”.
Ridley Scott directed “Blade Runner” following the success of “Alien” in 1979. The script picked up by the director was loosely based on Philip K. Dick’s novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”. Despite compliments from the author saying that the director had nailed his vision of the future, Scott claimed never to have read the book.
Harrison Ford was hired for the lead role following the success of “Star Wars”. He would later say that the gruelling “Blade Runner” shoot was one of the most frustrating experiences of his career.
It’s been a source of much debate between “Blade Runner” fans since the original release: Is Deckard a replicant? Scott has claimed that the character is an android. Ford has always maintained that the character is human.
Ridley Scott and Harrison Ford didn’t get on during the shoot of “Blade Runner”. Ford has been uninvolved with Scott’s soon-to-be-released “Definitive” cut of the film.
The story sees Deckard fall in love with an experimental replicant called Rachael (Sean Young) on the hunt for the illegal replicants led by Roy (Rutger Hauer).
Ridley Scott’s vision of the future is one of the most striking features of “Blade Runner”. The massive futuristic sets were inspired by a factory the director worked at earlier on in life. The arduous process of building the film’s sets led some of the crew to call the film “Blood Runner”.
The most famous still from “Blade Runner” has been mirrored repeatedly ever since. It shows Deckard hanging desperately to the ledge of a gigantic Metropolis building.
The above picture shows Rutger Hauer (Roy), Daryl Hannah (Pris) and Edward James Olmos (Gaff) promoting the forthcoming “Definitive Cut” of “Blade Runner” at The Venice Film Festival.
Ridley Scott has gained a reputation for tinkering with his films following new versions of “Kingdom of Heaven” and “Blade Runner”. Following the unpopular “Director’s Cut” and years of legal battles, Scott is finally unveiling his “Definitive Cut”.
Text & Picture © msnmovies.com
5 comments:
Whenever I'm asked to compile a top 10 films list Bladerunner is always in the top 3. Always. And it's been that way since the early eighties. Karen and I will certainly be making a point to go and see the new cut - mostly to see it on the big screen again. In terms of the sci-fi genre, very few films can hold a candle to Bladerunner - there is something very complete about the overall vision and it asks so many questions about the nature of humanity and what it is to be God without once descending into mawkishness. I admit, prefer the version with the happy ending totally removed. That was the best cut of all.
Superb movie !!
I was quite surprised to hear the "Director's Cut" of "Blade Runner" being described as "unpopular" as, like you say Steve, this is the version the critics claim as the better of the two available, up until now.
Both versions of the film are fine, though I prefer it as originally released probably because that's when I first saw it and fell in love with it! "I didn't know how long we'd have together... Still, who does?"!!
Did you know the special edition is coming out on DVD toward the end of the year? Unfortunately it looks like that the UK won't get the full release but you can always buy the US one if you have a multi-region DVD player...
One of my favourite ever movies.
Yup, I think "Blade Runner" is the best science fiction film ever made. The only possible competition to its crown is "2001".
I've been waiting, in vain, for something to top Ridley Scott's film for a quarter of a century!
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