Blade Runner (1982)

Deckard, a blade runner, has to track down and terminate 4 replicants who hijacked a ship in space and have returned to Earth seeking their maker.

Director:

Ridley Scott

Writers:

Hampton Fancher (screenplay), David Webb Peoples (screenplay),

Stars:

Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young

Top 250 #122 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Harrison Ford	...	Rick Deckard
Rutger Hauer	...	Roy Batty
Sean Young	...	Rachael
Edward James Olmos	...	Gaff
M. Emmet Walsh	...	Bryant
Daryl Hannah	...	Pris
William Sanderson	...	J.F. Sebastian
Brion James	...	Leon Kowalski
Joe Turkel	...	Dr. Eldon Tyrell
Joanna Cassidy	...	Zhora
James Hong	...	Hannibal Chew
Morgan Paull	...	Holden
Kevin Thompson	...	Bear
John Edward Allen	...	Kaiser
Hy Pyke	...	Taffey Lewis

Storyline

In a cyberpunk vision of the future, man has developed the technology to create replicants, human clones used to serve in the colonies outside Earth but with fixed lifespans. In Los Angeles, 2019, Deckard is a Blade Runner, a cop who specializes in terminating replicants. Originally in retirement, he is forced to re-enter the force when four replicants escape from an off-world colony to Earth.

---

Plot Keywords:

replicant | blade runner | future | retirement | police | 

---

Taglines:

The original cut of the futuristic adventure. [Director's Cut]

---

Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros [fr] Warner Bros. [us]

Country:

USA Hong Kong UK

Language:

English German Cantonese Japanese Hungarian

Release Date:

25 June 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blade Runner: The Final Cut

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$28,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$6,150,002 (USA) (25 June 1982)

Gross:

$1,445,283 (USA) (28 March 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ladd Company, The, Shaw Brothers, Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby Stereo (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally, Tandem Productions didn't want to have a written credit sequence at the start of the movie; they wanted rain effects on a black screen, with the credits narrated by Harrison Ford.

---

Goofs

When Deckard finds Zhora in the back room of the photograph, and zooms in on her face, the person he sees is clearly not Joanna Cassidy (the actress who plays Zhora). Additionally, when he prints out the close up of her face, the hard copy is at a completely different angle to the image on screen. The first goof was corrected in the 2007 Final Cut; the image on screen is now that of Cassidy. The second goof however remains.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Female announcer over intercom: Next subject: Kowalski, Leon. Engineer, waste disposal. File section: New employee, six days.

---

Crazy Credits

The opening credits sequence features a detailed, dictionary-style definition of the word Replicant.

---

Connections

Referenced in South Park: A Nightmare on Facetime (2012)
DVD seen at Blockbuster/mentioned in dialogue

---

Soundtracks

"LOVE THEME"
(uncredited)
Written by Vangelis
Saxaphone solo Dick Morrisey (uncredited)

User Reviews

A glorious, timeless nightmare

Dark, deep, uncertain, unsettling – imagine the most beautiful nightmare you've ever had – this is Blade Runner (1982).

Ridley Scott's Blade Runner is a brilliantly crafted science fiction film that not only touches upon, but bravely plunges into deep philosophical questions, making it simply ten times more important than any film of its genre. I love it not only for the initial feeling it gives, but because of its perseverance – none of the visuals, themes or technology feel dated but as deep, gripping and current as ever. It is timeless beauty with huge doses of emotion.

Set in 2019 Los Angeles, Blade Runner zooms in on the eerily-lit, urban streets of the city and follows Richard Deckard – superbly played by Harrison Ford who brings an exquisite moral ambiguity to his character – a special policeman who tracks down and terminates artificially-created humans called replicants, who have escaped from an Off-World colony and made their way to earth and need to be stopped. The things Deckard encounters on his detective journey raise many philosophical questions like: Who is really a replicant? Are replicants really bad? If replicants are bad, when why did we go to such lengths with our technology to create them? Are replicants really humans? Is Deckard a hero? This truly is a film that demands subsequent discussion and its ambiguous ending leave a haunting and eerie feeling.

In spite of a rich glaze of science fiction and futurism coating this adventure, there are distinct film noir elements present – primarily in the bluish haze that the film is seen through and its gritty urban atmosphere. Whoever thought of this combination is a genius. Since it is all about technology, it fits then that Blade Runner features a ridiculous amount of product placement, especially from Atari. In any other film, this would have felt out-of-place but here it is simply perfect. The score by Vangelis is strangely gripping when combined with the striking cinematography of the film.

Blade Runner deserves credit, celebration and remembrance for it is simply an excellent film.

10 out of 10 (and I don't just throw this grade out like SOME people)