Blade Runner

Blade Runner is a 1982 American neo-black science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott , written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples , and starring Harrison Ford , Rutger Hauer, Sean Young , and Edward James Olmos . It is a loose adaptation of the 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick . Set in a dystopian Los Angeles in 2019, the film depicts a future in which synthetic humans are known as replicants are bioengineeredby the powerful Tyrell Corporation to work on off-world colonies . When a fugitive group of replicants led by Roy Batty (Hauer) escape back to Earth, burnt-out cop Rick Deckard (Ford) reluctantly agrees to hunt them down. During his investigations, Deckard meets Rachael (Young), an advanced replicant who causes him to question his work.

Blade Runner underperformed in North American theaters and polarized critics; Some of them have their complexity and visuals, while others have been displeased with its unconventional pacing and plot. However, it has become an acclaimed cult movie , and is now regarded as one of the best-selling science fiction movies . Hailed for its production design depicting a ” retrofitted ” future, Blade Runner remains a leading example of neo-black cinema. The soundtrack , composed by Vangelis , was critically acclaimed, and was nominated in 1983 for a BAFTA and Golden Globe as best originalscore .

The film has been highly influential on many science fiction films, video games , anime , and television series. The film brought the work of Philip K. Dick to the attention of Hollywood, and several later films were based on his work. Scott looks at Blade Runner as “probably” his most complete and personal movie. In the year after its release, the film won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation , and in 1993 it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. A sequel, Blade Runner 2049, was released in October 2017.

Seven versions of Blade Runner exist as a result of controversial changes made at the request of studio executives. A director’s cut was released in 1992 after a strong response to a workprint . This, in conjunction with the movie’s popularity, made it one of the first movies to be released on DVD . In 2007, Warner Bros. released The Final Cut , a 25th-anniversary digitally remastered version, and the only version over which Scott retained artistic control. The Final Cut was shown in selected theaters and released on DVD, HD DVD , and Blu-ray.

Plot

In 2019 Los Angeles, police officer trainer Rick Deckard was arrested by officer Gaff and brought to his supervisor, Bryant . Deckard, whose job has a “blade runner” was to track down bioengineered as well as ” replicants ” and “remove” (kill) them. Deckard starts to leave, goal Bryant ambiguously threatens him and he stays. The Holden administering the “Voigt-Kampff” test, which is designed to distinguish replicants from humans based on their emotional response to questions. The test subject, LeonHolden shoots on the second question. Bryant wants Deckard to remove Leon and the other three Tyrell Corporation Nexus-6 replicants: Roy Batty , Zhora , and Pris .

Bryant has Deckard meet with Eldon Tyrell so he can administer the test on Nexus-6 to see if it works. Tyrell expresses his interest in seeing the test, first, and asks him to administer it Rachael . Afterwards, Deckard concludes Rachael is a replicant who believes she is human. Tyrell explains she is an experiment who has given false impressions to provide an emotional “cushion”.

Searching for Leon’s hotel room, Deckard finds photos and a synthetic snake scale. Roy and Leon investigate a replicant eye-making laboratory and learn of JF Sebastian , a gifted genetic designer who works closely with Tyrell. Deckard returns to his apartment where Rachael is waiting. She is a family, but after Deckard reveals that her memories are implants from Tyrell’s niece, she leaves her apartment in tears. Meanwhile, Taken locates Sebastian and manipulated him to gain his trust.

A photograph from Leon’s apartment and the snake scale lead Deckard to a strip club where Zhora works. After a confrontation and chase, Deckard kills Zhora. Bryant orders him to also remove Rachael, who has disappeared from the Tyrell Corporation. After Deckard spots Rachael in a crowd, he is attacked by Leon, who knocks Deckard’s pistol from his hand and attempts to kill Deckard, but Rachael uses Deckard’s pistol to kill Leon. They return to Deckard’s apartment, and, during an intimate discussion, he promised not to track down; she is abruptly trying to leave, Deckard restrains her, forcing her to kiss him.

Arriving at Sebastian ‘s Apartment, Roy Takes the others are dead. Sympathetic to their plight, Sebastian reveals that because of “Methuselah Syndrome”, a genetic premature aging disorder, his life will also be cut short. Sebastian and Roy gain entrance into Tyrell’s secure penthouse, where Roy demands more life from his maker. Tyrell tells him that it is impossible. Roy confesses that he has done “questionable things”, but Tyrell dismisses this, praising Roy’s advanced design and accomplishments in his short life. Roy kisses Tyrell, then kills him. Sebastian runs for the elevator, followed by Roy, who rides the elevator down alone. ^{[nb 1]} Deckard is later told by Bryant that Sebastian was found dead.

At Sebastian’s apartment, Deckard is ambushed by Pris, but he kills her as Roy returns. Roy’s body begins to fail as the end of his lifespan approaches. He chases Deckard through the building, ending on the roof. Deckard tries to jump to an adjacent roof, but is left hanging between buildings. Roy makes the jump with ease, Deckard’s grip loosens, Roy hoists him onto the roof, saving him. Before Roy dies, he delivers a monologue about how his memories “will be lost in time, like tears in rain” . Gaff arrives and shouts to Deckard about Rachael: “It’s too bad she will not live, but then again, who does?” Deckard returns to his apartment and finds Rachael asleep in his bed. As They leave, Deckard notices year origamiunicorn on the floor Gaff’s earlier statement. Deckard and Rachael leave the apartment block.

cast

Source: Blade Runner: The Final Cut ^[7]

Themes

The film operates on multiple dramatic and narrative levels. It employs some of the conventions of black film , among them the character of a femme fatale ; narration by the protagonist (in the original release); chiaroscurocinematography; and giving the hero a questionable moral outlook-extended to include reflections on the nature of his own humanity. ^[8] [9] It is a literate science fiction film, thematically enfolding the philosophy of religion and moral implications of human mastery of genetic engineering in the context of classical Greek drama and hubris . ^[10] It also draws on Biblical images, such asNoah’s flood , ^[11] and literary sources, such as Frankenstein . ^[12]Linguistically, the theme of mortality is subtly reiterated in the chess game between Sebastian and Tyrell, supposedly based on the famous Immortal Game of 1851 ^[13] (though Scott has said this was not coincidental). ^[14]

Blade Runner in the effects of technology on the environment and society by reaching to the past, using literature, religious symbolism , classical dramatic themes, and black film techniques. This tension between past, present, and future is in the future of the film, which is high-tech and gleaming in places but decayed and edited elsewhere. In an interview with The Observer in 2002, director Ridley Scott described the film as “extremely dark, both literally and metaphorically, with an oddly masochistic feel”. He Said That aussi he “liked the idea of exploring pain” in the wake de son brother’s death from skin cancer: “When he was ill, I used to go to London, and that was really traumatic for me.” ^[15]

A sense of foreboding and paranoia pervades the world of the film: corporate power looms large; the police seem omnipresent; vehicle and warning lights probe into buildings; and the consequences of huge biomedical power over the individual are explored-especially regarding replicants’ implanted memories. Control over the environment is exercised on a large scale, and goes hand in hand with the absence of any natural life; for example, artificial animals in their extinct predecessors. This oppressive backdrop explains the often referenced migration of humans to “off-world” (extraterrestrial) colonies. ^[16] The dystopian themes explored in Blade Runner are an early example of the expansion of cyberpunkconcepts into cinema. Eyes are a recurring motif, as they are manipulated images, calling into question the nature of reality and their ability to accurately perceive and remember it. ^{[17] [18] [19]}

These thematic Elements Provide an atmosphere of uncertainty for Blade Runner ‘ s central theme of Examining humanoid. In order to discover replicants, an empathy test is used, with a number of questions focused on the treatment of animals-seemingly an essential indicator of one’s “humanity.” The replicants appear to show empathy, while the mass of humanity on the streets is cold and impersonal. The film goes so far as to question if Deckard might be an android, in the process forcing the audience to re-evaluate what it means to be human. ^[20]

The question of whether Deckard is intended for a human or a replicant has been an ongoing controversy since the film’s release. ^[21] Both Michael Deeley and Harrison Ford wanted Deckard to be human, while Hampton Fancher preferred ambiguity. ^[22] Ridley Scott has confirmed that in his vision, Deckard is a replicant. ^[23] [24]

Deckard’s unicorn-dream sequence, inserted into the Director’s Cut and concomitant with Gaff’s parting gift of an origami unicorn, is seen by many as showing that Deckard is a replicant-because Gaff could have accessed Deckard’s implanted memories. ^[12] [25] The interpretation that Deckard is a replicant is challenged by others who believe the unicorn imagery shows that the characters, whether human or replicant, share the same dreams and recognize their affinity, ^[26] or that the absence of a decisive answer is crucial to the movie’s main theme. ^[27] The film’s inherent ambiguity and uncertainty, as well as its textual richness. ^[28]

Production

Casting

Casting the film proved troublesome, particularly for the lead role of Deckard. Screenwriter Hampton Fancher envisioned Robert Mitchum as Deckard and wrote the character’s dialogue with Mitchum in mind. ^[29] Director Ridley Scott and the filmmakers with Dustin Hoffman , who eventually departed over differences in vision. ^[29] Harrison Ford has been chosen for several reasons, including his performance in the Star Wars movies, Ford’s interest in the Blade Runner story, and discussions with Steven Spielberg who was finishing Raiders of the Lost Arkat the time and strongly praised Ford’s work in the film. ^[29] Following his success in movies like Star Wars (1977) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Ford was looking for a role with dramatic depth. ^[30] According to production documents, several actors were considered for the role, including Gene Hackman , Sean Connery , Jack Nicholson , Paul Newman , Clint Eastwood , Tommy Lee Jones , Arnold Schwarzenegger , Al Pacino , and Burt Reynolds . ^[29]

One role That Was not Was difficulty to cast Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty, the violent yet thoughtful leader of the replicants. ^[31] Scott cast Hauer without having met, based on Paul Verhoeven ‘s movies Scott had seen ( Katie Tippel, Soldier of Orange and Turkish Delight ). ^[29] Hauer’s portrayal of Batty was regarded by Philip K. Dick as, “the perfect Batty-cold, Aryan , flawless”. ^[32] Of the many movies Hauer has made, Blade Runner is his favorite. As explained in 2001, ” Blade Runnerneeds no explanation. It just [is]. All of the best. There is nothing like it. To be part of a masterpiece that changed the world’s thinking. It’s awesome. ” ^[33] Hauer rewrote his character’s” tears in rain “speech and presented the words to Scott on set prior to filming.

Blade Runner used a number of then-lesser-known actors: Sean Young portrays Rachael, an experimental replicant implanted with the memories of Tyrell’s niece, causing her to believe she is human; ^[34] Nina Axelrod auditioned for the role. ^[29] Daryl Hannah portrays Taken, a “basic pleasure model” replicant; Stacey Nelkin auditioned for the role, but was given another part in the film, which was ultimately cut before filming. ^[29] Casting Pris and Rachael was challenging, requiring several screen tests, with Morgan Paull playing the role of Deckard. Deckard’s fellow bounty hunter Holden based on his performance in the tests.^[29] Brion James portrays Leon Kowalski, a replicant fighter, and Joanna Cassidy portrays Zhora, an assassin replicant.

Edward James Olmos portrays Gaff. Olmos used his diverse ethnic background, and personal research, to help create the fictional ” Cityspeak ” language his character uses in the film. ^[35] His initial address to Deckard at the noodle bar is partly in Hungarian and means, “Horse dick [bullshit]! No way. You are the Blade … Blade Runner.” ^[35] Mr. Emmet Walsh plays Captain Bryant, a hard-drinking, sleazy, and underhanded veteran typical of black filmgenre. Joe Turkel portrays Dr. Eldon Tyrell, a corporate mogul who built an empire on genetically manipulated humanoid slaves. William Sandersonwas cast as Sebastian JF, a quiet and lonely genius who provides a compassionate yet compliant portrait of humanity. J. sympathizes with the replicants, whom he sees with companions, ^[36] and shares their shorter lifespan with his rapid aging disease; ^[37] Joe Pantoliano was considered for the role. ^[38] James Hong portrays Hannibal Chew, an elderly geneticist specializing in synthetic eyes, and Hy Pyke portrays the sleazy bar owner Taffey Lewis with ease and a single take, something almost unheard-of double-digit takes. ^[39]

Development

Interest in adapting Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? developed shortly after its 1968 publication. Director Martin Scorsese was interested in filming the novel, but never optioned it. ^[40] Producer Herb Jaffe optioned it in the early 1970s, but Dick was unimpressed with the screenplay written by Herb’s his Robert: “Jaffe’s screenplay was so terribly done … Robert flew down to Santa Ana to speak with me about the project. And the first thing I said to him when he got off the plane was, ‘Shall I beat you up here at the airport, or shall I beat you up at my apartment? ‘ ” ^[41]

The screenplay by Hampton Fancher was optioned in 1977. ^[42] Producer Michael Deeley became interested in Fancher’s draft and convinced director Ridley Scott to film it. Scott had previously declined the project, but after leaving the slow production of Dune , wanted a faster-paced project to take his mind off his older brother’s recent death. ^[43] He joined the project on February 21, 1980 and managed to push up the promised Filmways financing from US $ 13 million to $ 15 million. Fancher’s script is more focused on environmental issues and less on issues of humanity and religion, which are prominent in the novel and Scott wanted changes. Fancher found a cinema treatment byWilliam S. Burroughs for Alan E. Nourse’s novel The Bladerunner (1974), titled Blade Runner (a movie) . ^{[nb 2]} Scott liked the name, so Deeley obtained the rights to the titles. ^[44] Eventually he hired David Peoples to rewrite the script and Fancher left the job on the issue on December 21, 1980,. ^[45]

Having invested $ 2.5 million in pre-production, ^[46] Filmues withdrew financial backing. Deeley had secured $ 21.5 million in financing through a three-way deal between The Ladd Company (through Warner Bros.), the Hong Kong-based producer Run Sir Run Shaw and Tandem Productions . ^[47]

Dick became concerned about the film’s production, which added to his distrust of Hollywood. ^[48] After Dick criticized an early version of Fancher’s script in an article written for the Los Angeles Select TV Guide , the studio smacks Dick the Peoples rewrite. ^[49] Though Dick died shortly before the film’s release, he was pleased with the rewritten script and with a 20-minute special effects test that was screened for him when he was invited to the studio. Despite his well-known skepticism of Hollywood in principle, Dick enthused to that of the world created for the film just as he had imagined it. ^[32] He said, “I saw a segment of Douglas Trumbull’s special effects for Blade Runner on the KNBC-TV news. I recognized it immediately. It was my own interior world. They caught it perfectly. “He also approved of the movie’s script, saying,” After I finished reading the screenplay, I got the novel out and looked through it. The two Reinforce each other, so That someone who started with the novel Would enjoy the movie and someone who started with the movie Would enjoy the novel. ” ^[50] The motion picture Was dedicated to Dick. ^[51] Principal photography of Blade Runner began on March 9, 1981, and ended four months later. ^[52]

In 1992, Ford revealed, ” Blade Runner is not one of my favorite movies.” I tangled with Ridley. ^[53] Apart from friction with the director, Ford also told the voiceovers : “When we started shooting it had been tacitly agreed that the version of the film that we had agreed upon was the version without voiceover narration. [ sic ] nightmare I thought that the movie had been working with the narrative, but now I was stuck re-creating that narration and I was obliged to do the voiceovers for people that did not represent the director’s interests. ^[30] “I went kicking and screaming to the studio to record it.”Roland Kibbee . ^[55]

In 2006, Scott was asked “Who’s the biggest pain in the ass you’ve ever worked with?”, He replied: “It’s got to be Harrison … he’ll be forgiving me because now I get on with him. come back to life, but it’s a lot, it’s when it’s done, it’s my first movie, and it’s a new kid on the block. ^[56] Ford said of Scott in 2000: “I admire his work, we had a bad patch there, and I’m over it.” ^[57] In 2006 Ford reflected on the production of the movie saying: “What I remember more than anything else when I see Blade Runner is not the 50 nights of shooting in the rain, but the voiceover …Ridley Scott confirmed in the summer 2007 issue of Total Film that Harrison Ford contributed to the DVD Blade RunnerSpecial Edition, and had already recorded his interviews. “Harrison’s fully on board,” said Scott. ^[59]

The Bradbury Building in downtown Los Angeles served as a movie rental , and a Warner Bros. backlot housed the LA 2019 streets. Also included are the Ennis-Brown House and the 2nd Street Tunnel . Test screenings resulted in several changes including a voice over, a happy ending and the removal of a Holden hospital scene. The relationship between the filmmakers and the investors was difficult, which culminated in Deeley and Scott being fired but still working on the film. ^[60]Crew members created T-shirts during filming saying, “Yes Guv’nor, My Ass” that mocked Scott’s unfavorable comparison of US and British crews; Scott responded with a T-shirt of his own, “Xenophobia Sucks” making the incident known as the T-shirt war. ^[61] [62]

Design

Ridley Scott credits Edward Hopper’s painting Nighthawks and the French sci-fi comics magazine Métal Hurlant , to which the artist Mœbius contributed, as stylistic mood sources. ^[63] He also drew on the landscape of ” Hong Kongon a very bad day” ^[64] and the industrial landscape of one-time home in northeast England. ^[65] The visual style of the movie is influenced by the work of futurist Italian architect Antonio Sant’Elia . ^[66] Scott hired Syd Mead as his concept artist who, like Scott, was influenced byHowling Metal . ^[67] Moebius was offered the opportunity to assist in the pre-production of Blade Runner , but he declined to work on René Laloux’s animated film The Masters of Time – a decision that he later regretted. ^[68] Production designer Lawrence G. Paull and art director David Snyder made Scott’s and Mead’s sketches. Douglas Trumbull and Richard Yurich supervised the special effects for the film.

Blade Runner has many deep similarities to Fritz Lang ‘s Metropolis , including a built – up urban environment, in which the wealthy literally live above the workers, dominated by a huge building – the Stadtkrone Tower in Metropolis and the Tyrell Building in Blade Runner . Special effects supervisor David Dryer used stills from Metropolis When lining up Blade Runner ‘ s miniature building shots. ^[69]

The end end scene in the original theatrical release shows Rachael and Deckard traveling into daylight with pastoral aerial shots filmed by director Stanley Kubrick . Ridley Scott contacted Kubrick about the Shining . ^{[70] [71] [72]}

“Spinner” is the generic term for the fictional flying cars used in the film. A spinner can be driven as a ground-based vehicle, and takes off vertically, hovering, and using jet propulsion much like a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. They are used extensively by the police, and they are clear that they can acquire spinner licenses. ^[73] The vehicle was conceived and designed by Syd Mead who described the spinner as an “aerodyne” -a vehicle which direct air downward to create lift , though press kits for the film stated that the spinner was propelled by three engines: ” internal combustion , jet, andanti-gravity ” ^[74] Mead’s conceptual drawings Were Transformed into 25 working vehicles by car customizer Gene Winfield . ^[75] A spinner is one permanent exhibit at the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle, Washington. ^[76]

Voigt-Kampff machine

The Voigt-Kampff machine is a fictional interrogation tool, originating from the novel. The Voigt-Kampff is a polygraph- like machine used by a replicator. It measures respiration, blush response, heart rate and eye movement in response to issues dealing with empathy. ^[77](Tyrell states: “Capillary dilation of the so-called blush response? Fluctuation of the pupil? Involuntary dilation of the iris?”) In the film, two replicants take the test, Leon and Rachael, and Deckard tells Tyrell that it usually takes 20 to 30 cross-referenced questions to distinguish a replicant; in contrast with the book, where it is stated it only takes “six or seven” questions to make a determination. Rachael is a replicant.

Music

The Blade Runner soundtrack by Vangelis is a dark melodic combination of classic composition and futuristic synthesizers which mirrors the film-noir retro-future envisioned by Ridley Scott. Vangelis, fresh from his Academy Award-winning score for Chariots of Fire,^[78] composed and performed the music on his synthesizers.^[79] He also made use of various chimes and the vocals of collaborator Demis Roussos.^[80] Another memorable sound is the haunting tenor sax solo “Love Theme” by British saxophonist Dick Morrissey, who performed on many of Vangelis’s albums. Ridley Scott also used “Memories of Green” from the Vangelis album See You Later, an orchestral version of which Scott would later use in his film Someone to Watch Over Me.^[81]

Along with Vangelis’ compositions and ambient textures, the film’s soundscape also features a track by the Japanese ensemble Nipponia – “Ogi no Mato” or “The Folding Fan as a Target” from the Nonesuch Records release Traditional Vocal and Instrumental Music – and a track by harpist Gail Laughton from “Harps of the Ancient Temples” on Laurel Records.^[82]

Despite being well received by fans and critically acclaimed and nominated in 1983 for a BAFTA and Golden Globe as best original score, and the promise of a soundtrack album from Polydor Records in the end titles of the film, the release of the official soundtrack recording was delayed for over a decade. There are two official releases of the music from Blade Runner. In light of the lack of a release of an album, the New American Orchestra recorded an orchestral adaptation in 1982 which bore little resemblance to the original. Some of the film tracks would, in 1989, surface on the compilation Vangelis: Themes, but not until the 1992 release of the Director’s Cutversion would be a significant amount of the movie’s commercial release. ^[80]

These delays and poor reproductions led to the production of many bootleg recordings over the years. A bootleg tape surfaced in 1982 at science fiction conventions and became popular after the official release of the original recordings, and in 1993 “Off World Music, Ltd” created a bootleg CD that would prove more comprehensive than Vangelis’ official CD in 1994. ^[80] A set with three CDs Blade Runner -related Vangelis music was released in 2007. Titled Blade Runner TrilogyThe first disc contains the same tracks as the 1994 official soundtrack release, the second features previously unreleased music from the movie, and the third disc is composed of music from Vangelis, inspired by, and the spirit of the movie. ^[83]

Special effects

The film is one of the best of all time, ^{[84] [85] [86]} using the available (non-digital) technology to the fullest. In addition to matte paintings and models, the techniques employed included multipass exposures. In some scenes, the set was read, shot, the film rewound, and then rerecorded over with different lighting. In some cases this was done 16 times in all. The cameras were frequently motion controlled using computers . ^[85] Many effects used techniques which had been developed during the production of Close Encounters of the Third Kind . ^[87]

.

Release

Blade Runner Was released in 1,290 theaters on June 25, 1982. That day Was Chosen by producer Alan Ladd Jr. Because His previous highest-grossing films ( Star Wars and Alien ) Had a similar opening day (May 25) in 1977 and 1979 making the 25th of the month his “lucky day”. ^[88] Blade Runner . $ 6.1 million earning during its first weekend in theaters. ^[89] The movie Was released close to other major sci-fi / fantasy releases Such As The Thing , Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , Conan the Barbarian and ET the Extra-Terrestrial. ^[90]

Critical reception

Initial reactions among film critics were mixed. Some wrote that the plot took a back seat to the movie’s special effects, and did not fit the studio’s marketing as an action / adventure movie. Others acclaimed its complexity and predicted it would stand the test of time. ^[91] Negative criticism in the United States cited its slow pace. ^[92] Sheila Benson from the Los Angeles Times called it “Blade Crawler”, and Pat Berman in The State and Columbia Recordedit as “science fiction pornography.” ^[93] Pauline Kael praised Blade Runneras worthy of a place in film history for its distinctive sci-fi vision, yet criticized the film’s lack of development in “human terms”. ^[94]

Academics began writing analyzes of the film, and ^[95] and the boom in home video formats helped establish a growing cult around the film, ^[96] which scholars have dissected for its dystopic aspects, its questions regarding ” authentic “humanity, its ecofeminist aspects, ^[97] and its use of conventions from multiple genres. ^[98] Popular culture began to reassess its impact as a classic several years after it was released. ^{[99] [100] [101]} Roger Ebert praised the visuals of both the original and the Director’s Cut versions and recommended it for that reason; however, he found the human story and a little thin.^[31] He later added The Final Cut to his “Great Movies” list. ^[102] Critic Chris Rodley and Janet Maslin theorized that Blade Runner has changed cinematic and cultural discourse through its repertoire, and subsequent influence on films. ^[103] In 2012, Richard Corliss’s time filmcriticism was durably analyzed the durability, complexity, screenplay, sets and production dynamics of a personal, three-decade perspective. ^[104] One review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes , Blade Runner holds an approval rating of 90% based on 106 reviews, with an average rating of 8.5 / 10. The site’s critical consensus reads, “Misunderstood when it first hit the theaters, the influence of Ridley Scott’s mysterious, neo-black Blade Runner has deepened with time, a visually remarkable, achingly human sci-fi masterpiece.” ^[105] Metacritic , another review aggregator, assigned the film a weighted average score of 89 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating “universal acclaim”. ^[106] Denis Villeneuve , who directed the sequel, Blade Runner 2049 , quotes the film as a huge influence for him and many others. ^[101]

Braces

Blade Runner won or received nominations for the following awards: ^[107]

versions

Several versions of Blade Runner have been shown. The original workprint version (1982, 113 minutes) was shown for audience test previews in Denver and Dallas in March 1982. Negative responses to the previews led to the modifications resulting in the US theatrical version. ^[108] [109] The workprint was shown at a director’s cut off at the Los Angeles Fairfax Theater in May 1990, at an AMPAS showing in April 1991, and in September 1991 at the Los Angeles NuArt Theater and the San Francisco Castro Theater. ^[110] Positive responses to the official work of the official director’s cut. ^[111]A San Diego Sneak Preview was shown only once, in May 1982, and was almost identical to the US theatrical version but not included in any other version, including the 2007 Final Cut. ^[112]

Two versions were shown in the film’s 1982 theatrical release: the U.S. theatrical version (117 minutes),^[1] known as the original version or Domestic Cut (released on Betamax, CED Videodisc and VHS in 1983, and on LaserDiscin 1987), and the International Cut (117 minutes), also known as the “Criterion Edition” or “uncut version”, which included more violent action scenes than the U.S. version. Although initially unavailable in the U.S. and distributed in Europe and Asia via theatrical and local Warner Home Video Laserdisc releases, the International Cut was later released on VHS and Criterion Collection Laserdisc in North America, and re-released in 1992 as a “10th Anniversary Edition”.^[113]

Ridley Scott’s Director’s Cut (1991, 116 minutes)^[114] was made available on VHS and Laserdisc in 1993, and on DVD in 1997. Significant changes from the theatrical version include the removal of Deckard’s voice-over; the re-insertion of the unicorn sequence, and the removal of the studio-imposed happy ending. Scott provided extensive notes and consultation to Warner Bros. through film preservationist Michael Arick, who was put in charge of creating the Director’s Cut.^[115] Scott’s The Final Cut (2007, 117 minutes)^[116] was released by Warner Bros. theatrically on October 5, 2007, and subsequently released on DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray Discin December 2007. ^[117]This is the only version in which Scott had complete artistic and editorial control. ^[115]

Legacy

Cultural impact

While not initially a success with North American hearings, Blade Runner was popular internationally and garnered a cult following . ^[118] The film’s dark style and futuristic designs have served as a benchmark and its influence can be seen in many subsequent science fiction films, video games , anime , and television programs. ^[8] For example, Ronald D. Moore and David Eick , the producers of the re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica , have both cited Blade Runner as one of the major influences for the show. ^[119]

The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1993 and is already taught in university courses. ^[120] In 2007, it was named the second-most visually influential film of all time by the Visual Effects Society . ^[121] The film has also been the subject of parody, such as the comics Blade Bummer by Crazy comics,^[122] Bad Rubber by Steve Gallacci,^[123] and the Red Dwarf 2009 three-part miniseries “Back to Earth”.^[124][125]

Blade Runner Continues to Reflect Modern Trends and Concerns, and An Increasing Number of Critics Considered One of the Greatest Science Fiction Films of All Time. ^[126] It was voted the best science fiction movie ever made in a 2004 poll of 60 eminent world scientists. ^[127] Blade Runner is also cited as an important influence to both the style and story of the Ghost in the Shell film series, which itself has been highly influential to the future-noir genre.^[128][129] Blade Runner has been very influential to the cyberpunk movement.^{[130][131][132][133]} It also influenced the cyberpunk derivative biopunk, which revolves around biotechnology and genetic engineering.^[134][135]

The dialogue and music in Blade Runner has been sampled in music more than any other movie of the 20th century. ^{[136] [nb 3]}

The 2009 album I, Human by Singaporean band Deus Ex Machina makes numerous references to the genetic engineering and cloning themes from the film, and even features a track titled “Replicant”. ^[137]

Blade Runner is cited as a major influence on Warren Spector , ^[138] designer of the video game Deus Ex , which displays evidence of the film’s influence in both its visual rendering and plot. Indeed, the film’s look-and-fit in its overall darkness, preponderance of neon lights, and opaque visuals-are easier to render than complicated backdrops, making it a popular reference point for video game designers. ^[139] [140] It has Influenced adventure games Such As the 2012 graphical text adventure Cypher ; ^[141] Rise of the Dragon ; ^[142] [143] Snatcher; ^[143] [144] the Tex Murphy series; ^[145] Beneath a Steel Sky ; ^[146] Flashback: The Quest for Identity ; ^[143] Bubblegum Crisis (and its original anime films); ^[147] [148] the role-playing game Shadowrun ; ^[143] the first-person shooter Perfect Dark , ^[149] and the Syndicate series of video games. ^[150] [151]

Among the folklore that has developed around the film over the years, there is a belief that Blade Runner has been prominently promoted as a product placement . ^[152] While they were market leaders at the time, Atari , Bell , Cuisinart , and Pan Am all experienced setbacks after the film’s release. The Coca-Cola Company suffered losses when it introduced New Coke in 1985, but soon regained market share. ^[13]

Media recognitions for Blade Runner include:

American Film Institute recognition

• AFI’s 100 Years … 100 Thrills – No. 74
• AFI’s 100 Years … 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – No. 97
• AFI’s 10 Top 10 – No. 6 Science Fiction Movie

In other media

Before filming began, Cinefantastic commissioned magazine Paul M. Sammon to write an article about Blade Runner ‘ s production which became the Future Noir book : The Making of Blade Runner . ^[174] The book chronicles Blade Runner ‘ s Evolution, focusing on film-set politics, Especially the British director’s experiences with His First American movie crew; of qui producer Alan Ladd, Jr. HAS Said, “Harrison Would not speak to Ridley and Ridley Would not speak to Harrison. By the end of the shoot Ford Was ‘ready to kill Ridley’ Said one colleague. He really Would have taken him on his way. ” has short cast biographies and quotations about their experiences, and photographs of the film’s production and preliminary sketches. A second edition of Future Black was published in 2007. ^[176]

Philip K. Dick refused a $ 400,000 offer to write a Blade Runner novelization , saying: “[I was] told the cheapo novelization would have to appeal to the twelve-year-old audience” and it “would have probably been disastrous to me artistically “. He added, “That insistence on my part of the original novel and not doing the novelization – they were just furious.” It was a reason for a reissuing of the novel, even though it cost them money. No obligation to contract. ^[50] Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was eventually reprinted as a tie-inBlade Runner title , with the movie poster as a cover and the original title. ^[177] Additionally, a novelization of the movie entitled Blade Runner: A Story of the Future by The Martin was released in 1982. ^[178] Archie Goodwin scripted the comic book adaptation, A Marvel Super Special: Blade Runner , published in September 1982 . ^[179]

There are two video games based on the film, one from 1985 for Commodore 64 , Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC by CRL Group based on Vangelis (due to licensing issues), and another action adventure PC game from 1997 by Westwood Studios . The 1997 video game featured new characters and branching storylines based on the Blade Runner world. Eldon Tyrell, Gaff, Leon, Rachael, Chew, and JF Sebastian appear, and their voice files are recorded by the original actors. ^[180] The player assumes the role of McCoy, another replicant-hunter working at the same time as Deckard. ^{[139][140] [180]}

The PC game featured a non-linear plot, non-player characters that ran in their own independent AI , and an unusual pseudo-3D engine (which eschewed polygonal solids in favor of voxel elements) that did not require the use of a 3D accelerator card to play the game. ^[181]

The Total Recall 2070 film was originally planned as a spin-off of the Total Recall movie , and would eventually be transformed into a hybrid of Total Recall and Blade Runner . ^[182] The Total Recall film was also based on a Philip K. Dick story, ” We Can Remember It for You Wholesale “; Many Similarities entre Total Recall 2070 and Blade Runner Were jour restera une as well as apparent inspiration from Isaac Asimov ‘s The Caves of Steel and the TV series Holmes & Yoyo . ^[183]

Documentaries

The film has been the subject of several documentaries.

• On the Edge of Blade Runner (2000, 55 minutes)

was directed by Andrew Abbott and hosted by Mark Kermode . Interviews with production staff, including Scott, giving details of the creative process and the turmoil during preproduction. Insights into Philip K. Dick and the origins of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? are provided by Paul M. Sammon and Hampton Fancher. ^[60]

• Future Shocks (2003, 27 minutes)

is a documentary by TVOntario . ^[184] It includes interviews with executive producer Bud Yorkin , Syd Mead , and the cast, and commentary by sci-fi author Robert J. Sawyer and from film critics.

• Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner (2007, 213 minutes)

is a documentary directed and produced by Charles de Lauzirika for the Final Cut version of the film. Its source material includes more than 80 interviews, including extensive conversations with Ford, Young, and Scott. ^[185]The documentary is presented in eight chapters, with each of the first seven parts of the filmmaking process. The final chapter examines Blade Runner’s controversial legacy. ^[186]

• All Our Variant Futures: From Workprint to Final Cut (2007, 29 minutes)

produced by Paul Prischman, appears on the Ultimate Collector’s Edition Blade Runner and provides an overview of the film’s multiple versions and their origins, as well as detailing the seven-year-long restoration, enhancement and remastering process behind The Final Cut . ^[117]

Sequels

Books

Dick’s friend KW Jeter wrote three authorized Blade Runner novels that continues Rick Deckard’s story, attempting to resolve the differences between the film and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?^[187] These are Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human (1995), Blade Runner 3: Replicant Night (1996), and Blade Runner 4: Eye and Talon (2000).

Movie

Blade Runner cowriter David Peoples wrote the 1998 action movie Soldier , which he referred to as a ” sidequel ” or spiritual successor to the original film; the two are set in a shared universe . ^[188] A bonus feature on the DVD for Prometheus , the 2012 film by Scott set in the Alien universe, states that Eldon Tyrell, CEO of the Tyrell Blade Runner Corporation, was the mentor of Guy Peter’s character Peter Weyland. ^[189]

On March 3, 2011, it was reported that Alcon Entertainment , a production company financed by Warner Bros. , was “in final discussions to secure film, television and ancillary franchise rights to produce prequels and sequels to the iconic 1982 sci-fi thriller Blade Runner .” ^[190] It was also reported that Christopher Nolan was desired as director. ^[191] In August 2011, Scott was set to direct a new film; Sami at the time, producer Andrew Kosove Indicated Harrison Ford Was Unlikely to be Involved. ^[192] [193]Scott pointed out that the movie was “liable to be a sequel”, but that it would not have any actors from the original cast. ^[194] By February 2015, Scott had switched to an executive producer’s role, ^[195] with Denis Villeneuve directing. ^[196] It was reported Ford would in fact return, along with the original writer Hampton Fancher ^[197] ; the Oscar-nominated cinematographer Roger Deakins was also attached, ^[198] and Ryan Goslingwould be in a starring role. ^[199] [200]

The film entered production in mid-2016 and is set decades after the first film. ^[201] Originally slated for release in January 2018, Blade Runner 2049 was released on October 6, 2017. ^[196] [202]