EDIT: I thought upon it more and realized this was a really good movie. Looking past the music of course, I'm digging the sci-fi feel the more I look back on it. I really love the innocence of the replicants until they discover their fates. I do recommend this one and while I won't type any more, I will leave the review below untouched because first impressions always count. Least, that's what I hear.
I'm not going to lie about this... this movie is a bit weird. Even more truth, I'm still on the fence about how I feel about it. You all deserve a bit of background.
Harrison Ford plays Deckard, a sort of cop from the year 2019. He held the title of Blade Runner whose job required him to destroy criminal replicants. Criminal replicants are engineered human-like organisms to do certain jobs on colonies "off earth." They are designed to have a four year lifespan (by the Tyrell Corporation) so that they will not gain emotions and a desire to get out and live their own lives. If they want these things before their four years are up, and have taken action (such as fleeing the colonies and coming to Earth) they are considered criminal, and that is when the ball lands in Deckard's court*. There has to be conflict, so of course four of these replicants escape and search frantically to locate the head of all things replicant, Tyrell of Tyrell Corporation.
It feels quite nice to have the plot organized before you, take a bit of a breather here.
...
All set?
Good, let's continue.
I let my guard down a bit with this one. I thought the story to be interesting, but it did sort of move too slow. We also watched the director's cut which meant that narration was cut out which meant these long shots of pure silence on a character's face. (Apparently, it also meant we missed out on statements that that bring about intriguing questions, such as whether or not Deckard was a replicant). I can say the leader of the replicants, Roy, was pure evil maniac but also innocent. I enjoyed his character quite a bit, hence the quote, but the film just left me behind.
I'm all about looking for positive things, so I liked the plot and where it could have gone... but it still feels like it was missing something. I look back and see the themes spread throughout.. but it was...just....so.........slow it was almost painful.
I partially blame the music... something about saxophones and synthesizers get to me. Nothing against Vangelis... but at times it felt like I was watching a more vicious version of Labyrinth. Every single time I heard synthesizer...I immediately thought of this:
Suffice to say... it was hard to focus on Roy gouging someone's eyes out with David Bowie dancing with Muppets in my head.
Perhaps the film was too dark for my tastes? Even though I've seen some pretty dark movies... so maybe the sci-fi elements got to me? There's no way I'll blame it on that though, I thoroughly enjoyed them. I'm just not as gung-ho for this one as the others and it's a bit of a disappointment.
Sort of one of those things where you can see how it'd be great... but just don't feel it. About out of things to say on this besides how disappointed I was, but more than likely for the wrong reasons. I hope it's one where I can perhaps watch again and get with it more.
Just to sound fancy, I did notice the neo-noir feel. Kudos Ridley, kudos.
* Upon more Wikipedia research... the replicants are outlawed on Earth and THAT is what makes them criminal... or maybe it's because they turn violent. The internet/cult following and the 6 or 7 versions of this film conflict greatly, so I'm trying to stick to one story.
Next movie: Do the Right Thing (1989)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_the_right_thing
This really is a movie where you have to watch it more times to really get it. Watch the Director's Cut if you can, it's better than the theatrical. This is also based off the novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", which while I've never read it to confirm this, is much better than this movie.
ReplyDeleteBladerunner is mostly known for it being the first sci-fi to do a noir style, and it's more of a thought provoking movie than one for entertainment, hence why it's really slow. Here's a hint on the thought provoking, what if Decker's an android...what if everyone's an android? If being an android is pretty much undetectable unless the AI knows it's an android, isn't this possible?
Like I said, the book is supposed to be better; if nothing else, this movie should get points for steering people towards the book.
I shall add it to my booklist =D
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