he year is 2019. The place: Los Angeles, a dark city filled with shady characters from all walks of life, surviving in all kinds of ways. High above L.A.'s grimy, damp streets sits the Tyrell Corporation, which has advanced genetics and robot technology to the point where artificial life forms, known as Replicants, are virtually indistinguishable from human beings. The Replicants' main reason for being? To be used as slave labor in the hazardous exploration and colonization of other planets.
In some cases, as with the Nexus 6 generation of Replicants, who possess superior strength and agility, these life forms are even an improvement on humans in some ways. The thing is, Replicants only live for a few years; call it a safety device, as Replicants--possessing human intelligence and proving to be a bit emotionally unstable--can become quite dangerous. That's when a Blade Runner, a special kind of cop who deals with (or "retires") these "skin jobs," steps in. That's when a man like Rick Deckard (Ford) is needed, because he's the best, even though he wishes he weren't.
Deckard gets dragged back to work when it's learned that a group of Nexus 6 Replicants have decided to flee their given stations in their brief lives and come to Earth, to L.A., where they've disappeared into the local population. In his hunt to find them, Deckard meets the man himself, Tyrell, who introduces Deckard to the stunning and mysterious Rachael, who is actually the latest model of Replicant--a Replicant with human memories, a Replicant who doesn't know she's a Replicant. That is, until Deckard tells her.
As the investigation continues, and Deckard gets closer and closer to the Replicants (including Rachel), it appears as though the "skin jobs," led by the cryptic and creepy Roy Batty (Hauer), are conducting an investigation of their own--they want to find out how they can live longer.
But time is running short, and they're willing to do anything to get what they want, even if it means killing whomever gets in their way.
Androids dream in many ways
Based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by the oft-cinematically-adapted Philip K. Dick, Blade Runner has become a classic in its own right since its theatrical release in the early 1980s.
Director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Alien) has succeeded in creating a vision of the future that is so astounding that it has stood the test of time incredibly well, spawning more than a few imitators and homages over the years (not to mention all the related books, games, making-of's and such).
The world of Blade Runner is one of lonely figures amidst a sprawling landscape of dark shadows and bright lights, of flying cars and street urchins, of crammed streets and abandoned buildings. In short, Blade Runner is at once a masterful, classic, hard-boiled noir detective story and a science fiction techno-thriller all rolled into one, having done no less than become a primary force in defining the cyberpunk genre. It's perhaps one of the most stylish and atmospheric movies ever made (with more than a little help from an amazing soundtrack by Vangelis), and contains some marvelous, rich and complex acting performances to boot.
Viewers these days have the option of seeing Blade Runner in a couple of different incarnations, since a director's cut of the film was released back in the early 1990s. Most notably missing from the director's cut (which is actually a couple minutes shorter than the original) are the voice-over narration that Deckard provides and the original ending sequence. Most notably added are some moments that further develop the relationship between Deckard and Rachael and a "vision" sequence that makes much more evident the possibility that Deckard himself might be a Replicant.
In both versions, however, as in all great science fiction, moral and philosophical questions abound--having retained these rich, compelling elements from the original novel. What does it mean to be human? What is it that makes a life a life? What is love? What price freedom? What's it all about? And the great thing is, if these questions get too heavy, there's always the mind-blowing cityscapes to get lost in.
