Xiangsu

Not too long ago I watched this for the first time and at the end of it I was just unimpressed. What was so great about this movie that puts it above so many others. I guess for its time it may have been revolutionary, but now days it just seems like its really aged.

I was surprised how many other movies had borrowed ideas from this movie. However, seeing it was based on a Phillip K. Dick story, and there are a lot of movies based off of his stories that share the same concepts, its not a surprise.

What did you like/dislike about this movie and why do you think it is considered a classic.

bltzkriegmcanon

I actually fell asleep watching this movie and have yet to return to it. I think that covers my opinion of it pretty well.

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Xiangsu

I thought it ended weird, I felt like there was, or should have been, more. I watched the Directors cut, so I don't even know how the original ended. All I know is it was supposed to be happier.

tekken

Probable the most overrated movie I've ever sat through. Sooo boring. And it didn't look all futuristic like everyone says; Starwars was fancier (I'm not a fan of and show with star in the front either).

MrFlux

I fell asleep while trying to watch it... THREE DIFFERENT TIMES.

I've got it around here somewhere, but I've never felt the urge to try and watch the rest of it.

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nukeu666

only movie more overrated than this is the godfather series imho

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blahblah10

If you think that Blade Runner wasn't a great movie, then there's not really anything anyone can say to change your mind; you simply have bad taste in movies. Go watch "I Robot" and be happy.

ultra_agent9

I second that.

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tropple

The future that you see in Blade Runner is a different future than that shiny, plastic toy presented in I, Robot and Star Wars. It is more probable that what you see in Blade Runner (or maybe fifth element) is closer to how things will become.

It's the same sort of future protrayed in William Gibson's Neuromancer or Neal Stephenson's Snowcrash. Dark, forbidding, governments existing only as fractured parts, multi-national business entities controlling the majority of the true power and all of the resources.

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Kostya

What the hell is going on with all this anti-Blade Runner sentiment?

The movie is classic neo-noir.

the_marq

I am surprised to see so many people against Blade Runner. One of my all time favourite movies, great story, great noir feel. All-around outstanding.

It's funny that someone compared it to "The Godfather" for being overrated. The Godfather may have been good when it came out in the 70's, but is now almost comically bad, conversly "Blade Runner" still stands as one of the greatest movies of all time.

Just my opinion...yaddda yadda yaddda

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warrrreagl

Kids! Pshaw!

"Blade Runner" clearly should have had more kung fu fighting, poop jokes, racial slams, gushing blood, and SpongeBob.

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Kostya

The Godfather bad?

Blasphemy my friends, of the most henious and unforgivable variety...

The Godfather is a classic, and absolute and undeniable triumph of the cinematic art, critically acclaimed, loved by all, and timeless...

Mr. Spacemonkey

Cut it out, you actually had me going for a minute there. I mean I thought you might have been serious.

Anyway though, yeah, Blade Runner. Sadly overrated movie. It was okay to say the most about it. I mean it got a 97% fresh rating at Rottentomatoes and 100% for the directors cut. I just don't see what's so great about it. For crying out loud, it had Harrison Ford in it ... it can't be that good. Okay somewhat of a joke but still ... Blade Runner = Overrated.

runtuff

Both Lusas' Fahrenheit 451, Blade Runner are classics. They must be seen to understand all the sci-fi movies after that. But they are gritty, not pretty, a whole new type of sci-fi was opened. JMHO

pixelbend

I have never actually sat down to watch Blade Runner, although I have always wanted to. Lately I have started going to the video store looking for one new movie and one old movie I have always wanted to see and trying to talk my wife into actually watching it.

The Godfather on the other hand is a work of art. It's so imitated, it can't help but seem kitchy. But you have to remember that this was the originator of all of this stuff that is now part of the collective conciousness. Casablanca is in the same kinda boat.

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asaris

Oh, come one. Harrison Ford is a good actor. Sure, he only plays one character, but I don't think that makes someone a bad actor, just an actor without range. And he actually does a good job in Blade Runner. I just watched the DC last weekend, btw, and was impressed at how well it held up over time. Sure the music is vintage 80s, but other than that, it's quite timeless.

I hear you, pixelbend. I had similar thoughts once watching Shakespeare -- the thought 'boy, he sure uses a lot of cliches', and the realizing that, no, he's where the cliches come from.

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ancientk

I say that Blade Runner is fantastic. The ending and the story does not reveal everything you want to know. It allows you to fill in the blanks with your own interpretations and allows further discussion. I've got the Director's cut DVD and it asked some question about Deckard being a replicant on the box which I did not get while viewing the film. But otherwise I absolutely love this film. The art direction, cinematography, and music are superb. I have seen both versions and both are enlightening but the director's cut is more preferred because it is more vague. The originals "happy" ending just seems odd.

Godfather is awesome, a classic.

espi

I had an art teacher in high school who was smitten by Sean Young (the actress who played Rachael), so it was nearly a class assignment to watch Blade Runner. It's not the easiest movie to follow on the first viewing, but it really is quite beautiful to watch.

I'm still not quite sure why Roy Batty pushed the nail through his hand (some sort of allusion to Christ, I'm sure), and I'm not really sure where the whole "Deckard is a replicant" thing comes from. But, I'm sure I'll figure it out on the next viewing.

I have the Director's Cut on VHS. Is there any reason to get the DVD?

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the_marq

Sorry man, I must respectfully disagree. I was OK up to the Sonny death scene at the causeway. I couldn't help but laugh as he stood there and jiggled as he was gunned down. (but let's not turn this into a Godfather thread)

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#3 in a series

Arc101

I need to speak up for Blade Runner - a very good film and still looks good today. I have n DVD and still watch from time to time. It is one of my all time favourite films. I guess you need to stick to Space Balls as that seems more your level....

OpieCunningham

I'm glad that The Godfather got lumped with Bladerunner as bad cinema. For a second I was shocked that there were so many anti-Bladerunner people ... but then I saw it's just a bunch of anti-genius-in-film people and Bladerunner was just the initial focal point of the tasteless masses.

You know what other movies "suck"? Citizen Kane and Casablanca. Terrible films, just terrible.

Xiangsu

Both of these statements offend me. I don't mind an intelligent movie that pushes you to think, for example A Clockwork Orange, but the difference between ACW and Blade Runner is that Blade Runner is mediocre, at best. The movie even followed the 80's sci fi cliche of being filled with midgets, and its just embarrassing to see midgets in a movie for no reason.

I think its about time we start to realize that Blade Runner has not stood the test of time and its about time we took it off its pedestal. Sure it deserves credit for influencing the genre, but that doesn't mean that its a great movie.

**edit** On a side note this movie does not "still look good today", it was shit. I could see the wires on one of the police cars, not to mention the opening scene when the interrogator was shot (it was laughable...no, seriously...me and my friend started laughing, it was hilarious). I just recently saw the Godfather for the first time as well, and I liked it. In contrast Blade Runner was subpar, probably a 4/10.

gcbrowni

One of the interesting things about Blade Runner is the two versions. The voice overs in the first version make it an excellent noir picture. The directors cut, without the voice overs, is a much more morally ambigous picture about a guy killing escaped slaves. The two versions are both great, and completely different from one another. I never would have imaged that the presence of a voice-over could do so much to change a picture.

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CSflim

Wow. Can't believe how many haters of Bladerunner we have here on the board. I thought it was a fine piece of film making. Have not seen the director's cut, but perhaps I will now, seeing as how it is apparently so different.

Is the film over-rated? Well, yes, it probably is. But then, almost all "classics" are over-rated. Just because a film is over-rated, does not necessarily make it bad.

EDIT: And I think that the fact that this film is being lumped in with The Godfather as bad films, speaks volumes.

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Mr. Spacemonkey

LOL!

I love that. If someone disagrees about a movie, it must mean they are stupid when it comes to films right? Man, come off it, just because a film is old or because it's a classic, doesn't mean it's necessarily good. I'm sorry, but Bladerunner is so obviously overrated. Maybe compared to all the movies back then it was good, but compared to today's standerds? The movie doesn't stand the test of time. I just saw it a few days ago, and I was actually expecting a GOOD movie. And it wasn't. It was simply okay ... at the very most. Now if I would've seen it when it was first made, maybe i'd have a different opinion.

ratbastid

You have to take Blade Runner in context. It was the first sci-fi film to present a dark, gritty, scary future. There was a lot of Star-Warsy-future-optimism going on when Blade Runner was made. To film-adapt ANY Dick story, but especially Electric Sheep, was almost an act of violence against the state of cinematic sci-fi.

Yeah, it was made in the early '80's, and it shows. There are some exceedingly corny performances (especially by Larry--where are Daryl and Daryl??), but you've got to love how brilliantly Sean Young underplays the mysterious Rachael, her cool warmth, her synthetic humanity. And how Ford captures a grim burnt-out post-Bogart swagger.

It's a morally ambiguous film, especially the diretor's cut. The other striking thing about the directors cut is the ending--the major release had a tacked-on happy ending with the two of them flying off into the sunset. It's vague, mysterious, ambiguous. It thwarts your desire to have everything tied together in a neat package. It's delicious that way.

The other thing about Blade Runner is how it was embraced by the postmodern deconstructionist academic set. I can't really say much that's too sensible about that, but lurkette was very much brought up in that academic world. I'll ask her to come say something about that.

In short, it's a hard film, but it rewards close viewing. You guys probably don't like the first Alien, either, hunh? Too much silence for you?

alansmithee

Shakespeare IS actually cliche'. Most of his works are based on either historical occurences, or greek/roman tragedies.

As for Bladerunner, I just rented it tonight, on recommendations I've been recieving. Plus, I like Philip K. Dick stories.

namnori

The IMDB forums have a lot of stuff regarding the releases of Blade Runner. You can go there to find out why the Director's Cut isn't actually a director's cut and on the vaporware that is a definative Blade Runner DVD. I'm surprised no one has brought up 2001. I personally love 2001: A Space Odyssey, but then again I also use that movie when I have insomia and I can't fall asleep.

roboshark

I think most of the Blade Runner critics here find the movie disappointing, or laughable because their expectations were set too high. Anybody who expected an action packed gleaming sci-fi flick with spiffy dialogs and exciting special effects comes away feeling cheated. That's because the science fiction element and the action is not the movie's main focus: it's just a setting in which deeper psychological issues are being explored, issues such as what it means to be human, how far will technological advancementss take us and is that where we want to go, and the conflicts and absurdity of mankind's ambitions and desires. This is what the movie is all about, and not so much the Sci-Fi stuff, and as such it does a great job. Sure, it looks old and cheap by today's standards. But that doesn't make the movie bad, it just makes it old.

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Sleepyjack

I thought the movie was pretty good (saw it a few years back). Although, the soundtrack by Vangelis is one of my favourite soundtracks ever - good ambient/electronica

Redjake

this is one of the best movies ever. I like it so much because I can honestly see a future of our world looking like this. A very realistic portrayel of how fucked up our future could be. the world that he runs around in seems more real that most of the sci-fi futuresque movies today.

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asaris

I should add that the book, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", is better than the movie. That probably goes without saying, but, while I'm here...

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"Die Deutschen meinen, daß die Kraft sich in Härte und Grausamkeit offenbaren müsse, sie unterwerfen sich dann gerne und mit Bewunderung:[...]. Daß es Kraft giebt in der Milde und Stille, das glauben sie nicht leicht."

"The Germans believe that power must reveal itself in hardness and cruelty and then submit themselves gladly and with admiration[...]. They do not believe readily that there is power in meekness and calm."

-- Friedrich Nietzsche

Kostya

1927 Frizt Lang's Metropolis - The future really, really sucks.

blahblah10

They weren't in it for no reason; the midgets belonged to the group of people that were deemed unfit to reside in the space colonies; the same goes for Sebastien with his glandular problem.

And since a couple people were wondering about whether Deckard is a replicant, he is. Ridley Scott finally confirmed this a couple years ago. If you just google for it, you'll see that there are a ton of hints in the various versions of the film, especially the director's cut.

Da Munk

I've had the DVD for a while and just now decided to watch it after reading this thread. I think it was a great movie that really makes you think about what you're watching. It calls humanity and reality into question and leaves it up to the viewer to reach their own conclusions. The part about Deckard being a replicant seemed pretty clear to me from watching the directors cut, especially with the piece of origami that Deckard finds at the end of the movie.

Frowning Budah

There are several movies out there that require some thought, some patience and maybe a little preparation. Blade Runner isn't a bang bang fast moving kind of piece and if you are use to that style it takes time to sit back relax and watch the movie build and enjoy it for what it is.
The first time I saw Clock Work Orange I didn't understand what was going on. I found it Visually appealing, but didn't understand anything about the story. After learning abt the movie the time etc. I enjoyed the picture much better.
Ditto Casablanca, Until you have had a love and lost them, then see them again you won't appreciate the film as much.
Doesn't mean the movie isn't a good movie, it maybe just not speaking to you.

Redlemon

On the other hand, Harrison Ford decided that Deckard was NOT a replicant, and played it accordingly. That's what makes it so ambiguous.

sendnot

Clockwork Orange was prescient in that it hearlded punk back in '73! Yes— Ultraviolence. Blade Runner was gritty and presented a future as not antiseptic which a lot of films lately do, but showed similar social problems as a mirror to what we experience today. That's art.

ancientk

I did google as people have suggested, but I cannot believe it. It just does not make any sense. Don't replicants have a termination date? Did somebody forget to tell Harrison Ford that he is a replicant, because he certainly appears to be human in the film. Not to mention the film is better with Deckard being human. The scenes that I did not understand were clarified by Ridley Scott, but I just don't want to see it. I will have to watch the film again. Removing the added scenes involving Deckard dreams, does the film make sense to you all with Deckard being a replicant?