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[More_Badass]

I had tried to check out Blade Runner a few years ago, and it didn't click with me. Couldn't even finish it. But with the new movie coming, I decided to try again (Final Cut) and I ended up really enjoying it.

For all the talk of it being a slow burn film and being "boring", Blade Runner moved faster than I was expected, and the slower parts and dialogue were never dull. It helps that the plot is so small and intimate, practically a Deckard slice-of-life. Just dropping you into the story of Deckard and the replicants keeps the pacing moving at a solid pace right from the opening. The story of Blade Runner feels like a small one happening among hundreds in this sprawling metropolis, while the world-building and details make the scope feel so much more grander.

Rutger Hauer gave an excellent performance as Roy, charming and cultured yet menacing and haunted, and Ford as Deckard was great too, if kind of dry. I think I liked him more due to my soft spot for sci-if noir and characters like him, rather than his characterization. But still Ford made him relatable and personable.

My main criticism after watching was that romantic connection between Deckard and Rachel felt completely unearned and had none of the emotional weight needed to work as a thematic element like the narrative wanted.

But Blade Runner's ultimate character is its world, and the atmosphere and sense of place is still amazing today. Crowded, dank, claustrophobic decay, rundown and rain-drenched. A lot of cyberpunk depictions get some of those aspects right - the rain, the neon, the decay - but Blade Runner has a realism and density that I think other depictions in film and games have failed to capture. The grounded approach to the future and future tech also worked to make Blade Runner stand out; many other cyberpunk works I've seen/read/played tend to go very heavy of the augmentations and “high tech megacorp crushing the people”, while Blade Runner feels more realistic in its depiction of the future.

Why did cyberpunk seem to shift to Tokyo City amounts of neon, hacking and slapdash (but still high tech) modifications, the “big supercity versus the slums/shantytowns”, high tech megacorp dystopian police force, etc? Blade Runner’s foundational vision is way more subdued and grounded

 

[Kayhan]

A masterpiece and one of the greatest movies ever made.

No movie before it made such a dense, atmospheric, future come to life in such a believable visual way.

 

[jelly]

I don't know much about Cyberpunk origins but maybe the Japanese just latched onto it more so that's what is shown more.

 

[a Master Ninja]

My main criticism after watching was that romantic connection between Deckard and Rachel felt completely unearned and had none of the emotional weight needed to work as a thematic element like the narrative wanted.

I'm still not sure what to think of their relationship. Deckard wanted her and he forced himself on her, and then at the end of the movie she was with him. I was unsure if the movie wanted me to approve of what he was doing. Was she just an object to Deckard, or a kindred spirit?

 

[Chittagong]

We just today arranged a screening of the final cut in our house cinema.

Such an influential, beautiful film. So many things can be traced back to it, from Designers Republic to Travis Fimmel as Ragnar Lothbrok. The world feels still so cohesive, immersive, powerful. Vangelis music is as great as ever. And the sociopolitical commentary on robotics, humanity and the rise of China is even more topical today than it was 35 years ago.

The final cut 4K package is phenomenal too, top quality documentaries, haven’t seen as good ones since Lord of the Rings.

 

[jon bones]

Deckard is not a hero, he’s more akin to the drunken noir cops of the 40s - which is also why I don’t mind the narration.

I love the film, seems to get better everytime I watch.

 

[More_Badass]

I'm still not sure what to think of their relationship. Deckard wanted her and he forced himself on her, and then at the end of the movie she was with him. He treated her like a "thing", and that's a theme in the movie, but sometimes I was unsure if the movie wanted me to approve of what he was doing.

It felt like it came out of nowhere. Treating her like just another machine makes sense, he even said that was his mindset regarding replicants. But the romance and wanting her and forcing himself on her seemed completely out of character, compared to how he had been presented previously

 

[Kayhan]

Does anybody have the Blade Runner: The Final Cut (4k UHD BD) version?

How is the quality?

 

[Shaanyboi]

I'm still not sure what to think of their relationship. Deckard wanted her and he forced himself on her, and then at the end of the movie she was with him. I was unsure if the movie wanted me to approve of what he was doing. Was she just an object to Deckard, or a kindred spirit?

I mean you could argue Deckard doesn't view replicants as having any rights and thus doesn't consider his actions to be wrong. It arguably fits with his arc...

But then you're also ignoring the off-putting "sexy saxophone" playing in the background to try and play this off as romantic, and the weird pattern of creepy rapey tendencies Harrison Ford's most iconic characters tend to have.


Blade Runner is a great movie, but it's all in spite of that scene.

 

[bobeth]

personable.

My main criticism after watching was that romantic connection between Deckard and Rachel felt completely unearned and had none of the emotional weight needed to work as a thematic element like the narrative wanted.

Words from the set were Ford and Young hated each others gut, it might have had an effect on that whole angle..

 

[Bobby Roberts]

Was just listening to some instrumental music on YouTube, and it shuffled up some improvisations by Vangelis, including this one, from 1977.

Now, you're going to notice real quick that this sounds like it could have come straight off of the soundtrack to Blade Runner. And the score to the film was largely improvised by Vangelis as he was watching scenes that were sent to him. Meaning a lot of what's on that score is literally him one-take-Jake'ing it.

But keep an ear out right about the 3:50 mark...

 

[deadscreensky]

Why did cyberpunk seem to shift to Tokyo City amounts of neon, hacking and slapdash (but still high tech) modifications, the ”big supercity versus the slums/shantytowns", high tech megacorp dystopian police force, etc? Blade Runner's foundational vision is way more subdued and grounded

The visuals in Blade Runner are considered exceptional for a reason. They took an insane amount of talent, it's not the sort of thing a bunch of other filmmakers could have done, even in a fantasy world where tons of people actually liked Blade Runner back in the early 80s. I know there's a few exceptions like Akira, but they are few and far between.

But ultimately cyberpunk lived and died in fiction rather than any visual medium, and the sort of subtle, beautiful world building of Blade Runner doesn't have the same impact there. Also so much of what made fans to fall in love with in cyberpunk is the stuff you're talking about, particularly the computers element. It was the perfect genre for the dawn of the information age.

And while I love Blade Runner deeply, I'd argue it's almost entirely missing the 'punk' half of the cyberpunk equation. I still count it as cyberpunk, but it's really missing the nihilism of something like Neuromancer and its many children.

 

[More_Badass]

We just today arranged a screening of the final cut in our house cinema.

Such an influential, beautiful film. So many things can be traced back to it, from Designers Republic to Travis Fimmel as Ragnar Lothbrok. The world feels still so cohesive, immersive, powerful. Vangelis music is as great as ever. And the sociopolitical commentary on robotics, humanity and the rise of China is even more topical today than it was 35 years ago.

Probably going to get punched for this but I got kind of a Total Recall vibe. Not in tone or plot or anything like that, but how the movie treated its themes of what is human and robotics. Like in Recall and its theme of memory and reality, the underlying themes are there, and they’re touched upon, and they influence the plot, but they never felt ingrained in the narrative or completely necessary for the plot, as fully explored as they could have been. I’m assuming the PKD stories have those elements much more to the forefront

 

[Einchy]

I have a hard time picking my favorite movies ever but if I had to try real hard, this would be one of them.

 

[Corpsepyre]

As I mentioned in the earlier thread, give Dangerous Days: The Making of Blade Runner a watch, for a more fuller experience. It took a while for them to make it the film we now know and love. It was absolutely not like that when it came out. There's a lot more to the documentary as well and you'll see the several transitions the production went through and how it became a phenomenon.

 

[Oveja Negra]

So much has been written about why Blade Runner is such an impressive piece of cinema, so I'll just say it's by a huuuge margin my favorite movie ever.

I watch it at least once a year.

PS: I agree with the poster above, the documentary that comes with the movie is extremely interesting. If you're a fan of the movie, it's a must.

 

[SuperStiltzkin]

Why did cyberpunk seem to shift to Tokyo City amounts of neon, hacking and slapdash (but still high tech) modifications, the “big supercity versus the slums/shantytowns”, high tech megacorp dystopian police force, etc? Blade Runner’s foundational vision is way more subdued and grounded

This is what I don't really like about many cyberpunk worlds we've seen since then. Too much leaning into the dystopian megacorps.

 

[Chittagong]

Does anybody have the Blade Runner: The Final Cut (4k UHD BD) version?

How is the quality?

It is absolutely phenomenal. The picture quality and audio are unreal compared to the Director’s Cut. The extras are fantastic, some really great documentaries with all the key people, and a lovely booklet. 5/5 would buy again

 

[Kayhan]

It is absolutely phenomenal. The picture quality and audio are unreal compared to the Director’s Cut. The extras are fantastic, some really great documentaries with all the key people, and a lovely booklet. 5/5 would buy again

Thanks. Goes on list.

 

[More_Badass]

Also I never realized that Blade Runner was actually set in a universe where we mastered space travel and have extensive offworld colonies and stuff. That makes the atmosphere of the movie even more fascinating, because that totally recontextualizes the place of Earth in the story and the rundown decayed metropolis vision we see so often in cyberpunk fiction. The cyberpunk city (world?) isn’t like this because of some megacorp dystopian regime (well, kind of) or some split metropolis like in Deus Ex’s Shanghai. It’s because Earth is being abandoned and left to the rest of us while those rich and powerful enough move to other planets

 

[III-V]

yea, its the GOAT, OP.

#1: few people talk about the 'romance'. You did mention it but say it lacked the emotional weight. What I see is Decard as physical and verbally abusive to Rachel. He takes advantage at her most vulnerable. She takes the abuse and submits as she realizes the futility of her own situation.

#2. Decard is

Spoiler

the tortoise

.

This movie, at least for me, was best around viewing number 4 or 5, because there is sooo much to uncover, although I really loved it from the first time.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

Why did cyberpunk seem to shift to Tokyo City amounts of neon, hacking and slapdash (but still high tech) modifications, the ”big supercity versus the slums/shantytowns", high tech megacorp dystopian police force, etc? Blade Runner's foundational vision is way more subdued and grounded

Because Neuromancer begins in Japan with a setting that looks like that. So I imagine a lot of people have internalized that cyberpunk with hacking and cyberspace is defined by that appearance.

 

[jon bones]

Also I never realized that Blade Runner was actually set in a universe where we mastered space travel and have extensive offworld colonies and stuff. That makes the atmosphere of the movie even more fascinating, because that totally recontextualizes the place of Earth in the story and the rundown decayed metropolis vision we see so often in cyberpunk fiction. The cyberpunk city (world?) isn’t like this because of some megacorp dystopian regime (well, kind of) or some split metropolis like in Deus Ex’s Shanghai. It’s because Earth is being abandoned and left to the rest of us while those rich and powerful enough move to other planets

and the healthy - it's why Sebastian is on Earth. he couldn't pass the physical.

 

[wandering]

Cyberpunk has long been associated with Japan’s high tech cities because of William Gibson and Neuromancer.

 

[Mufc1427]

The visuals still fucking insane.

 

[jack_package_200]

Where is the best place to rent Blade Runner?

This is the only version on Amazon thats available to rent and not buy digitally. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SW4DLM/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[More_Badass]

Where is the best place to rent Blade Runner?

This is the only version on Amazon thats available to rent and not buy digitally. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SW4DLM/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Vudu has the Final Cut to rent

 

[Barajas_201]

I was in the same boat as you OP, didn't like it the first time but subsequently loved it. I'm gonna marathon through the Final Cut and the prequel Shorts in anticipation for 2049. I'm beyond hyped.

 

[RSB]

I was in the same bout as you OP, didn't like it the first time but subsequently loved it. I'm gonna marathon through the Final Cut and the prequel Shorts in anticipation for 2049. I'm beyond hyped.

Add me to the list. LOL. The first time I didn't even finish it (too boring I thought) the second time (a few years later) I loved it, and now it's my favorite movie ever. Weird how that works.

 

[jon bones]

Blade Runner does that - lots of people bounce off it the first time and then it gets better on a rewatch.

 

[Trago]

Nice! Cyberpunk perfection!

Glad you liked it.

 

[Poimandres]

Also I never realized that Blade Runner was actually set in a universe where we mastered space travel and have extensive offworld colonies and stuff. That makes the atmosphere of the movie even more fascinating, because that totally recontextualizes the place of Earth in the story and the rundown decayed metropolis vision we see so often in cyberpunk fiction. The cyberpunk city (world?) isn’t like this because of some megacorp dystopian regime (well, kind of) or some split metropolis like in Deus Ex’s Shanghai. It’s because Earth is being abandoned and left to the rest of us while those rich and powerful enough move to other planets

In a fun bit of trivia, the 1998 Kurt Russell film Soldier can be considered a bit of a "sidequel" to Blade Runner: http://bladerunner.wikia.com/wiki/Soldier

I haven't seen Soldier in 15 years, and remember it being pretty dumb but enjoyable all the same.

 

[More_Badass]

Blade Runner does that - lots of people bounce off it the first time and then it gets better on a rewatch.

My tastes changed since then too; now I love stuff like mother and The Witch, movies with slow burn tension and atmosphere and such: RDR hype finally pushed me to check out Assassination of Jesse James tonight

 

[midramble]

Like others have said, cyberpunk as we know it really came from neuromancer. Pretty much every cyberpunk trope was born from that.

Phillip K Dick and his stories are much more neo-noir neon-noir future-noir... basically noir. A lot taken from Asimov. Though the existentialism and reality bending of PKD is astounding. That's why he's the top of my sci-fi love.

 

[Izuna]

I haven't seen either movie in the title.

I probably should do so.

 

[KodaRuss]

I love the movie and I am really glad to see so many people trying it out even after it doesnt click with them in the beginning.

The sequel looks amazing and I cannot wait.

 

[Chained Prometheus]

I adore Blade Runner, but I don't think I've ever fully bought into the hype for it as much as a lot of others have. I absolutely adore the visuals, the slower, contemplative pacing, the music and so much else... but for whatever reason, Alien is the film that resonates with me a bit more out of Ridley Scott's filmography.

And yeah, Blade Runner definitely isn't "perfect." The romance between Deckard and Rachel really doesn't hold up and every time I try to think of the sex scene in the appropriate context (i.e. that it's wrong and that what Deckard is doing in the scene is wrong), I can't because the dressings of the film are designed to make you side with Deckard on the situation (i.e. the sexy sounding sax synth love theme). You're supposed to buy that it's a legitimate romance scene... and it totally isn't.

It's a glaring blemish on an otherwise mindblowing gem of a film. I could probably nitpick about some other stuff here and there if I wanted to, but that's the biggest flaw that comes to my mind pertaining to Blade Runner.

 

[More_Badass]

I love the movie and I am really glad to see so many people trying it out even after it doesnt click with them in the beginning.

The sequel looks amazing and I cannot wait.

Yeah, now I can say that this shot is so Blade Runner. It looks like the kind of city streets we see in the original except that city is more modern and cleaned up

 

[Chained Prometheus]

Yeah, now I can say that this shot is so Blade Runner. It looks like the kind of city streeets we see in the original except that city is more modern and cleaned up

I really love how Deakins is employing a ton of silhouette shots in 2049.

 

[Farside]

Also I never realized that Blade Runner was actually set in a universe where we mastered space travel and have extensive offworld colonies and stuff. That makes the atmosphere of the movie even more fascinating, because that totally recontextualizes the place of Earth in the story and the rundown decayed metropolis vision we see so often in cyberpunk fiction. The cyberpunk city (world?) isn’t like this because of some megacorp dystopian regime (well, kind of) or some split metropolis like in Deus Ex’s Shanghai. It’s because Earth is being abandoned and left to the rest of us while those rich and powerful enough move to other planets

Tessier-Ashpool in Neuromancer is kinda this.

 

[Mulgrok]

pretty sure the "romantic" scene is due to the actress hating Ford IRL. She probably didn't want to be there

 

[KodaRuss]

Yeah, now I can say that this shot is so Blade Runner. It looks like the kind of city streets we see in the original except that city is more modern and cleaned up

Yeah, after seeing the scenes from the first trailer of the city gave me goosebumps. "They nailed the look of LA in this world"

I agree with your assesment of the "romance" I am still not sure how to think of it. My somewhat explanation was that Deckard was almost killed just prior to them getting back to his apartment and my emotions would be going nuts as well. Not saying I would force myself on to the girl that saved my life but I wouldnt put it past the a drunk replicant hitman to do something like that

 

[Chained Prometheus]

pretty sure the "romantic" scene is due to the actress hating Ford IRL. She probably didn't want to be there

I'm sure that didn't help matters, but I think the relationship is underdeveloped on a script level too. It feels rushed. Sean Young having problems with Ford irl and that tension potentially bleeding over into the "love scene" only accentuates the general problem of Deckard and Rachel's relationship in the film.

I agree with your assesment of the "romance" I am still not sure how to think of it. My somewhat explanation was that Deckard was almost killed just prior to them getting back to his apartment and my emotions would be going nuts as well. Not saying I would force myself on to the girl that saved my life but I wouldnt put it past the a drunk replicant hitman to do something like that

Back when I first got into Blade Runner, I used to justify the sex scene in a similar light. I used to write it off, that Deckard was shellshocked after his near-death run in with Leon and being saved by Rachel and that it was a moment where he- as an unknowing replicant- was trying to get some sort of emotional relief for himself and elicit a similar attitude out of Rachel, who he knows is a replicant.

And then eventually I realized that I was probably wrong to try and make sense of that scene. What's the point in defending a bad scene in an otherwise superb film? There's nothing wrong with recognizing that the sex scene in Blade Runner is a misstep, despite the rest of the film being one of the most impactful works in film history.

 

[midramble]

Also I never realized that Blade Runner was actually set in a universe where we mastered space travel and have extensive offworld colonies and stuff. That makes the atmosphere of the movie even more fascinating, because that totally recontextualizes the place of Earth in the story and the rundown decayed metropolis vision we see so often in cyberpunk fiction. The cyberpunk city (world?) isn’t like this because of some megacorp dystopian regime (well, kind of) or some split metropolis like in Deus Ex’s Shanghai. It’s because Earth is being abandoned and left to the rest of us while those rich and powerful enough move to other planets

Actually the general background is that nuclear war with Russia has caused the toxicity on earth. But the concept of the rich moving off world still applies.

Hell in the book, people wear lead codpieces to ward off the radiation.

 

[More_Badass]

Actually the general background is that nuclear war with Russia has caused the toxicity on earth. But the concept of the rich moving off world still applies.

Hell in the book, people wear lead codpieces to ward off the radiation.

That before or after space travel and colonies became a thing in this future?

Blade Runner has a pretty fascinating backstory. So it’s post-World World 3, post-space colonization, abandoned Earth grounded cyberpunk

 

[Afro Thunder]

Best movie soundtrack (above Conan the Barbarian one).

I only watch Blade Runner when it’s raining outside. I waited the rain for three months this year before watch it.

 

[midramble]

That before or after space travel and colonies became a thing in this future?

Blade Runner has a pretty fascinating backstory. So it’s post-World World 3, post-space colonization, abandoned Earth grounded cyberpunk

Yup. The book gets even deeper by adding mass experience vr empathy machines. All while being told from the point of view of a grounded blue collar detective. PKD was a beautifully off his rocker writer.

Beyond all that, the movie is also an atmospheric masterpiece.

 

[Bishop89]

First time I watched it was boring as fuck, which amazed me since I'm a huge scifi and Ford fan.

Second time I watched it I appreciated it more, but it's still pretty boring.

 

[Ether_Snake]

I repeat it all the time but what I liked was that it was an inconsequential story in a big world. Deckard could have done nothing and it would have changed nothing at all. The police just wanted to limit the damage these fugitive replicants could do with the limited lifespan they had left. Essentially some prison escapees on the loose, but nothing serious enough to even release a police squad on them.

And it's what I expect the new movie to fail at, I expect it to be a story that will shrink the universe and center it all on replicants and humanity, but hopefully I'm wrong.

We didn't even see the space colonies, just some slums and a corporate HQ. We didn't need to see the world, just see this tiny little story in a big world. I really hope they stick to this, and if so then they have room to make a bunch of disconnected stories. If they tie things up together, fuck it.

 

[HiiiLife]

Just finished it to prepare for next week.

Much prefer the second hour opposed to the first. One of the best soundtracks imo.