(film review)

“Quite an experience to live in fear, isn’t it?
That’s what it is to be a slave”
(Batty)

Are you sure that your memories are real and you are human? Sci-fi movies will make you think about it! Let’s look into the 21^st century from a dystopian point of view in the movie Blade Runner (1982). It’s an adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968).

The Tyrell Corporation created advanced Nexus Phase Robots known as replicants. They were used as slaves for space colonization. In the exchange for their talent and strength, androids receive a very short period of validity (usually four years). The death of a replicant is called as ‘retirement.’ Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a cop, has to continue his job as Blade Runner (replicant hunter). He makes an official ‘replicant retirement.’ After a bloody insurrection there was a very dangerous case of an escape from the colony. Four replicants of the model Nexus-6 came to Earth. Bryant (Michael Emmet Walsh), Deckard’s boss, wants Deckard to ‘retire’ Leon (Brion James) and three other replicants: Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), Zhora (Joanna Cassidy), and Pris (Daryl Hannah).

Before starting the job, Deckard goes to Eldon Tyrell, CEO of the company, so he can administer the Voight-Kampff test on a Nexus-6 to see if it works. There he meets Rachael (Sean Young), a replicant girl he falls in love with. After hundreds of questions, Deckard concludes that Rachael is an android who believes she is alive. Tyrell explains that she is an experimental one who has been given false memories.

Now a dangerous mission awaits Rick. He wants to be with Rachel, but will they meet again? And the most marvelous question: is he ‘fake’ too?

The screenplay was made by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. They minimally transformed the plot of the novel so that the viewer could easily feel the connection between the scenes. Actors Ford and Young skillfully play a love line. It seems like they’re a couple in real life. But Deckard is a little bit simpleton and low-key in the central role, a typical ‘let’s-enhance-it’cop.

Also, I would like to mention the tracklist composed by Vangelis, a Greek musician and composer. Each melody conveys the mood of the characters and causes goosebumps. The special effects were supervised by Douglas Trumbull, who was able to create a whole world within the scenery.

I think Blade Runner is one of Ridley Scott’s (director) best movies. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an 89% approval rating based on 126 reviews. My rating is 9/10.