Blade Runner

Blade Runner, American neo-noir science-fiction film, directed by Ridley Scott and released in 1982, that has become one of the most influential works in the cyberpunk genre. Although it initially received mixed critical reviews and was a financial disappointment at the box office, its dramatic cinematography, iconic performances, and existential themes struck a chord with many viewers. In the years following its release, it grew into a celebrated science-fiction classic. This slow-burn success led to the release of a sequel, Blade Runner 2049, in 2017.

Background

Blade Runner was inspired by the 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by noted science-fiction author Philip K. Dick. Like the film, the novel concerns rogue androids being hunted down by a human who begins to grow ambivalent about his role as an assassin. Scott’s film, however, ignores much of the novel’s interplanetary backstory and makes several other significant changes. Nevertheless, Dick eventually became very enthusiastic about the screenplay, considering the novel and screenplay to be complementary works and claiming that the script captured the tone he had in his mind as he wrote the book. Unfortunately, Dick passed away before he was able to see the finished film.

Premise and summary

Blade Runner takes place in Los Angeles in the year 2019, as imagined by the filmmakers in 1982, with towering skyscrapers, massive advertisements, and smokestacks that belch flames into the sky. Rick Deckard (played by Harrison Ford) is a former “blade runner,” a police officer who specializes in tracking down synthetic humanoids called “replicants” and executing them—a procedure euphemistically called “retirement.” Deckard is returned to service to deal with four replicants who have fought their way out of enslaved labor in space and traveled to Earth, where replicants are outlawed. The leader of these replicants is Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), who has come to Earth to find a way to extend the replicants’ purposefully brief life span.

Deckard observes a video of blade runner Holden (Morgan Paull) administering the Voight-Kampff test (a psychological test that can distinguish replicants from humans) to Leon (Brion James), one of the replicants. Leon shoots Holden before the test can be completed. Deckard then meets with Dr. Eldon Tyrell (Joe Turkel), CEO of the Tyrell Corporation, the company that created the replicants. There he meets Rachael (Sean Young), who serves as assistant to the CEO, and Tyrell suggests that Deckard test her. Deckard discovers that Rachael is a replicant who has been given false memories so that she will not know that she is a replicant. Rachael comes to his apartment later to assert her humanity, and he reveals to her that her memories are false.

Meanwhile, Batty, Leon, and Pris (Daryl Hannah) have found a genetic designer named J.F. Sebastian (William Sanderson), whom they hope to use in their plan to extend their life spans. Deckard succeeds in tracking down and killing the fourth missing replicant, Zhora (Joanna Cassidy), but is shaken by the experience. Afterward, he learns that Rachael has disappeared, and he is ordered to hunt her down. Leon appears and tries to kill Deckard, but Rachael saves Deckard by killing Leon. Deckard and Rachael return to his apartment, and, when Rachael tries to leave, Deckard stops her and forcefully kisses her.

Despite his growing feelings for Rachael, Deckard continues his hunt for the remaining replicants. Batty grows more desperate as the end of his life span approaches, and soon the two are on course for an inevitable confrontation.

Reception and influence

Blade Runner was a financial disappointment when it was released, grossing less than $42 million cumulatively worldwide against a $28 million budget. Critical reaction was mixed at the time, but the film eventually gained a reputation as one of the greatest science-fiction films of all time. Its vision of the Los Angeles of the future as both technologically fantastic and emotionally bleak helped to establish the visual language of the cyberpunk genre, an influence seen in works such as the neo-noir anime film Ghost in the Shell (1995) and the science-fiction action thriller The Matrix (1999). Blade Runner is also an early example of an American sci-fi film envisioning a future in which East Asian countries had begun to more directly influence the West. The film’s production design drew inspiration from Hong Kong, and Blade Runner features prominent Asian immigrant populations in its near-future version of Los Angeles.

The film’s reputation has grown over time in part because several reedited versions of the film have been released, including a director’s cut and an additional final cut that director Scott supervised. Some of these reedited versions are generally viewed as improvements, and, after the release of the final cut in 2007, film critic Roger Ebert, who initially panned the storytelling in the film, declared that it was finally time to “admit it to the canon.”

Blade Runner was eventually followed by the 2017 sequel Blade Runner 2049, directed by Denis Villeneuve and starring Ford, Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, and Robin Wright.

Production notes and credits

• Studios: The Ladd Company and Sir Run Run Shaw
• Director: Ridley Scott
• Producer: Michael Deeley
• Writers: Hampton Fancher, David Peoples, and Philip K. Dick (novel)
• Music: Vangelis
• Cinematographer: Jordan Cronenweth
• Editors: Marsha Nakashima and Terry Rawlings
• Production designer: Lawrence G. Paull
• Running time: 117 minutes

Main cast

• Harrison Ford (Deckard)
• Sean Young (Rachael)
• Rutger Hauer (Batty)
• Daryl Hannah (Pris)
• Joanna Cassidy (Zhora)
• Brion James (Leon)
• William Sanderson (Sebastian)
• Joe Turkel (Tyrell)
• Edward James Olmos (Gaff)
• M. Emmet Walsh (Bryant)
• James Hong (Chew)