Bladerunner

Just some thoughts on one of my favorite movies of all time – Bladerunner.

SyFy showed the theatrical release (1982) then Ridley Scott’s “Final Cut” from 2007. I was rather hoping I would notice more differences but no. A couple added short segments and a few slightly longer scenes.

The movie was set in 2019 ( the book was 2021) which seemed infinitely faraway back in 1982! So stark contrast between what could have been and what is.

• Nuclear War with China / planet poisoned / dark overcast and constant rain.
• Colonies on other worlds.
• Flying cars
• Replicants indistinguishable from humans.

SyFy had some show notes during the movie. The theatrical release adds an annoying voice-over by Harrison Ford because the studio editors thought people would be too stupid to get it. It also removed any question that it was nothing more than humans vs robots; the Final Cut adds those scenes back in ( Deckard was a replicant too; many things in the theatrical release are out of place without this subtext). The show notes claimed he was just a human in the book – and that’s definitely not what I remember! The book gave the impression that everyone was a replicant – all humans were off-world or dead from radiation. Between “memory implants” and mind control, most didn’t even realize, nor could they tell, they were themselves replicants. The director of the upcoming sequel recognizes this and says the movie will reflect that.

Replicants are like any other machine: they’re either a benefit or a hazard. If they’re a benefit, it’s not my problem.