Blade Runner is an interesting movie. It’s a neo-noir, cyber-punk, science fiction movie, starring Harrison Ford and directed by Ridley Scott.

For those who don’t know much about the movie, Harrison Ford plays Rick Deckard, a former “Blade Runner” who is unwillingly tasked with tracking down and killing four replicants that have illegally returned to Earth. Blade Runners are a special division of the police force who are tasked with tracking down and killing on site (“retiring”) replicants, bioengineered beings made to act andthink like humans on all fronts except emotions.

== Spoilers ahead ==

The movie satisfies the neo-noir checklist: a hard-boiled detective who drinks the entire time he is on the case and falls in love with a token dame in distress. On top of this, the cyberpunk designs and elements were prominently featured throughout the movie: the costumes, the make-up, the set designs, and the color palette (which is in part also influenced by the neo-noir genre).

When I first finished the movie, I couldn’t really tell how I felt. I was a bit ambivalent towards the cinematography. The plot moved like an accordion: compressed/rushed in some parts and slow-paced in others. But after it ended and I had time to let it settle, I appreciated it more. Not so much for what it had to offer to me, but rather for what the movie was in and off itself. I could see how it influenced future movies within the cyber-punk, neo/future-noir genre, with its set designs and darker color palette. I appreciated the subtle commentary on what it means to be human without that really being the point; we were just following Deckard’s final mission, there to spectate but not necessarily learn anything.

There were three things that really stuck out for me:

  1. This shot. The way the light fell on Pris (Daryl Hannah), but at the same time didn’t. Pris was and yet was not the focus of the scene. It feels like a twisted/nightmarish Rembrandt painting.blade-runner-toy_1500
  2. The final twisted hide-and-seek game between Roy (Rutger Hauer) and Deckard. Particularly Roy’s final words before death (which apparently Rutger Hauer ad-libbed).
  3. The music.

Glad I finally watched this. I can definitely see why it’s a cult-classic. I probably will skip watching the sequel in theaters, but might watch it what’s it’s available outside of theaters. Would give Blade Runner 8/10. Also lol @ it taking place in Los Angeles 2019.