Apocolocyntosis wrote:
Hopefully I can ask this without hijacking too much or being accused to heresy, but there are a number of sci-fi classics that really don't appeal to me (blade runner, alien, space odyssey among them). So, what makes blade runner so great? educate me!
I find blade runner slow and dull. Sure it has atmosphere, it's just not enough. I founnd the book more interesting, though I am less keen on the ending. Think i've seen it three times now (not sure which cuts) and i've just ended up getting more bored by it each time!
edit: on a more positive note, i really enjoy Terry Gilliam's films, especially Brazil and Baron Münchhausen.
Blade Runner is an absolute classic of science fiction, but I can appreciate where you are coming from. It isn't an entertaining film in the way say Raiders of the Lost Ark is, something that harmed the film a lot on its release; people seemed to think they were going to get Indiana Jones in the future which it absolutely isn't. Try to think of it as a detective film, those kind of stories are usually pretty slow while the protagonist tries to make sense of and solve some kind of puzzle. But rather than trying to solve a puzzle Decker is just trying to find out where the replicants are so he can retire them.
It's a slow burn and for me, it's a film that was so way ahead of its time that it took a few decades for people to get it. Here's a few of the things that I think make it great:
1) The city. It is astonishing looking. The effects stand up and look better than some off the naff CGI that continues to plague films even to this day. Take a look at that opening shot and tell me that doesn't look as amazing as it is grim. And it isn't restricted to just model shots, it looks great in all of the practical sets, it's an overpopulated, overpolluted decaying city that you can completely believe exists. Take a look at Decker's apartment, it is overloaded with detail and despite the unnatural film lighting it feels real. People talked about Star Wars being revolutionary for having a "used universe" rather than the pristine clean environments of traditional sci-fi films. Blade Runner takes that to the utter extreme and serves up an abused universe where things don't look like they've just been used; they look 2nd or 3rd hand, close to the point of breakage. There's muck everywhere and rooms are so smoky it's a wonder the people of the city aren't dying of carbon monoxide poisoning. The city is a character in its own right.
2) Doing something different. At a time where Hollywood and the public wanted escapism, this delivered an ultra real, nihilistic kick to the proverbials. And people didn't like that, which is why it failed. Good and evil are not well defined in Blade Runner. Are the Replicants evil or are they actually victims? They were created and thrown away ( a critique on the consumerist society?). Because they had the audacity to escape their enslavement on a colony they are hunted down. And because of their limited life experience they are very childlike, do they deserve to be slaughtered? The reason they come to earth to to attempt to understand why they were created and to extend their lifespan. They're more human than Decker who shows little emotion and isn't beyond shooting a fleeing woman in the back. Even previous anti-heroes like Dirty Harry wouldn't have the balls to do something like that. I hate the suggestion that Ridley Scott inserted that *spoiler* Decker is a replicant. It makes more sense to me that he is human, but everything has been burned out of people living in this horrible future. Look at the way we're going, we've got a society which is all about self-gratification in which people seem to be taking less care of one another. Keep going like this and we'll all be Deckers soon enough.
3) Rutger Hauer. I love watching his performance in this film. Watch it again but have it in mind that Hauer is playing a 4 year old with the mind of a genius. It's magnificent.
4) The music. People talk about the atmosphere of Blade Runner. Part of that is the city, but another large part is the music. I'm not keen on the saxophone piece with Rachel, that instrument always sounds cheezy and sleazy (or is it the other way around?) but the rest of it is flawless. Best of all it flicks two fingers at the perceived wisdom of the time that films need big bold raucous themes that bludgeon you across the head. This is like a dagger slipped between the ribs.
5) That end speech. Probably should have covered this in point 3, but it's so good it deserves a seperate mention. It's beautiful.
6) Themes. Overpopulation, overpollution, mass immigration, mixing of cultures, globalisation, the effects of overindustrialisation, the widening gap between the rich few and poverty of the masses (the Off-World colonies seem to be the Elysium of the 80's), dehumanization, unforseen effects of technology, genetics, corporate dominance, religion (very subtle that one), what is real? and what is it to be human? That's a lot to get into 2 hours!
7) Legacy. David Fincher (whose films I admire) owes his career to Blade Runner, look at pretty much any one of his films and you see filthy living spaces and exteriors where it never stops raining. He's not the only one, there's a stack of sci-fi films that have had the Blade Runner look about them; it's particularly evident in the Matrix which many hail as another sci-fi great. I could go on...
Taste in film is a such subjective thing, so I don't expect to change your mind Apoc! It's like food, you like what you like and there really is no right or wrong (except when it comes to Star Wars v Star Trek Jimmy)! My only hope is that next time you see it, maybe you'll enjoy it a bit more! I recommend you watch Ridley Scott's Final Cut. A lot of the pauses and slower moments have been sliced down so it feels less dreamy and more urgent than earlier versions. I personally wasn't mad on this, although I did appreciate many of the small additions and clean ups of certain aspects of the film. In an ideal world these would have been added in with no trimming of other footage. He did the same thing with Alien, inserted more scenes and yet still managed to shorten the running time so that might be worth a look again!
Good luck!
There's not much for to add to comments regarding Star Wars, Blade Runner and Dune, all are among my favorites. 
