jeh@ritcv.UUCP (James E Heliotis) (10/01/83)
Well, Blade Runner has been on HBO lately, so I thought I'd restate my
comments. I don't care what others think, I thought this was a
magnificent movie, where I got more involved in the lives of the
characters than in most othtings werealled science-fiction movies
of our time. Also, the set's ambience was great (I really believed it
could snow in LA!), while Vangellis's music was very appropriate, as
ususal. However, I would not introduce it as HBO does (like "A Group
of dangerous robots returns to Earth, and Harrison Ford is the only one
who can stop them!").
The flaws I saw were, first, Ford's corny out-of-character 40's detective-
style narrative. And, some controversy in my own mind as to the method of
manufacture of replicants:
The intro calls them robots, designed by genetic engineers. This seems
contradictory! The first viewpoint is supported by the man who makes
eyes in the cold room, but everything else seems to support the genetic
engineering idea. Anyone have any ideas?
My interest on this subject is at a peak right now due to the currently
showing NOVA TV show. I did not realize a "gene machine" already existed!
Jim Heliotis
{allegra,seismo}!rochester!ritcv!jeh
rocksvax!ritcv!jeh
ritcv!jeh@Rochesterleei@princeton.UUCP (10/03/83)
Apparently, the reason that Bladerunner had that ridiculous, 40's detective voice-over was that a bunch of execs at the studio looked at what Ridley Scott gave them as a finished product (i.e. the movie with no narrative) and decided that it was too subtle and intellectual for the average Joe on the street to understand, so they (read, the studio) tacked on the voice-over completely after the fact. I was incredibly dissatisfied with this movie the first time I saw it, but after I found this out, I was shocked enough to rush out and see it again. Talk about disillusionment. Underneath that raw, beat-you-over-the-head narrative is a beautiful, subtle, complex science-fiction film with real characters and wonderfully developed ideas. It's so incredibly frustrating to watch it knowing this, but well worth-while. Anyone out there have any ideas about the possibilities of getting a pre- voice-over copy of the film? Lee Iverson ..!princeton!leei
dad@eisx.UUCP (D. DeCourcelle) (10/08/83)
Wow... what an incredible idea!! I totally agree that the post production narritive (Harrison Ford speaking in a '40s style detective) really ruined the movie. Too bad!! Second my vote for a pre-voiceover copy. A magazine article I read about 2 years ago said that Blade Runner was about a society capabable of creating robots that thought and lived just as humans (but not necessarilly genetically designed beings... they were still made of circuit cards etc). The plot of the film as they described it was in "taking life" , the quandry the blade runner faced in killing a rational being (or should I say entity), one that had a past, one that had memories, friends, etc. just like any other human. It sounded like a really neat premice for a film... yeah... what problems will our future generations face when robots can be made to think and act (but not necessarilly look like) humans. TOO BAD this theme never came across in the film.