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Ridley Scott, Blade Runner Final Cut

by Chris Flippo
02/09/2008

Writer's Warning: this is as much a retrospective as it is a review. Stop here if you want to avoid spoilers.

Dear Blade Runner,

Are you really 25 years old? You’ve aged so well! It seemed like only yesterday that Warner Brothers gave you some silly voiceover narration and sent you out into the real world. Out there you didn’t fare too well at the box office (thanks to that bully E.T.), and you retreated back to the world of home video. But that’s not where you stayed, was it?

I think you should know a little bit about your not-so-humble beginnings. Starting from the short story "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" (by the godfather of sci-fi no less, Phillip K. Dick), your screenplay was penned by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Ridley Scott (Alien) then signed on to direct you, and Harrison Ford, coming off of Indiana Jones and Star Wars, signed on to star in you. Right from the start, it all seemed like you were the recipe for a box office smash. However, that was not meant to be.

Yeah, I know that, at first, you weren’t the most popular kid in school. Some critics thought you were cold and lacked humanity. Your central romance was thought by many to be cliched. Plus, you were marketed as a generic action-adventure, which you most certainly were not! Of course, it didn’t take long before everyone realized how awesome you were on the inside. You were always very smart and maybe that intimated them. Hell, you were gorgeous, albeit in an unconventional way.

Everyone started to sing a different song when you were re-released in 1992 as a “Director’s Cut.” Let me just say, it was there that you matured into the wonderful film that you are now. Scott took away the voiceover narration, dropped the happy ending, and added a unicorn vision that is still being debated amongst fans. It is a testament to your staying power that fanboys are still arguing over whether or not Deckard is a replicant (of course, you’re so modest, I know you would never tell me).

It was at this point that everyone really began to take notice of you. Taking the film noir genre and rocketing it into the future was a daring move, Blade Runner, but I believe it has payed off nicely for you. Not only just a cult favorite, you are now loved by both critics and audiences. About time, eh?

All that business-babble aside, let’s face it: you are just as gorgeous today as you were in the 1982. You feature an awe-inspiring metropolis that still seems to be brimming with life. All those visual effects have not dated you (even if that crazy eighties hair somewhat does). In fact, the visual effects compliment you now more than ever.

Of course, unless Ridley Scott has another director’s cut up his sleeve, this could be the last time I write [of] you. Blade Runner, its been a blast. You are easy on the eyes but difficult on the brain. You are a film that has inspired countless filmmakers and will no doubt inspire countless more. You’ve taught me that cinematic sci-fi doesn’t always need ray guns and space monsters. It just needs ideas. Blade Runner, don’t ever change.

Your truly,
Chris Flippo

Editor's Note: The Final Cut of Blade Runner will be playing at the Athens Cine from February 9 through February 14.

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