Ridley Scott has put together a dense and visually amazing sciene fiction film. The story is very deep with many themes and issues. One of the themes deals with the question, what makes a human a human?

It is the year 2019, Rick Deckard, an ex Blade Runner, has been tracked down by Bryant to hunt down four replicants. Six replicants have escaped from the off world colonies. They made a trip down to Tyrell corporations and tried to break in. Two of them got fried. A few days later, a Blade Runner tried to screen a replicant at Tyrell corporations. He spotted one, but not before he got blown away.

So Rick Deckard, reluctantly went back on assignment. His job was to track down the remaining replicants and "retire" them.

One replicant he came across, Rachel, didn't know she was a replicant. Later on, Bryant reveals to Deckard that he is to retire her as well.

The four remaining replicants from the mutiny on the Off-World colony are:

Roy Batty - Nexus 6; The leader of the group. He is highly intelligent, strong. He is ruthless on one hand, and childlike on the other. He is nearing the end of his life and seeks Tyrell for an extension on his life.

Incept Date- Jan 9, 2016

Leon Kowalski - Nexus 6; A bigger replicant, about as strong as Roy Batty, his emotional and mental development is below that of Roy's. He was used to load weapons. He doesn't feel pain. As Bryant says, "The only way to hurt him is to kill him."

Incept Date - April 10, 2017

Pris - Nexus 6; A pleasure model, used as entertainment, she can be quite manipulative and crafty. She is highly athletic and deadly. She is not quite as mentally developed as Roy.

Incept Date - Feb 14, 2016

Zhora - Nexus 6; She is highly trained in combat. She has landed a job as an exotic dancer at Taffey's Bar. While she is attractive, she is deadly.

Incept Date - June 12, 2016

There is at least one other replicant wandering around on Earth.

Rachael - Nexus 6; Tyrells latest experiment with replicants. Tyrell realised that when replicants develop their own emotional response, they can become dangerous and rebel. With Rachel, he implanted memories in her so she can be better controlled. Rachael has no idea that she is a replicant.

Then there are the uncertain ones.

Rick Deckard - Blade Runner, some people believe he might be a replicant. Voice overs on certain versions of Blade Runner suggest that he is at least not an average human, or a typical human. "Replicants weren't supposed to have feelings, neither were Blade Runners..." Some of the characteristics the known replicants have, he has too. (For instance, his fixation on photographs.) Some people don't want to believe that Deckard was a replicant simply because of the fact that he is the main character. But there are enough clues to go either way.

Holden - Simply because Deckard, being a Blade Runner, could be a replicant, that could possibly mean that Holden could be a replicant.

Gaff - Blade Runner, a strange character, recently upped into the Blade Runner Unit, he could possibly be a replicant. He has some strange features, (glowing blue eyes)

Dr. Eldon Tyrell - Some believe that the Eldon Tyrell present in the movie is a replicant himself and that the other Tyrell has passed away some time ago. There is rumored to be a part in the film where Roy Batty kills Tyrell and then learns that the one he killed was a replicant.

The only main characters that we know to be human are Bryant and J.F. Sebastian.

Initially, Blade Runner wasn't well received by audiences back in 1982. It was a box office failure. Possible reasons include that it was drowned out by some other big release films like E.T., which was a lighter toned film as opposed to Blade Runner's bleak, depressing setting which at the time had a happy ending in a utopic country setting as opposed to the industrial claustrophobic, dystopic urban setting of the rest of the film.

Another reason for Blade Runner's miss is that it was a surprisingly slow moving. With Harrison Ford's reputation of being in more action packed films, like Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Star Wars movies, people expected there to be some fast paced action. Even the trailer made the film seem just a little more action packed than it actually was.

What people got was a dark, deep mind provoking look at the nature of humanity. Basically it is an analysis at what it means to be human.

Even with it being a failure, Blade Runner has influenced a lot of productions in television, film and even games. A lot of producers when shooting a film try to go for that "Blade Runner" look or feel.

The film's score was composed by Vangelis. Vangelis put together a haunting, bluesy score that fits in with the Blade Runner world and give it a certain life that the typical action-y score wouldn't have given it.

Cast

Harrison Ford - Rick Deckard

Sean Young - Rachael

Rutger Hauer - Roy Batty

Edward James Olmos - Gaff

M. Emmet Walsh - Bryant

Daryl Hannah - Pris

William Sanderson - J.F. Sebastian

Joanna Cassidy - Zhora

Brion James - Leon Kowalski

Joe Turkell - Eldon Tyrell

Directed by Ridley Scott

Run time - 117 mins

Aspect Ratio - 2.35:1 (35MM prints, VHS, Laserdisc, DVD, Bluray) 2.20:1 (70MM prints, Workprint DVD and Bluray)

Sound Mix - Dolby stereo ( 35MM prints, DVD, VHS, Laserdisc) 6 Track Stereo (70MM prints) Dolby Digital (Final Cut, DVD , Bluray)

Rating - R

 If you enjoyed this film I also recommend: