Saturday, July 11, 2009

Blade Runner (1982)



In the year 2019, genetic engineers have created "replicants," better versions of humans, but upon losing control of them, made them illegal on earth. Decker, a blade runner, is sent to track down four escaped replicants who are searching for their creator.

It's hard to describe this movie. It's...weird, quite frankly, but so many layers of weird, it's incredible. The visuals are astounding for 1982, and I loved the combination of a futuristic city matched with grunge like downtown Chicago and ambience like Chinatown. Everything is dirty, you can almost smell the exhaust fumes and rain, the sweat on a stripper's body, blood...everything is organic and natural. The acting is almost non-existent, nothing really amazing, but that's what I liked. The setting and plot is so over the top, if the acting matched, it'd be just another cheesy sci-fi flick. The music fits perfectly, it's either strains of synth or almost Indian sounding beats as our characters push their way through crowds of raincoats and advertisement lights. It's understandable why a lot of people didn't "get" this movie when it came out. It was ahead of its time.

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