I really can't think of many movies that can be compared to Blade Runner. It was a flop when it was originally released, and over the years it has built upon an ever growing fan base, and has come to be recognized as one of the best films of the 80s.

Having seen 4 of the 5 versions of the movie and thoroughly enjoying all of them, I can't help but wonder what it was that made this movie such a flop when it was originally released. Was it a lack of an advertising campaign? Was it bad word of mouth from people who went in wanting Star Wars? I really don't know, because any way I look at this movie I think it's excellent.

Now onto the movie.....

One of the things that I really love about this movie is something that it shares with books like Brave New World...the idea of the future isn't something beautiful or wonderful, where technology has cured all of our ills and given us a paradise on Earth. Instead it gives us a dirty, slimy, smelly, polluted, crime filled unhappy hell hole of a future. The technology is there, but it doesn't solve any of the problems that we have. It's no magic cure for the ills of the world.

Next, the writing for this movie is absolutely brilliant. There are some quotes from this movie that I think are some of the best quotes ever from any movie. Most notably is Rutger Hauer's final words. They give me chills every time that I hear them.

Another thing I like about the movie is that it is one that makes you think. Or at least it makes me think. I walk away from the movie a bit disturbed by the idea of retiring the replicants and feeling bad for their short life spans. They are built in our image, but never treated as we are. Slaves for their entire existence, yet they are the ones who "burn so very bright."

In many ways they seem to be more human than the humans in the movie. The humans sit back and pull their strings...they all seem so detached from everything, and in the middle of everything, there are these replicants running around, doing things, obsessed with living. Was this an intentional criticism of people, or just a coincidence though? Donno, but either way you cut it, it seems to be pretty valid. Often times we are so obsessed with making our own lives easier that we forget to live.

The last thing I'll mention is more for those who are curious about the book Blade Runner was adapted from. There are parts of the book that helped me make sense of the movie a bit more. Specifically the animals. In the book, animals are something that everyone owns, (most people store them on the roof of the buildings where they live) and they are basically revered. People take care of their pets and treat them almost as idols. They are these little pieces of a world that we destroyed long ago in the book. That part of the book really helped to explain the fascination with animals in the movie, and why they showed up so often.

Outside of that, the book and the movie are not very closely related. The basic premise remains the same, that replicants come to Earth and Deckard has to hunt them down, and some of the other events do take place...but for the most part, the middle is completely different. They both stand alone very well, and you can tell that they are related, but the differences are so great that it only seems like a loose relation. I think that's actually a good thing in this case, because this is a rare case where both the book and the movie are good for their own reasons, and it's difficult to be mad at the movie for being so different from the book, because it just works the way it is.

I think I've rambled plenty long enough here to make it obvious that I absolutely love this movie, and it will be a movie I love for the rest of my life I'm sure.