Blade Runner (1982)
NETFLIX SYNOPSIS: In the dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is called out of retirement to snuff a quartet of escaped “replicants” — androids consigned to slave labor on remote planets — seeking a way to extend their short life spans. This definitive special edition features director Ridley Scott’s restored and remastered version with added scenes, as well as an authoritative documentary on the making of the sci-fi classic.
REVIEW: BR is, of course, regarded as one of the classic cult sci-fi films, yet I was as disappointed on this second viewing as I was when I first saw it upon in its initial release. Yes, that dark vision of the future does hold up visually, even by today’s standards it’s great to look at, both beautiful and repellent, but there’s a blandness to the story, as well as several obvious major plot holes, that make it seem tame and even silly, when it is supposed to be (if one believes the fans) fascinating and even revolutionary. There are so many things that don’t make any sense that I kept getting distracted from the story I was supposed to be getting involved in. Harrison Ford is quite good, but I agree w/critic Pauline Kael re Rutger Hauer, he is a ham, all his supposed “intensity” comes from the outside and he makes a poor anti-hero.
2 stars
Harold
