• Pop Culture
    • Movies
    • Television
    • Comic Books
    • Video Games
    • Toys & Collectibles
  • Features
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Articles and Opinions
    • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Flickering Myth Films
    • FMTV
  • About
    • About Flickering Myth
    • Write for Flickering Myth
    • Advertise on Flickering Myth
  • Socials
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Bluesky
    • Instagram
    • Flipboard
    • Linktree
    • X
  • Terms
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

  • News
  • Reviews
  • Articles & Opinions
  • Write for Us
  • The Baby in the Basket

Movie Review – Blade Runner: The Final Cut

April 2, 2015 by Simon Columb

Blade Runner: The Final Cut.

Directed By Ridley Scott.
Starring Harrison Ford, Sean Young, Rutger Hauer and M. Emmet Walsh.

SYNOPSIS:

Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is the titular Blade Runner, tasked to track down human-looking, A.I. “Replicants”

Blade Runner bombed in 1982. It has since become a cult, and now firmly established, classic of science-fiction film-making. Directed by Ridley Scott, only three years after Alien, Blade Runner created a world that had never been seen before. In fact, a dystopia that seems to eerily resonate in 2015, as video-billboards and voice-activated technology has only become more common. At the cinema, this is a sight to behold. The vast angular Tyrell Corporation and never-ending urban city-scape that opens the film is the world we see, while the bustling crowds and multi-cultural street food stalls dominate the smoky atmosphere on the ground. This is Los Angeles. 2019.

No description is needed for Blade Runner. But just in case, Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is the titular Blade Runner, tasked to track down human-looking, A.I. “Replicants”. What resides within the Philip K. Dick adaptation is much more that pulpy sci-fi action. It houses a visual style that reinvented the genre. The eternal downpour of rain creates a foggy locale and sets the scene for the washed-out characters that drag their long-coats from sidewalk to station. Deckard feels like the one man who understands the hopelessness. He glumly eats his noodles, and has a cynical approach to his duty. This isn’t Ethan Hunt, or a Sci-Fi Indiana Jones; this is a man raised in a world that is overpopulated and under-resourced. A world that houses an oppressive corporate-culture that, as we eat a Maccy D’s or listen to an ipod, we know only too well. Have we all become as pessimistic about the future as Deckard?

Clearly, this is a spectacular picture – but that pessimism can fuel unnecessary criticism on that virgin viewing. Even Roger Ebert held Ridley Scott to account for his choice of characterisation (“The movie has the same trouble as the replicants: Instead of flesh and blood, its dreams are of mechanical men”).  As many of those initial audiences might’ve not known, Blade Runner isn’t Star Wars, despite the Han Solo lead actor. It’s not as clear-cut as Alien or The Terminator. It isn’t balls-to-the-wall sci-fi – something that can be a shock to modern teenagers who only know the gun-holding promotional material that decorate posters and DVD sleeves. Blade Runner’s master stroke is how nuanced and detailed it is. The final act, for example, is a sight to behold. Roy Batty, leaping and running between torn down walls and urban ruins, poetically taunts Deckard. Echoing wolf howls and bird calls, Batty is at one with nature and Deckard is out of his depth. Deckard desperately clings to the destroyed sides for cover, but it seems that the weak-walls are against him too. He leaps out the window, and holds the side of the building. He climbs the structure, only to clamber onto the rooftop. Batty has him in his hands and toys with him. This leads to one of the best cinematic monologues ever written – something more astonishing, is how Hauer himself wrote the unforgettable final coda: “All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain”.

For some, you may have seen it before and weren’t sold. That first viewing is often dominated by the expectations of pace; a what’s-gonna’-happen-next thought-process that every subsequent watch won’t need. Savvy folk who appreciate the time of release (1982 for gods sake!) will realise how incredible the special effects are at the very least. Then, maybe an hour later – maybe a few days – you’ll recall that visual style. The porcelain-doll design of Pris (Daryl Hannah). The fearsome anti-villain in Roy – and the grotesque head-handling of the closest thing he had to a Father. The niggling realisation that, of course, Roy isn’t a villain at all… and Deckard was sent by his superiors to kill Rachel in those final moments. Is he the bad guy? To utilise a phrase too-often used on social-media: Mind blown. Inevitably you’ll be pulled back to those opening titles again (if you’re lucky, you’ll choose wisely to watch it at the cinema). The sound of a weight dropped forty floors: Blade Runner. It’s at this moment that you understand the hype – and this re-release provides the opportunity. This perpetual night that led to The Matrix is, what Guillermo del Toro describes as “Pure cinema” – so don’t wait any longer. This is the time to see it.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Simon Columb  – Follow me on Twitter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5&feature=player_embedded&v=ONsp_bmDYXc

Filed Under: Movies, Reviews, Simon Columb Tagged With: Blade Runner, Harrison Ford, M. Emmet Walsh, Ridley Scott, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young

FMTV – Watch Our Latest Video Here

WATCH OUR MOVIE NOW FOR FREE ON PRIME VIDEO!

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

Nowhere Left to Hide: The Rise of Tech-Savvy Killers in Horror

Takashi Miike: The Modern Godfather of Horror

Maximum Van Dammage: The Definitive Top 10 Jean-Claude Van Damme Movies!

Knight Rider: The Story Behind the Classic 1980s David Hasselhoff Series

Essential Gothic Horror Movies To Scare You Senseless

Great Vampire Movies You May Have Missed

The Essential Modern Conspiracy Thrillers

7 Kick-Ass Female-Led Action Movies

Ten Great Love Letters to Cinema

8 Great Recent Films You Really Need To See

Top Stories:

Movie Review – Daniela Forever (2025)

Netflix shares Wednesday season 2 trailer and promo images

Movie Review – Superman (2025)

Peacock’s true crime drama Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy gets a trailer

Great Tarantino-esque Movies You Need To See

New trailer for Netflix mystery-thriller series Untamed starring Eric Bana

7 Underrated World War II Romance Movies

Movie Review – Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight (2025)

STREAM FREE ON PRIME VIDEO!

FEATURED POSTS:

The Most Incredibly Annoying Movie Characters

Robin of Sherwood: Still the quintessential take on the Robin Hood legend

Sirens from Space: Species and Under The Skin

The Essential Modern Day Swashbucklers

Our Partners

  • Pop Culture
    • Movies
    • Television
    • Comic Books
    • Video Games
    • Toys & Collectibles
  • Features
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Articles and Opinions
    • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Flickering Myth Films
    • FMTV
  • About
    • About Flickering Myth
    • Write for Flickering Myth
    • Advertise on Flickering Myth
  • Socials
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Bluesky
    • Instagram
    • Flipboard
    • Linktree
    • X
  • Terms
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

© Flickering Myth Limited. All rights reserved. The reproduction, modification, distribution, or republication of the content without permission is strictly prohibited. Movie titles, images, etc. are registered trademarks / copyright their respective rights holders. Read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. If you can read this, you don't need glasses.


 

Flickering MythLogo Header Menu
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Articles & Opinions
  • Write for Us
  • The Baby in the Basket