How a person feels about the movie Blade Runner is a personal thing, since some people would actually say that it’s a pointless story that draws too much upon various storytelling devices and uses settings and character development to confuse the audience and make them believe they’re witnessing an epic tale when in fact they’re being given something that’s exceedingly simple. Others would claim that it is in fact an epic tale and that those that actively try to break it down aren’t able to find the link between one element and another that completes the story in a manner that is both spellbinding and masterful in its delivery. To be fair, neither view is entirely wrong. Blade Runner was and still is an impressive movie since it creates a storyline and a setting that are both rather bleak and at the same time intriguing since there’s so much going on. The world as we know it became a very dark and uncertain place, or rather, it continued that trend and made it clear that things had devolved even as the technology and the quality of life had improved for some but worsened for others. In a way, Blade Runner became the same old, same old when it came to futuristic, dystopian movies since the continual divide between the haves and have nots only widened as the movie told it, keeping the boundaries between those in power and those without it clear.
What’s funny about the title is that “Blade Runner” is a title given to mercenaries who hunt down replicants, since in this story replicants have become a problem since they’ve gone rogue, deviating from their purpose and becoming a danger to the human population. But the fact is, the term ‘Blade Runner’ comes from a different story altogether in which an overpopulated world has come to rely upon eugenics for population control, meaning that those who were sick or injured were deemed unfit to survive. This prompted an underground hospital system to emerge, though the system had to be carefully guarded since those who were anti-medicine and authorities alike were seeking to stop the practice. Bladerunners in this case were those that were in possession of needed supplies and were part of the underground hospital network that was aimed at helping people in a manner that wasn’t legal but was definitely created for the betterment of humanity. The book, written by Alan E. Nourse, was far different than the movie turned out to be, but at the very least Ridley Scott did manage to gain permission to use the term, though it’s amusing since as mentioned, it doesn’t really have any solid meaning other than to be a cool moniker to attach to those that are assigned to a specific duty.
Moving on from this, the movie is one of those that divide fans not because it’s good or bad, but more often because of its pacing and possibly its overall story. One can’t help but see that the hubris of humanity is constantly placed front and center when it comes to what can be created and what is eventually allowed to slip free of the bonds that humans attempt to place upon said creation. Among the many stories out there this is one common element, the fact that humanity seeks to control anything and everything within their sphere of influence. What goes along with this is the fact that humans manage to control very little for a prolonged period of time, since one way or another, the created either surpass the creator or the creator oversteps their bounds, and their creation slips the leash to strike back at those that brought them into the world. This is a common theme among many science fiction movies and one that has been played out more than once over the course of history. One might even say that it’s a natural directive that humans attempt to replicate in other manners simply to guess and wonder over what might happen if we skip everything between birth and the emergence into adulthood to see what might happen. The replicants are a pretty good example of this after all since they’re not so much born as created, and they were given their purpose instead of having to earn it through years of trial and error.
Many people feel that Blade Runner is one of the several movies that has changed cinematic history in a big way, while others think that it’s just another movie, one that’s impressive and astounding in its amount of detail, but still just one more experience among the many. Again, neither thought is wrong, since it’s all a matter of perspective, and each person is free to feel however they like about it. In all honesty, it’s an impressive movie, but it’s another story among the many that earned its attention.
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