N: Blade Runner is not simply
a "cult classic" - it now regularly appears in Top 100
film lists and is particularly popular in the UK, where it graced
the Top 10 of a few major "Favourite Films of the 20th Century"
surveys. Why is that Paul? And did you have any idea back in 1982
that it would become such a classic?
PS: Well, to begin, I'm not quite sure that BR's
totally escaped its cult status yet. Sure, it's easy to assume that
the film is better known, especially with all of these "Best
Of" lists floating around, not to mention all the BR-devoted
books and websites and fans. But honestly, your average moviegoer
could give a shit. Go ahead - stop somebody in the street and ask
them, "Ever hear of a movie called Blade Runner?"
Most of the time you'll be rewarded with a blank look. Or, at best,
they'll say, "Yeah, I dimly seem to recall something called
that." And how can I make such a statement? Because, for years
now, I've been asking many, many different strangers the same question.
And I usually get the responses I've just detailed. It's a little
game I sometimes play when I first meet someone - "Ever heard
of BR?"
A few results:
- Wired Magazine: Best SF
film ever
- BBC Film '99: Viewers
vote BR 2nd
favourite movie of the 20th Century
- London Time Out Readers
vote BR 4th
favourite movie of the 20th Century
- Sky Premier Viewers vote
BR 8th
favourite movie of the 20th Century
- Channel 4 public vote
puts BR at 8th
in 100 Greatest Movies List
- Sisqua.com public vote
on Greatest
Movies put BR in 11th place
- Futurist Movies rates
it best future
movie ever
- Online Film Critics Society
vote it 2nd
in their 100 years of SF review
For even more, see our Top
100s Page
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So I think it's important to keep in mind that you may be preaching
to the choir when you're trying to assess BR's overall recognition
factor with other fans of the film. I mean, it's the job of film
critics to know cinema history, right? So of course they'd be aware
of BR. Just as a film buff or SF film enthusiast or SF literature
fan would be. However, these are only splinter groups in a much
larger culture - the mainstream, if you will. And the mainstream
is far more aware of any Star Wars film than it is of BR.
As for why BR is now making "Best Of' lists, well,
the superficial response would be to cite its influential production
design. Which, for the most part, still looks fresh and dazzling
today. But the real reason the film continues to build in popularity
is due to its tone, its characters, and its complexity.
For instance, with BR, Ridley improved upon a strategy he'd
used in Alien; that is, to create a fantastically detailed
yet realistic future world, and then to populate that world with
believable characters. In that sense, BR is Alien
cubed - here are all these crazy things like Spinners and Espers
surrounding people who are depressed, or arrogant, or manipulative,
or confused
- hey, just like the real people we meet every day!
But that's only part of the equation. As BR unfolds, you
realize that, even though it's set in 2019, it's actually forecasting
many of the same dilemmas facing us now. Overcrowding. The police
state. Cloning. Corporate dominance and corruption. Creating technology
that serves our darkest interests. The film additionally touches
on elemental questions, the big ones. Who am I? What
am I? How do I deal with violence? Love? Freedom? And why the hell
do I only have "X" days to live? Anyway, I think audiences
recognize and respond to all this, even if it's only on the intuitive
level. BR is among the handful of great science fiction films that
challenges you to think, instead of just showing you intricately
choreographed light-saber battles.
Of course, these concerns are chiefly cerebral ones. But BR
isn't simply a Kubrickian exercise. Although I gotta tell ya, I'm
still surprised by how few critics recognize the extent to which
Blade Runner resembles a Stanley Kubrick picture. Anyway,
I also think audiences really love the mood of BR.
It's so intensely melancholic. So sad, so infused with forlorn nostalgia.
But then, in the midst of this gloom, a sequence will suddenly come
along that, in purely kinetic or visual terms, just totally blows
you away. Furthermore, watching BR only once is like taking
a single bite out of a seven-course meal. I mean, there's always
something going on in the background or the corners of the frame,
some little detail or activity you barely half-register. Still,
those details pique your curiosity, so you want to see it again.
I obviously can go on and on about this (laughs). As that little
mantra in Starship Troopers goes do you want to know more?
N: Certainly!
PS: Okay. Blade Runner treats its audience with respect;
it isn't contemptuous of a viewer's head or heart. It also sucks
you in and doesn't let go until the lights come up. It's very well
paced. And of course there's Vangelis' music - what an incredible
score!
So
BR isn't the D.O.A. product of the sterile Hollywood assembly
line. It's truly unique, truly alive in that way only great
films can be. One other reason? BR's characters. They're
vivid and quirky, yet at the same time demonstrably human. I mean,
take Deckard's drinking. He drinks a lot in BR. Yet it's
possible that Deckard's alcoholism is basically a way of insulating
himself from this hellish city where he's stuck in an awful job
he doesn't like. Now, who hasn't found themselves in a similar situation
in their own life? That's another example of what I meant when I
mentioned the multiple layers in this film. I mean, Deckard's taste
for liquor can be read as more than an acknowledgement of all of
those hard-drinking, two-fisted, two-dimensional stereotypes you
find in most detective films - although it's a nod to that convention
too.
Anyway, perhaps the most concise reasons why BR is finally
making all these "Best Of" lists could be summed up as:
Great story. Good characters. Astonishing sets. Amazing special
effects. Gorgeous cinematography. Serious concerns. Truly bizarre
set pieces. Wonderful music. And emotions. Genuinely affecting
ones. I mean, every time I watch that scene in Deckard's apartment,
where his callousness and verbal cruelty towards Rachael results
in her finding out that she's a replicant, that everything she's
ever trusted and believed in about her "life" is totally
false, that all her memories are artificial ones hardwired into
her brain - well, when Sean cries during that moment, I cry too.
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