Blade Runner (1982) Review

To celebrate the upcoming release of Blade Runner 2049, we take a look back on Ridley Scott’s original sci-fi classic. Blade Runner 2049 will be hitting theatres the 6th October, directed by the always brilliant Denis Villeneuve and starring Ryan Gosling, Jared Leto and Harrison Ford.

Released : September 9th 1982

Certificate : 15

Director : Ridley Scott

Cast : Harrison Ford, Sean Young, Rutger Hauer, Edward James Olmos, Daryl Hannah,  William Sanderson, Joe Turkel

Plot : Set on 2019 earth, robots with near human level of intelligence, called Replicants are used as a work force. When four of the most advanced models escape their work compound a Blade Runner, or Replicant Hunter, is sent to hunt them down.

Released just three years after Ridley Scott had cemented himself in the sci-fi genre with Alien in 1979, he returned to the genre for a much more thought provoking tale. While Alien showed how he could masterfully create new worlds with an authentic feel, in Blade Runner he showed how these sci-fi worlds had the capability of deeper meaning and reflection. Not only does the story of Blade Runner bring about deep questions, but literally the architecture of the world Scott create adds to and develops the themes. That’s one of the striking elements of Blade Runner, how the base storyline is a simple as Alien, but the setting, imagery, dialogue and sound all take this plot and help develop it into something more profound.

 

To refer to the simply nature of the plot, everything is laid out at the start in text form. Man creates intelligent life as a workforce, some rebelled, humans crush the rebels and ban these life forms from earth. Here the film opens up so many themes such as identity, morality, slavery, colonialism and social structure. Scott then creates a world which reflects these themes. It has been widely discussed how the social structural themes of the Replicants slavery in mirrored by the architecture of the city. The buildings that house the wealthy creators of the Replicants clearly look like a temples fit for a king. The inhabitants of this upper class society are white males and the interiors are all polished and neat, while the city life below it is multi-cultural, gritty and chaotic. A clear commentary on racial and social structure issues. The film is full of imagery such as this. A return to this series is so exciting as it promises a re-emergence of profound imagery that has been missing in the sci-fi genre recently. Denis Villeneuve has brilliantly attempted to bring back this importance of imagery to the genre with Arrival.

Which leads onto other aspects of Blade Runner. In Arrival while the imagery is sprawling and profound, Villeneuve always focuses on the human emotive aspects of the story. For Arrival that is the struggle of motherhood. Blade Runner also never fails to remain focused on the characters and their struggle, despite all of its morality and creationism themes. Blade Runner is a film that uses its simple narrative not only for deeper themes but aptly fleshes out the characters involved. Each main player in the film struggles with their identity, for example we see Harrison Ford’s Deckard identity as a Blade Runner fall apart as he questions the morality of his job. Scott is able to deal with the grand themes and the small personal struggles of the character seamlessly and in an even-handed way. It is the amalgamation of these large ideas and small character struggle which make Blade Runner amazing, and then there is the music.

The score of the film was created by legendary film composer Vangelis, whose work is too great to list. Probably most famous for his Oscar winning score for Chariots of Fire. The score for Blade Runner was created entirely in post-production as Vangelis created the sounds via initial viewing of each image and scene of the film. This layered a second vision onto the film, after Scott had finished, Vangelis applied his own interpretation via the music. The results is stunning and the music is an integral part of the experience. Throughout the film a distant dreamlike sound is created, in which distant echoes and drawn out notes are repeated. This distant the sounds create can be interpreted in many ways, firstly as a dream, or perhaps connoting how despite the futuristic setting many of the themes and issues are familiar to us. As well as this it acts to also reflect the characters emotions with great humanity. Just as Scott did, Vangelis was able to deal with the big themes and the characters equally.

Blade Runner works on so many levels. Visually stunning, rich with character drama and brewing with deeper themes and ideas. It’ll be a joy to return to this world next month, thirty five years after the original was released. The ability to juggle the big themes as well as the characters is something that Denis Villeneuve has proven he can do time and again, and his recent work in Arrival shows he’s more than capable in the sci-fi genre. Other reasons to be excited that the sequel will be treated with respect is the addition of Ryan Gosling and Jared Leto, as well as cinematographer legend Roger Deakins (The Shawshank Redemption, No Country for Old Men), and some of Villeneuve past co-workers such as editor Joe Walker (12 Years a Slave, Arrival) and composer Jóhann Jóhannsson (Sicario, The Theory of Everything).

Verdict : A film worthy of the title of sci-fi classic. A film which visual beauty is matched by its richness of story and imagery.

Verdict : 5/5

Quote : “All those moments will be lost, like tears, in rain.”

 

The Hustler DVD Review

Pool Hand Luke

Released : October 27th 1961

Certificate : 15

Director : Robert Rossen

Cast : Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie, George C Scott, Myron McCormick

Plot : The story of  ‘Fast’ Eddie Felsen (Newman), a top of his game pool hustler who’s been making good money on the road. But when he challenges Minnesota Fats (Gleason), the rumoured best pool player in the country, and meets a shy girl called Sarah, things get difficult.

 

The Hustler is another ‘classic’ to be made out of a Paul Newman lead. The film has big respect amongst filmmakers, enough that Martin Scorsese directed a sequel to the film called The Colour of Money, with Newman returning to the role of Fast Eddie. It gained one Oscar for cinematography, and six additional nominations that included all of the four main actors for their roles as well as best picture. While Newman in his earlier career had films much more noted than this, this was one of his very earliest, coming before Cool Hand Luck and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

From the general synopsis of the film you’d expect to see a drama based on a series of dramatic pools games, the film devoting much time to the drama of different games in isolation as he Eddie works his way to the top. While the film does contain this, there is a more prevalent storyline that occupies the majority of screen time. This is the story of Eddie’s relationship with Sarah which takes an unvarnished look at alcoholism, loneliness and depression. So for all the charm and charisma of Newman as an actor, the taste to this film may be surprising. For the romantic relationship of these two characters, the writing is realistic in the way that it is economic and understated. The script doesn’t contain clichés (for the time it was made) and doesn’t over-dramatize the topic matter dealt with. The result of which are characters that you may not ‘like’ or approve of, but this is a result of writing that is not hyperbole and is true to the characters (a line doesn’t feel out of place or made for memorabilia value).

For the acting across the board it ticks all of the boxes that are needed for great drama. The lead from Newman is as brilliant as ever, although it does fall into vibe of the rest of his characters in a career that’s slightly type cast. But the character development that his role goes through and that he is able to realize is superb, to really convey a character that is a changed man by the end of the story. The supporting performances are a great match to Newman as well. Gleason performance who plays Minnesota Fats, a confident and collected pool player who has been the best for years, is very entertainingly realized, but with a slightly rushed character arc. C Scott, who plays the manager of Fats, a rich but determined businessman, is the biggest standout next to Newman who grounds a performance with a gripping arc, despite being borderline over the top in some scenes.

Piper Laurie’s performance may not be as acclaimed, due to the characters weak cautious nature, which at times become tedious. But despite this Laurie very well captures a deflated character with little enthusiasm, a hard character to get behind but a well-acted on none the less. So The Hustler isn’t the engrossing sports drama in the way that many would expect, with an abundance of gripping pool room game scenes with poignant dialogue. Instead it is engrossing due to its flawed and ‘damaged goods’ characters which have brilliant arcs (which for their time would have been much more original than today) and performances that make it a standout character study piece.

Verdict : A sports drama that would seem dated made today likely, with pacing that will drag for some audiences. The performances and the script elevate the film beyond these flaws, in a slow burning melancholy drama.

Verdict : 4/5

Quote : You have the best excuse in the world for losing; no trouble losing when you got a good excuse.