After Harrison Ford had made Star Wars, the world was his oyster. However, he was a little stereo-typed and he took the role of a bounty hunter in a movie called Blade Runner. Harrison wanted more from the role than the director was willing to offer and like most creative processes, sparks flew. Ever since that time, Harrison has never talked about the movie and Ridley had expressed some regret about how it went. Fact of the matter is, life is all about control. Does the director have control or the actors? Personally, I think the director should have 80 and the actor 20. Of course it depends on the actor and the director. On this page, I include a documentary about the making of the movie and some special moments from the movie. When I first saw this movie, I was a teenager with high hopes. At the back of the cinema were a bunch of teenage girls giggling when Harrison took off his top. Apart from that, the theatre was practically empty. The movie had already bombed in the US and it was doing the same in Dublin. However, there is something really special about this movie. My favourite character is JR who's overwhelmed by his creations and his tiny robot friends. For me, this is where the movie begins to have some heart. Also, there is something quite childlike about the replicants because they only have implanted memories and no emotional maturity until near the end. The movie is based on one of the best SciFi books I've ever read 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep'. It's up there with 1984 by George Orwell, except it's about the nature of idendity and whether to care about others makes one more or less human. Reality in the modern world is constantly dehumanizing us by means of the popular media which tell us what to think and do 24x7. We are more emotionally programmed as a species than in all of our history and could end up like Replicants with Shell Emotions. Cry now. Laugh now. Hate now. Love now. So turn off your TV and do some thinking for yourself! Get reading and out there for yourself.
BTW: Adama from the recent BattleStar Galactica show stars has a small role in this movie... can you spot him?
This next video shows footage of Philip K. Dick and the twists and turns that were made to make Blade Runner the movie. Like many Hollywood movies, the story behind the making of the movie is more interesting than the movie itself. Personally, when I was a kid I was entranced by the movie but over time that fascination has ebbed. I see it now as part of a line of movies I call 'Dark Movies' ; namely that you never really see daylight and it's always raining etc; I think this is a result of a director having read too many comic books as a kid... Ridley has now become as influential as director as Spielberg. For example, take a look at the successful movie '300'. There are clear parallels in the use of music and also scenery, particularly the fields containing crops scene with the queen and the same scene in 'Gladiator' where Maximus' wife is waiting for him to come home. Ridley equals Box Office success but also style and grace.