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Film Blog Project

Kelly McKinney

April 16th, 2018

                                                          Film Blog Project

The title of the film is Blade Runner (1982) and the running time is 117 minutes. The director is Ridley Scott. The screen-writers are Hampton Fancher and David Webb Peoples. The lead actors are Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer and Sean Young.

Here’s a link to the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eogpIG53Cis

Review

In a futuristic Los Angeles, the Tyrell corporation manufactures Replicants, advanced AI which are virtually identical to humans. Blade Runners are special police squads assigned to kill these Replicants. Deckard, a retired Blade Runner, is forced back into commission by his old boss and assigned  the difficult mission to track down and eliminate four rebel Replicants. These four Replicants have escaped from the off-world colonies and come to Earth to find their creator and seek a cure for the genetic coding that limits their lifespan to only 4 years. On Deckard’s mission, he meets Rachael, who expresses a high level of human emotion even though she is a Replicant.

To determine if an individual is a Replicant, Deckard uses the Voigt-Kampff test. While asking many rational questions, this machine can measure the dilation of the iris and the fluctuation of the pupil relating to the individual’s emotional responses. Predictably, Deckard falls in love with Rachael, even though his testing reveals she is really a Replicant.

The most dramatic and suspenseful scene is the lengthy battle between Deckard and Roy, the escaped Replicant leader. In this climax, the viewer witnesses Roy’s last moments of his life. Roy sparing Deckard’s life shows his humanity, compassion and how he simply just wanted a better life and to live.

Finally, Deckard examines his definition of humanity and eventually questions his own existence as a human. In the end, Deckard abandons his job and flees the city with Rachael leaving the rest of their story up to the viewer’s interpretation. At the same time, the film challenges the audience’s concepts of humanity and technology.

Film Techniques:

First and foremost, there are the props and costumes that are a quite important film technique in this movie, because all the sets in it rely heavily on the proper use of said props. The movie Blade Runner looks so realistic and portraying the dark world at that time, because of, on one hand, of the costumes in this movie that were very representative of the dark times in which this film was placed in. We see very futuristic clothes, but all black or of darker shades, and all made in such a way that showed they were from the future. For example, the dress Rachael was wearing when Deckard first goes into the Tyrell headquarters and meets her, she’s wearing a very fancy and black dress, made with sharp points at the shoulders and elbows, clothes that would imply they were futuristic. At one point in the movie, Rachael is seen wearing a big fur coat, unusual to what we would see today. This gives us an idea of what the makers of the film thought fashion may look like in 2019. On the other hand, we see props such as the guns they use are very well made, as can be seen in the final scene when there is a close-up of Deckard’s handgun which looks futuristic but also very realistic. There are also the flying cars that, obviously not flying, looked very technologically advanced and thus real. There are also machines like the one used for the Voight-Kampff test that looked really like they were from the future and worked, even from very close up.

Secondly, the choice of the actors and their acting itself was obviously very crucial in the making of the movie in order to sell their characters and really bring them to life. Harrison Ford portrayed his character Rick Deckard very well. His acting showed the audience his humanity and how his attitude changes towards Replicants in the end. At first, he doesn’t seem like a complicated character with many emotions. But, the more he interacts with Replicants, we can see he shows more emotions. We also get to see that his internal conflicts and how he is questioning humanity through his facial expressions. Sean Young played the character Rachael successfully. Since she is a Replicant and her memories are not hers, she plays an artificial robotic character, and we could see this robotic side due to her lack of emotions. For example, we never see her smile or laugh. However, at the same time, she shows a bit of humanity. We can see through her facial expressions that she is just trying to figure out herself.

Another important film technique is the use of camera angles. These shots are used all throughout the movie, and are very important for the visual storytelling. They also give the audience a good idea of the mood in the scene, of the shifts of power for example, which is of course very crucial. For example, low angle shots give us this show of power, of the person holding it, like when Deckard is doing the Voigt-Kampff test on Rachael, it is shot in a low angle. This suggests that he has a lot of power in this situation, since he determines whether she is a Replicant or not. On the other hand, high angle shots also carry out a big task, which the creators managed to do amazingly, like when opening scene where the camera is looking down on Los Angeles as it is in the Blade Runner’s futuristic world in 2019. We get a high-angle shot of all the high-rise buildings and the rest of the dark confusing city, some of these buildings spewing fire out of their rooftops, giving us a good idea of the setting and tone of the movie and what to expect.

Next up is the amazing choice of sounds in the movie. Throughout the whole film, the editors made a great job giving each the scene the wanted mood and atmosphere because of the sounds, music or words being played. For example, there are the non-diegetic sounds; those sounds coming from outside the movie that give us a certain emotion to feel during the scene, such as when the music that plays when Deckard is shown in the flying police cars. The twinkly music suggests something magical and futuristic. Another example of this masterful use of sounds are the internal diegetic sounds. A moment that really shows this is when, in the last scene, Deckard picks up Gaff’s unicorn origami, and he hears the flashback of his voice saying: “It’s too bad she won’t live but then again who does?” The audience hears Deckard’s thoughts and the flashback emphasizing this statement. It gives us a mysterious feeling right before the end of the movie and makes us imagine what happens next.

Finally, there is the editing aspect of this movie that is really important, because it gives us the tone of every scene. Cross-cutting was very good, because, like when Tyrell is talking to Sebastian on the phone. Tyrell is in his room, on his bed, while Sebastian is in an elevator, on his way up to pay him a visit. We see here that we can expect something important to happen soon and it gives us the chills. Another example of good editing is the long takes, such as the conversations between Rachael and Deckard at his apartment are unfolded in real time. This sets up the scene realistically and show the relationship between these two characters and their environment.

Universal themes:

The masterpiece that is the Blade Runner touches a vast quantity of subjects, all more philosophical and thought-provoking than the others. One of these universal themes is the progress of human technology in the biogenetic side of science and how it could easily get worse at any point in history. Indeed, as we can see through the different illegal Replicants in the movie, as they realise that they only have 4 years to live, it makes us question the morality of making artificial intelligence a reality, or also with Rachael that has no idea that she is, as a matter of fact, a non-human entity, and the repercussions of her realizing this. Also, another issue raised in this film is how the world is going towards a dark, devoted from any real animal being, world where people live without any real goal. This really makes us reflect on where the world is headed, how it is important for us to start taking care of it as soon as possible, to make sure it does not become, inevitably, a real-life dystopia. Finally, the third universal theme that is really present in the Blade Runner and is subject to discussion is the fact that these replicants, creatures with artificial intelligence but still human nonetheless, are treated as expendable, that what are basically humans are used as slaves off-world, as servants. In other words, the way people perceive these engineered humans as objects they can throw in the trash, and woman replicants are given purposes such as man-pleaser.

Word count: 1190

Comments on quality of film:

For sci-fi movies lovers, one would think that Blade Runner would be a winner! No? However, the original Blade Runner was a huge disappointment. Even though the movie was released only 40 years ago, cinematography did not reach our expectation. It seemed very low-budget and cheaply done.

However, keep in mind that MAY be our millennial eyes not appreciating older movies, because the concept of the movie was thought provoking and delightful (human vs machine). The writers made it difficult for the viewers to pick a side (pro human or pro machine), which made us reflect on AI’s place in our future society. With that said, we appreciated/ admired the way the writers were able to do such a thing.

Sadly, that’s about all we could come up with that talks about the film in a positive way. Now a little more on the quality of the film… You may need to use your imagination a little now. Here we go… Just to give you readers a sense of the poor special effects, picture a kid’s drawing of a city as a background and hovercraft aircraft toys in the air trying to make it look like it’s flying. If you can picture that in your head, then you can imagine how “special” the special effects really were.

This film was released in 1982 and it was set almost 40 years in the future (2019). Here we are presently in 2018, and our world is nothing like the one the writers of the film predicted. Now, was that their intention? Did they want to exaggerate to leave more of an impact for the viewers? Possibly! However, they could have made the film a little more vibrant or at the very least, BRIGHTER? The entire movie, we felt like we needed a flashlight. It was so dark, we could barely see the characters. We think the movie should come with a warning sign: “Must wear night vision goggles while watching this movie”. It was that dark and depressing. I sort of get where the writers were coming from, in the sense that they wanted to show the viewers that this futuristic world is not ideal, but I am sure they could have done so with more lighting, so we could see what was happening.

Finally, the acting…. more specifically, Harrison Ford. He was disappointing in Indiana Jones, just like in Blade Runner made several years prior. His talent stayed as stagnant as a ditch! The

lack of passion and love for the art in his roles makes the movie A LOT less enjoyable.

Rating ( out of 5)  

Three relevant, significant connections to the class

1) A key concept is the uncanny valley. In the opening scene where Leon is taking the Voigt-Kampff test, the audience does not know that he is a replicant yet. His appearance is identical to a human and the audience’s emotional response to Leon is positive and empathetic at first. However, when we see the details of his eyes and his lack of empathy when he kills the person questioning him, the audience’s response becomes that of a strong revulsion. You no longer pity Leon, as you did when he seemed uncomfortable during the test. As the movie progressed, we see how well the Replicants blend in with the crowds and their appearance becomes less distinguishable from that of a human. The audience’s emotional response becomes positive again.

2) Many say that robots are not sentient because they are not capable of feeling any emotions. That is not the case for the Replicants in the movie. They have been made by humans from head to toe, and they do not have anything that is their own. It is true that some parts or their bodies are different, but overall, the Replicants are made from the same pattern and model. However, they develop over time some emotions, even if they are emotionless when they are first made. All emotions felt by the replicants are unique and all of them have goals in the movie. That shows they are sentient and with Roy Batty for example, he is showing pain when the nail is piercing his hand or when he decides to let Deckard live.

3) Replicants have names, rights and individual lives. Because of that, they can be considered as persons. With the quote of personhood which is “Not all humans are persons and not all persons are humans.”, it is clear that the Replicants apply to the second part of the quote. They are persons, without actually being humans. When you look at them, there are no signs of apparent robotic features, but in their brains, they are not quite humans. In other words, Replicants are considered persons by the average people when they meet them, but deep down, they know and their creators know that they are only robots programmed to die four years after being made.

Three interesting and provocative questions based on the film Blade Runner

1. Deckard from the very beginning of the movie shows very little, if any, emotion. The character never smiled, never laughed, never got angry, nor did he ever get sad. Though, this may be a representation of Harrison Ford’s poor acting skills (the actor playing Deckard), could it be that Deckard is actually a replicant himself? Could the reason for being such a monotone character, yet exceptional  Blade runner, be because he has the mind of a replicant?
2. Do you think that the way our policies, technological advancements and politics are going, we will ever see the day where an artificial being and a human are socially indistinguishable?
3. If we are all going to die one day, some sooner than others, what is the point of living? And, let’s say we know exactly how long we will live for, we that affect the way we will live our lives?

Two Web-links and short descriptions related to the film

1. http://bigthink.com/philip-perry/scientists-have-discovered-how-to-implant-false-memories

As humans, our memories are unique and we create new ones as we grow and experience life. But what if we could implant memories  (I.e. memories that are not our own)? In this article, a mouse got memory implants in his brain to help it control its fear. This experiment resembles in many ways what had happened to Rachael in the film.  

2.http://variety.com/2017/film/columns/how-blade-runner-became-a-geek-metaphor-for-art-1202583468/

This article gives an interesting perspective in that the Replicants, in some way, are us. Rather than focus on the main character, Deckard, the author states that the most memorable character is actually Roy. The Blade Runner 2049 film is considered not only as a sequel to the original, but also as an ultimate fulfillment.

WORK CITED:

Blade Runner. Directed by Scott, Ridley. Screenplay by Francher, Hampton, Peoples, David. nnn1982

IMBD. Blade Runner (1982). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083658/. Accessed March 10, nnn2018.