Blade Runner: The Final Cut: Movie Review

"Blade Runner" wasn't really a hit when it came out in 1982. It barely broke even in the box office and reviews were mixed. But through the decades it has actually become a classic and is actually considered to be one of the best sci-fi films ever made. And yet even with its cult status, it still had its own tumultuous history after its release. The various cuts of the film have been controversial of which only one has given its director Ridley Scott full creative reign. Today, we look at "Blade Runner: The Final Cut".

Early in the 21st Century, the Tyrell Corporation developed replicants named Nexus. These robots were virtually indistinguishable from humans. The latest models, Nexus 6, were equally intelligent to its engineers and physically stronger and more agile and used as off-shore slave labor. When a bloody Nexus 6 mutiny occurred, replicants were banned on Earth. Any replicant caught on the planet must be "retired". When reports of four Nexus 6 robots are in Los Angeles, a former blade runner Deckard (Harrison Ford) is forced out of retirement and has been tasked to find all of them and retire them before they can cause further harm to the human populace.

"Blade Runner" isn't perfect that's for sure. The narrative was simple and you could even say clichéd. The pacing was off and there were a lot of instances were we had a hard time understanding the motives and motions the replicants made towards Deckard. But what moved us are the themes and concepts that "Blade Runner" subtlety tackles. It is a thought-provoking film at its core. Where the android replicants show more emotions and the humans simply heartless, the once black and white assumptions you could have made on who was good or bad are completely shattered. These grey areas are the ones that really define the film's status as a masterpiece. The battle between Deckard and Batty is the culmination of all these philosophical topics really and the Tears of Rain scene simply moving and the best on screen speech we have experienced ever. The visuals, at least on our bluray copy we had, was simply stunning. Countless scenes could be easily turned into art pieces and considering this was made almost four decades ago make it even more mind-blowing. Overall, "The Blade Runner" pretty much holds up through the decades. It has its imperfections of course but its the film's idiosyncrasies that make it what it is.

Rating: 4 and a half reels





Why you should watch it:
- the philosophical themes are what define why "Blade Runner" is one of the best ever

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the pacing was off a lot of times