Blade Runner

What it is about

In a dystopian Los Angeles in November 2019, humanity shares the city with replicants, artificial humans built by the Tyrell Corporation to perform dangerous work in the off-world colonies. After a bloody uprising, these beings were outlawed on Earth, where a special police unit, the blade runners, tracks down and "retires" fugitives. Rick Deckard, a former blade runner living in semi-retirement, is pulled back to hunt a group of replicants who have slipped into the city. As the investigation moves forward, Deckard meets people connected to the corporation and the fugitives themselves, and the line between human and artificial grows increasingly uncomfortable for him. The film builds its suspense around the search, without revealing its ending or the revelations that shape its final stretch.

How it was made

The project grew out of Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Several filmmakers looked at the book before the adaptation took shape. Hampton Fancher wrote a first draft around 1977, and producer Michael Deeley brought it to Ridley Scott, who joined in February 1980 after leaving the slow production of Dune. Dick was unhappy with the early script, and Scott asked David Peoples to rewrite it. Fancher left the project in December 1980 but returned later for further work. The title changed several times before settling on Blade Runner, a name taken from a William S. Burroughs cinema treatment.

The cast leaned on performers who were not yet widely known. Harrison Ford, fresh from Star Wars, was looking for a dramatic role, and Steven Spielberg's praise helped Deeley and Scott secure him. Robert Mitchum was the first figure Fancher had in mind for Deckard, and the list of considered actors included Dustin Hoffman, who eventually left the project over creative differences. Rutger Hauer was cast without meeting Scott, based on his work in Paul Verhoeven's films. Hauer rewrote the famous "tears in rain" speech and presented it to Scott on set before filming.

Shooting began on March 9, 1981, and lasted about four months, under heavy strain. Humidity and smoke made conditions difficult, and relations between Scott, who had mostly worked with British crews, and the American team were strained. The budget grew until financing came from a three-way arrangement involving the Ladd Company through Warner Bros., Hong Kong producer Run Run Shaw and Tandem Productions. Interiors were shot largely at Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, where the streets of 2019 Los Angeles were built, while real locations such as the Bradbury Building and the Ennis House were used as well.

The visual design is one of the film's defining traits. Scott drew on Fritz Lang's Metropolis, Edward Hopper's painting Nighthawks and the comics of the magazine Métal Hurlant. Syd Mead, hired as concept artist, designed vehicles, buildings and objects, while Lawrence G. Paull, David Snyder and Linda DeScenna led the art department. The effects, supervised by Douglas Trumbull, Richard Yuricich and David Dryer, were achieved without digital tools, through models, matte paintings and multiple exposures. Vangelis's melodic, synthesizer-based score completes an atmosphere that is instantly recognizable.

The film opened to only moderate box office, overshadowed by other major science fiction releases of its year. Critics were divided: some admired its atmosphere and thematic depth, while others found its pace far from conventional action. Over the years, especially through home video, it became a cult title and is now widely regarded as one of the great science fiction films and a touchstone of neo-noir and cyberpunk. It won three BAFTA awards from eight nominations, received two Academy Award nominations, and was selected in 1993 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Its influence reaches films, television, video games and animation, and it helped bring Dick's work to Hollywood, where several of his stories have since been adapted. Several versions of the film exist, including the 1992 director's cut and the 2007 Final Cut, the only version over which Scott had full artistic control. The sequel, Blade Runner 2049, followed in 2017.

Reception and legacy

Blade Runner received a divided response. Specialist critics were puzzled by a pace far removed from conventional action, while others praised its thematic complexity and atmosphere. Its box office in North American theaters was modest, and the film found its audience mainly through video rental. That second life turned it into a cult favorite and, over time, a landmark of science fiction.

Its legacy is wide-ranging. It is cited as a forerunner of cyberpunk and a central example of neo-noir, and its production design is considered among the most influential in film history. Its effects, cinematography and music are equally admired. The film also helped draw Hollywood's attention to Philip K. Dick, and several of his works have been adapted since. Its influence extends to cinema, television, video games and animation, and its themes of identity, memory and the boundary between human and artificial continue to be debated.