BLADE RUNNER

Regrettably, Ridley Scott’s director’s cut of the cult classic, BLADE RUNNER, is dull and slow (the original cut was much sharper and more poignant). The title describes a futuristic detective who locates and “retires” synthetically made humans, known as replicants. The year is 2019. Replicants have brute strength, intelligence and an attitude. Four Nexus 6 replicants devise a plan to locate their creator and have him extend their life span beyond the four-year limit. Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), an ex-cop and expert BLADE RUNNER, is forced to find the renegades and “retire” them. From here, the movie centers around Deckard locating and retiring the replicants, one by one, leading to a showdown with replicant Roy Batty.

In BLADE RUNNER, the future looks dark and overpopulated due to the fact that society is swamped by aliens who have not been absorbed into the culture. The cinematography and acting performances are excellent. Undoubtedly, the best part of BLADE RUNNER is the allegorical last 15 minutes in which Deckard encounters Roy Batty who defeats Deckard but lets him go as a sign that he is more human than anyone imagined. In this last scene, Batty releases a dove–a symbol of God’s Holy Spirit. BLADE RUNNER is an excellent piece of allegorical science fiction which explores the meaning of life. It has very little foul language and less than gory violence, but, regrettably, it does have a dash of nudity.