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Finally, I found the time necessary to write this article about Blade Runner. Well, let's start by the beginning and focus on the movie identity card on the right. The first thing to notice is that this movie is from 1982, and if you look at my article about Philip K. Dick, the author of the book from which this movie is inspired died in 1982. He did learned that his novel was going to be adapted to the cinema, but he didn't live enough to see the result. Blade runner was the first adaptation of a Philip K. Dick's book, and the author that struggled hard to write enough to earn a living would be rich with all the adaptations of his work that have been made since his death. Blade Runner vs Do androids dream of electric sheep ? The first difference between the book and the movie is naturally the title. Why did Ridley Scott decide to call his movie like this? First of all, Dick's title was long and strange for a movie, and secondly, it hasn't any sense in the movie since the explanation of the title I made in the article about the book lies upon the fact that having an animal is synonymous of wealth. In the movie, we never see an animal. This aspect of the book is completely occulted in the movie. Another change compared to the book is the date and the place of the action. Philip K. Dick wrote a story taking place in San Francisco in 1992 whereas the movie is set in Los Angeles in 2019. As regards the date, it's easy to see, considering that Philip K. Dick wrote his novel Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep ? in 1968, 1992 for the action was a quite far ahead date. But in 1982, date of the movie, 1992 is only 10 years in the future, it is no more science-fiction, it's tomorrow. That's why I think they decided to change the date. But why did they change the place of the action ? I can't answer this question. It's just a name at the beginning of the movie, what does it change ? I don't know. But that's not a huge divergence between the two stories. The biggest one, to my mind, is the marital status of Deckard. In the book, he is married with Iran whereas in the movie he is divorced. The role of Iran in the book is quite important, even if she's not very present in the story. But her absence in the movie allows the beautiful love-story between Deckard and Rachael to grow. This impossible love between the man and the machine is completely significant of the topic of the story : what makes the difference between a human being and an android ? That's how I see it. The movie is full of new inventions that install the futuristic atmosphere, but these inventions haven't at all the same importance than in the book. The mood machine, the Empathy box, Sydney's catalogue... All of this is completely missing in the movie. The only remaining things are the videophone and the Voigt Kampff test. The inventions in the book are here to imply something, they make us think about consequences, but in the movie they are totally different and with a different objective : the atmosphere. With all these differences, you must be thinking that this movie isn't worth the book. I wouldn't say that. They are somehow linked, but different. The movie couldn't exist if the book didn't exist, but it isn't a simple adaptation of the book. It's a bit like if the story had been rewritten to stress on different points. A kind of different vision of the same global story. I enjoyed both reading the book and watching the movie. We can't say one is better than the other, they're just different and maybe complementary. Some movies only take the main idea and rewrite an other story. In this case it's different, it's the same idea, the same story but told in two different manners. Original version and Director's cut I had already heard this word Director's Cut but I had never asked myself what it really was. Well, it's something very important when watching Blade Runner. This movie has two versions. The one that was in the cinemas in 1982 : the original version, and another one called the Director's Cut. When a movie is shot, several version exist, but not every time the director, who is the one that decided the story, chose which one is kept. The producer may chose a different version just to earn more money with the movie or for any reason. The problem is that the person that has made the film, the one who had the whole story in his head, isn't the one that chooses how the final cut will look like. Blade Runner is also known for this problem. In 1982, the version in the cinemas wasn't the one Ridley Scott had decided. There was a voice-over and among others, a scene necessary for the total comprehension of the movie has been cut off. I had the chance to watch the Director's cut version. Personal Opinion This movie is known by many to be a reference of science fiction movies. It is even considered by some people as a Masterpiece, the best film of science fiction ever. What do I think about it ? Well it is indeed a really well done movie. As regards the technical point of view and the story. It makes us think a lot, and manages to make something different, that exists for itself, from an existing book. The darkness of the atmosphere may be repulsive for some people, but I must say that if you pay more attention at what is behind, you discover something completely different. The darkness is necessary for the movie, the atmosphere doesn't make you at your ease, but when you think at it, it is a beautiful movie. Extract I'm talkative and I've already written a lot of text, but I think the best is to see an extract. You'll see the atmosphere of the movie, and you'll be able to compare it to your impressions concerning what I described in the books section. I chose a scene that I find very significant. A piece is outdoor and one indoor in order to see the atmosphere of the whole movie. I find that this extract really shows the thin limit between human beings and machines. Just before you click on the video below, I just wanted to say that I put the first screen of the movie summing up the situation just before the extract like this you'll have an idea of how the film starts. One last thing (I promise it's the last...) I added on the extract comments I made in order to tell you how I felt the movie, what I think it means, how I understood it. Well that's all. Enjoy watching it, it should last around 12 minutes.
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