Blade Runner, An Analysis

Essay by sparticusHigh School, 12th gradeA-, July 2004

download word file, 2 pages 3.8 3 reviews

Blade Runner is a 1980's science fiction movie that is directed by Ridley Scott, and that stars numerous well known actors, such as Harrison Ford, Sean Young, and Daryl Hannah. Although, if you are expecting a Star Wars or 2001 a Space Odyssey type movie, be prepared for disappointment. The movie is based on the story Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick.

Unlike most other futuristic movies Blade Runner has a dark and pessimistic view of the future. It takes place in 2019 in Las Angeles, which is full of acid rain, decaying skyscrapers, and masses of people. The movie focuses around genetically designed human replicants that have been made as slaves for the humans. At the beginning of the movie we find out that four advanced replicants, the Nexus 6, have killed a shuttle crew, and commandeered a ship back to Earth. They want to go to Earth so they can meet their designers at the Tyrell Corporation and argue for their freedom from slavery, and to exist beyond their four-year lifespan.

So, Captain Bryant forces a retired blade runner named Deckard (Harrison Ford) out of retirement so he can arrest these escaped robots. Deckard falls in love with Rachael (Sean Young), a replicant secretary at the Tyrell Corporation. The humans are completely indifferent to each other, whereas the four replicants, Roy (Rutger Hauer), Pris (Daryl Hannah), Leon (Brion James), and Zhora (Joanna Cassidy) have more human-like qualities.

Blade Runner is different from all other science fiction movies for numerous reasons, and it is this difference that makes it a classic in this genre, even though it was a commercial bust when it was released. The major aspect of this film is that it forces the viewer to become an engaged viewer, rather than...