Movie Minx

Starring: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Darryl Hannah
Directed by: Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator, Thelma and Louise, Black Hawk Down…)

Plot: In a cyberpunk vision of the future, man has developed the technology to create Replicants, human clones used to serve in the colonies outside Earth but with fixed lifespans. In Los Angeles, 2019, Rick Deckard is a Blade Runner, a cop who specializes in terminating Replicants. Originally in retirement, he is forced to re-enter the force when five Replicants escape from an off-world colony to Earth.

But is it any good?

It’s pretty good, if rather dated. But it was hard to get excited about Blade Runner, which I hadn’t seen before, when I’d seen all the subsequent movies on the same kind of theme: What separates humans from technology?

Harrison Ford stars as Rick Deckhard (my, what an early ’80s action figure name), whose job it was to “retire” (ie kill) unwanted Replicants. Reluctantly called out of retirement to finish off a couple more, Deckhard puts on his Brooding Face to get the job done. He’s not the nicest protagonist - he’s a killer and coldly informs a Replicant that all her childhood memories are fake - but of course goes on a journey of self-discovery to come out a better man in the end.

The vision of futuristic LA is both impressive and cringe-inducing. The impressive bits come from the atmosphere: gloomy streets, flickering lights, the constant pounding and echo of industry is alway in the background. The city looks slightly like Metropolis - 700-floor buildings loom with massive ads for Coke and now-defunct Pan Am, while space cars zap around.

However, the film is set in the year 2019 - a mere 12 years from now - yet some things look laughably dated. Computers are the green screen Amstrad-types, the women all have over-permed ‘fros while Darryl Hannah has what looks like a toilet brush on her head and some worryingly sharp shoulder pads. Of course all this is a bit distracting from the plot, but also makes for great unintentional humor.

The blur between humans and Replicants is hammered home all through the film. Replicants want to live, have feelings etc. The GE menaces playing God by creating things seem slimy or dim-witted. There are some genuinely creepy moments, such as when a man’s “little friends”, toys he has made, greet him in the hall and bump into walls. I also found the one sex scene more than a little weird - “Say kiss me! Tell me to hold you!”

The action scenes are good, but the movie was most emotionally engaging in the quieter scenes, revealing a bit more about the characters and the grim city. Although Harrison Ford is completely wooden throughout, uttering some of the dumbest lines in the film (”She’s a Replicant, isn’t she!” he exclaims, after it was spelled out 10 minutes earlier). Other odd moments, like someone holding a dove in the rain, just seemed a little trite.

So, bearing all that in mind, it was an enjoyable watch but not an especially memorable one. After years of films like A.I., I, Robot, the Terminators and Logan’s Run, none of it seemed particularly original to me.

PS I didn’t see the Director’s Cut (I couldn’t), but it’s apparently meant to have a better ending.
PPS The movie is apparently based on a wonderfully named book called “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”

My rating: 6/10

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