How "Blade Runner" Became a Cinematic Classic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFGDQotoUdg
As the countdown to "Blade Runner 2049" continues, it's worth remembering that the original "Blade Runner" wasn't met with the kind of reverence it enjoys now. When it came out in 1982, I was living in Berkeley and saw it in a packed theater on what I'm pretty sure was opening night. From the first scene--explosions over an ominous-looking Los Angeles--I knew "Blade Runner" was a masterpiece. I loved the dystopian future it depicted, from the constant rain to the Japanese-influenced motifs. I loved the fact that Deckard was an updated Raymond Chandler detective who lived in a famous Frank Lloyd Wright house. I loved the fact that the climactic chase scene was filmed in the Bradbury Building, George Herbert Wyman's 1893 iron-and-glass masterpiece that, like the film itself, was years ahead of its time.
I was surprised, to put it mildly, when the critics didn't share my enthusiasm. Janet Maslin, though she praised the movie's special effects, called "Blade Runner" "a mess, at least as far as its narrative is concerned." On their TV show "At the Movies," Gene Siskel called it "a waste of time," while Roger Ebert gave it a thumbs up only for the effects. Twenty-five years later, Ebert reappraised it positively, in part because the once-futuristic lighted billboards had become a reality: "the story benefits...by seeming more to inhabit is world than be laid on top of it." (Siskel died in 1999, so there's no way of knowing whether he would have changed his mind.) The Hollywood Reporter called it "a Felliniesque journey into Dante's Inferno, with Micky Spillane in tow," though it also called it "mesmerizing." Thanks to its decidedly mixed critical reception, "Blade Runner" was a box office dud.
The film's reputation started changing with the release of Ridley Scott's director's cut in 1992. Shorn of its voice-over narration, "Blade Runner" gained a new following and began to be regarded as a science fiction classic. The lack of narration--tacked onto the original because some thought the story confusing--gives the film greater dynamism, as did additional footage that seems to affirm the theory that Deckard himself is a replicant. In 2007, the Final Cut, which I haven't seen, expanded the unicorn dream sequence, remastered the haunting Vangelis score and added three scenes.
On October 6th, we'll finally get the sequel: "Blade Runner 2049," starring Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, it looks worthy of the original and will draw a massive audience of fans, including me. As for the critical reception, it's safe to assume a much better response than the original received in 1982.
---------------------- My ebook on "Blade Runner" is available here:
https://www.amazon.com/Blade-Runner-Four-Essays-ebook/dp/B00E8M1GW2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505946455&sr=8-1&keywords=blade+runner+four+essays http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/BLADE-RUNNER–FOUR-ESSAYS?keyword=BLADE+RUNNER%3A+FOUR+ESSAYS&store=ebook