Culture

I always wanted to live in a Blade Runner world

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All those moments will be lost in time…like tears in rain…time to die.–dying replicant Roy Batty

It’s been raining non-stop in Los Angeles and the sky surely seems like it is crying and the inhabitants have no idea what to do.
I took a walk in the rain and ran into this beautiful, new yet old building which felt both small and big. Do you recognize it? These lovely set of stairs are from the set of the dystopian film noir “Blade Runner”. One of my all-time favorite films ever. It is such a tiny space, really.  Yet, this film had a big impact.

I grew up on television. I grew up watching movies that transported into a whole other world and into a whole other reality. I often think to my self, “well who hasn’t utilized film or television to live in another reality?” But unbelievably, to me, there are many people out there who don’t watch any films or television shows.  But that is neither here or there. I have digressed right from the start of my piece. And no, that is not a first for me.
Now, I will go straight to the point. I didn’t get the chance to watch Blade Runner until college. I was shocked that I had lived for so long, without that knowledge. It was the only movie Rutger Hauer displayed real acting skills. And it came primarily at the end of the movie. But that is neither here nor there.

 

The movie was wonderful in its depiction of a rag-tag, sad world where people were running for their lives and they were those that had to catch those poor, running souls. Specifically, in case you have never had the great fortune of catching Blade Runner (narrated vs Director cut), it was based on Philip K. Dick’s novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?,” and directed by Ridley Scott (who did Aliens).  Harrison Ford (yes, he did more than Star Wars and Indiana Jones) played the character of Rick Deckard, who was a hired “blade runner”. He was a cop who had to hunt down and kill rogue androids known as replicants. I loved the bright lights. I loved the tall buildings. I love the world on the ground. I would have given anything to have been a rogue android.  There was a kinectic energy to it that spoke to my New York soul. When I was in Tokyo, I felt a bit like I was in the middle of Blade Runner. Perhaps that is why I loved Japan so much and would go back there in a heartbeat.

 

I have always loved that movie. And today, I love it even more. Why? Because even though harrison Ford is Harrison Ford and thus could be thought of as the hero of the film, there were no clear heroes. There were no clear lines to be drawn between right and wrong. Its an old film, that feels a bit new these days.  “More human than human“. That was the motto (tag line) of the replicant company. Doesn’t that seem to fit in with our times? We live in a post-truth, alternative-facts world. Facts are in the eye of the beholder. Maybe some of the individuals out there are already  replicants?

Categories: Culture, current events, death, Election, Film, photography, Pop Culture, Psychology, The Seasons

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31 replies »

  2. I like this – and it reminded me that perhaps one of our great foibles – especially these days, is to be more human than human. If we could get above our human- ness, then perhaps we could be more HUMANE to one another. Good post. I may be chewing on it for a few days. 😉

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  3. Bladerunner is still one of my favorite movies, as I find Philip K. Dick’s novels and short stories to be eerily near-future science fiction. Currently, I’m drawn into ‘the Man in the High Castle’, which is a fantastic Amazon production.

    This building is a great find, and would be amazing to do some ambience shots in!

    Thank you for sharing!

    Frank

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  7. Great commentary on the state of our society, and on one of my favorite films (I would recommend you watch the re-mastered director’s cut). Cheers, and thank you for subscribing and visiting 🙂

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  8. Replicants have a four-year life-span right? Equal to one term as US President…in the context of Bladerunner I’d like to see Trump ‘retired’ before than. P.S Looking forward to the sequel? It actually looks pretty cool.

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  10. Must add this film to my “must see” list. Actually, I think it was already there but has not been shown on TV recently. Maybe I can get it, now that my daughter has set me up with both her Amazon Prime and my husband’s Netflix accounts on my TV in my woman-cave. If so, I must see it before the sequel is released.

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  11. You’re right, there are no heroes in ‘Blade Runner.’ An amazing film on many levels. Like you, I was impressed by the stunning end scene. Roy says … ‘It’s quite an experience to live in fear, isn’t it?’ followed by moments of intimacy only the vicinity of death can bring about. In this scene the created double becomes the redeemer. It makes one wonder if we’re all replicants on a journey to become human.

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  12. Love that movie!! And this post. The movie leaves me with a strange longing to be there. It feels that we are headed that way… I just hope I get a cool replicant to hang with 🙂

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  13. I really enjoyed this post and the movie on which it was based. My reaction to “Blade Runner” was though different from yours.

    The soggy Los Angeles of the future did remind me of NYC. I was not, however, drawn to the glitzy technology. There seemed deeper parallels between the two cities: loneliness and dehumanization.

    The androids really were, in some ways, more human than the humans (the latter, cut off from feeling and fully occupied coping with a grim reality). An android turned out to be Rick’s Deckard’s salvation, the flight from Los Angeles almost a return to Paradise.

    Thanks again for a good read!

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  14. I grew up on movies too! I’ve got a massive collection of DVDs – because I love to watch a good commentary and extras too. That’s my excuse and I’m stickin’ to it. I can’t WAIT for the remake, “Blade Runner 2049” – coming out in October! Exec Producer Ridley Scott, with Harrison Ford, and Ryan Gosling. You can check out the trailer on imbd.com or rottentomatoes.com…

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  15. I forgot the details (been eon ago), but it did pose a very interesting question: “Could ‘machines’—inside themselves, grow some basic instinct?” (attraction, mating, survival etc) An intriguing topic many movies try to deal with. But what I like most about Blade Runner is that it relied more on the ‘story’ (however imperfect) than ‘special effects’ (unlike those CGI oriented garbage that keep storming on us these days). In that sense, Blade Runner delivers. 🍸

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  16. I take all visitors to see The Bradbury I possibly can. Knocks ’em out. As it happens, I just read Emmanuel Carrere’s bio of Dick, “I Am Alive and You Are Dead.” Extremely interesting to read about his life, after decades of reading his books. Thanks.

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