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Blade Runner Film Analysis Essay

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Analysis of Blade Runner by Ridley Scott

Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott and based on Philip K. Dick's novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, is a Sci-fi slash Noir film about a policeman named Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) in a decrepit 2019 Los Angeles whose job it is to "retire" four genetically engineered cyborgs, known as "Replicants". The four fugitives, Pris (Daryl Hannah), Zhora (Joanna Cassidy), Leon (Brian James), and their leader, Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), have escaped from an off-world colony in order to find their creator and bully him into expanding their pre-determined four-year life span. This film originally flopped when it came out in 1982, but since has become a widely …show more content…

The film itself is regarded by most to be a very entertaining film, due to a number of different factors. Firstly the film is set in the 2019, giving people a fascinating insight into the future. However the unusual thing about the future is the dystopian outlook, which is not the habitual preconception we most have. The special effects and fight scenes did much to increase the entertainment level of the film. But most of all the aspect of the film that entertains the audience the most is the presence of Harrison Ford, who still is to this day a huge star. And stars like him make people want to go and watch a film.

Blade runner addresses some of the eternal questions that humans have asked for centuries, for example:

"What does it mean to be human?" "What is reality?" "What is the difference between real memories and artificial memories?" "How does our environment affect us?" "What are the moral issues we face in the creation of artificial people?"

Moreover, Scott's better films reach toward higher truths. Blade Runner, thus, cannot be understood without comprehending the deeply felt moral, philosophical, ecological and sociological concerns that are interwoven throughout the story. Take, for instance, the film's title-a "Blade Runner" is one who runs on the razor's edge

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