Blade Runner Essay

Science fiction is broadly defined as a film about the future or alternate realities, often but not always set in space, and frequently incorporating horror elements, science-fiction movies are wildly popular among fans (Goodykoontz, 2014). As a subgenre of fantasy, science fiction enables viewers to relate to themes from an idealized alternative version of reality (Edwards, 2014). Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope is a feature-length film that fits this genre perfectly. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope unfolds as princess named Leia is held hostage by the evil Imperial forces in their effort to quell the rebellion against the Galactic Empire. Luke Skywalker and a smuggler named Han Solo team together with the lovable droid duo, R2-D2 and C-3PO, to rescue the beautiful princess and restore justice in the galaxy.

Ridley Scott and George Orwell both continually depict control in their texts through the utilisation of various techniques, in order to portray the effect this has on the characters of Blade Runner and 1984 respectively. This is done by both Scott and Orwell expertly and provides the audience with further insight and depth of the characters. Orwell and Scott respectively utilise the surrounding setting of their protagonists to depict the control that they are under, each author does this by likening their protagonist to the setting and displays evidently that the setting has impacted the characters. Motifs and symbols are utilised heavily by Scott and Orwell to further emphasis the control that is currently

The result is that the dystopian future becomes a realistic possibility to the audience. This has two effects, in the first it makes the events of the film more plausible. Technological development and the creation of robotic life could eventually occur in our own reality. In this regard, the film is using image as presence by setting up this believable world. However, in the second arena it makes the audience reflect on the questions of urbanity and development that exist in our current paradigm, thus inviting discussion about the way human and planning elements are being merged together in our own technology driven world. These concepts are as relevant now as they were when the film was first released two decades ago. The camera continually roves over this world creating spatial continuity that implies that there is virtually no escape from this smoky, polluted, society. The landscape provides a site for making metaphor about the socioeconomic divide that characterizes the Blade Runner universe. The skyscrapers of the wealthy are clear symbols of how the poor are at the bottom of the socio economic

Contrastingly, the modern, technologically driven world of Blade Runner conveys man’s usurption of nature caused through his arrogance and desire for dominance. In this contrastingly industrialized, scientifically grounded world, nature has been relentlessly exploited and commodified, as man has attempted to ‘penetrate into the recesses’. The allusion to the Promethean myth through the symbolic use of fire is seen in the opening scenes of shooting fire, intercut with close up shots of an eye, symbolically representing fire as having the potential to both nurture and destroy life. The ignorance and metaphorical blindness of man, is highlighted through the self-imposed destruction of humanity, as nature is obliterated in favour of ‘commerce (being our) goal”, symbolically representing the destruction of our natural

A Comparison of the Themes of Blade Runner and Brave New World ‘Humanity likes to think of itself as more sophisticated than the wild yet it cannot really escape its need for the natural world’ Despite different contexts both Aldous Huxley within his book Brave New World and Ridley Scott in the film Blade Runner explore the idea that humans feel themselves more sophisticated than the natural world, yet are able to completely sever relations between humanity and the nature. Through various techniques both texts warn their varied audiences of the negative ramifications that will come from such disdainful, careless opinions and actions. All aspects of the ‘New State’ within Aldous

Ridley Scott’s film Blade Runner reflects some of the key themes seen in Mary Shelley’s classic novel Frankenstein. For one, both the sources touch on the necessity of creators taking responsibility for their creations. Another key theme established in both works is the idea that emotional complexity and knowledge, over memory and appearance, allow people to be defined as human beings.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, whilst separated by 174 years, feature very similar content which can be seen by comparing the two side by side. Coming from different contexts, they both express their anxieties about technology, which is shown through a man made creature, and they both exhibit a strong valuing of nature. However due to their different contexts, these ideas are represented differently. The medium of production is clearly different, as is the representation of the creature and whether or not they are able to assimilate into society. In both texts the responder

Despite different contexts, both Shelley’s Frankenstein and Scott’s Blade Runner enthrall the audience in a journey to explore the inner psyche through the various perspectives that are drawn.

Like many great films, Blade Runner is based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? written by sci-fi legend Philip K. Dick. The story follows a

“War is peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength”, These are the moral codes and social conventions citizens of George Orwell's 1984 live by. With high level surveillance and publicly inflicted ideologies that promote the governing force puppeteering its nation, 1984 shares shocking similarities with increased security, political power and technology seen in today's world. In the same vein, Ridley Scott's dystopian futuristic thriller Blade Runner, set in an overpopulated, corrupt, corporation governed world can be compared to the world of today in terms of the rapid development in technology and the political influence large corporations can have on governments. Both texts create a futuristic world that is able to form connections with its audience to varying degrees. But how do George Orwell's 1984 and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner depicted futuristic worlds specifically relate to the audience of today?

Bound by different contexts, authors often use a popular medium in order to depict the discontent of the ideas of society. This is evident in the module Texts in Time; as Blade Runner, having been written more than one hundred years after Frankenstein is still able to reflect the ideas proposed in the latter. Blade Runner by Ridley Scott deals with the effects of globalisation and consumerism during 1980’s. Alternatively, the epistolary novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley deals with the kinship to the natural world set in the Romantic Era and enlightenment period. However Blade Runner, although subjected by a different context, also portrays a similar idea to Frankenstein; the fear of science and technology coupled with the value of the definition of a human. Through this commonality, we are able to utilise the values of Blade Runner in order to truly understand Shelley’s purpose.

I think out of the two most basic type of artificial light mentioned; the film Blade Runner used more Focusable spotlights. Focusable spotlights can produce a hard, spotlight beam or a more indirect beam. When equipped with barn doors, it can be used to cut and shape the light in different ways and shape shadows. Floodlights were also used in this movie but because floodlight diffuse, indirect light with hardly any shadows, it was ineffective to use this. But by using focusable spotlights, one thing that can affect on this film is whether a character on the movie a human or a Replicant, and in this movie that kind of technique is

Blade runner a 1982 noir science fiction film which in my opinion is one of my top ten sci-fi movies that I’ve watched with it’s astonishing effects that immediately catch the attention of the viewer and combined with the direction of the famous Ridley Scott it manages to bring a new point of view to the book where it was based from.

Ridley Scott’s 1982 adaptation Blade Runner does not follow the novel exactly. Instead of focusing more on the ideology of what is human and Mercerism, Blade Runner is about the chasing and retiring of these androids. Doing this makes it easier to film and produce an action movie, but there are several plot points that had to be change to accommodate to the new theme. The first plot point to be changed was in the beginning, when

The opening of Blade Runner gives a close up of a human eye, a human sensory organ reflecting the toxic panorama of the world the ‘people’ created; a dark and depressing metropolis filled with urban decay. The entirety of the film seems to be falsely lit by the progression of technology, suggesting a hidden dark side to technology; as portrayed by Scott this the unethical production and retirement of Replicants, positioning the audience to view acts such as this as hallmarks of dying society. The portrayal of a city composed of all human creeds and colours similar to cities of today but taller, wider, darker and grittier gives the audience the ability to identify what is important in daily society, and determine whether or not this type of technological advancement is enviable. Scott describes the need for nature; natural sunlight, organisms and fresh air an essential part of society that no technology should have the ability to mask. In each text the sad, predictable futures of protagonists is described to be controlled by the advance of technology.