(I started writing this when the movie was out and for some reason forgot to put it up.)
Blade Runner is all about mood and setting. Dystopia is the name of the game here.
From the start we are introduced to K, played by Ryan Gosling, a Blade Runner, is assigned to find and retire older replicant models. K is finds his target hiding out as a farmer, and waits. The target is Sapper Morton a Nexus 8 replicant, played by Dave Baustia who played a bad guy in Spectre and, Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of Galaxy, is a protein farmer--he grows worms. Dystopia has reached our food supply.
Of course K and Morton fight and they fight tough. We learn that K is also a robot. A newer model than Morton, a Nexus-9. K believes that he will turn himself in the future when his time is up. Morton informs him that is only because he hasn’t seen a miracle.
K is a robot and doesn’t believe in miracles.
But when K is motivated to go back to Morton’s farm he discovers a box buried beneath a tree. It is in the box, that K finds the miracle.
A replicant got pregnant and died in child birth.
There is the miracle. There in lies the plot. And we are off and running.
The plot of the movie involves finding out what the miracle baby is and those that want to stop kill the miracle.
But Blade Runner is more about atmosphere. The cinematography, by Roger Deakins, is wonderful. The music, by Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch, which is recreates the original soundtrack by Vangelis, with heavy synthesizers. The set design is straight out of the original. A heavy Asian influence, it rains constantly in the city, and it always seems to be night time.
This is the future as it was predicted in 1982. We see product placements for PanAm and Atari, companies that were powerful in 1982 and nonexistent in 2017. I smiled at the references.
K is a LA police officer. And replicants aren’t liked much by the human police officers, there are great subtle scenes showing this. He reports to Lt. Joshi, played by Robin Wright.
The plot resolves around finding out two things, how did a replicant give birth, and where is the child.
Of course the big reveal isn’t the kid, but when does Harrison Ford show up. He doesn’t show up until well into the half of the movie. Which is a smart move. By the time Harrison Ford shows, you’ve forgotten that he is even going to be in the movie. By this point K is the focus of the movie, and having Harrison Ford appear is a nice added addition, and not the main attraction.
I recommend the movie. When I originally wrote this the movie was in the theaters. Pick this up on disc when it comes out in a few months, and if you can get a 4K version, get that. The only way to see Deakins cinematography is in 4k.
At the very least use a Netflix rental to catch this.
