One film I’ve been wanting to find the time to watch again lately is Ridley Scott‘s Blade Runner, a film I did not like the first time I saw it, but have really grown to love ever since. The first time I actually saw the film was back in 2007 after which I wrote a lengthy diatribe regarding everything I disliked about the film. After reading over what I wrote back then I can still understand the arguments I was making even if I’ve changed my tune since, though one specific thing I disagree with my five-year-younger self is regarding the film’s score.
As a matter of fact, I’m a bit amazed I could have ever written the line regarding the score by Vangelis, “As I watch and hear those ridiculous chords playing over scenes of massive futuristic landscapes I want to tug on my ears.” Today, I can almost see and hear that opening sequence in my mind and it makes me want to watch the film again right now. It’s inexplicable how my opinion could change so drastically in only five years. This, however, is the nature of cinema.
Before I started RopeofSilicon I would only revisit films I liked, films I disliked weren’t given a second chance. Now, in some instances my job requires me to view films a second time, but more often than not I want to revisit these films. I want to see what others see, or at the very least understand their position. Judging films is purely subjective, there is no right or wrong, but nothing is cooler than hearing the opposing arguments and exploring a film in search of answers and coming away with a completely different experience. It’s the magic of movies.
Now, as we all know, Ridley Scott is attached to direct what is now confirmed to be a sequel to Blade Runner with original screenwriter Hampton Fancher on board to develop the story, a story Scott now says he wants to at least try and fit Harrison Ford‘s Deckard in there somewhere.
Speaking with The Independent, Scott said, “I don’t think it’ll be Harry [starring]… but I’ve got to have him in it somewhere. That’d be amusing.”
This idea, however, bothers me a little considering Scott reveals in his Blade Runner audio commentary that his interpretation of the original film’s ending is that it suggests Deckard is actually a Replicant, which then makes me wonder how Deckard could possibly age and become the vision of Harrison Ford we have today. Sure, it’s a nitpick of the story and Scott’s interpretation might be ignored, but I can’t be the only person that has a problem with this, and I really don’t want to see that TRON: Legacy anti-aging CG done to Ford to make him look 30 years younger.
It’s unclear as to when the Blade Runner sequel will actually get underway, however, with Scott moving to The Counselor next and rumors of a sequel to the upcoming Prometheus already making their way around the Internet.
The fact the sequel is likely a ways off, though, doesn’t mean we have to stop exploring the original, which is going to be getting a 30th Anniversary Collector’s Edition DVD/Blu-ray/Digital Copy release later this year (preorder it here), as a couple of interesting little retro nuggets have arrived lately.
First (via FirstShowing) is the following 13-minute, retro convention featurette that goes behind-the-scenes of the making of Blade Runner and features a very young Ridley Scott and some very groovy tunes.
Second, and this is what I found to be even cooler, io9 stumbled on the Science Fiction Tumblr where they had posted the following six fictional magazine covers as seen in Blade Runner‘s dystopian Los Angeles. You better believe the next time I watch the film I’ll be looking for these on the newsstands.
With that, what are your thoughts on Blade Runner? What films have you rewatched years later and grown to appreciate or even love after disliking the film the first time you saw it? Speak up in the comments below.
