Was Blade Runner actually a good movie?

[Highland]

Soundtracks can definitely elevate the films also. Like Disneys Tron with Daft Punk.

I remember I worked in a castle ( yes a real one) as a barman and people were getting married and they asked me to hit play on the CD when they started walking down the isle (shitting myself?) and it was the Vangelis Album they played two songs from to get married. I remember thinking they were complete weirdos and now that's one of my favourite vinyls 

I'm not saying Blade Runner isn't great without Vangelis , but it's definitely part of the "why was this movie great", a big part.

It has lots of things that make it great that aren't just the story.

[SiL]

The music is great but also the reason I can't watch the film these days. It puts me to sleep over those overindulgent City model shots (like Star Trek The Motion Picture, but less interesting).

[Huntsman]

The runtime helps too. It's easily rewatchable, not overstaying its welcome and still creating a rich universe in that time. 

[Highland]

The music is great but also the reason I can't watch the film these days. It puts me to sleep over those overindulgent City model shots (like Star Trek The Motion Picture, but less interesting).

I get ya. These days it's why I go back to older movies. Get a minute before something blows up 🤣

[Local Trouble]

Just checking to see if any votes have changed.

[SiL]

I can make another account to vote No again if you want.

[𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔈𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔥 𝔓𝔞𝔰𝔰𝔢𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯]

Just checking to see if any votes have changed.

Could you check up on the Empire thread as well please? 

[Local Trouble]

I can make another account to vote No again if you want.

[Nightmare Asylum]

I can make another account to vote No again if you want.

https://media3.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExcmIwemI4cDczaW02NTM0dm1qZ3BwM2hqdm5sZjRkMnFrOG9zNjNuaiZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/V02sdDr2TFTMzC72KK/source.gif

[Cosmic Incubation]

I've only seen it a few times over the years tbh, but I always found it to be a style over substance film. But the style is so monumentally, astronomically high that it makes up for all faults in the substance.

The "tears in the rain" monologue is an all-time great in film history.

[Ingwar]

There is plenty of rich substance in Blade Runner. It's not just the visuals.

[Cosmic Incubation]

There's some interesting sci-fi world-building I enjoy. I just don't find the plot and characters particularly engaging. I just don't get a whole lot out of it aside from the amazing visuals, personally.

That's just my opinion tho. Not dogging on anyone who loves it.

Been planning on giving it a revisit and finally watching 2049 so maybe that will change.

[Mr. Clemens]

Back in the 90s I took my best friend to see it at a revival house. His take:

"I wouldn't recommend it to anybody who likes a plot."

I was furious at first. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized he wasn't wrong. 'Detective hunts and kills androids, falls in love with one.' That's enough for me, because for me the tale is in the telling. But some people need more narrative 'crunch' than that. These are the same people who can't sit through 2001. Both sides are legit.

[Ingwar]

It's a (neo) noir film. Falling in love with femme fatale is one of its trophies.

The Fading Femme Fatale in Contemporary Genre Films

Blade Runner's Rachel (Sean Young) is visually coded as a femme fatale, with a distinctive dress, hair, make-up and clothing that also sets her apart from other women in the film. Her attraction to Deckard (Harrison Ford), her uncertain alignment, and her ability to kill when necessary are consistent with the femme fatale. Her identification as a replicant should make her an enemy, but she does not appear to share the other replicants' desires, or at least have sympathy with their methods, so Deckard's decision not to kill her is understandable. In addition, his moral code is not challenged by letting her live, as killing replicants is his job as an agent of the state, something he was not given any choice in, not an action in support of his personal morality. Rachel's decision to leave Tyrell, her maker/father (although she probably was more in the role of mistress), and enter into a relationship with Deckard, the man who sees her as she really is, is essentially the dependent daughter growing up and moving from the father's house to the husband's. This is not the action of an independent woman. The origami unicorn at the end suggests innocence and links her to Deckard's dream, (and suggests that Graff is aware of Deckard thoughts as a replicant) but the symbolism is awkward. The unicorn is a fierce beast that is partial to laying its head in the lap of a female virgin, after which it becomes tame and can be captured. Thus it can be read that Rachel has captured the once free running Deckard. However, he appears to be protecting her. When she kills Leon, this is the element of the couple working together on the investigation, but in the context of the film this is an action that reinforces Deckard as a danger primarily to women. This should make his affection for her more difficult, yet he never seems to struggle with his decision to save her.

https://covell.ca/the-fading-femme-fatale-in-contemporary-genre-films/

[Mr. Clemens]

It's a (neo) noir film. Falling in love with femme fatale is one of its trophies.

Everyone knows that.