Day 138: Blade Runner 1982

Blade Runner 1982

#67 2012 Director List #69 2012 Critics List

I have just finished watching Blade Runner (but this time it was the original theatrical version.) It’s the first time in seven years that I’ve seen Blade Runner but also the first time in more than twenty years I’ve seen the original film which I have always considered the better film.

There’s pacing, drama and insight into all the characters that is miscommunicated in the director’s cut.

It’s only the fourth time since 1993 that I’ve seen Blade Runner and it’s the first time I can remember that I’ve gone back to the original film since the end of the 1980s.

I think I’ve seen it in its various forms more than any other sci-fi film. If there was competition for that spot it would be 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Today is the first time I have really enjoyed the film for a long time. It’s also the first time I have LOVED the film since the four or five times I watched it in the 1980s before the 1992 version which – kind of – ruined it for me.

It is a masterpiece in its original form.

Why I draw a line to differentiate the difference is that one film pays homage to the detective stories that came before it, and the other film is just a story about a cop hunting down some killers (in an extraordinarily well created future).

Roy and his gang aren’t just killers. They seek to know the person or being that created them. There’s a purpose to their behaviour that I feel is lost in the version without narration.