I just finished watching Blade Runner (again).
Its my favourite film and has been for over 15 years.
What do you guys think of it?
I love everything about it, and it is the one film above all else that made me want to change from music to film ( if not both).

Also, has the Special Edition come out in America yet? It was meant to come in 2001 or 2002 but no word on it yet

i watched it for the first time a few months ago. i can't believe how much i was missing out on. it's now by far one of my favorite scifi movies. there's just so much cool stuff in the movie, and so many layers of depth. plus...the visual effects looked pretty amazing for being done in 1983(?).

i'm not sure about a special edition. do you mean the director's cut?

No, not the directors cut, the special edition. The directors cut is the only version on dvd currently.
With regards to the soundtrack, until the mid 90s the only version you could get was an american orchestra covering Vangelis score. It was ok, but not the same thing. I think around 94 they Finally released the original soundtrack with a few bonus songs that are just as good. Personally, i think its one of the best soundtracks ever!
Although it is based on Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K Dick, it is quite different, and shouldnt really be compared.
A quick note, a science magazine conducted a poll from scientists all over the world recently to see what they thought were the best sci fi films ever.
The results were
1. Blade Runner
2. 2001. A Space Odyssey
3.Star Wars/Empire Strikes Back
4. Alien
5. Solaris (original)

Just go's to show, you want a great sci fi film-get Ridley SCott!

I love the Blade Runner movie, but I think PC game by Westwood blows it away considering the story, characters' progression and FX. Most funny part is that Westwood made no adventure game before or after Blade Runner, so I really don't get how did they come with such a masterpiece!

2Drummer - the original Solaris is the one by Tarkovsky?

Yeah,the original SOLARIS is by Andrei Tarkovsky 1972. I was actually reading an old magazine of mine from 1997 which had 100 films you have to watch before you die, and 10 films you should die rather than watch!
Interestingly, SOLARIS was in the 10 films you should die rather than watch, as was Eraserhead, La Dolce Vita, Plan 9 From Outer Space, Battleship Potemkin, Last Tango In Paris, Barton Fink, ET, Top GUN and Its A Wonderful Life.

That Westwood game was awesome (I still have it), but I think the reason why they didn't make any more games, is because they were bought by EA (who is soon going to own everyone)which set them into making Command and Conquer games.

I loved Blade Runner, but it makes me so pissed that the only version on DVD is the stupid Director's Cut. It's not even the same. I mean they cut out Harrison's overvoice which gave it a cool detective feel. I would recommend for people who haven't seen the movie before, get it on VHS and watch it. I know how many people will probably disagree with me, but it is the original and the best.

P.S. How shocking was the last scene on the building in the rain?

quote:

---

Originally posted by angryassdrummer:
Yeah,the original SOLARIS is by Andrei Tarkovsky 1972. I was actually reading an old magazine of mine from 1997 which had 100 films you have to watch before you die, and 10 films you should die rather than watch!
Interestingly, SOLARIS was in the 10 films you should die rather than watch, as was Eraserhead, La Dolce Vita, Plan 9 From Outer Space, Battleship Potemkin, Last Tango In Paris, Barton Fink, ET, Top GUN and Its A Wonderful Life.

---

I've watched this version and I think it's a masterpiece, especially considering the means Soviet directors had, and the censorship they had to came through. I still can't get how that movie was even released!
I don't like it personally though. Maybe 'cause I dislike the whole space-based sci-fi genre.

Yeah, a lot of people assosciate sci fi with some stupid space based fantasy tv/films. Maybe thats why new sci fi films are a bit more obscure- look at Donnie Darko! Its a sci fi film- its about time travel, but a lot of people love that film and dont see it. They think its more of a teen drama. I personally dont see how they could possibly miss the sci fi elements but they do. Look on the net, teenage girls just see the teen angst/romance in it.
Either way you look at it, SOLARIS is pretty amazing. Just the concept is awesome, then consider where the soviet union was in 1972! Also check out MIRROR by the same director

For me truly sci-fi is the Langoliers-like plot (I refer more to the book, although the screen version hooked me on Stephen King back to 1995), about the time wraps and such sort of stuff. I don't know about Blade Runner, isn't it a cyberpunk? Or it's not an independent genre?

I am thoroughly unimpressed by the lack of good sci-fi movies. I don't know why people find it so difficult to make these films, oh wait yes i do. It's because most films are produced by egotistical, power hungry, unimaginative morons.

Let me say something: WING COMMANDER WAS NOT SCI-FI!!!! Just because a movie takes place in space, doesn't make it science fiction. Look at those two words.

Science: The observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena.

Fiction:A literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact.

I am looking for a film who fits this criteria, but the only problem is that most people don't like true Sci-Fi. Look at how ill received 2001: A Space Odessey, The Andromeda Strain, Blade Runner, Solaris, and many more. The fact is people are just wanting to see mindless films more and more and it sickens me.

Science Fiction doesnt have to be about space/future/fantasy creature etc, its just that a lot of it from the 50s were, which is why a lot of people assosciate it with sci fi.
Sci Fi can be about anything really- Donnie Darko, Dr Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange are all sci fi. A lot of you will disagree, but theres no doubt they are. Read anything about Kubrick and it will say he made 3 sci fi flicks. Even in the book, A Clockwork Orange is set in the near future, so whenever you read the book, or watch the film, it is set a few years after.
BTW, Blade Runner is sci fi. Even if you call it cyber punk, thats sci fi anyway. Its like debating whether a band is black metal or death metal-its still metal!
Notice how when the remake of Solaris was released, they emphasised the love story elements? Trying to get people to watch it who dont want to see a sci fi film. Also, go to any video shop, they always put popular sci films in other sections, and the nerdy stuff in the sci fi section ie Jurassic Park (action) Solaris (drama) A Clockwork Orange ( action) Dr Strangelove ( comedy)
Sci Fi can have other genres mixed in, if anything thats the whole point. Put, at its heart, it is still sci fi.

Nicely said.

But A Clockwork Orange is not Sci-Fi. It is a thriller. A movie isn't a genre because of a setting. A film fits into a genre because of it's subject. Take for instance the new Solaris. The subject of this film is about a star that distorts reality. Hoever the story is also about love. Therefore it is a Drama/Sci-fi.
Just because a film is set in the future or in space, doesn't make it Sci-Fi.

Whta part of A Clockwork Orange isnt Sci Fi?
Its set in the future! it has experiemental procedures to stop crime! It has a made up language that doesnt exist!
Its completely sci fi.
Read anything about Anthony Burgess, the author, or even about Kubrick, its always been known as sci fi. Look in books on the history of science fiction! Bot A Clockwork Orange and Dr Strangleove are always there as some of the classic interlectual sci fi- as opposed to the fantasy sci fi (star wars/star trek)

Well, if what you are saying is true, then Blade Runner and 12 Monkeys are romance films.
Sure, there is a love interest in there, but they are completely sci fi films. Same with Solaris.

Well I rented Clockwork Orange last night, and now I have to say it is a Sci-Fi. I forgot all the stuff about the ideas to stop crime and the government. Ubt Blade Runner can't be a romance film. A romance film deals with one thing and that's love. In Blade Runner that is not the main focus of the story, but just a side plot. 12 Monkeys is not directly about love either, sure it has some in it but that'ss not the main theme. The main theme is, a man travels back in time to try and stop an apocalyptic disaster. Love in both movies is just a side plot.

There is love in Blade Runner??! I need to re-watch it

The Director's Cut is Scott's preferred version of Blade Runner. I've seen both and the DC is much better, I think.

Blade Runner is surely one of the best sci-fi movies made. The list is very short, though...

(in no particular order)

Blade Runner
Solaris
Alien
Aliens
Metropolis
Terminator
Terminator 2
Minority Report is probably on the list, although the ending is not quite up to par with the rest of the movie...

I prefer the DC cut too.
In regards to your list, I wouldnt put Minority Report anywhere near the top, but everyone is different.
I aslo wouldnt put T1 or T2 too high as they more action than sci fi.
What about Dr Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange, Soylent Green, Omega Man, City of Lost Children, Total Recall (although very action orientated too)and ofcourse 2001: A Space Odyssey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How the hell could you have a sci fi list without that film???????????
Beyond me.......