Blade Runner

I watched the theatrical version of this film as opposed to the Director's Cut, which I heard more people prefer over the original. The Director's Cut reportedly did away with the narration (which I thought was a good touch), and had a darker, more ominous ending. A friend with good taste in movies once told me he considered this one of the most important sci-fi movies ever made." So I couldn't wait to check it out for myself.

The movie has a dark, futuristic, Terminator-like feel to it. It's set in Los Angeles in the year 2029 or close to that. The streets are dirty, crowded, with brightly-lit billboards and flying vehicles. The story revolves around the presence of 'Replicants', or advanced human-like androids that exist way past their lifespan. The unusual thing about these Replicants are that they are given false human memories to make them think and act like the part more effectively. Harrison Ford is a 'Blade Runner', a cop whose function is to terminate wayward Replicants. The movie raises many ethical questions: What defines being human? How moral is it to terminate non-living beings who act and feel human?

Sounds very interesting on paper, but frankly this movie failed to capture my imagination. I felt like a lot of the scenes were moving in slow motion, I got impatient all throughout the film waiting for the plot to progress. This is the type of movie that would have been fun to watch when it was first released in the early 80's, but it feels dated and tired. Maybe it's just me.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars * *
Slow and shows its age.