Bladerunner (1982)

What hasn’t been said about Bladerunner? The film made both Ridley Scott and Harrison Ford stars, introduced American audiences to Daryl Hannah and Rutger Hauer, and makes a perfect blend of two seemingly opposite genres: sci-fi and film noir, succeeding at both simultainiously.

Yet, there are flaws that can’t be solved by the Director’s Cut (released to theaters a decade later) nor the rumored Director’s Other Cut (in the can, but mired in litigation never to be released). Sean Young’s wooden acting and screetchy voice aren’t even convincing for an android. She is blessed with an angelic face, but noir heroines are as powerful as they are vulnerable, icy AND passionate. Think Lauren Bacall. Think Ida Lupino. Harrison Ford is remarkably understated, but honestly too young to play the retired Deckard, and how does a retired cop afford such a nice apartment? From the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep we learn that Earth is in a state of exodus as everyone has moved “off world”. We also discover Deckard is himself an android — which Ford vehemently denies.