Opening Statement

Through Scott’s employment of film noir and science fiction tropes, it is a study in questions essential in many other Campbellian myths: Who am I? What is reality? What is the key to consciousness, understanding, and meaning? What does it mean to be human? Oh—and that “Is Harrison Ford a robot?” question—that’s in there too — by Zachary Davis, October 9, 2017

Photographs and Death

There are two weird photographs in Blade Runner. One of them has always been more obvious to me: the photograph Deckard recovers from the Replicant Leon’s apartment—the one he puts into his digital photograph-analysis machine. The other weird photo took me years of re-watches to notice and confirm — by Patrick Brown, October 10, 2017

Variations on a Theme

Subsequent versions of the movie removed the voice-over and the happy ending, but they also added a crucial scene: the unicorn dream. With this sequence, featuring a dream of a unicorn running through a forest, later versions of the film open up the tantalizing possibility that Deckard is a replicant — by Alex Moore, October 11, 2017

First Viewing: Easy to Admire, Tough to Love

Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner has been a blind spot of mine for a decade. I’m a sci-fi guy, but this film loomed almost larger than life. Am I watching the right cut? Do I need to take them all together? Will I get out of Blade Runner everything I could? Everything I should? — by John Gilpatrick, October 12, 2017

Related Review: Blade Runner 2049

Blade Runner 2049 opens on an extreme closeup of an eyeball. The sight of this familiar motif serves as a direct reminder to a majority of the audience as to why they are there in the first place. What made us pay fifteen dollars for the full IMAX experience of a sequel made 35 years after the original? It’s the nostalgia, of course—the memories — by Zachary Davis, October 13, 2017

The Cinessential Podcast, Ep. 23

This week, John, Sarah, and Aaron are joined by The Cinessential contributor Zachary Davis to discuss influential sci-fi epic Blade Runner. Topics include: Deckard as a replicant, the difficult sexual elements, who the real heroes of the film are, Blade Runner 2049, and more! — October 20, 2017