Blade Runner – 40th Anniversary

By Reggie's Take on June 26, 2022 • ( 1 )

When Blade Runner was released to theaters it was a considered a critical and commercial flop now it celebrates its fortieth Anniversary as one of the best science fiction films of all time.

Based on the 1968 novel by Philip K. Dick called Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Directed by Ridley Scott Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos. Blade Runner is set in a dystopian future Los Angeles of 2019, in which synthetic humans known as replicants are bio-engineered by the powerful Tyrell Corporation to work on space colonies. When a fugitive group of advanced replicants led by Roy Batty (Hauer) escapes back to Earth, burnt-out cop Rick Deckard (Ford) reluctantly agrees to hunt them down.

Harrison Ford’s portrayal of Rick Deckard is not one of Han Solo’s confidence or Dr. Jones’s composure, but that of a man who has been beaten down who would rather be at home with a drink in his hand. Blade Runner was Ridley Scott’s third film as a director following 1977’s The Duellists and 1979’s Alien.

Blade Runner was released to theaters on June 25, 1982 and earned $6.1 million during its opening weekend. Critics at the time cited the movies slow pace, the Los Angeles Times even called it “Blade Crawler.” When Blade Runner ended its theatrical run it had only earned $41.6 million on a $30 million budget, some felt Blade Runner being released so close to The Thing, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, other sci-fi movies playing in theaters also affected its success.

There are currently seven different versions of Blade Runner exist a director’s cut was released in 1992 and in 2007, Warner Bros. released The Final Cut, a 25th-anniversary digitally remastered version, which is the only version Ridley Scott had artistic control over.

A sequel, Blade Runner 2049 was released to theaters in October 2017, directed by Denis Villeneuve.