Describe in single words only the good things that come into your mind about... your mother

No 20 - Blade Runner

Director - Ridley Scott

Has it really been 2 weeks? Gosh! I'm sorry - it was work. In these 2 weeks I've only even managed to watch 3 films. I need to sort my act together.

I also blame the LFF - I got kind of distracted from the list there.

So, this is a film which begins with quite the conundrum.

I decided to go with the final cut because.... well... its FINAL which seemed like they may have finally got it right. It also seems like a slightly longer and slightly more violent version of the director's cut. As long as we don't have to deal with voice overs then I'm happy.

the final cut has had a bit of a cgi touch up but nothing on a George Lucas level... instead we're looking at small bits of refinement which make the film look crisper and sharper. It just helps to show just how truly glorious the beginning is.

The future LA is one of the most amazing pieces of model work I have ever seen. It is a delight to watch - and if you watch the massive 3 hour making of documentary you can find out loads of geeky knowledge as to why they designed it the way they did. All it does is make you respect it all the more.

It isn't just the layout of the scenery which is well thought out and brilliantly clever.... the film's intelligence ripples throughout the film. After all, the film noir genre is easy to mess up - even when transported into the future. So it is good to see it done well.

The film follows the old idea of the ex cop brought back for 'one last job' - our cop Deckard has to round up a group of illegal replicants and destroy them. So we get the all important question coming to play. What is humanity? If you are a robot can you never be 'real' even if you think you're human and are programmed to act like your human etc etc.

It is this idea which is at the heart of a lot of sci fi and it is an idea I find fascinating.

This is going to get a touch spoilery, not much.... but a little bit.... because I want to talk about three of the replicants.

Starting with the big boss man. The daddy of the rebellion - Roy Batty. Rutger Hauer's replicant is a beast of a man. He flits between sanity and insanity and yet he has some good points. For every moment where he is a blood stained psycho pursuing Deckard with manic desperation, he also becomes a tired and frustrated man.... his 'tears in the rain' speech is still one of the most moving and beautiful things I have seen in a film.

We then move to one of his gang, and the only one who I'm going to bother talking about because she opens up such wonderful new directions to the film. Daryl Hannah's Pris is firstly really quite adorable - but as a 'pleasure bot' she is designed to appeal to people. Indeed her relationship with J F Sebastian is so sweet that when you realise she is only using him it is actually quite heartbreaking.

Because, the best thing to come from following Pris is that we're introduced to J F Sebastian's odd little world. A world where he feels uncomfortable and therefore builds his own friends. A world which feels almost fairy tale but which easily could become creepy. A house full of partially built robots, rocking mannequins, dolls houses and hollow brides. He also has his wonderful little robot companions - who are pretty weird, but equally pretty awesome.

His character only appears fairly fleetingly but shows a fabulous depth, his house depicts his loneliness, and it is his loneliness which is manipulated by Pris. He is also the most important as he leads the replicants to meet their maker.

And then, the final replicant.... Rachel. The replicant which is arguably the most important element of the entire film. The replicant who doesn't know she is a replicant. She is also Deckard's love interest.... in a scene of seduction which can at best be described as 'a bit rapey' (seriously... watch THIS from 3:30.... it is hardly romantic).

But Rachel's inclusion in this film is more than just a love (or maybe lust) interest. She also opens up the film's most biggest question, with the help of none other than Adama himself - Edward James Olmos!

Olmos' detective Gaff is there to help Deckard, to bring him to the replicants and to leave handy little origami models everywhere. It is exciting to see Olmos looking so young.

And so.... we get the idea of unaware replicants from Rachel and the mystery of the unicorn and Gaff's models. It all leads to one of cinema's greatest unsolved questions.

Now... all I need is someone to tell me how to get a 16-bit Windows 95 DVD point and click game to run on my 64-bit Windows 7 laptop because it is time for some truly excellent nostalgia gaming.