More Than Just a Movie.

[Kipple]

Blade Runner is more than a movie. It not only overwhelms the senses, it preys on our morals. It reveals fundamental truths and insights about human nature. Blade Runner is like a mountain. It can be viewed from afar. And we can look at it from different perspectives (the frequencies and the different versions). However, by actually climbing that mountain and investigating its' many paths, the view can be enlightening. From each path we garner something new. Something of significance.

By investigating the crags and caves of this mountain we find the jewels of life. We find more clues and questions to ponder over. When we move beyond "watching" the movie to reading the earlier scripts, it offers us new perspectives. Learning of the making of BR, I'm not referring to the tensions and conflicts, but of the changes that occurred throughout the production and filming, and the actors' input of their roles, adds yet another dimension. Reading the source material, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by P.K. Dick opens yet another multiverse of possibilities.

Each of us are different. Each path will present something different to it's journeyer. To some they may see synchronistic events open before their eyes. To others, it may confirm a belief. Or it may be just a beginning. Like most things in life it may take years of investigation and journeying for this to be realized.

The connections and pathways astounds me. They are personal and have special meaning to me. Yet, they are not exclusive. They are shared by others.

This topic is for those who wish to share what influence Blade Runner has had in your life.

Blade Runner is more than just a movie. It's a mythology.

influence? besides taking over all my spare CG development time for over a year?

I think it's made me look at the world with a bit more cynical edge. I see the world devolving into a Blade Runner like future, and it disturbs me. I had always hoped we'd get more civilized and responsible over the years, but I don't see that happening soon. The world and it's resources will soon be used up, the corporations are on their way to ruling the world, and mankind's attention span gets shorter and shorter, as we become more decadent.

rant over.....

old news

old news

News is only 'old' if you've already heard it - can we assume that some of the other people reading this thread haven't yet heard it?

Thanks.

Actually, THX1138, that comment doesn't even fit with this thread.

This leads me to thought... will people in, say, 100 years remember and appreciate Blade Runner? This movie was created in era when "cultural items" such as movies, songs, books are manufactured at mad speed.

Classic artworks, like Beethoven's symphonies or Rembrandt's paintings were made in much more slow times. It took years to finish a masterpiece.
I wonder if BR movie wont get lost in the history, if people of the futurel recognize it among millions of other titles of 20th century.

I wish people in 20 years remember Blade Runner. (I've ommitted the implications of this phrase, which should come to mind by itself to the reader). In 100? Who knows... If something is certain is that, with enough time, "all those moments will be lost..." But then there's hope.

Yes, there is something like "eternal message" in Blade Runner...

*sniff*

Xcuse me...

Bladerunner has had a profound effect upon me over the years. The future in Bladerunner does not look very bright. Corporations are king (they are getting that way now), world resources are out or very low (could be happening now), and so very much life has been artificialized (advances in fields like nantechnology and genetic implantation could be paving the way).

I ask, "Will our future turn out like Bladerunner?"

Right now I would have to say yes unless we bring more ethics into science. However, I must bring up that this can't be done totally because science moves too fast. Cloning animals is a good example. Should animals have been cloned at all? Probably not, because there are enough solutions for animal typing now (artificial insemination and embryo transplantation). But cloning was done. The fast forward button was hit and then stopped waiting for everything else in reproductive physiology to catch up. Science has or is catching up, but have we answered the ethical questions that came up after cloning was completed? No.

This is just example. Ask yourself if all the ethical questions were answered in Bladerunner. No. But science moved too fast. Take Rachel's brain implants for instance. Not only can there be (or have been) a replicant that looks like someone you know, now they have the memories of that person. Should this have been checked with a balance? I'll be frank...I don't know what that balance should have been (better V-K testing perhaps), but yes. Was it? No. Dr. Tyrell just up and did it. Science is doing that today.... just up and doing things.

Much of my thoughts on these subjects did not come by watching the movie only once..... but several times. I get more ideas and questions about our future each time I watch Bladerunner. I'm almost sure that so many of us that enter replies to this forum do. That's probably the great item about the movie. For me it is.

mike81859

old news

News is only 'old' if you've already heard it - can we assume that some of the other people reading this thread haven't yet heard it?

Thanks.

Actually, THX1138, that comment doesn't even fit with this thread.

by "old news" i meant he doesnt have to tell us that blade runner "isnt just a movie". we already know it's more. its nothing new to me, and if you're a memeber of this forum, than to everyone else.

by "old news" i meant he doesnt have to tell us that blade runner "isnt just a movie". we already know it's more. its nothing new to me, and if you're a memeber of this forum, than to everyone else.

Yeah, I learn't my lesson about "old news" with the "deck-a-rep" forum - I learnt that it's better not to comment at all if the thread "old news" to you, otherwise you just come across as being rude

im searching around the forum still, im looking for one of my old posts, i think it was to the topic of "what influences do you see daily that were because of blade runner" or something to that subject. in it, if i remember right, i commented on how blade runner has changed movies and the adventure gaming genre. i hate the search feature.

Treybor and Mike's views are mine also. In the months since they originally wrote them, I wonder if they have noticed the increase in just the things they mentioned. We've gotten:

1. The elimination of private property (Supreme Court ruled property can be taken away if someone else can pay more taxes on the property).

2. Sea life dead for 20 miles from shore on east coast of US down to Mexico and beyond.

3. Scientists creating and experimenting with "chimeras"-animal/human hybrids

4. Steps taken to eliminate people's right to supplements/vitamins.

5. Removal of bankruptcy option for the in-debt-up-to-the-eyeballs average citizen, essentially creating a debt-slave class who'll be working virtually the rest of their lives to pay off their debt from their over-inflated mortages when their house value collapses after the real-estate bubble pops.

6. Repeated demonstrations of the all-encompassing rights of corporations to take and destroy anything they please, no matter what person or country is ruined.

7. Escalating terrorist-type attacks and increasingly blatant attempts to remove freedoms and rights of honest citizens to protect freedom (yes that is an illogical statement).

8. Increasing intrusion of advertisements into every segment of our lives (because everyone knows life is meaningless without increasingly more stuff, and if only we could get enough stuff, everything would be OK).

I think if we are still around by the fictional timeline of BR, it will either be much, much worse than depicted, or at LEAST that bad.

Many of the things I see in use by that time were not imagined in the film:
RFID chips in every manufactured object and person on the planet, constant surveillance of every person every second of the day, every movement of anyone planned and watched by Big Brother.
Machine/human hybrids, collapsed world monetary system, widespread biological wastelands uninhabitable for thousands of years from radiation poisoning, widespread global climate change from magnetic pole shift.

The world depicted in BR would be like a heaven to the inhabitants of Earth at that point.

Blade Runner is still my favourite film and, for me, it's always been about where the current technological trends might take us in future. But, if you're worried about where the current Governments of the developed world might be taking us then you should study Brazil (1985) which is now a close second to Blade Runner in my list of favourite films.

It has a lot of parallels with Blade Runner and some have even said that the feel of the movie is obviously inspired by Blade Runner and Orwell's 1984.

There are at least two versions of the movie - a Hollywood 'Happy Ending' which is more than 30 minutes shorter than the 'Unhappy Ending' Director's Cut. Obviously, you should see the longer version.

I had the same feeling about Brazil as I did Blade Runner the first time that I viewed it - I liked the visuals, but I just didn't 'get it'. It helps if you're familiar with Orwell's 1984 as you'll notice the obvious references to that work. The dialogue is very 'Monty Python' but there are some very serious messages hidden in the 'jokes'.

I'm drifting off-topic, but I think that the point I'm trying to make is that both Blade Runner and Brazil could be two different views of the same future - Blade Runner tackling the moral issues around technology and Brazil about the ever widening gap between the 'elite' and those who serve the elite.

Jason raises some good points - I'm worried about the way the Goverment (US and UK) are using the 'terrorist threat' as an excuse to tag us all like cattle 'for our own safety'. I'm into conspiracy theories and the theory that Governments could orchestrate terrorist attacks in order to justify erosion of civil liberties isn't too far fetched for me. I also think that Big Business has way too much influence on Government policy. Lobbying and sponsoring of polical parties is just another form of corruption.

Television advertisements are are a form of brain-washing. I avoid them wherever I can. Thanks goodness for the BBC. BTW, if you're using Mozilla Firefox get the 'adblock' extension - it's really affective at blocking adverts on sites that you visit regularly.

Jason raises some good points - I'm worried about the way the Goverment (US and UK) are using the 'terrorist threat' as an excuse to tag us all like cattle 'for our own safety'. I'm into conspiracy theories and the theory that Governments could orchestrate terrorist attacks in order to justify erosion of civil liberties isn't too far fetched for me. I also think that Big Business has way too much influence on Government policy. Lobbying and sponsoring of polical parties is just another form of corruption.

Television advertisements are are a form of brain-washing. I avoid them wherever I can. Thanks goodness for the BBC. BTW, if you're using Mozilla Firefox get the 'adblock' extension - it's really affective at blocking adverts on sites that you visit regularly.

up until now, i always thought you were just paranoid. but our teachers in school showed us a few videos, and explained how businesses (the movie industry and television commercials) and im beginning to see where you're coming from. there was a whole 1 hour documentary on the psychology of commercials, which by the end, i was pretty much sick. and as for lobbying, i never really thought of this in terms of government, but i know it happens. our videp production teacher was telling us about lobbying for movies and how greatly that affects the academy award winners. the more a movie is lobbied, the better chance it has of winning. and as for the "
Jason raises some good points - I'm worried about the way the Goverment (US and UK) are using the 'terrorist threat' as an excuse to tag us all like cattle 'for our own safety'" i just did a research paper on the patriot act and terrorist vs. our safety. i was laughing so hard at the very end at how much and how obvious it was these officials are lying to the people. there was a quote from ashcrofts attourney i think it was, saying something to the effect of, "there's no reason for the american people to worry about the changes in the patriot act (which had a different name before 9/11). the changes are so minimal, you wont even notice them and they wont affect you." i laughed my ass off, if they're so minimal and we wont notice them, WHY DID THEY CHANGE ANYTHING!!!!!! it sure didnt help before 9/11, and changing something so minimally was stupid.

anyway, yes, off topic, but i understand where most people's understanding of governments is coming from.

Lobbying is an industry - billions of dollars are spent every year 'pursuading' those in power to amend (usually commercial) laws in favour of one company over another. Look at Microsoft and software patenting. Money=power.