Its 4:30 in the morning, Nora comes out to the living room to get ready for work and I look up from the couch to say “I can’t sleep babe! Just can’t stop thinking about Blade Runner.” This was the first time we watched the film together and the first time I watched it in damn near 20 years. The film just hit differently on the revisit to dystopian neo-noir world that Ridley Scott created. Is it a perfect film? No. But damn, it’s a good movie!

A lot has been said about Blade Runner already, it’s considered both a cult classic and one of the greatest Sci-fi films of all time. It’s a film that gets better with each viewing, as a kid I did not understand this film and honestly I thought it sucked. But as I turn 32, this may be one of my favorite sci-fi films due to doing almost everything right. Before diving into everything it does right, I do want to focus on the two things that still bother me.

After a brilliant opening and the replicant testing of Leon, Blade Runner is visually stunning yet a slow burn for about an hour. Luckily, the second half of Blade Runner is fantastic and hard to look away from. The second thing that I do not like about the film is the chemistry between Harrison Ford’s Deckard and Sean Young’s Rachael. It just does not feel right especially with the forceful relationship between the two of them. The “love scene” between Deckard and Rachael just felt uncomfortable and when Deckard asks “Do you love me?” with Rachael replying back “Yes!” It did not feel believable and almost makes the character of Rachael feel like window dressing for the film.

Outside of those two things and yes, first half of a movie being boring can be a nail in the coffin for most, Blade Runner does reward the patient viewer. I have never read Philip K Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” so I cannot compare the two but with Ridley Scott’s direction, Jordan Cronenweth’s cinematography and the Academy Award nominated Art Direction and Visual Effects, makes the film stand the test of time. While watching Blade Runner, the age of the film is not felt, it feels like it’s a film that is not 40 years old.

The acting of the replicants are a strong factor in this film with Rutger Hauer, Daryl Hannah, Brion James and Joanna Cassidy all giving dedicated performances. Hauer and Hannah both give memorable performances with great chemistry bouncing off each other and Hauer being evil and sympathetic at the same time. The climax shows the incredible talents that Hauer processed as an actor.

Blade Runner is a classic for a reason. It’s visually stunning after 40 years, a fantastic second half and one of the best antagonists in a sci-fi film with Hauer’s character Batty. Already thinking about my next rewatch of this classic and finally diving into Blade Runner 2049.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.