"Blade Runner"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines Ridley Scott's film, "Blade Runner," and looks at how the film utilizes the main proponent of science fiction film, the development and utilization of technology and the implications that it may have upon the human race and society. It attempts to argue that, while "Blade Runner" can be perceived as a science fiction film, there are also integral elements of film noir and postmodernism that influence the film. It shows how the limitations of definition by genre means that "Blade Runner" is a film that is overlaps other areas of genre than science fiction, and it has different levels of interpretation regarding style, content, and the underlying story of the movie. To define "Blade Runner "as a science fiction film is not itself incorrect, but it is a somewhat inadequate summarizing of the film's structure and style.

From the Paper:

"However, whilst Blade Runner evokes the sentiment of a science fiction world, there is substantial evidence to suggest that the film was greatly influenced by other genres, especially Film Noir. Blade Runner's sprawling metropolis, and dark, shadowy urban is so evocative of a dark film noir setting. The lighting is crucial in film noir as it is Blade Runner. Many Science Fiction films are shot in an unnaturally hard light yet In Blade Runner there is a vivid feeling of dark alleys and sinister rooms, of deindustrialisation and decay. The 1940s black cities of film noir are represented in the dystopian world of Los Angeles in 2019, drawing parallels between the black times suggesting the future could be as bleak as it was during World War Two in the 1940s. In Film Noir, society and the system is ruthless, the people are evil and remain corrupt, and the hero has both protagonist and antagonist values. Deckard is the typical cop hero with his trench coat, tie and a gun, Rachel is the femme fatale, and Roy Batty the main villain heading for a showdown."

More papers on "Blade Runner":

• Film Review # 125336 : "Blade Runner" and Societal Constraints"
• Film Review # 125048 : "Blade Runner"
• Film Review # 122371 : "Postmodern Themes in "Blade Runner"

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