Regardless of my minimal background in film, I feel as if I can say Blade Runner was not as futuristic as expected. The film proposed plenty of futuristic inventions that were plausible, but then contradicted them by having some very outdated ideas. For example, flying cars are an idea that most people agree to be futuristic. Most science fictions movies will have some type of flying transportation; it is almost unavoidable. Well, it is very contradictory to have flying cars then ruin the futuristic vibe by having a payphone. Wouldn’t you think they would have some neat watch communicator that beams a holograph of whoever you’re talking to? Nope. The main character, Rick, uses a payphone in a strip club to get ahold of someone. Truly advanced technology. If you want your audience to buy into the futuristic idea, there has to be some level of consistency. I understand at the time the film was made, there were not cellphones, but one could imagine the future would hold pocketable communication devices.

Despite the many other space-age contradictions, I did buy into the good vs. evil idea. Who was really the “bad guys”? For a quick background on the movie: Rick, the Blade Runner, is asked to hunt down these clones, known as replicants. These replicants have been killing humans and need to be terminated. At first, you are prompted to believe the replicants who kill are evil and destructive. As the movie goes on, you discover the truth of the replicants. Despite their killing, the replicants only really want to more life (since they are only given four years to live). Their intention is so easy to see unlike the intention of Rick, the replicant hunter. He was called into his ex-bosses office and was told to kill the replicants. The reason is really unclear as to why Rick has to kill them. We are led to assume there is a back story as to why Rick “doesn’t have a choice” with the killing. This really makes me think though. Who is committing the worse crime: the replicants or Rick and the other humans? Replicants have motives; they want to LIVE. What is so terrible about fighting for your life? Regardless of being human or clone, any one would fight for their life. If I knew my time was limited, I, too, would have fought for the cure/remedy/whatever it took. Rick is killing these clones because he’s told to. But then he falls in love with one and spares her? If they are all so evil and bad, what makes her programming so different? She will die as well. Why does Rick kill? I wish I knew what his back story was within the whole scenario. The Blade Runner did a great job in making you think about morality in regards to human life. There are many perspectives and arguments that can be made about who the “bad guys” really were.