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Episode 561: Blade Runner (Patreon)

Published:
2023-09-18 07:00:03
Imported:
2026-06
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Ridley Scott's 1982 cyberpunk classic came into being as a total flop, yet managed to claw its way into our collective psyches as the definitive portrayal of a dark future that would shape all sci-fi (and reality) to follow. Over the past 40 years and multiple revisions, this former cult favorite has become a respected part of the canon, but does it truly deserve its lofty status? On this episode, join Bob Mackey, Stuart Gipp, Kevin Bunch, and Henry Gilbert as the crew dons their snazzy raincoats to explore the very wet and very influential world of Blade Runner. Turtles will be flipped!

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Comments

Shrunken Shrine

It's impossible for me to be objective about Blade Runner. Everyone has some work of art that has become sacred to them. This is mine. I grew up in a house that was always playing Vangelis' otherworldly music, rest his soul. A relative asked for the "tears in rain" speech to be played at their funeral. Just before covid hit, a local cinema happened to be playing it and I got to see it with all my housemates, something that bonded us as we then spent months of lockdown together. It's surreal, then, to hear it get discussed in terms of simply being a movie, with flaws, like any other film can be. I just can't view it like that anymore. It has recurringly found me throughout my life in every sense of that word, and I'm grateful for it. Thanks for this episode.

John Simon

Y'all are right in that Blade Runner works better as a weird cultural cross section of a world than a detective story. I love Taffey Lewis's bar - it's like the Star Wars cantina where you get a blast of alien yet familiar elements - except it's like a dark world version of that. Here is where the upper classes who couldn't make it off-world hang out on a friday night; they have drinks full of meal worms and smoke out of long pipes. Taffey's Snake Pit! Come for the snakes, stay for the worms. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHX8chdTDbY with soundtrack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vryfPA5fic and now you've got me digging into 'workprint versions' where they've changed the background music and it's got a seedier vibe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlRFiiKiPJs and that german MC with his bizarre phrasing https://movie-sounds.org/sci-fi-movie-samples/quotes-with-sound-clips-from-blade-runner-1982/watch-her-take-the-pleasure-from-the-serpent-that-once-corrupted-man

John Hollidge

I think on the Final Cut discs they include 40 something minutes of cut footage that includes some of the original voiceover and it’s way better than theatrical if memory serves. Ford was putting effort on that, the later VO was literally almost gun to his head haha

Komsomol General

Looking forward to listening! I love the StuMack combo and Kevin is great too!

Max du Coudray

I'm disappointed that you made this episode without anyone who knows the movie well. I'm all for the new watcher perspective and the episode need not fawn over the movie, but something this legendary in the sci-fi realm deserves one member in the discussion who has seen the movie more than a couple of times. The real crux of it to me is that Blade Runner doesn't need to be covered right this moment. It's forty years old; there's no rush. If you had to wait a year to find a host with more knowledge of the film, no harm done. And yes, I am a long-time fan, but the result is that throughout the episode I found myself thinking "they didn't notice X" or "they forgot about Y" while listening to the ideas presented. It's very distracting to have such a surface-level analysis with nothing to balance it.

Shel Freezes Over

This episode made me feel vindicated. I didn’t see Blade Runner until a few years ago (maybe a year or two before 2049 came out). I had heard so much good stuff about it that I was surprised to find that while (as you all noted) its world building is top notch, but the story has no real sense of rising action or real stakes until the last 20 minutes or so. I remember checking my watch a lot. To this day any time I bring up my opinion, friends insist I was watching it wrong or misunderstanding “the point” of the movie. It’s nice to know I’m not alone. And I 100% agree with Bob. 2049 is the good sci fi/noir movie that the original wanted to be.

Chris (not Benoit)

I thought I was a weirdo for falling asleep the first few times I tried to get through Blade Runner, which coincidentally always happened around the “zoom … enhance” scene. I’m glad to know I’m in good company. I still really enjoy the movie, but something about it just makes me nod off.

Chris Galgon

Henry, hating on cops, literally saying that they are all bad… suggestion that the movie is racist because everyone *isn’t* white… these aren’t actually intelligent viewpoints. Takes me out of the podcast.

Cajun Baz

I agree with the consensus that Blade Runner is sort of an acquired taste. But there's so many layers to it after a few viewings. I actually wrote a college paper on the film, examining the class system and economics of the society depicted in that world.