Blade Runner: The Final Cut

The Good:
The effects were solid and at times beautiful. Watching this again after years reminded me just how far ahead of it's time this movie actually was.

Harrison Ford - the man, the myth, the legend. Had my first crush on him as Han Solo, couldn't get enough of Indiana Jones - but to me he will always be Rick Deckard. Everything that Keanu Reeves did wrong in translated Philip K. Dick's character for A Scanner Darkly - Ford did right in Blade Runner.

Sean Young is stunning in this movie. She's beautiful and vulnerable and everything Rachael was meant to be.

Oh how I love Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty! Equal parts vicious emotionless killer and thoughtful heart-wrenching poet he embodies everything Roy was meant to be. His final moments in the film are still one of my favorite cinematic moments of the Sci-Fi genre.

I would be amiss to say that I wasn't influenced by Daryl Hannah's Pris. One of the first characters I ever built in City of Heroes was completely based on her interpretation of this role. Sex kitten meets lunatic assassin and played to a tee.

The Bad:
Watching it then the soundtrack (done by Vangelis) didn't seem out of place - watching it now the music seems dated and too cheesy for such a solid film.

I don't feel like the location of the movie was clearly explained so it became confusing at times to understand why there was such an Asian influence.

Over all:
I loved this film when first I saw it, and I love it even more the second time around. If Scanner failed miserably to interpret a solid novel - the Blade Runner succeeds on all aspects. I have enjoyed many of Ridley Scott's movies but this may be my favorite.

A Scanner Darkly

The Good:
I enjoyed the book when I read it so of course I enjoyed the story here as well. Philip K. Dick is a brilliant writer so the story is solid.

All three of the auxiliary characters played by Robert Downey Jr. , Woody Harrelson and Rory Cochrane were wonderfully played. They were fun to watch and laugh out loud funny at times which is exactly how I felt about them in the books.

The Bad:
The animation was... bothersome. I understand they just filmed the scenes and drew over them but it was like they didn't take the time to line them up correctly half the time so people's faces distorted and moved in ways they shouldn't. This detracted from the film.

I am not a fan of either Keanu Reeves or Winona Rider and this film didn't do anything to help either of them for me. They both seem to always be stilted and non-existent in anything they're a part of. Scanner was no exception. In the book, though addled by drugs, Reeves' character was dynamic and interesting. In the film he was flat and you just didn't care what happened to him. Caring what happened to him was the central emotion of the book. Rider on the other hand was dealt a character who in the book you both sympathized with and despised. In the film you just despised her.

Over all:
For me this is another read the book, skip the movie. Or perhaps read the book, skip any scene of the movie that does not include Rory, Woody or Robert.