Blade Runner - Is It Overrated
 

Now I watched this for the 2nd time last night on BBC 2 along with the Dangerous Days documentary. It is also the 2nd time I found the film rather slow until the final half hr. Yet somehow even with me finding it slow and somewhat boring I couldn't take my eyes off the film. So my question to you is

Do you think the film is overrated and boring or do you think it deserves the rep it has got over the yrs?

Blade Runner Trailer 2007 "The Final Cut" - YouTube

Yes.

What Goji said.

Ah, but what are you both saying yes to? The question in the title, or the question at the end of the post?

It's a tricky one, as you will be aware (After watching the documentary, which is worth a watch even if you're not a huge Blade Runner fan.) it kind of flopped theatrically but then slowly built a cult following over time.

I'm not singling you out, but the term overrated gets thrown around so much on the net and makes me wonder if it's simply a case that some people just happen to not like a film (For whatever reason) that lots of people do?


I'm personally not a huge fan, but the look and special effects (Esp for the time) deserve much credit at least and the All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die. line is a classic.
I've also always loved the original novel title "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"

It's massively overrated.

Whilst appreciating all it does have going for it (and there are some nice visuals and dialogue), I think it is hugely, enormously over-rated both as a film and within Scott's canon.

It may be easy to bandy about the term "over-rated", but - for me - it is a perfect term to use when discussing Blade Runner.

I don't think it's overrated, 2001 is IMO, as is most of Kubrick's output except the Shining and Full Metal Jacket

I also agree with 2001 I found it boring as hell and It was a task and a half to get through the film (and no film should be that hard to watch). I sound like I dislike Sci fi which is not the case

I didn't find it boring, just not as great as most people make out, haven't seen it in a long time so my feelings may change if I saw it in HD, doubt it though.

Saw it on first release in the cinema, loved it then. The Blu ray was one my first on Blu, but it does have an A-B-C feel to it(Ford picking off the replicants one by one until he gets to Hauer) and not much chemistry between Ford and Young, but Christ, what a looker(soundtrack's no slouch either) but is it over rated? Probably, but not bad For a flop.

I agree it's overrated but only marginaly so, it's still a damn good movie. It, like The Dark Knight, has been romantisised to death and is now only really a shadow of how great it could have been if obscurity had consumed it. ****ing mainstream.

First time I saw it I loved it, second time I enjoyed it but not quite as much...think the first time thought I watched the workprint version? Remember quite a few differences. Either way I still think it's a classic. Far better than Alien though - that really did bore me

This doesn't make sense.

Are you saying it would be a better film if it had remained an obscurity? Does the fact it has gained in popularity over the years make you think it also becomes a worse film?

Its the same film if only one person likes it or the entire population likes it.

How odd!

It is my personal favourite film, from my perspective everyone who has stated it as overrated has never elaborated as to why in any meaningful manner. It is my favourite film for many of the same reasons as others who have waxed lyrical. I find it be science fiction at it's most thought provoking and emotionally powerful; one of the last of it's kind. From a design perspective I find it to be immaculate and has been consistently borrowed from for many years since and I'm sure many more in the future. The cast is fully well rounded, establishing their characters with more layers and resonance than most films of much longer length can manage.

I believe it to be the perfect film, and it will probably remain that way for me.

I've seen it a few times in all it's different guises and even though i'm not a huge fan, i still think it's a prime example of first rate film making the likes of which we will never see again. Everything from the costumes, the sets, vehicles and props to the insanely awesome matte paintings. From a technical point of view it's a wonderful film, from a narrative point of view...t'is a bit boring.

I feel that the fact it's become so widely considered 'the best film of all time' it feel's like it's lost alot of it charm for me. Fatiege I guess.

For me, it so, so, SO boring! It doesn't grip me, it meanders, the plotting is confused (at least in the two versions I have seen), Harrison Ford is wooden and annoying (as usual). It looks pretty, but is hollow and empty (not unlike Prometheus, though it is vastly better than Prometheus!) with nothing that I felt I could latch onto.

Those are the main reasons I feel it is over-rated - not bad, but over-rated.

It's about as over-rated as breathing.

Got to say i did not like it at all on the first viewing, but over time i have learned to love the film. It's up there with Close Encounters ( Blade Runner is not as good mind), 2001 & Alien. Aliens.

It's not slow if you watch the version with the voice over. ;)

I've had a few conversations about this over the years. I really like the actors/visuals/design/soundtrack and pretty much everything about the film, but...

it bores the living p*ss out of me. I've never been able to put my finger on why, it's just always felt like a chore to get through.

There's a few 'classic' films that I feel the same way about, to be honest. While I can understand why people value them in terms of film history, and what they accomplish technically, Psycho and Rosemary's Baby send me to sleep every time I try and watch them. In fact, I'd go as far to say Rosemary's Baby gets on my bloody nerves. :)

Blade Runner is my favourite film.

I just wanted to bump this thread to see what newer members think of this film.

I recently watched the work print on Blu Ray for the first time, and I've gotta say I much prefer the Final Cut. It seemed to drag in places and I kinda lost interest

Not to mention the Vangelis score absent during the final most crucial scenes!

As for the title of this thread, not a chance.

I put Blade Runner on once for my sister-in-law and her husband, who hadn't seen it before but knew of its cult classic status, and they lost interest after half an hour. :lol:

I consider Blade Runner to be one of the finest science fiction films made in the second half of the 20th century and, behind Alien, Ridley Scott's second best film.

It helps that the source material is so brilliant and thought-provoking, which makes the film adaptation almost equally as engrossing and fascinating. I imagine it only flopped because the studio insisted on the happy ending and said audiences needed the narration to make sense of events on screen.

I guess if you watched expecting to feel as I do, then you will consider it overrated, so it either lives up to your lofty expectations, or leaves you utterly disappointed. The same will apply to just about other film, whether it is Citizen Kane, Vertigo or The Shawshank Redemption, all of which have topped 'Best Film Ever' polls.

Shawshank Redemption is a beautiful film, but yes, I'm one that thinks Vertigo is overrated. It just seemed so silly and over dramatic and it had such a promising premise that went no where for me.

Swap the titles round and I agree ahaha ahem.

As to whether Bladerunner is overrated......

Aye....if you love the book.

As a film by Ridley Scott...it isn't.

i remember it being quite boring but i have only seen it once,25+ years ago

'Blade Runner' is one of those films that I have tried to like, but failed

I saw the 'original' version the first time it was on television, and it bored me senseless. It seems that the next day at school, everyone I knew was telling me that it was a good film, so when the 'directors cut' was released, I decided to give it another go, but this time on the big screen at the cinema.

Again, I was bored to tears, but people were still telling me it was the greatest film ever made, so I put my reaction down to "not being in the proper mood"

When the DVD box set was released, I got a copy of it, and watched all five versions of the film, but nothing happened to change my opinion of the movie

Visually, it is an incredibly impressive film (and the main inspiration for the Iron Maiden 'Somewhere In Time' album and subsequent tour), but the story leaves me cold

I suppose this is the sign of a TRUE cult movie!

Exactly the same as me apart from the school bit.

I do enjoy Blade Runner, although I don't own it on either DVD or Blu-ray. I used to have it on VHS some years ago, but have long since got rid of that. If it's ever on TV I'll watch it and enjoy it as I always have done. It's all about the visuals, the atmosphere, the score and the actors for me. I know a lot of people find the film boring though. I've only ever seen the original cut and the director's cut, and I can't remember which one I preferred.

Blade Runner is my all-time favourite film. I've never seen another film as immersive, atmospheric, beautiful and rich in detail as this one. For that reason, I'd have to say 'no' as to whether I'd consider it overrated.

Ridley Scott says 'Blade Runner' sequel script is finished and 'damn good' | The Verge

Some of the reader comments are interesting!

It would appear that 'Blade Runner' is not as popular as people think

Generally speaking every film has its fans and detractors. However, when discussing a film's failings the internet minority are usually very vocal.

I think Blade Runner is a classic of its generation (of sorts), but as new film fans enter the cinematic arena, its popularity and status will no doubt slide to be replaced with the current generation's classics and favourites. I've no doubt it will be remembered for many years to come, but to a vast extent I feel that film history and classics of yesteryear are only remembered, heralded, and enjoyed by the minority.

As for me, I haven't watched Blade Runner a great deal in my moderately long life to date, but it is a film I have enjoyed on repeat viewings, and I feel has made a mark on my film watching pathway. I wouldn't call it a 'masterpiece', but terms like that are subjective anyway. However, I would have no qualms in recommending it to someone who was looking for a 'mainstream classic'.

Looks like they have found a director for the new Blade Runner sequel and Harrison Ford is coming back. Im still very worried about what they are going to do with this.


Blade Runner Sequel Finds a Director, Ford to Return - IGN

Villeneuve is a brilliant director, he has that dark aesthetic that would suit Blade Runner perfectly. Its all about the script as far as I'm concerned.

In answer to the question posed by the thread title, the poll answered by 19 members here would seem to suggest Blade Runner isn't overrated, as it was ranked first on the list of favourite science fiction films.

https://www.cult-labs.com/forums/sci...5-results.html