"Wake up. Time to Die."
Android Leon to Deckard.
|
|
The Pleasures of Texture
TIME July 12, 1982
Blade Runner
Is atmosphere smothering the story lines of smart new science-fantasy movies? Is texture overwhelming text? On the evidence of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner - and his previous thriller the 1979 Alien - it would seem so. He and other talented craftsmen are lavishing their imaginations on graphic design - on high-tech spaceships and deja vu futurism - and allowing the characters to wander through a labyrinthine narrative like lost dwarfs.
|
This is Los Angeles in the year 2019, when most of the earth's inhabitants have colonized other planets, and only a polyglot refuse heap of humanity remains. Some people don't belong in this decaying cityscape. One is Deckard (Harrison Ford), a burnt-out Bogie- style dectective; the others are "replicants," robots of advanced design who have infiltrated the city to find their creator. Blade Runner is likely to disappoint moviegoers hoping for sleek thrills and derring-do. But as a display terminal for the wizardry of Designers Lawrence G. Paull, Douglas Trumbull and Syd Mead, the movie delivers. The pleasures of texture have rarely been so savory. -- Richard Corliss
|
|
