Blade Runner
Mediascene Prevue
magazine December 1981
από τα γυρίσματα της ταινίας
Κινηματογραφικά
/ - 1.
Harrison
Ford as Rick Deckard prepares to use the Voight-Kampf machine for a
psychological test.
/ - 2.
Sean
Young as Rachael when she meets Deckard in Tyrell’s office.
BLADE RUNNER
Futuristic detective thriller.
After three
scripts and more than a year in preproduction, Ridley Scott's new
science-fiction thriller is underway. Titled “Blade
Runner” (which will possibly change due to its oblique imagery), the
film follows Harrison Ford’s future detective Rick Deckard as he tracks five
desperate killers through a bizarre, technological metropolis in the year 2020.
Like the
classic noir eyes, Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe, Deckard’s world is alive with
shadows, psychopaths and sudden death. From the teeming sewers of the
Chinatown-like slums to the corridors of power in the 900-story Tyrell
Building, his relentless and lethal pursuit is both reminiscent of the cinema’s
most compelling manhunts and different from anything yet seen on the screen.
Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard
Harrison Ford
(who scored heavily this summer as Indiana Jones in “Raiders
of the Lost Ark”) portrays a former Rep Detect “terminator” who is
forced out of retirement to undertake a treacherous mission: to stop five Nexus
6 “replicants,” the highest form of genetically reproduced beings, who are
extraordinarily powerful and nearly indistinguishable from humans.
Specifically
created to serve man in exploring, colonizing and defending space, the
creatures are programmed to terminate at a predetermined time. Additionally,
they are not allowed access to Earth unchecked because of their uncanny human
likeness and sudden instability. They are not robots or androids, but living
beings so perfect their differences can only be determined by psychological
testing.
Spot checks,
called Voight-Kampf Tests, are
made periodically on Earth to protect the planet from replicant invasion. It is
during one of these tests, when Deckard’s partner is almost blown away, that
the discovery of the renegade Nexus 6s is made. It is the violent reaction to a
test failure: that puts the detective on their trail.
He must
discover why the replicants—three males, two females—have come to Earth and infiltrated
the corporation that made them before he can learn what they’re after. The
manhunt results in a terrifying sequence of events. To track them, Deckard
makes use of an arsenal of fantastic tools: he travels in a flying Spinner car,
scans clues in a super-computer, wields unusual weapons and performs complex
technological studies on suspects.
One of them,
a beautiful, enigmatic young woman named Rachael, becomes his ally—and his
lover. She is played by Sean Young, who last appeared in “Stripes”.
Sean Young as Rachael [Photo: Steven Vaugn]
Rutger Hauer
stars as Ford’s dynamic antagonist, Roy Batty, a fierce warrior who possesses
terrifying strength and speed. Hauer is best Known for his roles in the World
War 2 adventure, “Soldier of Orange”, and “Nighthawks”.
Rutger
Hauer as Roy Batty [Photo:
Steven Vaugn]
The
supporting cast includes Edward Olmos, M. Emmet Walsh, Joe Turkel, Brion James
and Joanna
Cassidy.
The Ladd
Company production is based on Science Fiction author Philip K. Dick’s novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”,
with a screenplay by Brian Kelly and Hampton Fancher.
The film
emphasizes the visual aspects of future technology, relying heavily on
extraordinary special effects, including 50 matte paintings, video computer
work, miniatures and opticals. Doug Trumbull, who received Academy Award
nominations for “Close Encounters” and “Star Trek”, is creating the cinematic illusions
with the philosophy that special effects have finally come of age, that they
will not occupy center stage, but, instead, be used to support the film’s drama.
Credit for
much of the production’s unique ambience, from the artifacts and architecture
to the cars and costumes, belongs to Syd Mead, one of America’s leading industrial
designers. Many recent science-fiction and fantasy films have “borrowed” from
Mead’s distinctive stylings, but “Blade Runner”
is the first to capitalize on the full spectrum of his capabilities. Those who
have witnessed the artist’s striking vision of tomorrow (in industrial exhibits
and his book Sentinel) will discover that Mead’s two dimensional renderings
have been effectively recreated for the film. Vehicular design is Mead’s strong
point, and the movie abounds with ultramodern transportation.
The set has
been christened “Ridleyville” by the crew, who worked day and night from March
9 to June 30 to bring the production in before the predicted directors’ strike.
The eclectic architecture might be described by the industrial design term
“retro-fitted,” which refers to an unaesthetic layering of facades from various
periods of time.
In this
future world, few buildings are torn down; instead, they are built over —with sections of the
originals still seen. Their bizarre, unsettling appearance contributes heavily
to the cinematic tone, as do characters with a ’40s/new wave/punk imagery. The
mix of races and cultures is equally unusual; almost half of the 2020 society
and its environs are oriental — Chinatown is us!
Plexiglass
and plastic combine with steel and stone to produce a nightmarish cityscape of
outrageous proportion. One minute on a parking meter costs three dollars;
tampering with the device brings instant death. Near-naked dancers perform in
gigantic bubble-cages on the streets. A corner newsstand offers $12 magazines
with such titles as Creative Evolution,
Droid (There's Still BIG Money in
Steel Head Repair), Moni, Kill (Guard Dogs You Never Feed!, Death
Penalty Snuffs 12 in Freak Accident, Multiple Murders—Readers Own Photos!), Zord (illegal Aliens by R. Scott).
The city is
almost a character in itself, yet it is unnamed in the film. There are familiar
facades from various American locations, and, though the fact remains
unexplained, one has the feeling the metropolis on screen is the ultimate mega-city
of the future.
The climactic
rooftop confrontation between the two protagonists was originadly scheduled to
occur in Sebastian's apartment. Plans changed — after locations were scouted at
LA’s Rosalind Hotel and the nearby Rowan Building, the cornices of which were
duplicated and erected on the Burbank Studio lot.
Deckard’s
high-rise apartment building-utilized existing block motifs which were
vacu-formed from castings taken from Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis-Brown House.
The
picturesque Bradbury Building was also used in both exterior and interior
sequences.
The
remarkable juxtaposition of style and substance inexplicably works for the
film, instead of against it. “It's a kind
of comic Strip,” says Ridley Scott, who chilled audiences with 1979’s “Alien”. Ridley Scott is a meticulous craftsman who
shot two separate scenes simultaneously during the night of the rooftop battle.
While technicians lit and dressed one set, the director worked on the other, a
scene where a girl clad in a black bra, panties and a transparent plastic
jacket is shot and fails through a plate-glass window.
Scott’s
attention to pictorial composition was astonishing. While lining up the shot
through the lens, he would call for certain objects within the frame to be
shifted a fraction of an inch to complete an aesthetic balance.
In “Blade Runner” (derived from Harrison Ford’s code
name), the images are as important as the hard-boiled dialogue. The language is
strong, and the action, at times, is violent. The $15 million feature, due for
release in May, 1982, will snare an R or a PG rating, depending on what's
trimmed during editing which is currently underway.
Blade Runner:
On the set with Harrison Ford
in a hard-boiled futuristic detective thriller
Mediascene Prevue magazine, no 46, November-December 1981, pp. 29-31.
[
εδώ το άρθρο δεν είναι πλήρες ούτε έχουν παρουσιασθεί όλες οι φωτογραφίες του
άρθρου ]
ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΟΓΡΑΦΟΣ
[ ανάρτηση 4 Μαρτίου 2024 :
Blade
Runner
Mediascene Prevue
magazine December 1981
από
τα γυρίσματα της ταινίας
Κινηματογραφικά ]
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου