An iconic sci-fi piece. If you haven't watched it, watch it, and a week from now we'll all discuss it. We can also speculate about the upcoming sequel, and draw comparisons to the source material: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? if you've read that one too.
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This is the movie I've rewatched the most.
As kleinbl00 says, its script leaves something to be desired, and frankly some of the acting is sub-par, but it is a gorgeous movie. I think visuals are where it succeeds best, along with letting the scene "continue" on after the action or dialogue is finished, just so that the viewer can be immersed in the world that they created.
- and frankly some of the acting is sub-par
Fun fact: Sean Young approached the project because of a passionate desire to play Pris, while Darryl Hannah was originally sent up for Rachel. Ridley Scott, being a misogynist douche, decided that Pris had to be blonde, despite the fact that Sean Young and Harrison Ford clearly have zero chemistry. I still think about what that movie would have been. It happened to Sean Young again in Wall Street, where she petitioned hard to be the bitchy interior decorator (who was a brunette in the script) but instead got cast as Michael Douglas' wife (who was blonde in the script) so that Darryl Hannah could play the bitchy interior decorator, who Oliver Stone insisted had to be blonde. Sean Young has a reputation in Hollywood for being extremely difficult to work with but at the same time, Hollywood has made it extremely difficult for Sean Young to work.
The first option on PKD's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" was by Martin Scorcese, who envisioned it as a Robert DeNiro vehicle in 1978.
If you want to understand it, you need the theatrical cut.
If you want to appreciate it for everything Ridley Scott wanted it to be, you need to watch the Final Cut.
I have seen five different cuts of Blade Runner (US theatrical, Canadian theatrical, "Director's cut", Dallas workprint, Final Cut) so you don't have to.
I have the 30th Anniversary Blu-Ray, which I think has the "Ultimate, Final, We're For Reelz Here Super Final Cut" and the "Theatrical Edition."
I've never actually seen the Theatrical Cut, have seen Blade Runner three times now, and still feel a bit lost at the end. Maybe I oughta watch the Theatrical Cut.
My wife watched the "director's cut" (circa '91) without me and expressed confusion. I explained to her that sci fi nerds bag on the theatrical cut and its substandard narration, but then, they've all seen the substandard narration. Then I put in my VHS tape of the international theatrical cut.
"Oh."
"Ohh!"
"Oh?"
"Oh...."
Die-hard fans of Blade Runner have a hard time admitting that it's a flawed work, but the execution of the script is lacking in many ways (and the script is lacking in more). Blade Runner is, more than anything, a miraculous convergence of pressure and time rendered as cinema, a visual aesthetic and a lyrical narrative that form something far greater than its parts. But if you sit and watch it objectively without hitting yourself over the head with it again and again and again, the flaws take on prominence.
I think the first time I watched Blade Runner was when I was in my early 20s because a bud of mine wanted to start a game of Shadowrun and invited me to play. He told me to check out the movie because it would give me a good visual idea of what the Shadowrun world was kind of like. I got the Director's Cut cause everyone told me the Director's Cut was better, remembered that the scenes jumped around a lot, and the ending felt kind of strange because the victory over the final android didn't really seem like a victory (if I remember right, the guy was gonna die anyway). We never got to play Shadowrun.
The other two times I saw it, were both around the time I got the Blu-Ray. I saw it, and was surprised that the scene jumping was even more abrupt than I remember, but decided to watch it again a few weeks later and the scene jumping was less shocking because I kind of expected it at that point. When I talk about movies and TV a lot (and chances are if you look back at my mentioning of Star Wars TFA, Princess Monoke, Samurai Jack, Fistful of Dollars, etc.) you'll see that I bring up pacing a lot. I don't know why, but for me, that's one of the things I care most about when I watch stuff.
Anyhow. Blade Runner sure is pretty. They did a hell of a job on it. I think though, I like Alien much better, if only because it seems less flawed and just as pretty. That said, I only like Alien. I really don't like any of the sequels because they just don't seem to be as good.
Edit: Lord, Mercy. I just re-read that and I sound like a five year old. Working a full day after only sleeping for a couple of hours and then trying to type out complete thoughts just don't work. I feel the need to apologize.