BLADE RUNNER

Despite starring Harrison Ford and being directed by Ridley Scott, Blade Runner did poorly at the box office when it was first released in 1982. Since then, however, it has become a bit of a cult hit.

The film is set in the future, when large parts of Earth's population live on other planets; "off-world". There they are helped by genetically produced androids called replicants, who are banned from returning to Earth on pain of death ("retirement" in the jargon). If they do manage to escape, then they are hunted down on Earth by special policemen, blade runners. Harrison Ford plays a burnt-out cop, who is brought back to find and retire a group of four particularly dangerous replicants, led by Rutger Hauer.

Having seen the film when it first came out, I watched it again last night after 30 years. My son thought it was weird, and left halfway through, but I really liked it. What was particularly interesting was the early 1980's view of what the future would look like; the film is set in 2019, and that is just around the corner today. In Los Angeles, it is dark and continually raining, and most of the remaining population is Asian. There is video telephony, but all of the screens are rounded (as in old televisions), there is no concept of a flat-screen. Cars can both drive on roads, and fly through the air. Replicants are made by a sinister conglomerate called the Tyrell Corporation, whose owner and chief employee are geniuses, but also rather creepy. Everything is damp and rather soulless.

Predicting how things will pan out in 50 years is a mug's game. When I first started work in 1980, I still had to write everything in hand and have a secretary type it up. I don't know what will be around in 30 years' time, the only thing I know is that it will surprise me.

Walter Blotscher