I was only three when Blade Runner was released, so I didn't see it in the theaters, but I remember hearing such great reviews about it when I got older. I never got around to watching it, though. Then, I saw that there would be a discussion on the board and decided to track down a copy of The Final Cut so I could follow the discussion.

During the movie, I was constantly distracted by my thoughts: "Really? REALLY? This is what everyone is raving about?" Visually, it was pretty stunning, especially for when it was made, but that's about it, and that shouldn't be enough to make a film one of the best movies of all time. IMDB.com lists Blade Runner in the Action, Sci-Fi, and Thriller genres. I don't think I've ever seen an action flick with less action, or a thriller with fewer thrills.

The characters were all dull. The only character I cared about was Sebastian (that actor really hasn't seemed to age), but that was only in comparison to the rest. He was more interesting to me than anyone else in the movie. I get that one theme from the movie was that the replicants had become more "human" than the humans, but I didn't really care about the replicants, either--they were as boring to me as everyone else. And what was up with the unicorn? I suppose it may hint that Deckard is actually a replicant and Olmos' character is aware of his programming, but that's all I can come up with to explain it, and that would bring in quite a few other plot problems, if true.

I actually couldn't help but laugh near the end when Roy is chasing Deckard. With all the whooping and screeching and jumping, I kind of expected excrement be be thrown. I guess the replicants being more "human" than the humans extends to the animal side as well.

Perhaps I set the bar too high after hearing all the great reviews; maybe I just bought into the hype. Maybe it really is a great movie. I just don't see it, and I really don't have any desire to try again. And I wonder, how much did Coke pay for that product placement?

2 stars out of 5