Obsession with Blade Runner Part I: I've Seen Things...

It all started in the summer of 1982 where one of the biggest box office seasons was taking place. Some movies went on to become financial champions while others, despite lower earnings, still managed to earn their place in film history. My sixth summer was filled with poltergeists, Rocky Balboa duking it out with Mr. T., phoning home to a being known as E.T., and coming across a happy accident called TRON. While Kirk, MacReady, Max Renn and company would be discovered later in the comfort of my own home, a most interesting ad piqued my interest one Friday night while watching SCTV. I was mesmerized by the movie’s amazing images and its two word title that would intrigue me for years to come; that title being none other than Blade Runner.

Newspaper ads were everywhere. One picture in particular caught my attention, depicting Harrison Ford on top of a futuristic car. This would become the subject of a minor argument between yours truly and a certain fourth grade teacher who denied her student –-one who knew better-- that the picture was from that film. My interest grew with one setback. The only person I knew who had seen the film was my father, a big film buff, and he dismissed the movie.

As I got older I would grow out of relying on my father's opinion as the final word on films that were worth seeing. At last, on a Saturday night, my chance to finally see Blade Runner came in the form of a video rental at Palmer Video in Eltingville. This was just around my early high school years, before the director's cut was released. In between that time, the film gained a cult following that few could explain but many could only experience with their own eyes. To my amazement, there were a lot of great visuals, no doubt the movie looked great but, to my disappointment, the film seemed detached and had this viewer scratching his head. Why, I wondered, did this film generate such a huge following? I thought I'd end up being the one person who didn't like the film everyone else did. Until....
TO BE CONTINUED!