Question answered. Merci monsieur Matt.
(I did link to another thread that addresses what some of the “strong ideas” and “substance” of the film might be)
Kinda a loaded question innit? If the question was a more generic one about whether good production design or indeed any technical aspect of a film can in itself make a film worth seeing, than yes, I would say so, but that only goes so far so the there would need to be some better definitions of what other areas of the film those technical aspects were covering for.
Yeah well It’s for an english and i was just looking for some other opinions because I’m probably being biast as I love the film. The actual statement is "‘Blade Runner has been dismissed by many critics as a good-looking film
built on the flimsiest of narratives, a triumph of production design over
substance; alternatively, others see it as a transcendental film that goes far
beyond form in grappling with the metaphysical questions that underpin our
lives – namely, the nature of man, of God, of the universe, of what existence
itself means.’ Peace.
Well, in the specific case of Bladerunner, the production design goes farther than providing the pretty. It, in itself, provides much of our deeper understanding of the world of the story, which in turn, tells us what the story is “about” in a way that the narrative only hints at, if it touches on it at all. While the narrative of Bladerunner deals with Deckard and the replicants, the production design is what tells us a great deal about how the world may have reached the point where this story could be told. There is a suggestion of great environmental damage, Asian dominance in population and influence, perhaps more in the lower classes, while there are companies and a few men that are linked to Pharaohs or other god-kings of old that rule over the masses. The streets are crowded with people but the interiors of the buildings of the wealthy are huge spaces devoid of people, although clutter seems to be prevalent suggesting decadence and/or decline as if an empire is waning.There are many uses of screen images of people which plays with theme of the real and the fake, and so on…
Whether this adds up to enough to make the film fit some nebulous definition of “great” or something is up to the individual viewer, but it certainly wouldn’t be nearly as rich a film without the fabulous production design adding to the substance of the film, not working alongside or apart from it.
there was a poll taken among scientists a couple years ago about what the greatest science fiction movie of all time was, and blade runner was number one. 2001 was number two.
PS anyone who thinks this movie lacks substance obviously has never had a thought in their brain about what the effect of artificial intelligence and human looking robots will have on humanity. you could write entire books on the subject, and in fact their HAVE been many books on the subject.
“Kinda a loaded question innit?”
It would be if the original poster had taken the time to punctuate it correctly or, God forbid, actually compose a real sentence.
Anyways. Anyone notice that poor BLADE RUNNER’s plot gets so often unfairly maligned though it is actually quite uniquely structured. For example: is Deckard the protagonist, or is Batty? Or do both share equally important roles in an interweaving narrative destined to culminate in their climactic meeting (roughly 1/6th of the film is at the Bradbury).
I suffer from Dyslexia but thanks for making me feel better.
The story may be interesting, but the plot, or execution of that story is where the film deserves most of its criticism.
The film does what film is good at, and the book does what books are good at. Which explains the radical difference between the two. The film oozes atmosphere and drama from every pore, whereas the book is far more allegorical, and far more involved with investigating the minute details of the themes at work.
I’m not sure what’s supposed to be so poor about the plot of the film, really. I rather enjoy the pacing, and how things roll out for us.
That said, there’s nothing wrong with a movie not being everything to everyone.
Milk and Honey
Is Blade Runner’s production design a substitute for a poor plot and a lack of strong ideas, it is “all form, no substance”.