I was watching "The Edge of Blade Runner" tonight, which, to me is a fantastic little doc put together the way I like to see docs done. A little of "here's where they shot this"... coupled with old interviews and lost scenes. While taking all of this in I remembered my introduction to the movie - the "Ultimate Fantasy" convention held in Houston (which has gone down as the WORST sci-fi convention ever to take place because of unorganized events and money being stolen by those running the show) - they had a small room dedicated to movie trailers and being 11 and pooped my best friend and I went in and watched a handful of previews - the first was TRON, then a small one for Time Bandits, The Wrath of Khan and then Blade Runner - which looked to two 11yr olds like a boring movie we had no interest in -- not when something like TRON was in it's way (haha). It would take years before i sat down and watched the movie open to close and a few years even later for me to understand and really enjoy the story (mostly thanks to an older cousin who explained the movie to me - thanks Pete).
Anyway, Harrison at that point in time was known as Han Solo and soon would be equally tied to Indiana Jones (filming Raiders when he met Ridley). These two characters are John Wayne non-complicated heroes who only deal in black and white - the good guys and bad guys are blindingly defined, as is the goal and objectives set up on the character's quest. Decker's journey is not so clean cut. His definitions are re-written by Rachel and by Roy later in the film. Being that Ford's kinship lie with less complicated situations, perhaps audiences lost the compass in him they were used to. Perhaps, casting someone else who came in with less baggage may have given the filmgoers a way into the world but not tied them to someone who always has the right answer to any situation.
I know some are going to say I'm giving audiences too much credit and BR was a victim of it's own bleak vision and being ahead of it's time. I don't buy that thanks to the work done on Twilight Zone - where heroes and villains trade hats and situations go from mundane to surreal often. Ridley had said in one interview he saw Decker as a cop who was really at the end of his run, a burnout who had given the force his best years and had nothing to show for it. No wife. No family. No future. The fact that he is lost in this emotional state is what leaves him open to fall for Rachel - the one thing he has always hunted. He also said if he could have gone with an older actor, he would have. A Steve McQueen type maybe. Ford was still young. His surrender to the profession is self imposed, not because he's too old to keep up with these newer models they are producing. I also find it hard to see Ford pressured into a romance thanks to where his life is. A character with these issues would have been interesting - more interesting in my opinion.
I do think the movie missed thanks to when it came out - ET was right around the corner and it proved people wanted to feel good about the movies they saw. But I can't help but wonder what may have happened if they had cast someone else as Decker. Someone without an action figure on the toy shelves.
Anyway, Harrison at that point in time was known as Han Solo and soon would be equally tied to Indiana Jones (filming Raiders when he met Ridley). These two characters are John Wayne non-complicated heroes who only deal in black and white - the good guys and bad guys are blindingly defined, as is the goal and objectives set up on the character's quest. Decker's journey is not so clean cut. His definitions are re-written by Rachel and by Roy later in the film. Being that Ford's kinship lie with less complicated situations, perhaps audiences lost the compass in him they were used to. Perhaps, casting someone else who came in with less baggage may have given the filmgoers a way into the world but not tied them to someone who always has the right answer to any situation.
I know some are going to say I'm giving audiences too much credit and BR was a victim of it's own bleak vision and being ahead of it's time. I don't buy that thanks to the work done on Twilight Zone - where heroes and villains trade hats and situations go from mundane to surreal often. Ridley had said in one interview he saw Decker as a cop who was really at the end of his run, a burnout who had given the force his best years and had nothing to show for it. No wife. No family. No future. The fact that he is lost in this emotional state is what leaves him open to fall for Rachel - the one thing he has always hunted. He also said if he could have gone with an older actor, he would have. A Steve McQueen type maybe. Ford was still young. His surrender to the profession is self imposed, not because he's too old to keep up with these newer models they are producing. I also find it hard to see Ford pressured into a romance thanks to where his life is. A character with these issues would have been interesting - more interesting in my opinion.
I do think the movie missed thanks to when it came out - ET was right around the corner and it proved people wanted to feel good about the movies they saw. But I can't help but wonder what may have happened if they had cast someone else as Decker. Someone without an action figure on the toy shelves.
