Ridley Scott "Film Comment" interview, 1982

Cool interview!! Thanks for posting this Sawa :)

this is a brilliant find what's rare is the fact that the interviewer understands the depth of this movie just like The Duellists or Alien at a time when most critics and journalists were widely panning this movie. Blade Runner was Marmite when it came out, you either loved it or hated it. maybe going on the strength of The Duellists, Alien, Blade Runner, Legend, Scott can capture lightning in a bottle and capture the nuances and subtleties that makes Blade Runner a masterpiece in Blade Runner 2, but what if he can't and Blade Runner is a one off renaissance masterpiece not to be equalled in the next 500 years. is Blade Runner, Leonardo's Mona Lisa, Michaelangelo's Sistine chapel, I hope not. I have faith in Ridley's abilities, and maybe it's not the artwork that is one off but the director himself, and he is able to envision Blade Runner 2 with masterful strokes. He states though, as he did with the Duellists that with most of his movies, he relies on luck, the stars are in alignment, the sun will break through the clouds at the right moment, nature intervenes, improvisation creeps in, all the right people are in the right place at the right time and the finished product is not one he could have imagined but better. Philip Dick, Moebius, Dan O'Bannon, Jordan Cronenweth are no longer with us. that worries me, what if Blade Runner truly is a one off? food for thought Fishkettlebanana

I agree Fishkettlebanana. I think the way they made Blade Runner had alot to do with it being a timeless film. Good O'l live action. As long as they don't CG the next one to death(e.g just because they can put 10,000 flying cars in one city scene doesn't mean they should...but the occasional floor window close-up wouldn't hurt ;) ) I see Blade Runner as a character based film that left some of the audience confused when it first came out. I think some people were expecting Han Solo as a future detective and it wasn't that at all.

I agree Djrees I think also that ET's feel good vibe killed off many classic sci-fi films of a Dystopian or ground-breaking nature released at the same time Blade Runner Tron The Thing Escape From New York Star Trek Wrath of Khan I felt insulted for many years after that ET had gone up against Blade Runner for the Sfx oscar and won. Et's ship lifted up out of the forest into a tobacco coloured sky segued flawlessly into a spinner landing on the roof of the Tyrell building in a tobacco coloured evening sky. one scene was babyish and the other masterful. it still niggles my OCD today. I like Spielberg though. I think at the time people were still coming out of the feel good 70's into the recessive 80's and didn't want to be reminded of doom and gloom. they wanted Raiders of the lost ark etc. good films but different vibe. Fishkettlebanana :D

I love his interviews.

I think the highlight of the interview is his take on how the Punk elements morphed into something else (New Wave).

Bonus link:

A waste of time

S:)