#97 - Blade Runner

Oh, science fiction. What a love/hate relationship you and I share. I've never been one to be wow'd by amazing special effects that are supposedly groundbreaking -- I know that technology that will always be progressing, and there will always be one movie that is at the forefront of a certain special-effects movement (e.g. "Avatar" and digital 3-D). But I refuse to accept the sacrifice of an interesting story for the stylish appearance of a film. Luckily, this film disappoints in neither departments.

Set in November 2019 (just nine years away, and it was interesting to see how improbable some of the things in the movie's future world are), the 1982 film depicts Harrison Ford's character Rick Deckard search for four rogue Replicants: human clones made for good reasons who turned evil and were banished from Earth -- their presence is illegal and calls for immediate killing ("retirement") by the Blade Runner sent to find them.

The story is simple, basic, and intriguing: my favorite kind. The film is dark, both literally and metaphorically. The sun doesn't shine on the characters until the very end -- this is a movie that depicts actions taken in the middle of rainy nights, on deserted streets in futuristic L.A. Chinatown. Also, though the city is in shambles and the whole outlook seems quite dystopian, none of the characters seem patently morose -- as if this dreariness is something that will come about in the 37 years from the movie's production to its setting.

Intriguing and haunting story beside, the special effects were staggering (blah, blah). And it also gave one of the best movie quotes I've heard in a while: as the final Replicant is about to expire (they have only a four-year lifespan), he says, "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe ... All those moments will be lost in time; like tears in rain. Time to die."

Altogether, the movie was a fast-paced two hours that was easy to follow and a joy to watch, totally deserving of a place on this list.