Crispin-3

The serious critics such as Halliwell didn't rate this movie very high, but I gave it 9/10 stars, first because it achieves exactly what it set out to be: a mindless screwball comedy - seven stars. An extra star for the song 'Cause I'm a blonde. And another star because the film actually has good production values. Watch the scene in which the alien ship lands: it is a perfect takeoff of every cheesy aliens-are-landing movie of the 1950s.

Someone once commented that most great books are either seminal or unique. The same applies to movies. 2001 is an example of a seminal movie; it gave a new start to the genre and spawned many good films that built both on its concepts and its effects techniques.

Blade Runner is unique. No-one has made a movie quite like it before or since. Although it has deep roots in film noir and early SF - as far back as "Metropolis" - and other movies such as the "Nineteen Eighty-four" of that year have used somewhat similar gritty near-future worlds, none have the breadth of vision and incredible, mesmerizing atmosphere of this movie.

I gave this film a '9' a couple of years ago, having recently read the Philip K. Dick book on which it is based; I felt at the time it departed too far from the book, and "docked" it one point in consequence. Watching the Final Cut with a longer perspective, I believe it deserves to be judged only as itself, a movie, and as such it gets one of my few 10's.

If that weren't enough, the remastering of the already brilliant sound track into Dolby 5.1 in the Final Cut would take it over the top; if I could give it an extra half-point for that alone, it would get a 10.5. Even with my bottom-of-the-line home theater equipment, at one point an air-car audibly travelled, I swear, 30 feet through the back wall of my apartment. This is almost the only movie I can think of that I listen to the complete soundtrack music - 2 CDs - for the sheer pleasure of the music and sound-scape.

The ambiguities and different versions and the extreme views expressed in the forums indicate clearly how deeply this movie affects people -- pro or sometimes con. It is not a movie that anyone can be indifferent to, unless perhaps they are totally uninterested in the genre. I see more in it every time I watch it.

Having seen (in very bad 3D) the remake House of Wax, I found this classic horror a delightful contrast. It is lifted out of the ordinary by good production values (including excellent early color), convincing performances, enough subplots to keep you glued to the screen, and the fast pace so characteristic of the best of the films of the 30's and early forties.

I am particular partial to horror that manages to blend comic vignettes and one-liners without losing the essential hair-raising suspense, and this film delvers both in full measure.

Particularly memorable is the early scene in which extremely lifelike wax figures melt and crumble. Almost-real human figures have a special twist of horror when they behave unexpectedly, and this scene exploits our reactions perfectly.

This film deserves to be better known and valued, especially in the context of its period, long before gushing blood and screaming teens became the hallmark of "horror". This film is more frightening than any modern slasher, and the comic relief, as it should, makes the horrific stand out more starkly.