Comments on: Blade Runner: The 8 Mins First Act

By: Tim Aucoin

Tim Aucoin — Mon, 23 Mar 2020 05:46:51 +0000

In reply to Karel Segers. So you're thinking the shorter first act had something to do with the film being a flop?

By: Devin Palys

Devin Palys — Sun, 01 Mar 2020 23:28:03 +0000

It was a commercial flop because of the studio meddling. It may have been a bit before it’s time but the director’s/final cut was far better than the “theatrical release” and probably would’ve fared better.

By: Karel Segers

Karel Segers — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 04:43:48 +0000

Hi Tim – Yes, you’re absolutely right. But my point is that you can’t just write by the numbers like that. You need to back it up with story and character. In those first 30 minutes of Blade Runners, there’s very little of either.
I’m a fan of the movie, and watch it every few years again, but we have to ask why it was such a commercial flop. In this article I’m trying to analyse one possible issue.

By: Tim Aucoin

Tim Aucoin — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 04:19:27 +0000

I don’t think it’s a 15 min first act. It’s the standard 30 minutes like every first act. At almost 30 min exactly Deckard’s driving through a tunnel, as if he was driving towards his new world. That’s when Rachel goes to see him and their relationship starts to develop. His relationship with her is part of this new world.

By: steven mason

steven mason — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 22:44:52 +0000

There was a refusal of the call – Deckard turns down the job when he sees Bryant but Bryant bullies him into accepting: ‘If you’re not cop, you’re little people’. If a scene had been added to show Deckard’s ordinary world, I don’t think this would have added to the film. I get a very clear impression of Deckard’s character just from his first scene – I don’t need to know more about him.