Why Harrison Ford called working on ‘Blade Runner’ a “nightmare”
Science fiction has always been a staple in cinema. In fact, some of the earliest movies ever made fall into the genre. When silent pioneers were experimenting with cinematic techniques, such as early special effects and editing, science-fiction imagery was of particular appeal. One of the most influential sci-fi films was A Trip to the Moon, paving the way for many space-themed movies to come.
The genre continued to maintain steady success over the decades, booming with more technical proficiency in the ‘60s with masterpieces like 2001: A Space Odyssey. The 1970s saw many popular sci-fi movies emerge, such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and several franchises like Star Wars and Alien.
The genre gained even greater popularity in the ‘80s, though, attracting wide audiences of both adults and children. At the height of its rage, Blade Runner was released in 1982, a dystopian movie which became hugely influential in developing the cyberpunk genre. The project starred Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard, a police officer tasked with hunting a group of ‘replicants’ who have mysteriously made their way back to Earth.
Since its release, Blade Runner has been heralded as one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time, spawning a sequel, with Ford reprising his role, called Blade Runner 2049, directed by Denis Villeneuve. The original wasn’t initially as praised as it is now, although fans still hold strong opinions as to which cut of Ridley Scott’s work is best.
The theatrical cut involves a voiceover by Rick, which is generally hated by many fans, who believe this lessens the quality of the film. When Ford began shooting the movie, he was also unsure about the use of voice-over, going as far as to refer to it as a “nightmare”.
He explained to LA Mag: “I remember when they eventually showed me the script, I had a lot of concerns about the narrative. There was actually a voice-over in the original script, and I felt it was telling the audience things that could easily be discovered in the context of the scene.”
In the theatrical cut, Ford’s character first starts narrating the film when reading the newspaper, seemingly speaking his thoughts out loud. This occurs several more times throughout the movie.
Talking to Vice, Ford said that it had been agreed that he would be working on a movie “without voice-over narration” when shooting began, but that soon changed. “It was a fucking nightmare,” he continued, “I thought that the film had worked without the narration. But now I was stuck re-creating that narration. And I was obliged to do the voice-overs for people that did not represent the director’s interests.”
The use of narration is still a topic of debate, although that hasn’t stopped the film from garnering a dedicated cult following.
