The Harrison Ford movie, Blade Runner, widely considered ahead of its time upon its release, struggled to find its audience initially but eventually achieved cult classic status. Among those who stumbled upon the movie in their own unique way is the filmmaker Christopher Nolan, who discovered it on a pirated VHS copy. Despite its initial lack of popularity, Nolan fell in love with the seemingly overlooked masterpiece that had failed to garner mainstream attention.
In a recent interview, Nolan reflected on how people initially ignored Blade Runner, only to witness its transformation into a cultural phenomenon.
Here’s how Christopher Nolan stumbled upon Blade Runner!
During a conversation with the Associated Press, Christopher Nolan alongside his long-time industry friend Denis Villeneuve, coinciding with the release of Tenet in IMAX theaters featuring additional special footage of Dune Part Two, the two filmmakers delved into their mutual love for cinema. They discussed their greatest works and the intricacies of the art form itself.
When asked about his perspective on films gaining relevance over time, Nolan shared his experience with the original Blade Runner, a film that was later brought to life again by his friend Denis Villeneuve in 2017. Reflecting on Ridley Scott’s masterpiece and how he encountered it, Nolan said,
“I know for myself the life of the movie is a much longer proposition in that, you look at other people’s films and indeed your own films in decades, not in weekends. I think the science fiction genre is the one where the long view is everything. People revisit. They value science fiction in a very long-term way. The original “Blade Runner,” nobody paid any attention to it on release, it was famously a flop. Then over time, people like myself (found it). I think I was 13 when I first saw a VHS tape.”
The film, released in 1982, failed to gain traction despite its brilliance among audiences of that era. However, over time, it gradually gained popularity, evolving into one of the masterpieces that has since spawned a beloved franchise.
What Challenges Did Denis Villeneuve Face While Crafting a Sequel to a Classic?
Denis Villeneuve had to tread very carefully in bringing the dystopian world of Blade Runner back to life. While the visuals may have seemed effortless, the process was anything but easy. Speaking to Time magazine, he revealed,
“In the first movie, you were seeing layers of time. Most of the time in sci-fi movies, the world is purely a vision of the future, but in the original Blade Runner, you felt the dirt that was coming out of ages. That was something I wanted to bring back. I wanted to make sure that we were as specifically true to film noir as the first movie was. I wanted the atmosphere to carry the beautiful melancholy that was so powerful in the first movie. I wanted the world to be one of bleakness and gloom but to have sparks of beauty — coming out of technology or humanity.”
The director truly made it appear seamless, and now, he’s returning with another sequel of a film that took the world by storm in 2021. And Christopher Nolan compared it to The Empire Strikes Back for the director. Speaking at a Tenet LA screening that marked the re-release of the film in IMAX theaters ahead of the Dune release beginning from February 23rd, he stated (via Raiders of the Lost Podcast),
“For me, if Dune Part One was ‘Star Wars,’ this [Part Two] … was very much The Empire Strikes Back, which is my favorite of the Star Wars films. It’s an … exciting expansion of [everything] you introduced in the first one.”
Now that it’s established that Denis Villeneuve is the man for expanding and updating a universe, people have high hopes for Dune Part Two releasing on March 1st. Furthermore, Christopher Nolan’s endorsement, adding to the already considerable hype, has audiences eagerly on the edge of their seats.
