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... ” Although considered a box-office flop at the time of its original release, the film is now regarded as a classic, a prime example of science fiction cinema, and a directorial masterpiece. ... As John Whitehead explains, “the most vital question confronting us is how to maintain humanness in the human race in the face of overwhelming technologies that tend to dehumanise” (Bladerunner: What It Means To Be Humans In The Cybernetic State). The film utilises the main proponent of science fiction film, the development and utilisation of technology, and the implications that it may have upon the human race and our society. However, this essay will attempt to argue that whilst Blade Runner can be perceived as a science fiction film, there are also integral elements of Film Noir and postmodernism that influences the film. The limitations of definition by genre means that Blade Runner is a film that is overlaps other areas of genre than science fiction, and it has different levels of interpretation regarding style, content and the underlying story of the movie. To define Blade Runner as a science fiction film is not itself incorrect, but it is a somewhat inadequate summarisation of the films structure and style.
Genre criticism emerged in the mid 1960s and early 1970s as one of the earliest means that enabled Movie studios to organise the production and marketing of films. Establishing genres meant establishing the differences between films and creating a standard stylistic formula for each genre. ... The development of genre came through the recognition and marking of artistic division between films, in order to provide structure and coherence for both the industry and the consumer. ... However, problems arose with genre criticism in that it was hard to substantiate where one genre ended and the next began. This problem is highlighted by any film that could be analysed as one that lays its roots in more than one genre. At the same time, establishing formulaic patterns for a genre creates problems when considering the role of time. As social boundaries and ‘norms’ evolve over time, the criteria that substantiate the genre, and the methods of production involved, change with them. ...
Science fiction was first used as a term in the nineteenth century with regards to literature, associated with names such as Jules Verne. During the second industrial revolution, the new machine age, there was the emergence of a new “cult of science” (Cook, p192).
Approximate Word count = 1949
Approximate Pages = 7.8
(250 words per page double spaced)
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