`BLADE RUNNER,' FABULOUS FLOP.Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Writer Title: ``Future Noir: The Making of `Blade Runner' '' Author: Paul M. Sammon Data: 441 pages, paperback, HarperPrism; $14 Our rating: Four stars Perhaps the most influential box-office flop of all time, Ridley Scott's ``Blade Runner'' was the result of incredible artistic vision, matched in intensity by the anxiety that went into realizing it. On hand through much of the development, making of, arguing about and fretting fret·ting n. A hole, or worn or polished spot made on metals by abrasion or erosion. over the film, sharp-eyed journalist Paul M. Sammon caught thousands of incidents, which he has woven into one of the most thorough books of its kind ever written. ``Future Noir: The Making of `Blade Runner' '' contains everything you could possibly want to know about the obsessively detailed sci-fi epic, from the development of its oft-copied production design to the ``T-shirt War,'' in which Scott and crew members who disliked his abrasive style taunted each other with wearable slogans. An unabashed fan of the film, Sammon nonetheless recognizes the narrative flaws that impacted its popularity and overall critical estimation. Yet there's no denying Sammon's contention that Scott's dark vision of future Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. - loosely adapted from a Philip K. Dick Philip Kindred Dick (December 16 1928 – March 2 1982) was an American writer, mostly known for his works of science fiction. In addition to his dozens of published novels,[1] novel and featuring a stony Harrison Ford hunting down android An open platform for cellphones from the Open Handset Alliance (OHA). Based on Linux, Android includes a library of Java classes for building mobile applications. Android and GPhone ``replicants'' who were arguably ar·gu·a·ble adj. 1. Open to argument: an arguable question, still unresolved. 2. That can be argued plausibly; defensible in argument: three arguable points of law. more human than their persecutors - didn't stand much of a chance with audiences who were flocking to the more reassuring sci-fi squeaks of ``E.T.'' at the time. Yet despite the bad timing and bonehead studio tinkering tin·ker n. 1. A traveling mender of metal household utensils. 2. Chiefly British A member of any of various traditionally itinerant groups of people living especially in Scotland and Ireland; a traveler. 3. (that soft-headed, hard-boiled voice-over!), ``Blade Runner'' proved the more indelible artwork, inspiring movies from ``RoboCop'' to ``Independence Day.'' And no one who takes an honest look at Los Angeles and other troubled urban landscapes today can deny the increasing resemblance to this 14-year-old cinematic fever dream Fever Dream is a short story written by Ray Bradbury in 1948. It deals with the issues and anxieties suffered by teenagers that result from bodily change, in a somewhat Gothic light. . With ``Future Noir,'' Sammon shows us precisely how a film, and by extension a world, can journey down some fascinatingly dark paths. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: No caption (Book cover of Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner) |
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