User:Ccooneycuny/sandbox

Blade Runner was released in theaters on June 25, 1982, and grossed well, earning $6.1 million over its opening weekend.

Blade Runner received two nominations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for best visual effects and best art direction, but lost to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Gandhi (film), respectively. Denis Villeneuve, who is to direct the Blade Runner sequel, cites the movie as a huge influence for him and many others. Ccooneycuny (talk) 19:27, 12 October 2015 (UTC)

Critical reception
Initial reactions among film critics were mixed. Some wrote that the plot took a back seat to the movie's special effects, and didn't fit the studio's marketing as an action/adventure movie. Others acclaimed its complexity and predicted it would stand the test of time. Negative criticism in the United States cited its slow pace. Sheila Benson from the Los Angeles Times called it "Blade Crawler," and Pat Berman in The State and Columbia Record described it as "science fiction pornography." Pauline Kael praised Blade Runner as worthy of a place in film history for its distinctive sci-fi vision, yet criticized the films lack of development in "human terms."

Academics began writing analyses of the film almost as soon as it was released. Many wrote about its dystopic aspects, its questions regarding “authentic” humanity, it’s ecofeminist aspects, genre studies and in recent years, popular culture. A recent article from Slate magazine explores the reason academics have been obsessed with the movie over the decades.

In the decades since Blade Runner's original release, the film has assumed the role of a science fiction classic. Roger Ebert praised the visuals of both the original Blade Runner and the Director's Cut versions and recommended it for that reason; however, he found the human story clichéd and a little thin. The 2007 release of The Director's Cut version of Blade Runner better demonstrates director Ridley Scott's intended star of the movie, the chilling city views. Critic Chris Rodley and Janet Maslin theorized that Blade Runner changed cinematic and cultural discourse through its image repertoire, and subsequent influence on films. Blade Runner holds an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a website that rates movies based on published reviews by film and tv critics, averaging a score of 8.5 out of 10 from 103 reviews. The site's main consensus reads "Misunderstood when it first hit theaters, the influence of Ridley Scott's mysterious, neo-noir Blade Runner has deepened with time. A visually remarkable, achingly human sci-fi masterpiece." Denis Villeneuve, who is to direct the Blade Runner sequel, cites the movie as a huge influence for him and many others.