2. Blade Runner- Metropolis
Blade Runner is in my opinion the greatest film yet made. Blade Runner helped define the Sci-Fi genre. The plot is loosely based on the novel 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep' by Philip K. Dick. They are very different, although both do complement each other nicely into a rather satisfying narrative. In the not so distance future Rick Deckar, a blade runner, has to "retire" four replicants. They have escaped their enslavement, and now wish to extent their built-in four-year lifespan via the head of the
ber powerful Tyrell Corporation. Realistically there is not much of a plot here, that literally takes nothing away from the film. The charm of the film rests on the vision of Ridley Scott. Blade Runner's gloomy and sprawling sky scrapers with spats of neon was invented by this film. Unlike most other films, Blade Runner depends greatly on this mood and atmosphere spurred on by the grungy world of Rick Deckard.
I will have to point out now that this world is lifted wholesale from the masterpiece of 1920's German cinema Metropolis. There is a great chapter in the book 'A Distant Technology: Science Fiction Film and the Machine Age' by J.P. Telotte that discusses the origin of Fritz Lang's vision. Basically it was born from the fear that Lang had about compact megacities and the development of drone controlled society. Many have adapted the look of this movie while missing the whole point entirely. Blade Runner with the film's overarching sense of sadness, fear and longing for humanity. Is a fitting heir to the legacy of Lang.
In an ironic twist of fate, there are literally scores of films that have used Blade Runner as it's jump point, some with masterfully results i.e. The Fifth Element, and some not so much, Judge Dread (1994) for example. Another noble rip off? I think so.