'Blade Runner is not one of my favourite films': Harrison Ford's fiery take on classic sci-fi hit
Harrison Ford spills the beans on his tumultuous time filming the iconic Blade Runner with Ridley Scott and how the sequel, Blade Runner 2049, was "just slightly more civilized."
Updated : October 20, 2023 05:27 PM ISTHarrison Ford spills the beans on his tumultuous time filming the iconic Blade Runner with Ridley Scott and how the sequel, Blade Runner 2049, was "just slightly more civilized."
Blade Runner Battles: Ford vs. Scott
For the world, Harrison Ford might be synonymous with the whip-cracking Indiana Jones. But dig a little deeper into his career, and gems like Blade Runner emerge. Directed by Ridley Scott in 1982, Blade Runner stands tall as a sci-fi marvel, as reported by FandomWire. However, behind those neon lights and cyberpunk aesthetics, lay a turbulent tale.
Harrison Ford's experience on Blade Runner was anything but rosy. “Blade Runner is not one of my favorite films. I tangled with Ridley,” Ford once candidly remarked. The bone of contention? The voiceovers. Ford was vehemently against them, believing that the viewers could very well grasp the film without this added layer of narration. He further vented in a 1992 interview with Vice, “It was a f*cking nightmare. I thought that the film had worked without the narration.” His frustrations peaked when he had to continually redo those voiceovers, "for people that did not represent the director’s interests."
To top it all off, in an Empire chat from 2006, Ford bared it all, saying he remembers Blade Runner primarily for the voiceovers and how he felt shackled with the never-ending revisions from "these clowns."
On the flip side, Ridley Scott wasn't singing Ford's praises either. The director referred to Ford as a "pain in the arse" during a chat with BBC. A clash of titans, it seemed.
A Sci-Fi Resurgence: Ford's Blade Runner Redemption
Yet, every storm does pass. 35 years later, the Blade Runner saga received a sequel, Blade Runner 2049. Helmed by Denis Villeneuve, this installment had Ryan Gosling leading the narrative, with Ford reprising his role. The experience this time around? Night and day!
Chatting with K5, Ford compared the two films. “A walk in the park,” he quipped, hinting at how the sequel's filming was leagues apart from the draining Blade Runner shoot, which had them filming for "fifty nights in the rain." Ford added, "This one was more civilized, just slightly more civilized."
Thankfully, Blade Runner 2049 didn't evoke the "f*cking nightmare" memories for Ford.
Eager to journey into the Blade Runner universe? The original can be found on Prime Video, while its sequel awaits you on Netflix.
(Several parts of the text in this article, including the title, were generated with the help of an AI tool.)