Blade Runner (1982) VS Alien (1979)

Both Ridley Scott classics, but I have been having a bit of a debate with a friends over which is the better.

For me, it has to be Alien.  Blade Runner is a sci-fi epic – a nightmare vision of the future which is beautifully shot and brilliantly scripted.

I love Blade Runner, I really do. But it has flaws and  relies a bit too much on visuals, atmospherics and the chilling Vangelis score – despite what others say of this movie; I don’t think the characterisation is quite right (I never cared as to whether the replicants live or die) nor do I finish watching Blade Runner and think “bloody hell, that was awesome”. It’s a far too deep and complex movie to enjoy in that manner and I feel a similar way about Hitchcock’s masterpiece Vertigo.

On the other hand, Alien is a film which whacks you in the face straight-up. Now, I know the plot is a lot simpler than in Blade Runner – it’s basically Halloween (1978) in space – and I am not claiming that Alien is anywhere near as deep as Blade Runner –  in Alien, the audience is simply dragged into the bowels of a spaceship to watch a group of average-joes battle a particularly nasty E.T. But you know what? As a movie, and certainly as an experience, I would select Alien above Blade Runner every single time…..

Advertisements