Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner

I do like Blade Runner but I don't love it like most. It's a great looking film which has aged wonderfully with good bits but I personally always felt it was a bit overrated. Watching this documentary made me appreciate the film a hell of a lot more, it's a fascinating watch despite the huge time commitment but if you're even remotely interested in the making of any movie it's worth a watch. The director did the 2/3hour documentaries on each of the Alien Quadrilogy which were equally as brilliant and he sure doesn't disappoint here

"This movie, to me, embodies the elegance, the power, and the uniqueness of a film experience."

Dangerous Days is an exhaustive (almost 4 hours!) documentary about the making of Blade Runner. It's (obviously) mostly for hardcore fans, but it's quite a treat for those people who can't get enough information about that landmark sci-fi movie.

Almost everything you could possibly want to know about the film, from its conception, to casting, art, filming, set design, and its release, is covered in detail. There are tons of candid interviews with the actors, writers, Ridley Scott, financiers production designers, and many other people who were involve with the creation of the movie, as well as reactions from other directors like Guillermo del Toro about their own personal thoughts on Blade Runner. Plus, we get an entertaining view of all the backstage drama (and there was quite a lot of it) that went on during the film's production. There is also a lot of unused scenes, behind-the-scenes set footage, and designs sprinkled liberally throughout, that (as far as I know) you can't see anywhere else.  

I actually learned a lot about the filmmaking process in general, from watching this.  Despite the lengthy running time, I was interested the whole way through. This is a gold mine for people who love all things Blade Runner. I wish these kinds of thorough documentaries existed for more of my favorite movies.

I love Blade Runner as much as the next film fan. It probably misses or only just latches onto my top 100. I owned the 5-Disc boxset in a tin which came with this 4 hour documentary Dangerous Days which only takes 8 years until you feel like watching it. Frankly, while interesting and somewhat worthwhile, the only thing notable about it is that mammoth length. While it has a wealth of outtakes and b-roll to enjoy, there's not much juicy insights to really enjoy besides the stress the film was to make. As a long form documentary, it runs more like a sequence of chapters in a row rather than a coherent piece. Some chopping and flair could make it less dry. Nevertheless, it's still a solid piece of work and there's nothing remotely bad or particularly bland about it. I have grown a newfound respect for its special effects and production design work as well as for Harrison Ford as a professional actor. That man has a work ethic to die for.

7/10

Dangerous Days was the working title for the film Blade Runner.

Clocking in at 3 and-a-half hours in length this making of feature on Blade Runner is way longer than the movie itself. It is a comprehensive look at a film that failed upon its release but has become a cult hit and a film way ahead of its time.

My interest in this documentary was only aroused when I heard Harrison Ford took part in this. For years Ford would not talk about Blade Runner leading to speculation that he wanted to distance himself from the film or he did not enjoy making it or its fraught difficulties on set was just too much for him.

His participation in this making of film and express words that he did the voice-over very much under protest because he backed Scott's cut of the film but was under contract and therefore obliged to do it pretty much dismisses those accusations that he was embarrassed with the failure of Blade Runner.

The film has it all from the script writing phase to getting a shooting script ready to the tensions on set, getting the special effects to be outstanding to the post production editing that led to the conflict with the director's vision of the film, the box office failure and then its re-discovery as a classic.

This is aimed at fans of the film but it should be a must see for anyone who is interested in how films are made.

For people who have never understood the backstage of Hollywood movies, this documentary is a treasure trove. It lasts forever, more than three hours, and discusses everything from Ridley's tyrannical direction and attention to detail to the way the art department designed vehicles and architecture. On the other hand all that stuff can get boring after a while.

What is sure is that the film contains a lot of information that could be of interest to film fans, amateur filmmakers and probably even professionals. Even if you have enough of that crappy overpraising that you see when people in showbiz talk about each other, it is not too much and some of them are downright honest about things: what they liked, what they hated, etc. Harrison Ford, which everyone praised as a very technical, very professional actor, actually hated working for the movie and was only happy when close to completion.

Also the financial underworkings of the film are very interestingly exposed. You cannot bring your own people because of unions, you spend obscene amounts of money for things that might seem trivial, like choosing the perfect mug to sit on the table in a scene from 100 different models or filming nature scenes, etc. It explains a little why movies like these need tens and hundreds of million of dollars to make and why, even with stupid stories and bad direction or production, films still feel professional because of the army of trained technicians that take care of every minute aspect.

All in all a very instructive documentary, kind of long. Don't expect a lot of juicy, funny stories either. It feels more like a log of the production of Blade Runner, than an attempt at a particular perspective or viewpoint. Useful, interesting, not very engaging, though.