THE BLADE RUNNER EXPERIENCE

Since its release in 1982, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, based on Philip K. Dick’s novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, has remained a cult classic through its depiction of a futuristic Los Angeles, its complex, enigmatic plot and its underlying questions about the nature of human identity. The Blade Runner Experience: The Legacy of a Science Fiction Classic examines the film in a broad context, examining its relationshipto the original novel, the PC game, the series of sequels, and the many films influenced by its style and themes. It investigates Blade Runner online fandom and asks how the film’s future city compares to present-day Los Angeles; and it revisits the film to pose surprising new questions about its characters and their world.

240 pages

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Will Brooker is Associate Professor in Communications at Richmond, the American International University in London. He is the author of Batman Unmasked: Analyzing a Cultural Icon (2000), Using the Force: Creativity, Community and Star Wars’ Fans (2002) and Alice’s Adventures: Lewis Carroll in Pop (2004) and co-editor of The Audience Studies Reader (2002).

'The Blade Runner Experience shows the way that the film has synergized in many directions especially in terms of race and gender. [...] The net result is a set of very personal responses. As a guide to the cross-pollination of one particular film..'
– Andrew M. Butler, Science Fiction Studies

'Taken as a whole, the book represents a rich intersection of film analysis with more recent topics in media studies. It should become a valuable part of a media studies curriculum.’
– Scott Bukatman, Stanford University, author of Terminal Identity: The Virtual Subject in Postmodern Science Fiction and the BFI ‘Modern Classic’ on Blade Runner

'Once upon a time Blade Runner was simply a film that slowly became moderately popular. Decades later, these new essays richly chart cultural and academic territories in which that film has nevertheless become a focus and a force in its own right.'
– Dave Hipple, University of Reading

'There is plenty here to intrigue the casual fan as well as hardened obsessives, for whom it will provide much to mull over.'
– Howard Maxford, Film Review