Blade Runner.

The greatest cyberpunk film of all time has received a rerelease in British cinemas over the past week, and seeing it on the big screen inspired me to write a short review. Though it was a slow burner that was largely unappreciated upon its initial release, Ridley Scott’s masterpiece has since become one of the most revered and analysed science-fiction films in history and has been praised for its narrative depth, strong symbolism and amazing visuals that still hold up today.

It’s the kind of film a viewer can watch a hundred times and still notice something new, whether it be the intricate sets and costume designs or the film’s layered metaphors and complex themes. For a film made amongst the cheesy action films of the eighties, Blade Runner is not only masterfully realized but a very sombre and introspective film that forgoes blockbuster clichés and pays homage to film noir in its dark and brooding style. Released in ’82, it has more in common with 70s filmmaking and the new Hollywood Era than the blockbusters that were to come. Like Empire Strikes Back, this is a serious film in which arguably – the bad guys win. One thing that was particularly clear to me on my most recent viewing is just how much of an antihero Deckard really is and how the “villains” of the piece – the criminal runaway androids – are really the heroes. Deckard methodically hunts them down, whilst they attempt to live off the grid and stay alive. He hardly feels good about it, but he does it all the same. The scene in which he chases down Zhora is particularly harrowing. She attacks him first, but only to give her time to run for her life through crowded streets whilst he gives pursuit, all the way he takes aim at her terrified face until he finally catches her and terminates her.

Deckard’s narrative is what happens when the villain’s henchman gets his own movie. We get to see the stark and miserable world of violence he is coerced into, the grim acts he must undertake to complete his mission as glorified executioner/hitman and the gritty underworld he must trudge through during his investigations; and his lingering regret about what he does. It’s easy to forget amidst the rain, the neon signs and the violent confrontations that Deckard is essentially tasked with killing these androids for their crimes of simply existing, that is to say “retiring” them since they are past their point of usefulness for the Tyrell corporation and the exploitative system that created them as slaves.

The real hero is Roy Batty. An iconic performance by Rutger Hauer, he spends the film trying to save himself and his friends from their premature death and discover the mystery of his creation. His salvation comes when he decides to save Deckard in the film’s climax. When seeing Deckard desperately running for his life, he sees himself – helpless, about to die and struggling to hold on. With his final choice to save Deckard, he transcends his bleak existence and achieves something outside of himself. The film begins with man taking pity on machines, but ends with the machines taking pity on man.

By the end of the film the line between the real and the recreation are blurred. We are presented with a world in which everything is simulacra, hence the constant imagery of toys, manikins, dolls, photos and video screens. Even if Deckard isn’t a replicant, he certainly gets treated like one. Almost everyone in the film ends up a victim in some way. Even Tyrell himself could be a replicant, for all we know (wouldn’t that be just like Philip K. Dick?).

It’s kind of fitting that there are now so many cuts of the film available. Like the film’s protagonist, the movie itself is nebulous and hard to define. Which cut is the “real” cut: the original theatrical release? The one Ridley Scott currently considers the final version? None of them – or all of them? It’s a film that can be endlessly revisited and one of my all-time favourites.

Alien 5 is happening!

It’s been confirmed recently that the Alien franchise is due for another entry, this time directed by none other than Neil Blomkamp, who is clearly on his way to the sci-fi halls of fame. So far his films have been pretty solid, so this is a good choice. He definitely knows what he’s doing, though I kind of hope that the film isn’t shot entirely in his signature found footage/documentary style.

Will this be a film in the same continuity, or some sort of re-imagining? There’s talk of including Sigourney Weaver once more, which is understandable as she is the face of the franchise, but I can’t help but think it’s time to take the universe to new territory. The film will be produced by Ridley Scott’s production company Scott Free. Prometheus 2 is still in the works, so it seems that we will get two semi-connected universes.

Either way, the Xenomorph is one of the most recognisable creatures in Hollywood history with by far one of the best designs and the most venerable legacy. There’s plenty more that can be done with the material and lots more sci-fi horror that could be put to screen. Sigourney Weaver is one of my favourite actresses, so I hope she’s involved in some way if this does go through, and Blomkamp clearly understands the more subtle elements of crafting a film and could give us some truly unnerving scenes, weird sci-fi and a return to physical props and effects. I’m interested to see where Prometheus 2 will go, but this is a complete unknown that could lead to some great stuff in the coming years.

Alien: Isolation.

Alien: Isolation was made for me. A huge fan of the original 1979 sci-fi horror classic, I consider it to be one of my favourite films of all time, up there with Ridley Scott’s other masterpiece, Blade Runner. This makes me basically the ideal target demographic for the game, and as a result this review is probably going to be pretty biased, but oh well here goes nothing.

This is a real treat for fans of the original movie. Creative Assembly have lovingly crafted a videogame homage to the cult classic. When first loading up the game, it’s evident that the developers have put a lot of effort into recreating the look and feel of the original film and its late 70’s grit. The game even starts with a grainy looking 20^th Century fox logo. Once the game has started, you’re able to find your bearings and explore this world, discovering a retro universe that matches the style of the original film. Observant fans will delight in seeing little details from the ‘79 classic everywhere in the level design, right down to the sound effects of vents opening and alarm systems blaring. The game is filled with primitive, boxy technology of the late 70’s and early 80’s like tape decks, and ancient looking computers with green command-line style UI. This is a minimalist world in which technology has stagnated and gone backwards: a wonderfully nihilistic, rusty, analogue world far from our modern digital dreamscapes and stuck in the ass-end of space surrounded by pipes, vents, bolts and lockers. The game does a good job of grounding the player in the physical, hard and unforgiving landscape. It looks just like the film.

So it looks and feels right, but what about the experience – the real meat of the gameplay? Well the game has you play as Amanda Ripley – Ellen’s Daughter – looking for her mother some years after her mysterious disappearance. She ends up marooned on a vast space port known as Sevastopol, and it seems the majority of the inhabitants have been killed. It isn’t long before the star of the show: the Xenomorph shows up; and its interaction with the player make up the majority of the game’s character.

Fortunately, the Alien is handled extremely well and Creative Assembly get just about everything right. You can’t kill the Alien, you can’t outrun it. You can however, hide from it and if you’re lucky you can sneak past unnoticed. Later in the game, you can find weapons that ward it off, but only for a while and it will quickly return angrier and more aggressive than before – and it will know where you are. One of the core game mechanics and by far the game’s most intelligent design feature is the Xenomorph’s A.I. Unlike other horror games that have the player encounter enemies in scary locations, the Alien actually hunts you down, with surprising intelligence and tenacity. He can appear at almost any point in the game, with few exceptions and when he does you better run for cover because he will find you and he will kill you. You will probably die a lot, and it’s a good thing. You will spend the majority of the game staying low and quiet, peeking round corners and hiding in lockers. Even for the ultra-careful, there are of course levels which force you to confront the Alien, so there’s no getting away forever.

When I first saw Alien it was the tensest film I had seen, and the game recreates the heart-pounding intensity perfectly. You will need to pay close attention to your surroundings in this game, as not noticing a vent or making too much noise will get you killed time and time again. It’s this dedication to constantly keeping the tension raised that makes the game a great survival horror, as well as the game’s refusal to handhold or coddle the player. Sound is especially important in this game, and fortunately it’s really well done. I was playing on a small TV and I still feel myself jump when I can hear the alien come out of a vent behind me. This is best played in the dark and with the sound turned up. The motion tracker in particular creates a lot of the game’s scares, as you can tell by the little beeps that the Xeno is coming, but you aren’t always sure where he is going to crop up. The game doesn’t pull any punches with the alien, and he will show up if he is nearby and hears you using equipment or opening doors. This leads to some incredibly tense moments as you frantically try to complete objectives like operating a computer or cutting your way through a door with your back turned to the room, hoping that he won’t hear you and attack when your back is turned. You’ll need to collect any supplies you come across in order to craft useful items to use as weapons or distractions, whilst other equipment you find can help you get into previously inaccessible areas. Even the save system, which some people aren’t happy with, helps to add to the relentless tension. Taking the oldschool gaming route, the game doesn’t provide many checkpoints and you can only save the game at designated save points (you can even be attacked whilst doing so if enemies are near!). This is frustrating if you keep dying over and over again but it really helps add to the immersion as it’s such a welcome relief when you find a save point and can take a breather knowing that your progress is safe until the next section. It’s also refreshing to find a game that doesn’t patronise the player or isn’t designed for kids to be able to beat when they get it for Christmas. It is a difficult game that requires patience. Stealth is nearly always the best option.

The game is by far one of the tensest and scariest that I have played and totally nails the dark tone that the Alien franchise needs. There are even levels dedicated entirely to the atmosphere, which shows how far the developers are willing to go and how much the game is about immersion and experience rather than run and gun action. Even when the game does ramp up the gunplay and the killing, you are still often hopelessly outmatched and will have to use your wits to survive. You always feel vulnerable and exposed, helpless.

There isn’t much plot to this nihilistic nightmare in space, nor should there be really. The story has a lot of interesting links to the first film, and adds some unique designs such as the “Working Joe” androids which fit right into to the setting, but it’s mostly just about surviving whilst everything goes to hell and everyone around you is dying. This helps to ground the game firmly in survival horror. Alien isn’t space opera, it doesn’t feature a grand narrative. It’s just about ineffectual, hopeless humans stranded in space at the mercy of an unstoppable predator. Some will argue that the game went on too long, but I feel like I got my money’s worth and it took a long time to complete (hence the late review). Some will also say that the game had too many sections dealing with humans or androids and not the main attraction: the Alien, but I think this just made the sections dealing with the Xeno more scary as you had just about enough time to get comfortable until it showed up again – and remember, he can still show up at any time if something gets his attention.

It’s a completely faithful recreation of Ridley Scott’s Masterpiece in horror game format that won’t be forgotten any time soon. It creates some of the most memorably tense and claustrophobic moments I have ever experienced in a game and is a gift to diehard Alien fans. Even if you’re just a casual fan, I challenge you to play this and not jump out of your skin at least once. After all, in space, no one can hear you scream.

Top 10 best Androids.

Maybe you’re an android right now and you don’t know it. After all, creating realistic recreations of ourselves is something that human beings have been fascinated with since the dawn of our species. One day soon, we will undoubtedly achieve truly lifelike robots indistinguishable from regular humans. Until then, all we have is speculative stories.

This list is for my top 10 favourite androids in film and TV. I’m keeping the criteria specifically to androids that have an almost total human appearance. Future lists of top 10 Robots and A.I programs are incoming.

Maria (Brigitte Helm) – Metropolis.

One of the first artificial humans on screen is the evil Maria from Fritz Langs Metropolis. Made way back in 1927, this silent film was light years ahead of its time in both special effects terms and sci-fi themes. Definitely worth a watch if you can get hold of it.

Andrew Martin (Robin Williams) – Bicentennial Man.

I always liked this film ever since I saw it as a kid, and it was one of my first introductions to robot-android themes that have fascinated me ever since. In the wake of Robin Williams’ death, a lot of people are revisiting his filmography, but this film is still underrated and features one of his least over the top, more subtle performances as an android that wants to become human. It’s also noteworthy for being a sci-fi film with no action or violence, which probably didn’t do it any favours at the box office but definitely helps it stand out against less poignant, more crowd pleasing techno thrillers of the late 90s and early 2000s.

David (Haley Joel Osment) – A.I. Artificial Intelligence.

An often underrated and unfairly dismissed Spielberg-Kubrick collaboration that doesn’t really get the respect it deserves, this early 2000s Sci-Fi film features the only child actor on this list as a little boy android who fulfils the role of a surrogate child for wealthy parents who wish to have a son. Haley Joel Osment is brilliant, and totally convincing as a programmed robot with a humanoid appearance, and gives the best performance in the film. At first, he is quite creepy, but definitely earns the audience’s sympathy when he is cast out into the big bad world and must fend for himself.

Ash (Ian Holm) – Alien.

One of my favourite actors, Ian Holm gets perhaps the best “surprise, he was a robot all along!” moment in cinema, in a movie that already had audiences on the edge of their seats. The alien may be the star of the show, but Ash is a great villain and helps add to the films already deep gender themes. The more you watch, the creepier the character becomes. The fact that you know the reveal is coming only adds more subtlety to a great performance.

The Gunslinger (Yul Brynner) – Westworld.

A somewhat underrated cult classic, Westworld was a prototype film for all sorts of science fiction tropes that didn’t yet exist. One of the films many pioneering concepts was its android villain, known as the gunslinger: a creepy, emotionless cowboy with a deadpan stare and slow, plodding walk. Made just over a decade before Arnold’s defining role as the Terminator, Yul Brynner is one of the most convincingly eerie and emotionless androids ever captured on film. A really good performance with minimal emoting in a film that was ahead of its time.

David (Michael Fassbender) – Prometheus.

By far and away the best android in recent memory, Michael Fassbender is on top of his game as the android aboard the titular ship Prometheus. Once again, Ridley Scott’s film may be all about alien life on the surface, but the really compelling alien life is the life which we created ourselves. Pretty much stole the show and one of the best things about a film that disappointed many fans.

The Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) – The Terminator.

No list of androids would be complete without Arnold’s breakout role. Arnold plays the titular killer android with a brilliant robotic stoicism and unrelenting force as he pursues Sarah Connor with the single-mindedness of a programmed executioner. This is the trope codifier.

Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) – Blade Runner.

Definitely one of the deepest portrayals of an artificial human on the list, Roy Batty is phenomenally acted by Rutger Hauer and remains one of the best sci-fi characters in all of film. Roy never asked to be created, but now that he has essentially gone past his use by date, it’s “time to die” and he is condemned to be “retired”. Having gone AWOL, he and the other replicants spend the film searching for their creators in an attempt to prolong their lives. Despite being a villain, his only motivation is basically to survive.

Data (Brent Spiner) – Star Trek: The Next Generation and subsequent films.

Easily the most likeable android on the list, we get to know Data very well by the end of the 7 seasons and 4 films he appears in. Sometimes he is a bit wacky and is used for comic effect, but quite a few episodes give him great depth and nuance. I’d put him on my starship crew any day. Always played wonderfully by Brent Spiner.

And now for a potentially controversial choice for my favourite android in film and TV…

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Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) – Blade Runner.

Deal with it.

Runners Up:

Bishop (Lance Henriksen) – Aliens.

Another android from the Alien franchise. Bishop doesn’t have much personality but is well portrayed by Lance Henriksen – and who could forget that wicked knife trick?

Chitti (Rajnikanth) – Enthiran.

This batshit crazy Indian film has to be seen to be believed. Claimed by many to be India’s most expensive film at the time of release, this move features hilarious over the top action scenes as well as romance and typical sci-fi themes of what it means to be human. Rajnikanth gives two radically different performances as Dr. Vaseekaran and his android creation Chitti. Tensions rise when they both fall for the same girl. Crazy over the top action and a great performance make this arguably the funniest android on the list.

Pris, Rachel, Leon, Zhora (Daryl Hannah, Mary Sean Young, Brion James, Joanna Cassidy) – Blade Runner.

Of course I had to include the other replicants from Blade Runner. Whilst Roy Batty may be at the heart and soul of the film, the others all leave lasting impressions.

Gigolo Joe – A.I. Artificial Intelligence.

It would feel wrong not to mention the other great android from A.I. Also one of my favourite Jude Law performances.

Blade Runner reference in Alien: Isolation.

I was already pretty stoked for this game, but now I can’t wait!