Ridley Scott reveals the impact that The New Yorker's scathing Blade Runner review had on him. The 1982 movie has an enduring influence on the science-fiction genre and is widely considered to be one of Scott and Harrison Ford's best movies. Nevertheless, Blade Runner was not received well by many critics, significantly underperformed at the box office, and only later gained its reputation as an iconic science-fiction movie that forever reshaped the genre.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Scott explained that even though he was offended by The New Yorker's Blade Runner review, it taught him an invaluable lesson about himself and about how he should handle criticism of his movies. Decades later, Scott keeps The New Yorker's review framed in his office to remind himself of the lesson he learned. This has continued to impact Scott's attitude as he continues to direct new movies. Check out his comments below:
No-no-no. Pauline Kale in The New Yorker killed me stone dead with her Blade Runner review. It was four pages of destruction. I never met her. I was so offended. I framed those pages and they’ve been in my office for 30 years to remind me there’s only one critic that counts and that’s you. I haven’t read critiques ever since. Because if it’s a good one, you can get a swollen head and forget yourself. And if it’s a bad one, you’re so depressed that it’s debilitating.
What This Means For Ridley Scott
Reviews Do Not Influence His Filmmaking
Scott's filmography is evident of him living by the lesson he learned, regardless of what the critics say. His Alien prequel, Prometheus, received significant criticism, but this did not stop him from going on to direct a sequel, Alien: Covenant. Despite Alien: Covenant receiving more criticism than Prometheus, Scott still shared his intent to continue and finish the prequel series.In the past decades, he has had critical hits like The Martian, while others,including Napoleon, have been poorly received. Regardless of the reviews, Scott has continued making the movies he wishes to create.
Movie
Tomatometer Score
Pocornmeter Score
Prometheus (2012)
73%
68%
The Martian (2015)
91%
91%
Alien: Covenant (2017)
65%
55%
Napoleon (2023)
58%
59%
Scott's movies are not always crowd-pleasers, and as with Blade Runner, some take years to receive more appreciation. Blade Runner 2049 and now the upcoming television Blade Runner 2099 were born out of the enthusiastic following that developed around Scott's original movie long after its debut. By making the movies he wants to make, each project ends up being true to Scott's creative vision as he fully delivers the stories that he set out to tell.
His Attitude Makes Him A Better Filmmaker
Scott's attitude is a healthy one that is not only beneficial to him, but has created a wide range of movies. Despite many of his movies being commercial blockbusters, he still has incredible versatility as a filmmaker. Between Alien and its prequels, Blade Runner, The Martian, Gladiator, and nowGladiator IIare amongthe many movies that have been important for the science-fiction and historical epic genres, with Scott's works making a far-reaching impact based on stories he believes in.
The original Blade Runner is a sci-fi neo-noir film set in 2019 in a dystopian cyber-punk society. Harrison Ford stars as Rick Deckard as a Blade Runner for the LAPD, tasked with hunting rogue replicants, genetically engineered humans designed to tackle tasks that human beings cannot. When four replicants go rogue and begin killing humans, Deckard is forced out of retirement to hunt them down and stop them - but the truth isn't as simple as it seems. Deckard will have to reckon with the philosophical dilemma of what makes someone human.
Release Date June 25, 1982
Writers Hampton Fancher , David Webb Peoples , Philip K. Dick , Roland Kibbee
CastHarrison Ford , Rutger Hauer , Sean Young , Edward James Olmos , M. Emmet Walsh , Daryl Hannah , William Sanderson , Joe Turkel
English (US) ·