1982 Blade Runner Film Analysis

Cristina Degli-Esposti stated that “Our culture is indeed postmodern in this oxymoron-like manner as it transcends the notion of present. It reaches back to the past and forward to the future trying to synthesize these two imaginary places”
This notion of both reaching back to the past and forward to the future, can be seen in Ridley Scott’s 1982 Blade Runner. The film although set in L.A. in 2019, shows many aspects of both the 1980’s culture and that of the 1940’s, when the film noir genre rose to popularity. Aspects of these cultures and time periods can be seen in the retro architecture and couture. The architecture in particular shows this contrast, with the ruined buildings that can be seen at ground level in contrast with the magnificent skyscrapers that can be seen in places throughout the movie.
With intertextual references to William Blake’s (A pre-Romantic poet) poetry, "Fiery the angels fell / Deep thunder rolled around their shores / Burning with the fires of Orc." There are intertextual links to John Milton’s Paradise lost as well, mostly in relation to themes and motifs, such as redemption and transcendence. Also the intertextual relationship between P.K. Dick’s “Do Androids dream of electric sheep?” and “Blade Runner” shows aspects of postmodernism. There are also intertextual links in the form of billboards particularly those of Coca-Cola and Budweiser, a link to consumerism within what appears from the outside to be a consumerist