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Oh holy Heaven, a Soundtrack! And what's more, an OLD soundtrack!
Yes, it's true, but if we consider that it's the soundtrack of a film that paved the way, changed, and opened a whole new world to the science fiction genre, both in terms of direction, choice of subject, special effects and settings, visual perception of the city (are you aware of the future cities in “The Fifth Element” by Besson or “The Minority Report” by Spielberg, “Gattaca” by Niccol, just to name a few that draw inspiration or the comic series by Bonelli, “Nathan Never”?), and so on, we cannot ignore its musical aspect that pertains to us; true to say, as in few other films, in this case, soundtrack and feature film are absolutely inseparable and self-sustaining in total symbiosis: after seeing the film, it becomes absolutely necessary to own the OST and then listen to it while thinking of the scenes from the film... so not so much a review of the music by Vangelis whom I know little about, but an attentive listening to a strongly evocative music.
Considering Scott's film a masterpiece of the 80s (and again!), I talk assuming that almost everyone has seen it.
Just like the latter, which was released at different times with different editing (“The Director’s Cut” came out many years after the first version containing unreleased scenes - drawn from the same inspirational book by Philip Dick - with the director's choice to remove the protagonist's voice-over, slightly flattening the rhythm and emphasis and even with an ending that totally changes the sense of the film: Deckard will discover that he is also a replicant) the soundtrack also doesn’t have just one version. In fact, the first album was released in 1982 in the version curated by the New American Orchestra which slightly transformed the original arrangement of the tracks, so much so that Vangelis decided to republish it in 1994 in his new version with a much more electronic arrangement and the exclusion (unfortunately) of some classical tracks and the inclusion of music that, among other things, do not appear in the film except as brief suggestions (a total of 12 tracks instead of 8) and which made the previous version unavailable for a long time. Let's say the original theme that accompanies us during the viewing of the film is that of 1982, which I would like to emphasize the richness due to the orchestration and the strong modernity if compared to more current music.
There are indelible images such as that of Rachel at the piano with that air of an 1800s lady accompanied by a poignant soundscape - on the piano precisely - of heartrending sweetness, ("Memories of Green") or the pitiful image of Zora's death in the snow among the shattered showcases of the mall paced by the trumpet's lament ("Blade Runner Blues"), and also the splendid “One More Kiss Dear”, a romance-style song of the 50s interpreted by Don Percival and listened to by the melancholic protagonist in a hectic Sushi Bar during a short lunch break, and the very sweet "Farewell" of the luminous closure of the film.
Small gems of a great work with an impressive modernity and topicality (“End Title”) that if you wish to know and deepen, I advise you to look for in the first version.
Great film, splendid soundtrack.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
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By ILM_igliore
Listening to the Official Version of the 'Blade Runner' soundtrack represents much more than simply wanting to engage with characteristic melodies of the cult movie.
Vangelis' creation evolves, transforms, changes tone... a sonorous projection of splendid and rare beauty.
