1.2. Non-Fiction

Future Noir

Paul M. Sammon’s book is described as one of the best of ALL movie reference books.

BR fans know it simply as “The BR Bible”.

Ridley Scott – The Making of His Movies

If you like Paul M. Sammon’s Future Noir book, you may also like his look at the director of Blade Runner. Not as in depth as FN, but still an interesting read.

Blade Runner (Scott Bukatman, BFI Modern Classics, BFI Publishing; ISBN 0-85170-623-1)

The British Film Institute examines one of their 100 most significant films of the twentieth century – Blade Runner. This is an in-depth look at the movie.

Beware: it is not really intended for the casual reader and is written in the sort of language you would expect from a “Film Institute”.

Retrofitting Blade Runner: Issues in Ridley Scott’s ‘Blade Runner’ and Philip K. Dick’s ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ (Judith B. Kerman; Popular Press; ISBN 0-879-72510-9)

Another perspective. This is not a book about the making of Blade Runner. It is a series of essays examining the themes, etc. of the film, with respect to the original book and the society that has developed two decades later.

Particularly good for those who really want to explore the deeper significances of the movie and the fundamental philosophical questions it raises.

Blade Runner Sketchbook

Getting hard to find. Out of print in the USA and non-existent elsewhere. You might want to try the auction sites, like eBay, but expect to pay a high price! Watch out for photocopies.

York Film Notes

A study guide. If you are lucky enough to be using Blade Runner in something like “media studies” in school or college coursework, then this one might be for you.

Blade Runner – The Inside Story

Hardcover – 71 pages (13 October, 2000)
Titan Books; ISBN: 1-84-023210-2

Hardcover reprint of the July, 1982 Cinefex magazine which delved deep into the special effects in Blade Runner.

Contains interviews with Syd Mead and Ridley Scott and detail that is not printed elsewhere. Only for those seriously interested in the SFX and models side of Blade Runner.

Film Architecture: From Metropolis to Blade Runner

An expensive book that is very wordy. For a book that is examining something so visual, you would expect it to have more pictures! Interesting, but probably only for those seriously interested in the way in which futuristic set design itself carries ideas.

In addition to published works, there are numerous analysis essays on all aspects of the film available on the Web, (many of them at BRmovie.com). A comprehensive, current set of links can be found at http://www.BRmovie.com/Analysis

Posted in: 1. Related Literature