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_entertair 'Blade By Richard Culbertson Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" is an effective, /lAno^ f KMIHA** Ofif muiivy wrai"vuaai uu uici oci in the stratified milieu of a Los Angeles megalopolis of the near future. Scott ("The Duelists," "Alien") has created an oppressive, sombre city with soaring pyramids and skyscrapers, obscured by an ever-Dresent Dall. garishly lit with neon advertisements that leer from building-sized video screens and omnipresent blimps that slowly ply the smoke-shrouded sky, flashing travel ads and CocaCola appeals. life.:,. Deckard (Harrison Ford} tra Bush River Mall Theater. r.hinann's w . w By Stephen Hibbard After years of trying ne\ nuns, oufctigu iifiauy itiery na the direction for which th< searched with the release of 44 16." Tlln ! .. ~ . . : 4 JL nc; iiiicgi aiuu HI LUU reproduced on the jacket and: the album symbolizes departures made by the gr changes vindicate the searching; "Chicago 16" is tl album since "Chicago 1 perhaps earlier. Chicago now is not the Ch yesteryear, but after 15 albu since their biggest hit, "Sati the Park," was released r decade ago), trying to rep< they once did would be as f< our trying to return to grade s Change itself is no sur Chicago since the death of Te and the departure of produce William Guerico. With their albums, Chicago has expe; with different producers, ? and foci. THE CHANGES? Most nc as the circuitry suggests, thesizer permeates every so; once were woodwind bridges synthesizer runs. There woodwind solos, as in "C World," and there are no woodwind parts. Here the hand of Toto heavily as three of Toto's six i contribute: David Paich, syn Stpup Porfarn ?unl programming; and Steve L guitars. Laudir de Oliviera, percus left Chicago and Bill Cainplir has joined. Otherwise tl remains as it has been: Lamm, keyboards and lead James Pankow, trombor Loughnane, trumpet and ba( vocals; Peter Cetera, bass vocals; Danny Seraphin cussion; and Walter Pai woodwinds and background v Thr? npu/ nlhiirri ic fhnir fi Warner Brothers on the Fi label, which is also Dan Fof label. This album is the first f by David Foster, who guide all aspects of recording. Fo< authored eight of the 11 assisted Cetera and Seraph the rhythm arrangement intent Runner1 Within this environment, a textured populace thrives and the film's detective story unfolds. HARRISON FORD plays Richard Deckard, the film's narrator, a detective forced out of retirement to rejoin his old unit, called Blade Runner. The Blade Runner unit deals with deviant replicants. Replicants are laboratoryengineered creatures indistinguishable from adult humans save for enhanced abilities and a short life span (five years or . so). Replicants handle the dirty work of humanity: hazar I jHHK v direc- album VC lOllUU I I ?y have assisted Pankoi Chicago arrangements. board THE SONGS 01 sleeve of a small collage. r;".ajor problems faced oup.The preserve impor group's yet, they are m leir best awareness of ind 1" and that might m "togetherness." icago of "What You're ms (and with a synthesis urday in yields to n< learly a arrangements. ;at what spliced with syi oolish as instrumental bri chool. choruses. Pai prise to provides backgro r/.ii. ThllC tho notti rry jvain kWVir James emerges: guitar last four trombone, rimented The son8 con Guitarists having tolerated his girlfriend, wa she will be miss ticeable, leave her. the synne What T,IK SECONI fre now for You to E are no Foster, Paich ar olor My second sin distinct captivating cl touched upon weighs blossoms here. 0 members this: "You've it thesizers; why can 11 make hesizer Track three Aikather, features Cetera bining with ! sion has trombone to 1 vocals reminiscent of le band "Chicago X." Robert "Chains" foil I vocals- pseudo-philosoph le Lee ttie a,bum. It ar| 'kground cannot be escap and lead to Say 1>m Sorr rmtvcfinn thic fl e, per- 1 ? ?w "azaider ^,e ^>es^ cu* on ^ ocals vocalist admits t irst with difficult,but argi ill Moon preserving. Unde 'elberg's provides the key: Produced say 1>m sorry-1 d nearly know." iter co- rhe son& suc< songs, performed with ine with not as though it1 ts, and consumption. So BnaHBBBHaHaHHBBII ' entert dous space exploration, mining, warfare and the like. Replicants are no more than slaves, and are ap parently restricted on most parts of the Earth. When occasional replicants find their way into the general population, the Blade Runner unit must detect and "rptirp" thp rpnlirants ? hv gunning them down on the spot. A particularly tough brand of replicants, led by an Aryan-type named Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), have been discovered in a plot to infiltrate the Tyrell Corp., where replicants are r f? ?j WJM IpSs m i "Blade Runner," playing at m exemolif P^no, -V vvi^h?^?[ran^ th theu ,TheP ie horn 'eavim 1 side one T> ^dresfiT h T"R To couple, "f ?% ^ ui a tant relationships; .'Get arked by a mature "Hard ividual needs, needs for pal latter more than the mo Side ; Missing," begins jn ^er introduction but panion ;>w-familiar horn synth< Two guitar solos I .nnoV* ithesizers form the followi dge between closing panko nkow's trombone is rem und accompaniment. <?soi *rn for the album Cham] s, synthesizers and vanell Serapl icerns a man who, sc too many lies from the a\i ints her to know what break. ,ing if he is forced to ?wi ) TRACK, "Waiting p"gl? ecide," written by 11 id Lukather, may be gle because of its " horus. Impatience , nJ in the first tune ^ >ne line demonstrates lade your point now W?Da :minc." . , Kf.: , "Bad Advice," s tunny bass com- . Pankow's colorful produce a tune , g "Skin Tight" from RJ * ows as the most 'p,"1 lie contemplation on m gues that conscience e . ed. Fittingly, "Hard f 1 1 ! y" follows. Without ?ecuhi le current single, is an fUf) he album. The lead ?onfus hat times havt* hppn paroqi les that life is worth ? ?rstanding, he hopes, inrons "It's hard for me to mcons just wanted you to All i album :eeds because it is is enc intense feeling and perim were canned for pop cessfu >lo vocals, Lamm's decad< aining cks down renegade replicants in latest albu created. Ford's character must hunt down and "retire" these replicants. THE ATMOSPHERIC QUALITY of "Blade Runner" is striking: the police, in floating cars, range from the luxurious heights of the . . 111. A . 1 J* weaiiny corporate ounaings to the gritty, lower society of street level (one suspects the well-to-do never set foot on streets, and that street dwellers, huddled in neon pools at the bases of mighty buildings, can only dream of thp lift* u htinHrpH c(nripc overhead); the projected but authentic sounding slang (replicants are called "skinjobs"); the running together of Eastern and Westen cultures (represented by the hodgepodge street-level language composed of Japanese, English, German and other tongues, and exemplified by Deckard's partner Gaff (Edward James Olmos), a man with Oriental features and occidental blue eyes); the dream-like execution of one of the replicants (Deckard shoots her several times in the back as she crashes in slow-motion tnrougn successive plate-glass windows ). The action of the film takes place almost entirely at night, often in the rain, in a gritty, incense-filled landscape of urban tran" ^-L les cnange and an outstanding string ;ement mesmerize the listener, ircussion and guitar are subtle, * one wondering when they 1 CROWNING TOUCH is the g chord progression which, J II ? ? u wim me strings, reminas one mmodores ballad. ; Away," ar brief follow-on to to Say," is a pleasant showcase nkow and Lamm but interrupts od created by "Hard to Say." two begins with "Follow Me," lich Cetera asks for cornship more than leadership. The ssizer riffs are catchy, nan's trumpet is heard briefly mg another signature solo by w, and the guitar solo at the end iniscent of Kath. my Think Twice" features Bill plin, who sounds similar to Gino li, as lead vocalist. As with line's songs on other albums, >ng is least like other songs on mm, which makes a refreshing IAT CAN I SAY/' a potential , works well because of A lir ' O m A *V* /\ ?* n K 1 ^ M M u VT o niuuxui a UlC 11 U 1 II cements. He begins with ig crescenctos and sustained g pitches. At the chorus, he n syncopation with the bass and ;sion, and concludes this song rich solo. scue You" centers around an ous chorus as Cetera offers to i friend from a disappointing and an unfulfilled life, nan's trumpet at last has a solo nd the band, with their refrain Is on the Way," sounds a bit e Little River Band. album concludes with "Love Tomorrow," an initially sing ballad made distracting bv ar shifts from melodic verses to tempo chorus. Adding to the ion, the song concludes with a ie string arrangement sounding orne accidental reprise. The ion is excellent but the effect is istent. in all, "Chicago 16" is a solid by a band that has endured and luring, a band that has exented and developed suclly. It will restore confidence to es of fans. despite sition. Harrison Ford's Deckard is a man who has somehow acquired the gumshoe mentality of the 1940s in the next century. He is cynical, punched around a lot, and falls in love with a mysterious woman, Rachael (Sean Young), who is a replicant with an experimental lifespan (that is, she will live a full life and die at random, as humans do). All he needs is a cigarette drooping from his mouth. AND YET, Ford's character works because he seems so convincingly bewildered, so incapable of quilt; a y u ui e s> i z. i u g everything, that he is nearly as cut loose from society as the replicants he hunts. Los Angeles of 40 years hence is beyond the scope of a gumshoe's intellect. Rutger Hauer's Roy Batty is a dramatic counterweight; he and Ford's character are balanced at the film's center. The replicants are imbued with metaphysical concerns representing a shorthand version of the human condition. Their shortened life spans make the problems of where they come from, why they exist and when they will die more immediate. Their purpose in infiltrating the Tyrell Corp. is to discover a w*$ Ik. v WtWmM SCETV specials Flutist James Galway will Mostly Mozart Orchestra in Fisher Hall on "Live From Li FTU The concert features "The Sheba" from Handel's "Orat and "Concerto No. 2 in D" Seasons." Tonight at 10 is "Mitsuye poetry, ideas and memories Mitsuye Yamada and Chines in an attempt to capture ex| women. Thursday "Openline" presi Magazine/' a behind thence popular syndicated shows s Thursday at 8:30 p.m. "El Elizabeth at the height of hi royal duties and her desire coquettish in the light-heart Friday at 9 p.m. "The Sui documentary is narrated tr flaws rationale for their existence and a method of lengthening their lives. "Blade Runner"'s main flrtvir io ifo tvinf or\Vi?roino 1 lie* w AO 110 uicuxpujoivai pomposity; these themes should have been less explicit. They are often skillfully undercut by Hauer (as when he initially meets his maker, Tyrell, or delivers a monologue verifying his own humanity as he dies), but sometimes demonstrated excessively (Hauer kills his maker, or shoves a nail through his palm). Generally, however, Hauer is alternately wry about or enraged at his philosophical agonies at the right moments. THE SCRIPT (by Hampton Fancher and David W. Peoples) displays canniness, but, with slightly off-key, r* /\ rr* n ur V-% n 1 t f.A rn r* ir ouiiiuw ua i mci ai j philosophical heaviness, never hits the stride it should. Douglas Trumbull's special effects lend nice support to the film and are consistently excellent. Scott's direction, as with his previous two features, is stylishly evocative, alert and well-paced. "Blade Runner," with its fine acting and meticulous detail, is an entertaining thriller in a palpable, dense and stylish future. ! ^g|?B9H|H5HnH perform with and conduct the a live concnrt from Awarv incoln Center" tonight et 8 on Arrival of the Queen of orio," Mozart's "Andante in C" and Vivaldi's "The Four and Nellie," featuring the of Japanese-American poet to-American poet Nellie Wong periences of Asian-American 9nts "The Making of PM nes look at one of the most een nationwide. izabeth R" continues with Br reign. Torn between her for a husband, the queen turns ed episode. ii Dagger" will be aired. This jf Robert Redford.