The Most Pause-Worthy Scenes In Blade Runner

While the introductory text of "Blade Runner" may introduce us to the concept of replicants, "retirement," and the Nexus 6 mutiny that sets our tale in motion, it's that first glimpse of the Los Angeles skyline that really tells us what kind of film we're about to see.

The year is 2019, and as Vangelis' synthetic score swells, the cityscape emerges before us — an endless sprawl of towering flames and glimmering lights, bright enough to put the night's sky to shame. Far off in the distance, barely visible through the urban haze, loom two immense ziggurats. We don't know it yet, but these anachronistic structures house the Tyrell Corporation, the company responsible for building and innovating artificial life. The towers of flame reflect in the unblinking, piercing blue eye of Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), the Nexus 6 replicant who's returned to Earth to meet his maker. 

The opening shots of "Blade Runner" ooze with atmosphere and scale. We're introduced to the film's first oracular motif and the primary tension, between man and machine, is made plain. A stupendous feat of world-building, the opening moments of "Blade Runner" belong in a museum. Wait, wrong Harrison Ford movie ... but our point stands!