Bladerunner is one of the few widely recognised classic films of the 1980s, undoubtably one of the best Hollywood films of all time, and as news report carry word that there may be movie prequels, or sequels, or both, to come in the next few years, my mind was drawn back to the beautiful concept art created by Syd Mead for the original 1982 imagination feast :



Concept art was often run in the addictive movie magazines of those days, like Starburst & Starlog, months, sometimes years, before the finished movie arrived in cinemas. You were left to imagine the movies for yourself, staring for minutes, okay hours, at a few pieces of concept art as your mind ran riot on the possibilities. You couldn't watch & rewatch the trailer back then, you couldn't find endless production information and images, but sometimes only a few pieces of concept art could sustain interest in a new science fiction or fantasy epic for years. Sometimes such movies telegraphed years in advance through the publication of concept art, never finished production, were made, and all you were left with was the version you dreamed up yourself, based on a few published sketches and paintings.

HR Giger's work on a Dune movie that never came to be is just one example.

If you've never seen Bladerunner, watch it soon, the version without the voiceover.

If you don't like it, you just may be a replicant.

More Syd Mead Art For Bladerunner Here