TBF, Mags, you have been doing a lot of the heavylifting for the quest, so this will be in good hands.
To be clear to everyone, this is just me burning out on imagination of the quest, since my muse has been hitting me over the head a lot with so many different ideas that I just can't find myself too interested in this.
I'll still hang out here, though, since this still does have a sepcial place in my heart.
I'd like to thank you all for making this a wonderful experience while it lasted.
I'd also like to thank @Magoose, @Fluffy_serpent, and @Martin Noctis for doing so much to help prepare and write this quest. I couldn't have done it without you all.
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♦ Topic: Avoiding the Gulag
In: Boards ► Quests
King Billy (Original Poster)
Posted On Feb 9th 2022:
Welcome to Avoiding the Gulag, a soviet era quest. You play as a member of the department of telling people that life is perfect in the Soviet Union, and if they don't want to be sent to Siberia, they will also agree, err the Main Administration for the Protection of Official and Military Secrets or GLAVLIT.
You are Seán Ó Rudaí , Born in the Glorious Soviet Union (Moscow, not one of those far of stans). Your grandfather was an Irish communist who volunteered to fight and defend Stalingrad, only arriving a little late but still in time to enjoy the victory celebrations ( any thought that he was a thief who robbed a man named O'Brian or something and it resulted in O'Brian having to move to America unexpectedly and subsequently being caught up in the draft for Korea are scurrilous rumours which should be ignored.)
You love acting and movies. In another life, you might have been a movie star or at least been involved in the industry. In this one, you make sure that nothing is published that might make the Soviet Union look bad and ensure the correct people get the correct information, whether that information is factually accurate or not. You ensure everyone knows that the USSR is the best place in the world to live, the crusade against the Buguiose is going well, and there is nothing to worry about. While a bit extreme today, you can reassure people that the weather is not outside the mandated limits for being too hot or cold to go to work and do your bit for the Soviet Union. Any meteorologist who doesn't want to see how cold it is in a Siberian gulag will confirm with you what to tell the people before he actually tells them.
You are doing so well at ensuring the correct people get the correct information that you are on the shortlist for pre approval for a car and why, within 10 years, you might even own one.
(Showing page 711 of 716)
►Han shot 2nd
Replied On Oct 12th 2023:
[X] Plan Yellow Brick Road 2 the missile is coming for you
►Writer_for_Work
Replied On Oct 12th 2023:
[X] Plan Yellow Brick Road 2 the missile is coming for you
►Taurus Protector
Replied On Oct 12th 2023:
It is far more likely that Military Yuri will somehow Snipe our car. That is just how it goes. We need to build up cash and buy it outright. Remember we have only 10 years left till the fall of the Soviet Union at best. we need to start prep ping our exit.
[X] Plan kills bugs fast
►Duck
Replied On Oct 12th 2023:
Calling the Vote.
►Duck
Replied On Oct 12th 2023:
Smekalka. Not to be confused with Savvy. The ability to cope and make do. Just without the implication of being clever. Or looking too closely why something has gone wrong. Army only providing uniforms? Smekalka, find your own guns, ammo, and medication. Tampons can be used for bullet wounds. That was what they were for originally. Don't ask questions as to why the army has no guns, ammo or medicine and saute the general in his big, expensive car while he eats imported caviar.
That's what your life feels like at the moment. That's what the Whole Soviet Union feels like at the moment. But you are not allowed to have those thoughts. You work as a cog in the vast machine that is the Glorious Soviet Union, ensuring people do not question things they shouldn't. To have doubts is traitorous, and traitors get you sent to the Gulag. So you have no doubt that the Glorious Soviet Union is the greatest in the world and you are living the best life possible.
You get up from your worn bed and look at your small apartment. Look at the toilet with only a roll of harsh brown toilet paper you bargained for so hard, an almost unimaginable luxury even a mere ten years ago. Then, across to your cramped and battered desk with only a single barely working ballpoint pen, pack your lunch into a carefully reused plastic bag. Despite being nearly thirty, you are still without a wife or a car, so that dictates some of the chores you need to do. You then Lock your front door and take the subway to work. You must get there on time and work hard at your vital task. After all Your job is to make sure everyone in Russia is sure Russia is the most incredible place in the world and to carefully remove any evidence to the contrary.
Favors
Assist Yuri with the Missiles
Roll 75
The project to develop the KH-79 missiles and that demonstration in 1979 have finally been put to bed after repeated delays because of the situation in Romania. Leadership is finally happy that Russia has the best rockets in the world. More importantly, they are sure they have the best camera-tracking fire and forget missiles in the world. They were very impressed by its ability to hit targets based on visual information alone, including a dummy jet hidden in a barn with closed doors. The barn doors were painted yellow, so the new TV-based fire and forget missiles had something to target. The missiles had been having severe difficulty targeting camouflaged green buildings against a green forest. Sure, it is doubtful that NATO will choose to spend its time painting all the buildings yellow, and in a test shot, the top brass did not see the missile targeted a pile of yellow sand instead of the bunker as it was the brightest thing the missiles Camera could find. Thank goodness you managed to stop the overenthusiastic general desperate for a good showing from making a literal yellow sand road up to the bunker's door or the missile would have targeted that.
So the missile might not be all that the generals think it is, but it is not like American camera technology, can be much better, right? In theory, the missile works. So what if the rocket now disproportionally targets Cheerily painted outdoor toilets? Those capitalist pigs with their ready access to toilet paper deserve it.
Result: You secured funding for the missile project and earned 3 favors with Yuri from the Military Department.
Censorship
Sniffles
There has been an increase in reported illnesses from regions that have had soldiers who fought in Romania. Ensure that the Soviet healthcare system is not panicked by reports of an epidemic.
Roll 90 (Magoose stated that censorship was working within the Soviet Union at present )
Something has happened because of the bioweapons used on Romanian civilians that you have had a hell of a time keeping out of the Knowledge of the general public. It is a cough, a sniffle, certainly nothing to be worried about. That would mean admitting bioweapons were used on civilians and, worse, Failed to Break the civilians and make Romania capitulate. That, the Soviets could be so hated, so tenaciously fought and have enemies so stubborn. No. That cannot be true. That cannot be allowed to be true. That would be bad for the image of the Soviet Union. So it is just a cough or a sniffle. Not a bioweapon going out of control.
A few reminders to men returning to their homes, particularly the medical directors who do not want to go to Siberia, have worked wonders to reinforce this point of view.
Reporting of illnesses is down to historical norms, and you have a warehouse full of various medicines and antivirals that you are slowly selling through your contacts among the taxi drivers of Moscow. You have discretely informed those who need to know that they may wish to avoid public speeches and appearances while increasing the number of televised and radio messages to demonstrate Soviet Technical Excellence. So they do not catch this "Mild seasonal flu". Most are appreciative of the discreet advice.
Result: it is a bad flu season in the soviet Union, nothing to be alarmed about at all. D20 per month to black market income profits for the next year as the most equal are carefully inoculated against the plagues that are even now spreading unchecked across the Soviet Union. Two favors from political Yuri
Foreign movies.
Roll 1
Star Wars Empire Strikes Back has been released. Your viewing (entirely to see if it is suitable for release in the soviet Union) has left you annoyed. It, like all of the Lucasfilm releases, is a fantastic movie. However, there are two significant points against it. It seems to celebrate a group of outlaws against central authority with diverse economic backgrounds and suggests that their actions may in some way be legitimate. Certainly, it is unsuitable for being Shared or delivered in the glorious Soviet Union.
Worse, it involves Bruce O'Brian, the Psycops prodigy Pretending to be an actor and film studio owner. You have tangled and lost with him often enough that you will keep to official policy. He is a force of nature. Let him do whatever he wants, and paper over the cracks after. It is cheaper and loses fewer agents, as well as reducing the number of requests for nukes as assassination devices. Besides, as long as no one else tries to assassinate him, he won't make and deploy a movie custom-designed to create a rebellion that sees soviet forces kicked out of a country in an incredibly bloody revolution. Again.
You have one new message from the PRC about an assassination attempt; they would like your help sorting out the aftermath.
Result. Empire Strikes Back is the best movie you have ever seen, and you have to ban it. Worse, the PRC decided to try to assassinate Bruce O'Brian, America's current favourite American, just after releasing the most Amazing movie ever, in his home while his family was home, and failed.
Expect Revenge.
Nothing happens YET
1/3 censorship tasks completed.
Watch a movie in Moscow
Rolls 43 34 66 99
You decide to go and check that the movies they are showing still adhere to your strict censorship instructions. You watch several forgettable films at various out of the way cinemas. Then you strike a treat. A small cinema still shows "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears." Even better, the small cinema still shows the correct version, and the movie itself is as good as you remember. Watching the fairy tale of the 1950s in Russia still brings a tear to your eye.
If those capitalist pigs in charge of making films in America saw it and could give it an honest score, you think it would easily win an Oscar. That will never happen, unfortunately, unless your opposite number, whoever is arranging for censorship in America, is asleep on the job. Still, sometimes, under the cynicism that Is so easy to come by in life in the Soviet Union, when you really get to see how the sausage is made, it is nice to see something wonderful.
That is good, and it is good to see that your random inspection has only turned up approved films being shown, so you will not have to spend favours to arrange for a raid to happen.
Result. 2/3 censorship tasks completed; Nil favours lost. Mood lifted one extra action next turn for a total of 7.
Check the paperwork -
Read the adjusted and unadjusted newspaper stories to make sure local censors are removing and adding details as appropriate.
Roll 80
It is boring but still needed work. Temperatures adjusted here and there so work in the Glorious Soviet Union could continue instead of shutting down because of legislation about being too hot or cold. Specific comments about political figures are adjusted according to the cheat sheet showing who is in favour and who has crossed them. The work went well, and it even looks like it will be sunny on May Day, so there is no need to adjust the weather report.
You even turn up a small gem, a hero of the Soviet Union foreman, dealing with a bumper catch quickly and sending the excess to Moscow to prove his mettle and suitability for higher office. You are not sure there was a bumper catch at all or that he is suitable, but the excess, regardless if it is truly an excess or normal product being diverted from those who would otherwise need it to make a overseer look good ahead of election season, is due to arrive tomorrow at a particular fish market. If you happen to be there with your string bag you could stock up on fish for months. Or you could pass it on to Yuri the Taxi Driver and Earn yourself a favour and a pile of foreign cash from the shady fellow. Cash that you could then turn into a purchase from the Beryozka, the elite supermarkets full of foreign food and goods but only took foreign currency. Save up enough, and you could just purchase that elusive car like a decadent Westerner rather than have to gain preapproval.
Result 3/3 censorship task complete. Enough fish to make you dislike fish if you eat it straight for 6 months, but the certainty you will not go hungry for 6 months or 1 month of foreign imported food that is guaranteed to lift your mood. That is, if you don't get reported for underhanded dealings.
Please vote your choice.
Review scientific papers for Anti party messages.
Roll 4
Alexi Pajitnov is working on speech recognition at the Soviet Academy of Sciences. He wants to publish a paper on the spread of desease markers seemingly originating from Romania and the troops returning from Romania.
He states it is a serious threat to the soviet Union or, rather the everyday working hero of the soviet Union. Unusually, he has not brought the document on paper but on a series of data tapes suitable for a Electronika 60.
It was a pain to find a computer to read the document and then you saw a computer game on one of the files, something called Tetris.
One Go will not hurt.
You end up losing nearly a full week playing the game and hve to duck some very uncomfortable questions before you tear yourself away.
No you cannot let him publish his paper. Instead you spend a favour and Borrow some NVKD agents who "escort" him to the worst of the diseased, ravaged parts of the Soviet Union near Romania and ask him to gather more data before he publishes his paper.
When he notes a lack of Protective equipment or vaccines for diseases he is aware of, you simply tell him Smekalka.
He curses you as he walks off to do his job.
What else can he do? It is not like he could cross the Hostile and Still Disease Ridden Romania, Bond with Romanians over a mutual love of movies, travel to the US and join the non-existent Lucasfilm computer games division with a copy of that Tetris game.
And even if he did, Tetris will slow down the Capitalists who get stuck playing that addictive game, not like in Russia, where no one even has a computer to play it with.
You really want one more go at beating your score, but you have already had to return the computer.
Result 4/3 censorship tasks complete, loose 1 NVKD favour. Dreams about Falling blocks.
Go shopping
Roll 20
Food shortages should not happen here in Moscow. It is the centre of Russia, sorry, the USSR and is first priority for anything. Nevertheless, the war in Romania has strained several supply lines and only the Beryozka shop, the shop of the elites and foreigners, was still fully stocked. But the Beryozka also required foreign currency to buy goods from it. It was not that there was no food just food was tighter and some sellers where more picky about who they sold their goods to . A quick look into the back alley behind the shops that carefully turned shoppers away revealed that the butcher traded a sausage for a loaf of bread to the baker, and the baker made another 600 sales of bread to a farmer seeking to buy bred to feed his animals as the price was kept artificially low by Soviet Decree.
What did a baker care about other than they met their sales quota? You could stand for hours selling loaves one by one or make a bulk sale like that. It was not like they were allowed to raise prices or anything, and Maby that farmer really just had a big hungry family. As for prioritising the other merchants, trading the goods you had for the goods you needed was a long tradition in Russia anyway.
It's not like your political Masters really cared anyway otherwise they would actually do something, appear on the streets and talk to the common man see their real plight, instead of making TV and radio appearances. But you quickly brush that trecherus thought away lest you get picked up for non approved thoughts in a government official. It has not been proven that they can read your mind yet but it also has not been proven that they cannot.
Result. Failure: The farmer has bought all the bread before you could. You had to go to the Beryozka for your staples, this time dwindling your small supply of foreign currency. At this rate, you will never be able to buy a car outright and instead have to work harder and acquire more favours at work to win pre approval.
Lobby for car pre approval amongst your colleges so you can win the vote this month.
4/3 censorship tasks complete, 27 Favours banked and ready to use.
Roll 8.
Military Interrupt.
Everyone was conspicuously busy. It didn't take long for you to find out the form for this month had already been sent. Yuri from the military department had been awarded it after one of the generals at the demonstration had more or less ordered it as a "reward" for the missile test going well.
And after all the hard work you put in for Yuri. It was practically all your work It was just his name on the report.
Result Failure. Yuri, no not that Yuri military Yuri, who likes to go for a ride, who likes public transport here in Moscow, who lives for bumming rides on any and all military vehicles using whatever excuse he can invent, has been more or less told that he will now have to buy a car. The only one in the building more upset than you is Yuri himself.
►Taurus Protector
Replied On Oct 12th 2023:
Ha Called it with the car. At this rate WE are never going to get the thing legally and need to seriously start working on building up foreign currency.
We need to go on another Crazy adventure with Taxi Yuri.
[X]Tell Taxi Yuri about the incoming Fish
►Lady Very Late Healer
Replied On Oct 12th 2023:
so
Quote Duck :
Worse, it involves Bruce O'Brian, the Psycops prodigy Pretending to be an actor and film studio owner.
Is it confirmed?
► UnderBrain
Replied On Oct 12th 2023:
@ (Lady Very Late Healer)
No
It is just thread speciation. Bruce O'Brian is meant to be our Capitalist mirror except he is a hell of a lot more successful than us .
Blame Duck Dice.
A list of his feats include
Punching out the soviet champion in one hit during the 1976 Olympics and then proving he wasn't on drugs before winning gold and making an incredible documentary on the USA team. He is also a student of Bruce Lee, is practically Rasing Brandon Lee and has Punched out Mohammid Ali.
Replacing Radar on Mash, suing Paramount, and then re investing that money and acting in a couple of films by then completely unknown filmmaker, George Lucas.
Calling Warner (the movie company) on their Corrupt practices in such a way Hollywood went nuts and killed them.
Proceeded to scoop up any and every good director and script in Hollywood producing things like Rocky, Carrie, Dawn of the Dead, Conan, Mad max and the Muppet movie, to name a few.
He also produces Star Wars, where he plays Han Solo. Somehow, he convinces Colombia, a rival movie studio to let him act in and direct Batman. After getting tired of feeding a huge number of soviet spies to the CIA or tramatizing them for life as they try to work out his secrets and or assassinate him, he makes Daracula Blood Origins which somehow turns Romania into Vietnam 2 Soviet Bogaloo.
While Romania is going up in flames, He has a camera team there documenting it. His rather famous mercenary father is "defending a refuge camp" complete with international observers documenting Soviet war crimes and Bruce is personally sitting in Hokkaido with a significant portion of the JSDF, that is Army and Airforce. They are officially shooting the Hoth scenes for Empire Strikes Back while the JSDF navy "aggressively" patrols territorial waters. And yes, he, at the time, had both a metaphorical Blank check for the JSDF to do anything and enough uniforms for all members of the JSDF there that were just for filming purposes and not pretending that the JSDF was planning to break the Japanese constitution and rerun 1904.
He is also married to Carrie Fisher and has an adorable daughter
So yeah. Protagonist of another story. Personally I blame Duck dice. They are either good or bad but rarely anything in the middle.
So he could just be a guy that barely missed out on the Vietnam draft and made it really big in Hollywood and then got very lucky. But probably not.
It hasn't been confirmed outside of our Characters thoughts.
.
► Tzar Christopher
Replied On Oct 12th 2023:
Don't forget he started a massive charity for Vietnam vets, Vietnamese refugees and when he talks Congress listens.
He is also somehow responsible for Elvis getting back in shape and starring in a movie and the Beatles both getting back together and breaking up again.
►Lady Very Late Healer
Replied On Oct 12th 2023:
So kind of a big deal that the Chinese Just tried to kill him and failed.
Lets go for the foreign currency and have a Crazy Yuri taxi adventure. We might need to leave the soviet Union in a hurry.
[X]Tell Taxi Yuri about the incoming Fish
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 709, 710, 711, 712, 713, 714, 715, 716
King Billy is me, Duck is obviously @Magoose, HanShot2nd is @HanShot1st, Taurus Protector is @Orion Ultor, but I'm stumped on who Lady Very Late Healer is.
King Billy is me, Duck is obviously @Magoose, HanShot2nd is @HanShot1st, Taurus Protector is @Orion Ultor, but I'm stumped on who Lady Very Late Healer is.
Marvel brainstorms: wait, we can just ask the most powerful Film company in the world to just... Make awesome stuff?
Stan Lee: Why do you think I wanted him to buy us!?
[]Marval begins some crazy batshit stuff! (Marval Comics has a new lease on life, and are doing everything they can to make the most of it)
[]MAKE WAY FOR THE KING! (Jack Kirby has an idea. And Stan smiles)
[]The King of CAmeos... And Jack (Stan Lee, wants to cameo in Marvel films with his best friend)
Dreamworks: We're going to make a better film then Disney.
Disney: Prove it.
[]Jon and Ron got busy (Increase quality on The Great Mouse Detective)
[]Pacific Rim Gets More (Tomino brought in part of Sunrise for the Mecha)
[]Both... Both is good (Have me roll to see if you get both, and if you don't pass on a dc50...Lose out on both)
Okay Magoose, I've been thinking about it, and I think this are the reqrds I'm going to choose:
[X]Marval begins some crazy batshit stuff! (Marval Comics has a new lease on life, and are doing everything they can to make the most of it)
[X]Pacific Rim Gets More (Tomino brought in part of Sunrise for the Mecha)
Marvel deserves more love, and Pacific Rim is going to kill all those freaking Kaijus to the point Toho will feel like fools if they try to bring it back.
@Xsplora You fucking madlad i have no words to describe how funny and amazing this is. I should be the one to say sorry for wasting a potential full autopass because of my halfassed writing.
@Xsplora You fucking madlad i have no words to describe how funny and amazing this is. I should be the one to say sorry for wasting a potential full autopass because of my halfassed writing.
As a seperate thing guys, I think we're gonna have to work to prevent, or heavily ammend, the Stagger's Act (Oct. 1980) next turn, which heavily deregulates the railroad industry that results in reduced costs for railroad companies and results in the current six railroad company monopoly. Main reason I bring this up, is that in all honesty, trains are not only a far cheaper industry in the long run, but also far more environmentally friendly industry than the trucking industry.
Here's a Last Week Tonight video that goes far more in depth look at the subject:
[EDIT: It might also be important for us to empower the FRA, given that, although they are meant to regulate and monitor the US Railroad Industry, in recent years they are only capable of roughly a 1% total industry coverage.]
When it was finally 1980, and she could stop saying "nineteen-seventynine", there lived a bright and curious 4-year-old girl named Mary. She had auburn curls that bounced as she ran (Grandma Debbie helped!), and her sparkling brown eyes were always filled with wonder. Mary had a big dream in her little heart - she wanted to be an astronaut and when she grew up.
It had started with seeing a picture of that big v rocket, but it mattered more when her daddy, her daddy, having recognized her insatiable thirst for knowledge about space and took it upon himself to be her guiding light. Every evening, Bruce would sit with Mary at their cozy living room, surrounded by books about the cosmos. They would spend hours flipping through the pages, discussing galaxies, planets, and the incredible feats of astronauts, and if she was really good, she'd even go dancing with Brendan and Daddy! Daddy, who shared with her that he had always been fascinated by space himself, shared stories about the moon landing, the wonders of the universe, and the brave men and women who dared to explore the unknown. Mary's eyes would light up as she listened intently, absorbing every word her father spoke.
One day, Bruce surprised Mary by bringing home a special book. It had a picture of a remarkable women named Judith Love Cohen on the cover, one of the engineers who made it possible for the Astronauts to make it to space. From that moment on, Mary's appetite for knowledge about space grew even stronger. She devoured every book about astronauts, space exploration, and the mysteries of the universe. Bruce encouraged her every step of the way, answering her countless questions and fueling her curiosity, because she wanted to be like that, she wanted to be one of the people who made the big rockets and go to space herself.
As Mary grew older, when it was finally America's Birthday again, her dreams of becoming an astronaut and a doctor continued to intertwine. As she had devoured every book about space and medicine, but there was something else that fueled her passion - the desire to help others. Mary realized that being a doctor would allow her to make a difference in people's lives, just as Judith Love Cohen had done for astronauts.
It wasn't late, when the sun was going down and they were ready for sleepies, that there was an accident outside the place daddy worked with the vet-veter-vetrans, where a guy ran through a train...the place where the train went to work, and hit one of the nice lady's cars, the one who taught her to speak with her hands. Her daddy, seeing the accident, ran into the wreckage and pulled the kids and the mom out, but they were hurt, hurt bad enough for the red to come out. She isn't entirely sure what happened after that, there was just too much going on after that that, but the next thing she knows she's in the hospital with the hurt mommy's kids in a big, bright room where everything smelled funny and it was cold and it was scary...but she knew that if Daddy was brave, brave enough to fight dragons almost every day, then so could she! So she played with the kids that weren't hurt so bad, playing to make them less scared.
Mary couldn't never remember how long it was, the wait while she played and drawed crayons in the books the nice lady doctors [nurses, they told her] left them, but she could always remember how tired Daddy looked when he finally came outside and saw her and the kids. It was quiet as her daddy took them to see their mommy, as he led the lot of them closely through the scary ways of the hospital, as everything became smelling weirder. She watched as they ran up to their mommy's bed, asking in all sorts of voices of their mommy was going to be okay.
She doesn't remember what her daddy said, or the response was after, but she remembers his face: he was smiling.
So Mary wondered: Could she ever smile like that?
As the kids faces lit up, in that moment, Mary's dream of becoming a doctor took on a new meaning.
She'd be an Astronaut and a Doctor.
Why? Because she could help everyone! A/N: Welcome to Mary being an unreliable narrator, where she might be misremembering the order, or even the genre, of what happened, but the result is the same. It took her six months, but she knows what she wants to do.
This was originally going to be written a little differently, focusing more about the accomplishments of female astronauts like Sally Ride, Judith Resnik, Kathryn D. Sullivan, Anna Lee Fisher, and especially Margaret Rhea Seddon (the only surgeon among them), but that won't happen for a few years yet. Instead, I went for an engineer, one of the folk who helped build the rockets.
But why Judith Cohen, you may ask, specifically? Well, I felt there was a certain humor to be had in the fact that in a life where Mary transitions away from Hollywood, her hero would be Jack Black's mother, and where Jack is almost certainly is a fan of Mary's mom in this timeline [EDIT: and transitioning to Hollywood]. Do I think the two could be best friends somewhere down the road? Yes.
Blade Runner Directed By: Ridley Scott
Produced By: Alan Ladd
Writen By: Hampton Fancher and David Peoples
Distributed By: Lucasfilms Unlimited
Starring: Harrison Ford, Sean Young, Rutger Hauer, Edward James Olmos, M. Emmet Walsh, Daryl Hannah, William Sanderson, Brion James, Joe Turkel, Joanna Cassidy, James Hong, Morgan Paull and Hy Pike.
It's been a while since you've last heard of Harrison Ford, the man who you once had an on film and on-stage rivalry when American Graffiti was being filmed. You can hardly believe it's been that long; it almost seems like yesterday when you were just starting on M*A*S*H*, just beginning as a producer with George, and this was to be your second ever appearance in a film. Now, here you are, Co-Owner of you own Studio, an A-Rank movie star if you say so yourself, married and with beautiful children, and getting ready to try for another banger with the sequel to Batman...though you're still working on the name for the sequel, perhaps something involving him returning?
You had heard some mentions though; some small parts in other films, as well as a role in Apocalypse Now back in 79' (Playing a soldier call G. Lucas of all things!) but since then he'd been contracted for a film which, if things went right, would go on to become his first star role and perhaps even his breakthrough one. You were under no delusions; you knew the difficulty that lay in managing to break from the generic and into true stardom. not to mention that in many occasions luck had a great part in it as well. Nonetheless, you'd worked with Harrison and you'd like to think that you'd gotten to know the man quite well during those filming days. You knew he had the talent, the determination, and that small spark that made great actors shine even brighter. You knew that he was going to make it, no matter what stood in his path.
And what do you know, you were right.
Originally a book by Philip K. Dick named "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" which was then renamed "Blade Runner" (and you can see why) the movie is set in 2019 Los Angeles, and zooms in on the eerily-lit, urban streets of the city. It's a future where companies, not nations, are the ones that have the power and control over the common citizen. A future in which, through genetics, artificial humans are manufactured and called "replicants"; employees in dangerous jobs and slaves in the outer colonies of the Earth. Made by the Tyrell Corporation under the motto "More humans than humans", and above them all, the "Nexus-6" models not only resemble humans, but are far superior physically.
Needless to say, this was an ambitious project as Alan had decided to take on the book and try to make it as realistic as possible with the help of Lucasfilms and its infamous ILM Wizards bringing in the full strength of the setting and technological prowess to the table...which would amount to nothing had he not a director for the film. No matter how much Alan tried, it seemed that no one wanted to work with Fox's "Sloppy seconds" to use a more vulgar turn of phrase. Alan tried to find directors left and right, yet it seemed that no one thought that such a radical, and cerebral, concept as "Blade Runner" would catch on as Star Wars had done.
Enter Ridley Scott, the genius behind Alien, and the nightmare you worked with once.
From all accounts Scott was very interested in the adaptation for the book, and had been canvassing to get the chance. Yet Alan kept on trying for different directors as he felt that having Scott work on his would in some way validate Fox's claims. Alan truly looked left and right, yet when everything was set but the director, he had no choice but to bite the bullet, and give Scott a call. In the end, you march to war with the army you have, not the one you wanted.
In said future, Rick Deckard is a former "Blade Runner", the special police deputized to hunt and take down the Replicants that hide among society. He's brought in again when a group of top-of-the-line Replicants managed to escape from the space colonies where they had been assigned for hard labor and are now hiding in the city. Deckard has to use his experience, contacts, even going to the CEO of the company that creates said replicants in order to find more clues. During his investigation he finds that the replicants are either running amuck, rediscovering and trying to find what makes them human, and sometimes even being more human than one could even think.
One would even wonder why the heck would they give them human emotions if all they wanted from them was hard labor. Yet, the idea of beings created by humans being able to perhaps evolve to the point that they are indistinguishable from the humans themselves is an amazing idea, and one you're glad to see so well developed in the film.
The movie took the concept and made changes...many, many changes, which were necessary in your opinion if you wanted a story that still appealed to the growing "Cyberpunk" enthusiasts that you'd managed to catch in your previous works. Yet even so much of the themes of the books remain there despite the movie getting a fresh coat of paint; Who is really a replicant? Are replicants really bad? If replicants are bad, then why did we go to such lengths with our technology to create them? Are replicants really humans? Is Deckard a hero? Are the replicants the heroes?
This truly is a film that demands further discussion, and its ambiguous ending leaves a haunting and eerie feeling.
Richard Deckard is magnificently played by Harrison Ford, who brings an exquisite moral ambiguity to his character as he falls in love with a replicant, and comes to questions his own humanity after so many confrontations with replicants that look, feel and interact like humans, even being saved by one who wanted to kill him till the last moment. He is perfect for movies with an emphasis on visuals, as his power as an actor comes from his screen presence and soulful facial expressions. His scenes with Sean Young were as touching as the action scenes were brutal. Yet despite all the action, you're shocked to find that this is a slow movie, one that allows you to take in all the sights and sounds of a possible 2019 Los Angeles (as imagined in 1980), whilst also pondering some of its themes.
And Rutger Hauer...you don't want to play favorites but if there ever was an actor to match Harrison scene by scene it would be him. His performance was masterful, and his character one that will live on in the history of cinema. Roy Batty is one of the most intriguing characters in the movie, and his final scene is one of the most memorable of all time. Along with Deckard, it truly made you wonder if there is any real difference between humans and replicants.
Like tears in rain indeed...God, it was perfect!
And the audience agrees with you in every way. This was truly Harrisons' moment as he finally was recognized as one of the greats with his performance and as a true star in Hollywood. Everyone came out of the cinemas acknowledging this fact, and while not many seemed to understand just what exactly the movie was about, the small and growing community of "Cyberpunk" enthusiasts made sure to show for multiple showings, seeing each time more small details of the world and ever hungry for more.
A shame though that the critics once more show how disconnected they are from the audience, as well as the new changes that are coming from Hollywood. Blade Runner scared them; it was different, dystopic, and showed a future for the U.S. that had it turn into a third world country dominated by corporations that in a way seemed more tied to the East than to America. Frankly, the fact they acknowledged the film existed was perhaps too generous for them, but to give the films such lousy reviews managed to harm it enough so that the more common movie goer decided to save their money.
It did make enough so as to convince Mike to try for a limited VHS run...which sold out immediately and generated enough of a buzz that he saw the opportunity and seized it with both hands. More and more VHS tapes were made and each and every one was sold as more and more people actually realized "This movie is actually good!". When word of mouth met the masterpiece of Ridley Scott, it became an avalanche of support, as well as the birth of the newest "Cult Classic" of the decade.
Not to mention the profits as Mike is already making plans to see what other works of Philip K. Dick are available.
More excellent work from overmind. Absolutely love to see Harrison Ford doing well, even without Han Solo. Man, the critics just can't win, can they?
Edit: Just thought that I'd mention it. To everyone who wished me well while I've been sick, thank you so much for your consideration. While I'm still sick, I am doing far better than I was before and should be more or less fully recovered by the end of the week. Again, thank you all for your kind words.
Is there really nothing we can do to make at least some of these critiques irrelevant to the public?, those who obviously care more about staying in the good side of other studios and bribe than the films?, and who obviously have as much skill in judging the quality of a film as I have in checking the flight path of the next Mars rover.
At least all theese obvious,public and gigantic fail should hurt them a litle right ?,right ?
By the way, cinema operators must hate the critics who made them lose a crazy amount of money to the benefit of home cinema.
