Harrison Ford hates one of the best science fiction films, despite starring in it

Harrison Ford, the legendary Hollywood actor who gave us such iconic roles as Indiana Jones, even though he was not George Lucas’s first choice, and Han Solo in Star Wars, also starred in one of the greatest science fiction films of all time: Blade Runner. Directed by Ridley Scott in 1982, the film was a major critical and commercial success.

A neo-noir inspired in part by Philip K. Dick’s dystopian novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, it won two BAFTA Awards and earned two Academy Award nominations. Even so, Ford himself was never particularly happy with either the filming experience or the movie itself.

He has recounted on several occasions that filming Blade Runner was a grueling experience, “shot for 50 nights, in the rain, most times… outside. It was kind of miserable to make.” But there was another aspect that he remembers with even more dread.

Harrison Ford’s clashes with Ridley Scott

The main source of Ford’s conflict with Ridley Scott, and with the film itself, had to do with the voice-over narration he was required to record. Scott would later remove that narration in some of the different versions of Blade Runner released over the years.

“I did the voice-over about six times, and nobody was ever happy with it,” Ford shared with Variety, clearly frustrated.

According to Ford, when he went in to record the voice-over, he was handed a script that he hadn’t seen previously, prompting him to respond: “I’m not going to argue with you about any of the language. I’m not going to argue with you about the appropriateness of this. I will record each of these speeches eight times. You take your choice.”

He went on to explain: “‘I had no chance to participate in it, so I simply read it. I was very, very unhappy with their choices and with the quality of the material.”

Even though Ridley Scott ultimately released the film without Ford’s controversial voice-over in later cuts, the actor remained firm in his dissatisfaction with the final result with the voice-over added.

However, looking back on the film, he says that “it holds its own and it is a remarkable film,” adding, “I like any cut without the voice-over.”

Harrison Ford went on to reprise the role of Rick Deckard in the sequel Blade Runner 2049, directed by Denis Villeneuve.

Blade Runner is currently not available to stream for free on any platform in the United States but can be rented or purchased.

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