‘This movie gets worse every screening’ – Blade Runner slated

Ridley Scott's iconic 'Blade Runner' didn't quite grab the imagination of its producers during its early screenings back in 1981.

Thanks to some purportedly original screening notes from executives Jerry Perenchio, Bud Yorkin and Robin French of Tandem Productions, we can see precisely what they thought of it after watching some of the early cuts.

[Related story: New Blade Runner project a sequel]

Perenchio was among the most damning of the film, proclaiming: “This movie gets worse every screening.”

Much work still needed to be done, it seems, before its release the following year, with plot and dialogue described as 'confusing', and the film up to the death of replicant android Zhara damned as being 'deadly dull'.

While all the producers had their own views – largely negative – all seemed united in their hatred of Harrison Ford's controversial voice-over.

Under 'general comments', the VO is described as 'an insult'.

“Why is this voice-over track so terrible,” asks Perenchio. “Hopefully this is not being dubbed in. He sounds drugged, were they all on drugs when they did this?”

The voice-over in the film has long been dissected.

It has been claimed that Ford did it badly on purpose because he and Ridley Scott were being forced to put it in by other studio executives.

Ford has admitted that he did the voice over 'reluctantly', due to contractual obligations.

The notes, if genuine, will all add to the extensive myth behind the film, which opened to indifferent critics and poor box office sales, due to its competition from 'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan' and 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial', both of which opened the same weekend.