Harrison Ford Isn't A Fan Of One Of His Most Popular Films From The '80s

If there's one thing Harrison Ford is known for, it's refusing to feign enthusiasm for the sci-fi classics he was a part of. The beloved actor's apparent apathy towards the "Star Wars" franchise, for instance, has become a meme at this point (maybe he would have preferred if Al Pacino had accepted the role of Han Solo instead). However, if Ford is a bit grumpy when it comes to his work in a galaxy far, far away, the actor openly dislikes another movie he starred in during the window of time between "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi." Or, at the very least, he's not fond of one particular version of it. 

Indeed, Ford has made no secret of the fact that he was unhappy with the original 1982 theatrical cut of Ridley Scott's seminal cyberpunk noir, "Blade Runner." "I didn't like the movie one way or the other," the prickly performer confessed in 1999 (via Empire), before pointing out, "I was a detective who did not have any detecting to do." However, while Ford and Scott clashed creatively on the set, the actor's main hang-up was the studio-imposed, classic-noir-style voiceover narration, which he found inorganic and highly patronizing.

In fact, "Blade Runner" producer Michael Deeley reckons Ford actively sabotaged the recording sessions. "Harrison Ford was so disgusted with having to do it that I think he did it deliberately badly," he shared with The Malestrom in September 2016. Mind you, the actor has denied this. "I delivered it to the best of my ability, given that I had no input. I never thought they'd use it. But I didn't try and sandbag it. It was simply bad narration," he told Playboy in 2002. Scott evidently agreed, removing the voiceover from subsequent cuts.

Harrison Ford's infamous voiceover narration as Rick Deckard was absent from Ridley Scott's 1992 director's cut of "Blade Runner," as well as the 2007 "Final Cut." To that end, unsurprisingly, Ford greatly prefers Scott's alternate cuts to the studio-mandated version that was originally released in theaters. "I like any cut without the voiceover," he reasoned to Variety in July 2025. The actor recalled that, while the narration was in the original script, he lobbied for a show-don't-tell approach, which Scott and company were receptive to, only for Warner Bros. to force the voiceover back in. In general, though, the "Air Force One" star seems to have softened his view on "Blade Runner," the movie's confusing ending aside, in the years since its debut. 

In fact, Ford even ended up reprising his role as Deckard in the 2017 sequel, "Blade Runner 2049," sharing the screen with Eva Mendes' beau, Ryan Gosling. During an October 2017 chat with The Globe and Mail, the actor described "Blade Runner" as being "ahead of its time." He added that while the movie took a while to grow on many viewers, himself included, he believed the sequel would prove to be an instant hit with critics and audiences alike. "[N]ow is the time for this one, Ford enthused. Indeed, while "2049" struggled at the box office, it was generally very well received by those who did see it. 

However, the movie's returning star doesn't think the original "Blade Runner" being more of a slow-burn success should be held against it. "The issue of its immediate acceptance proved not to be a problem, because in the long term, it gained an enormous following and had a terrific impact on a generation of filmmakers and visual storytellers," he asserted.