Last Updated on June 3, 2023
A Commodore 64 playing the first scene between Harrison Ford’s Deckard and Sean Young’s Rachel in Blade Runner? Well, sort of.
As uploader Hakon Soreide explains:
What if the movie Blade Runner was made for running on a Commodore 64, each frame made up only of the standard character set, and in only the BASIC blue colours? It might look something like this.
Described as “C64 BASIC Blue PETSCII” the video isn’t quite as authentic as it looks – which seems obvious when you factor in the superior sound quality. While the C64 could handle some basic sound and animation, video was never on the cards.
So, how has it been made, if not on a Commodore 64? Soreide: “It’s entirely made on a PC, though. I’ll make a video about how I did it some day, and I will also include some information on how the method actually allows you to export data that can be used to create PETSCII images on a C64. I tested that on a still a few years back, so I am sure I can figure out how to do it again.”
Regardless of how this was made, it looks awesome. It is possibly the most retro video out there: a classic film, set in a future that relies on 1940s-style gumshoe on the trail of a gang of murderers in a film noir-esque LA. A film released in 1982 – the same year as the computer simultaneously being homaged.
It is ridiculously meta – and it is beautiful.
Gaming since 1984, retro gaming since 2004. Contributes to Linux Format magazine, TechRadar.com, and other publications.
