Fast != Good.
too many movies these days are made by music video directors ;-)
Bladerunner sure isn't fast or actiony, but i never thought of it as particularly slow either. Compared to classics like The Good the Bad and the Ugly, or Bullit (or any movie made before 1995) its pretty pacy.

I will chime in with the choir here that this is one excellent film that oozes of atmosphere of a cyberpunkish environment, not to mention the whole philosophical questions of what defines someone or something to be 'human'.
The content and way that Rutger Hauer delivers his last monologue still gives me goosebumps :)

The Good the Bad and the Ugly is awesome because of how ridiculously slow it is. Best gun duel ever.

Something like the first action movie "North by Northwest" (that's up for debate, but it follows the action movie formula) moved at such a snail's pace, it was insane! Blade Runner is pretty fucking fast compared to "action" films of the 1950's and 1960's when they were just starting to surface.
I know I'm going to incur the wrath of film goers, but if you don't like "Blade Runner," then the only comparable film that is much faster is "The Matrix." Albeit "The Matrix" only scratches the surface of what "Blade Runner" is about, it follows along almost the same philosophical track.

It's certainly one of the best movies ever to grace the silver screen, precisely because it's so well made - everything from the direction, to the performances, to the themes of the story are top-notch. Not to mention the ground-breaking visuals that would go on to inspire a whole generation of film-makers. It's certainly not an easy-to-digest action romp, that was never the point - and in fact, that's why it bombed miserably when it was first released in theaters; people thought it'd be a new Harrison Ford action flick, and even the -sort of dumbed down- theatrical version had them scratching their heads.
I got the Final Cut DVD, and the Final Cut version is nothing short of a masterpiece, the movie and its themes have not aged a day.
TheCheese, I'd say you give this a second chance a few years later, perhaps. If you don;t like it later either, it's just not the kind of movie for you, I suppose.
The Westwood game should TOTALLY come back, btw. I'll be ecstatic to see it on GOG! Till then, check out some screenshots of the Blade Runner setting rendered in CryEngine 2, and drool with me!

*Fenixp uses his Necromancy skills*
!!SPOILERS
Well, I've watched the Blade Runner... Frankly, beginning seemed pretty medicore to me, nothing new under the sun, maybe 'at the time' - thou I loved some parts, like when Decker shot the first Nexus completely in cold blood... That was great.
But then, the ending came... Boy, that was SOMETHING! I can't even describe how I felt when it ended, how Decker picked up the origami, shook his head and got into the elevator... Damn, I won't forget that single moment for some time. ... ... I want the game! :D

I was just looking at the comments about the film's pacing above - has anyone noticed how different each movie adaptation of Philip K Dick's novels/stories is?
I don't remember offhand if there are any others - but for sci-fi films, I don't think you could get much further apart than Total Recall (action with an almost nonsensical plot), Blade Runner (slow, and moody), and Minority Report (more of a thriller). Throw in A Scanner Darkly (woah, man) and the mix gets even weirder.
Edit: Wow, just looked on Wikipedia and there's Screamers (even more action) plus 4 others I haven't even seen yet.

You forgot I, Robot. But yeah, it's pretty disparate, but I enjoy them all in their own way. To different degrees of course, I'm not going to say that I, Robot is as awesome as Total Recall.

You seem to be under the impression that Philip K. Dick wrote I, Robot. Please disabuse yourself of that notion. I, Robot is a collection of short stories by Isaac Asimov, whom I imagine has been turning in his grave since they made that damn movie.

That would be the alcohol talking.

Maybe the OP should check out total recall. Its not in the same league as Blade Runner, but its a great piece of action sci-fi.
Perversely, if he's young, he'll probably enjoy the R rated OTT violence and action a lot more than the classic film noir stylings of Blade Runner.
SPOILERS!!
.
.
.
.
Do androids dream of Origami Unicorns, huh?
PS/ The game rocks.. i have it around here somewhere... can't remember the ending though, as there were several totally different ones..

this is my favorite version. :D

White Zombie - More Human Than Human

I, Robot is right up there in my list of favourite movies, and Asimov is up there in my list of favourite authors... but yeah, definitely not for the same reasons. I've read Bicentennial Man but haven't seen the film... wonder if it's any good.
The only sci-fi book --> film series I can think of that was ever fully endorsed by the author would have been TekWar... though I'm not sure that it was ever fully endorsed by the audience :)