Sir Ridley Scott has hit out at 'Blade Runner' critics who blasted the movie as "slow", after he recently re-watched the film for the first time in two decades.

The 85-year-old filmmaker has insisted that after seeing his 1982 sci-fi classic again, he stands by his opinion that the motion picture is "not slow", and he has told anyone who thinks so to "go f*** yourself".

He told Total Film magazine: "I hadn’t seen ‘Blade Runner’ for 20 years. Really.

"But I just watched it. And it’s not slow.

"The information coming at you is so original and interesting, talking about biological creations, and mining off-world, which, in those days, they said was silly. I say, 'Go f*** yourself.' "

Scott knew at the time he was making a "very special movie", and that has been justified as his motion picture has been used as a major influence for many sci-fi films since.

He added: "[The shoot] was a very bad experience for me. I had horrendous partners. Financial guys, who were killing me every day. I’d been very successful in the running of a company, and I knew I was making something very, very special.

"So I would never take no for an answer. But they didn’t understand what they had. You shoot it, and you edit it, and you mix it. And by the time you’re halfway through, everyone’s saying it’s too slow.

"You’ve got to learn, as a director, you can’t listen to anybody.

"I knew I was making something very, very special. And now it’s one of the most important science-fiction films ever made which everybody feeds off. Every bloody film."

In August, Scott told how he regretted not being able to direct the 'Blade Runner' sequel.

The filmmaker found himself in a difficult position having to choose between 'Blade Runner 2049' and 'Alien: Covenant' due to a scheduling clash, and he wishes he'd worked on the follow-up to the 1982 movie.

Speaking to Empire magazine, he said: "I shouldn’t have had to make that decision. But I had to. I should have done 'Blade Runner 2'."