Blade Runner's opening sequence: it's not just the typography

I'm a big Blade Runner fan since it was released in 1982. Read the book by Philip K. Dick in the early 80s when I was starting high school. Director's Cut on DVD. Rabbit hole on filming locations, set decoration, and obscure cast members. So Rands' stirring homage to typography in Blade Runner's opening title cards caught my attention:

"Unlike our functional fixed-width typefaces, the role of typography in this title sequence is partly functional — to set the story — but the primary purpose is establishing mood. Director Ridley Scott expertly drops us into the middle of a dystopian future where we’ve enslaved the robots and, duh, they are rebelling." 

Well, yes. But dropping us into the story with descriptive text and careful typography is not the only thing that's going on.

The audio consists of two parts: the minimalist score by Vangelis, and sound effects that include distant booms, twinkling computer notes, and a crescendo that builds to loud explosions and the whoosh of futuristic vehicles. It effectively immerses viewers into this incredible world and story.

This is very different than Star Wars' title sequence 5 years prior which also had an amazing score (by John Williams), but was firmly anchored in the tradition of Holst and contemporary Hollywood orchestral scores.

Keep in mind that a typical viewer entering a theater in 1982 to watch Blade Runner was stepping out of Chevy Nova with an 8-track cassette players loaded with Juice Newton, The Charlie Daniels Band, and Kool & The Gang. The typography, the score, the sound effects, and the images on screen would have been mind-blowing.