Blade Runner
 

The character Deckard (Harrison Ford), in the movie Blade Runner, is appararently a replicant himself . This fact is not obvious in the movie , but there are clues to his real identity throughout the movie.Does anybody know what they are?

As far as I remember from the movie and Ridley Scott himself saying Deckard was a replicant, Briant tells him there are 6 replicants to track down but he finds only 5.... Also the bit with the Origami Paper Unicorn he picks up after he's dreamt about them. The cop who made it , and dropped it, knew he'd dreamt about unicorns because of his software programming. I think thats inferred anyway.
I think Deckards eyes are meant to glow at some point in the film (a replicant characteristic) but can't say I've noticed that one without finding it on the Vid.
Are there more?

The unicorn dream bit is the main one, but also:

1) Like the other replicants, Deckard never really shows any emotions, even when killing.

2) And like the replicants, Deckard seems to have an obsession with photographs, which are his link to a (probably fake) past.


M

If he is, then it is an invention of Ridley Scott's, or the screenwriter's. The character in "Do androids dream of electric sheep" is undoubtedly human.

If you watch the regular version its not quite clear, The Directors Cut however ( the version available on dvd) has the following differances:

- Ommiting the voice over - Which imo makes it harder to follow
- The unicorn dream
- Paper unicorn at the end almost confirms it.

Ridley Scott says Deckard is indeed a Replicant, and thats why he is chosen to track them down. Harrison Ford however disputes this and will no longer discuss the film or appear in any documentarys about it.

Taken from the back of the box:

This new version omits Deckard's voiceover narration, develops in slightly greater detail the romance between Deckard and Rachael and removes the "uplifting finale" (they go away together in his car to the coast i think). The result is a heightened emotional impact: A great film made greater. Most intriguging of all is a newly included unicorn vision that suggests Deckard may be a humanoid. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? Is Deckard a replicant? As with all things in the future, you must discover the answer for yourself.

isnt a replicant...! no way...! refuse to believe it...!

In my view, the film loses the heart of the book because in the film Deckard has no motivation for what he does. His job is to hunt down and kill a number of individuals which, to all intents and purposes, are human beings. For this reason I can understand the suspicion that he might be a replicant from the point of view of the film. In the book he has real human motivations; the bounty money would be enough for him to buy a real animal to look after instead of his electric sheep, thus raising his status. The lie he lives by owning the mechanical sheep and maintaining the pretence that it is real gnaws a hole at the very core of his existence.This is how he can even contemplate the executions in the first place.

If he is a replicant, how come he is so feeble in his violent encounters with the other replicants?

Hes assigned to terminate 5 replicants but only kills 4, he is supposed to be the fifth. Although, one charactor, Mary was removed from the film but the dialogue was never changed. In my opinion Deckard being a Replicant was an after thought.

mmmmm very interesting.




guess I'm watching bladrunner tonight then!

Ads

And all of the stuff in the book about Mercer and the empathy boxes makes it very clear that PKD didn't think he was a replicant.

hold on...kills 3 actually, roy batty dies of 'old age'...but he kills the 2 females (zhora and pris?) and the other male (leon?), and didnt one get 'fried in an electrical grid' according to bryant...? that makes 5 and the sixth is rachael isnt it...?

no way deckards a replicant...certainly not a nexus 6 or else im sure he wouldnt have struggled so much physically would he?

Link to my Blade Runner post from a bit ago, may be of use!

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthrea...t=blade+runner

interesting thread...ive got a good blade runner book by paul. m. sammon 'the making of blade runner' published by orion media...you should check it out

This film is a thorn in my bl00dy side. It is the first DVD I ever bought and I have still got no further than 50 minutes into it before having to switch off for some reason. Have attempted to watch it at least a dozen times, but never got past the hour mark. Must give it another go tomorrow.

It does take some watching i found also. Its perfect for late at night or when there really is nothing to do!

It is a very, very good film. It doesn't quite get to grips with PKD's main point though... about what constitutes humanity and reality along with what it means to be human. In the book, there is a grade of real human known as a "special" that seems less human even than the replicants, which throws the difficulties of making the distinction into even sharper relief. In my opinion, hinting that Deckard may be a replicant adds nothing but a cheap novelty trick into the mix that dilutes the central message.