BLADE RUNNER

12.07.22

(SPOILER WARNING)

It is impossible to undermine the cultural significance that Blade Runner has had on both the world of entertainment and pop culture throughout the past forty years. While many have dissected the film over the years to explore the depth and complexity of its hidden messages and themes, the plot presented in The Final Cut is surprisingly laid out in a very straightforward way. Taking place in the futuristic hellish nightmare of Los Angeles in 2019, former Blade Runner Unit Officer Rick Deckard is tasked with hunting and eliminating four humanoid-androids known as Replicants who are believed to pose a threat to the humane inhabitants of earth. 

This is such an intriguing film to discuss, although the narrative doesn’t seem to be the prioritized focus being presented. This film seems to have more of an interest in exploring vast visual spectacle imagery and its main theme of the purpose to one’s own existence. This is primarily shown through the four Replicants being hunted down by Deckard; especially Roy Batty who is yearning to extend his short four-year life span by consulting with the creator of Replicants, Eldon Tyrell. Additionally, Deckard is shown to eventually discover his purpose in life after being lonely for most of it. To elaborate, it is never stated as to why Deckard initially retired as a Blade Runner operative, although there are hints scattered throughout that may lead one to contextualize the context as to why. Roughly around the halfway point after he kills Zhora, the first out of the four Replicants, Deckard is explicitly shown to be taken aback, shocked and horrified at the sight of her bloodied corpse. This heavily implies that violence makes him distraughtly uncomfortable, implying that terminating life might be the reason why he left his Blade Runner position beforehand. 

This is partly why he was caught off guard minutes later when the second Replicant, Leon suddenly attacked him out of nowhere. Moments later however, he is saved by his love-interest Rachel, who also happens to be a Replicant and kills Leon. Afterwards, he takes her back to his apartment where he admits his feelings to her and seemingly entraps her into romantic and intimate gestures of kissing. This shows that Deckard believes he has the opportunity to cure his own loneliness which is a moment he will not take for granted. This idea is further explored through the final scenes shared with Batty, once he finally meets his creator, Tyrell. After having it explained by Tyrell that extending the four-year life span wouldn’t be possible due to the already present genetic structure inside of him, Batty sees no other option other than to eliminate his creator which shows that his presence in any given moment is terrifying due to his violent and angry spur of the moment tendencies. Coincidentally, when Deckard finally locates Batty is right before his time-span is about to expire... in which he wants nothing more than to toy with Deckard and instill fear in him to convey his pain and torment. It is very ironic that Batty saves Deckard’s life when he had the opportunity to kill him, and his final words only prove to Deckard that the android is perhaps possessive of more life than he is. 

Perhaps the most popular form of discourse that surrounds this film is also arguably one of the most heated film arguments of all time... that being if Deckard is a Replicant or not. As for what the definitive answer might intel, I honestly believe it is impossible to truly determine the validity of either answer to this question... all due to the shenanigans of director Ridley Scott. Personally, I don’t believe Deckard is a Replicant which is difficult to prove by the overwhelming different additions of this film. Firstly, it has been proven that Deckard has lived longer than the four-year time span that Replicants possess, since he appears in this film’s sequel Blade Runner 2049 thirty years later. Secondly, the lack of emotion that is shown by Deckard throughout the film is meant to contrast the emotions possessed by the supposedly non-humane androids. Lastly, it has been stated by multiple individuals that worked on this film, including screenwriter Hampton Fancher and Harrison Ford himself that Deckard is not a Replicant. However, Ridley Scott’s fundamental belief that Deckard is in fact indeed a Replicant is perhaps part of the reason there are many different cuts of this film available. 

Not present in the theatrical cut, the unicorn sequence that Deckard dreams of roughly forty minutes into the runtime was an addition added into both The Director's Cut and The Final Cut after Ridley Scott repurposed unused footage from 1985's Legend. Deckard’s dream sequence also coincides with the piece of unicorn origami he discovers in his apartment at the end of the film, which does imply that his fellow police officer companion Gaff is aware of both his implanted unicorn dreams and decision to leave and runaway with Rachel. Although the conclusion to this debate is up to personal preference at this point, the tinkering by Ridley Scott has undoubtedly added more complexity to this unresolved argument.

Other than his love of meddling with this film, Ridley Scott’s directing style that is present is incredibly ambitious for the time this film was theatrically released. As I have already stated, this film prioritizes an experience filled with vast visual spectacle imagery which permeates through the screen. This film is oozing with gorgeous special effects and set decoration, along with an utterly fantastic score that helps establish the hauntingly hypnotic world. The camera often lingers on characters or locations instead of providing excessive or elaborate movements other than the occasional spurs of action throughout. 

With all of this being said however, I honestly don’t love Blade Runner. There are countless aspects to this film that I heavily admire, most prominently the score and set-design. Although I do understand the purpose of the robotic performances by most actors on screen, that does lead this film to be rather boring throughout most of the runtime unfortunately. It is still an experience that I would recommend based off of the visuals alone, which perhaps will be further enhanced with viewing Blade Runner 2049. I have no doubt saying that this film very likely improves with each consequential viewing, and has obviously stood the test of time for over four decades... cementing its legacy in pop culture by becoming a renowned classic. It is undeniable to signify this film as anything else other than a flawed masterpiece.