*Spoiler Alert* Blade Runner Question

[monkyman]

If you haven't seen blade runner, this may spoil the movie, so read no further.


I just watched the final cut. I have a simple (maybe) question. Was Harrison Ford a Replicant??

The reason I ask is he had the unicorn dream that no one knew about, yet at the end that guy made the origami unicorn. Now on the other hand If he was a relicant, he certainly wasn't strong like the others. I never got into the extras yet to see if there is an answer. Any thoughts?

[Seretur]

Go watch the extras. There's tons of discussion of the issue there.

And the opinions are still divided, sometimes very strongly...

[johnnymech]

Ridley Scott has been saying that Decker is.

[doctorsteve]

Scott says yes, and according to him - if you can't see that - you're a moron. Yet, some people disagree. All you need to know is that - even in Ridley's eyes - for his movie, the answer is yes. Period.

[Rob71]

Originally Posted by doctorsteve

Scott says yes, and according to him - if you can't see that - you're a moron. Yet, some people disagree. All you need to know is that - even in Ridley's eyes - for his movie, the answer is yes. Period.

Pffft...What does Ridley Scott know?

[T-Town Oil]

i always assumed he was. there were some scenes where his eyes have the red reflection in them that was a giveaway for me (at least i think)

[Pilam69]

I tend to believe that he was an earlier model, built to be human as opposed to "super human" hence the lack of strength. The intelligence was there though, that's why he was the best Blade Runner. I also think that the ambiguity of the issue is part of what makes the movie great. I have probably watched the movie 40 times trying to pick up on different clues in the way shots were framed or the dialog (or lack of dialog), etc. etc. ad infinitum.

[Jokerboy649]

Yes to me Deckard IS a replicant. Because Ridley says so AND because of the ending. The unicorn dream Deckard has and then the unicorn Gaff leaves by the door shows that Gaff knows his memories/dreams which means they were implanted and means he would be a replicant.

[School]

i always assumed he was. there were some scenes where his eyes have the red reflection in them that was a giveaway for me (at least i think)...



yes he is i thought the same thing as soon as i saw this part of the movie

[doctorsteve]

Originally Posted by Rob71

Pffft...What does Ridley Scott know?

Um, he directed it. So in HIS version of how the story is presented - YES - he has the authority to say that for the movie you are watching in your video playing device, Deckard IS a Replicant.

He can't say diddly about the book. But the movie is his. How many more "PERIOD"'s do you need?

[Kirsty_Mc]

That's the appeal of this movie. Everything isn't spelled out for the audience, they have to think .

I'll bet when the Star Wars movies slither their way onto BD, there will not be as much discussion about the plot (such as it is) as for this one. 25 years later and people are still discussing the plot of Blade Runner!!!

[doctorsteve]

Originally Posted by School

i always assumed he was. there were some scenes where his eyes have the red reflection in them that was a giveaway for me (at least i think)...

See, I never caught that until I saw the Blu-Ray extras. I just chalked it up to being a reflection of light off the retina, like you get when you take someone's picture. Didn't assume that it MEANT something.

[Pilam69]

Originally Posted by doctorsteve

Um, he directed it. So in HIS version of how the story is presented - YES - he has the authority to say that for the movie you are watching in your video playing device, Deckard IS a Replicant.

He can't say diddly about the book. But the movie is his. How many more "PERIOD"'s do you need?

Someone needs their sarcasm meter adjusted.

[vsbdtv]

Originally Posted by School

i always assumed he was. there were some scenes where his eyes have the red reflection in them that was a giveaway for me (at least i think)...

Although the extras dealt with that as well. In one of the more obvious scenes where that occurred (when Rachael was in Deckard's home), it was because Harrison Ford overshot his mark and walked into Sean Young's lighting [ this according to Ford ]

I'll have to go back and look at the extra features again, but I thought that Scott was purposely creating ambiguity about Dekard, even at the expense of continuity. However, Scott reportedly said, long after the picture was released, the Deckard was a replicant. On the other hand, Ford has reported earlier conversations with Scott where they both agreed that Deckard was not a replicant.

On the pro-replicant side there is the unicorn scene (not seen in all versions of the film). Plus, I think both Dekard and Rachael play the same tunes on his piano. Finally, there's the deleted scene where Rachael says: "you and I were made for each other"

Some of the things that don't work towards his non-human status:
- Bryant obviously had a significant history with Deckard as a Blade Runner prior to the Nexus-6 models. Only Nexus-6 had memory implants according to Tyrell. Bryant and Deckard were only briefed on the Nexus-6 capabilities after the escape of Batty and friends.
- Bryant repeatedly refers to "skin jobs" in almost a racist fashion. But he almost seems to like and confide Deckard.
- Deckard was retired from Blade Running (after being an ex-cop) and replaced by Holden, the poor chap who was blasted by Leon during the Voight-Kampff test at the Tyrell Complex. Although not seen in any version of the film (see deleted scenes), the movie does mention that Holden is on life support after Leon's attack. We can infer from that that Holden is not a replicant, and Holden's deleted scenes suggest also that Deckard is not a replicant: "It's a wipeout, Deckard...they're almost us"
- The oldest known Nexus-6 was Batty, who obviously ran to his (presumed) four year expiration. The other Nexus-6 units were younger. If Deckard were a replicant, he would have to be at least Nexus-6 and either made with no expiration date (conflicts with movie details) or be younger than Batty.
- Other than Rachael, who was an "experimental model" (Nexus 7?), all of the Nexus-6 were produced for off-world use. Earlier scripts explained why Deckard was still on earth - because he failed a physical exam - not because he was a replicant.
- Clearly, there was little room to allow any replicant to live on earth. And although Gaff (and Deckard) were expected to kill Rachael (but only after she went AWOL), there is no mention of trying to kill Deckard (and that opportunity would have presented itself earlier, as Gaff was obviously able to track down Deckard when he was needed to contain the Nexus-6 outbreak). And an obvious time to kill him would have been when Holden replaced him on the Blade Runner squad.
- Deckard's apartment had a lot more family pictures that the few snapshots carried around by the Nexus-6 replicants. However, none of the people in the photos on his piano bore any resemblance

Of course a major theme of the movie was to inquire as to what it means to be human. Certainly, that was of critical importance to Rachael, but in was reflected in Deckard's relation with Rachael also.

[Kirsty_Mc]

Originally Posted by vsbdtv

...

Some of the things that don't work towards his non-human status:
- Bryant obviously had a significant history with Deckard as a Blade Runner prior to the Nexus-6 models. Only Nexus-6 had memory implants according to Tyrell. Bryant and Deckard were only briefed on the Nexus-6 capabilities after the escape of Batty and friends.
- Bryant repeatedly refers to "skin jobs" in almost a racist fashion. But he almost seems to like and confide Deckard.
- Deckard was retired from Blade Running (after being an ex-cop) and replaced by Holden, the poor chap who was blasted by Leon during the Voight-Kampff test at the Tyrell Complex. Although not seen in any version of the film (see deleted scenes), the movie does mention that Holden is on life support after Leon's attack. We can infer from that that Holden is not a replicant, and Holden's deleted scenes suggest also that Deckard is not a replicant: "It's a wipeout, Deckard...they're almost us"
- The oldest known Nexus-6 was Batty, who obviously ran to his (presumed) four year expiration. The other Nexus-6 units were younger. If Deckard were a replicant, he would have to be at least Nexus-6 and either made with no expiration date (conflicts with movie details) or be younger than Batty.
- Other than Rachael, who was an "experimental model" (Nexus 7?), all of the Nexus-6 were produced for off-world use. Earlier scripts explained why Deckard was still on earth - because he failed a physical exam - not because he was a replicant.
- Clearly, there was little room to allow any replicant to live on earth. And although Gaff (and Deckard) were expected to kill Rachael (but only after she went AWOL), there is no mention of trying to kill Deckard (and that opportunity would have presented itself earlier, as Gaff was obviously able to track down Deckard when he was needed to contain the Nexus-6 outbreak). And an obvious time to kill him would have been when Holden replaced him on the Blade Runner squad.
- Deckard's apartment had a lot more family pictures that the few snapshots carried around by the Nexus-6 replicants. However, none of the people in the photos on his piano bore any resemblance...

My emphasis on some points

Some interesting points there.

Perhaps Deckard was "Retired" but not in the usual sense. Perhaps while working on another case he was "retired" by his quarry and his mind implanted into a nexus 6. Therefore maybe he was and at the same time was not a replicant.

[Rob71]

Originally Posted by doctorsteve

Um, he directed it. So in HIS version of how the story is presented - YES - he has the authority to say that for the movie you are watching in your video playing device, Deckard IS a Replicant.

He can't say diddly about the book. But the movie is his. How many more "PERIOD"'s do you need?

Maybe I should of moved this( ) up a few lines.

[sean10mm]

- Bryant obviously had a significant history with Deckard as a Blade Runner prior to the Nexus-6 models. Only Nexus-6 had memory implants according to Tyrell. Bryant and Deckard were only briefed on the Nexus-6 capabilities after the escape of Batty and friends.
This isn't obvious at all. All Bryant's references to the past were vague. And Batty's gang are just the first Nexus-6 models they have had to hunt down, not the first to exist. They could have been briefed long after the Nexus-6 models were first made.

- Bryant repeatedly refers to "skin jobs" in almost a racist fashion. But he almost seems to like and confide Deckard.
This doesn't mean a lot. Real racists are like that too, they might like one person of a given race ("he's a good one") but still think the rest of them are scum. Of course, if he's just manipulating Deckard he's going to be nice to him even if he hates him.

- Deckard was retired from Blade Running (after being an ex-cop) and replaced by Holden, the poor chap who was blasted by Leon during the Voight-Kampff test at the Tyrell Complex. Although not seen in any version of the film (see deleted scenes), the movie does mention that Holden is on life support after Leon's attack. We can infer from that that Holden is not a replicant, and Holden's deleted scenes suggest also that Deckard is not a replicant: "It's a wipeout, Deckard...they're almost us"
Holden not being a replicant doesn't mean anything about Deckard not being a replicant - they aren't connected at all. Holden's comment only tells us that Holden ASSUMES Deckard is human, not that he really is human.

- The oldest known Nexus-6 was Batty, who obviously ran to his (presumed) four year expiration. The other Nexus-6 units were younger. If Deckard were a replicant, he would have to be at least Nexus-6 and either made with no expiration date (conflicts with movie details) or be younger than Batty.
The expiration date was clearly stated in the movie (by Bryant, I think) to be a safety feature added by the manufacturers, meaning it could be omitted in any of the older models too. It isn't inherent to making replicants, you just can't REVERSE it once it's been added (per Tyrell's talk with Batty). Of course, nothing in the movie says that Deckard is older than Roy...he could easily have memory implants like Rachel. In fact, Gaff knowing Deckard's dreams makes it all but certain that Deckard's memories are fake and that he's a replicant.

- Other than Rachael, who was an "experimental model" (Nexus 7?), all of the Nexus-6 were produced for off-world use. Earlier scripts explained why Deckard was still on earth - because he failed a physical exam - not because he was a replicant.
Earlier scripts are not the movie. They have no relevance to the discussion. Also, the possibility of memory implants like Rachel has makes the whole thing open to question. Who says he really failed the physical exam if all of his memories could be faked?

- Clearly, there was little room to allow any replicant to live on earth. And although Gaff (and Deckard) were expected to kill Rachael (but only after she went AWOL), there is no mention of trying to kill Deckard (and that opportunity would have presented itself earlier, as Gaff was obviously able to track down Deckard when he was needed to contain the Nexus-6 outbreak). And an obvious time to kill him would have been when Holden replaced him on the Blade Runner squad.
If Deckard was just a replicant tool of the Blade Runners with implanted memories to make him pliable, they obviously wouldn't kill him any more than they'd kill a police dog.

- Deckard's apartment had a lot more family pictures that the few snapshots carried around by the Nexus-6 replicants. However, none of the people in the photos on his piano bore any resemblance
This doesn't say anything either way.

Of course a major theme of the movie was to inquire as to what it means to be human. Certainly, that was of critical importance to Rachael, but in was reflected in Deckard's relation with Rachael also.

[MATTYBLU2]

i thought the replicants did not feel pain, but deckard felt pain when his fingers were broken, if he was a replicant than he would not have felt the pain?

[tron3]

I have yet to watch all 5 BD disks, but I don't recall Ridley Scott saying he is a replicant.


Blade Runner is probably the most controvertial Sci-Fi achievments in cinema history. With all the different cuts and endings, I am beginning to assume it has a "no ending - ending."

Apparently he was a replicant which hard for me to accept because I never thought so. I did notice the same same red glow in the eyes and thought maybe it just the lighting while shooting. I tend to think Scott is just capitalizing on that error in filming.

That just strikes me as too subtle and natural to have been pre-meditated. I wonder what Harrison Ford thinks.

[Mikeesracing]

I have watched the movie maybe 25 times. I never got that he was a replicant. He just fell in love with one. It does kind of fit, maybe more with the final cut. But I still don't feel that he is one.