*Spoiler Alert* Blade Runner Question - Blu-ray Forum

School · 01-01-2008, 11:40 PM

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

Kirsty_Mc · 01-01-2008, 11:51 PM

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 · 01-01-2008, 11:52 PM

Quote:

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.

vsbdtv · 01-02-2008, 12:43 AM

Quote:

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 · 01-02-2008, 12:57 AM

Quote:

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.

sean10mm · 01-02-2008, 01:02 PM

- 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 · 01-02-2008, 01:13 PM

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?

sean10mm · 01-02-2008, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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?

Nothing in the movie says they don't feel pain. Several of them are obviously in pain at various points in the movie.

Paladin · 01-04-2008, 02:51 AM

If Decker was a replicant, then somebody needs to get their money back on him. Pris, the pleasure model replicant kicked his ass, and that's about as low as you can go on the food chain.

I actually liked the U.S. release over the final cut. The voice over on the roof of Decker rationalizing why he wasn't killed was better then the plain rainfall of the final cut.(IMHO)

A little nit pick, they implanted memories into Rachel, family stuff, and incidents to try and get a more stable model. There is no indication (movie wise) they implanted certain dreams into Rachel. From what was said she was the first, which would mean Decker would have been a newer model, which then wouldn't explain why he got his ass kicked all the time.

Paladin

Sandman416 · 01-04-2008, 03:03 AM

All I will say on this is read the book, Blade Runner 2. I just finished it and it might help.

Grubert · 01-22-2008, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paladin

If Decker was a replicant, then somebody needs to get their money back on him. Pris, the pleasure model replicant kicked his ass, and that's about as low as you can go on the food chain.

Very well put.

When he chases Zhora, he misses twice before hitting her. And he needs a second shot to finish her off.

When he's waiting for Batty to appear, he has a steady shot and still Batty is too fast for him. Later, when he is going down the corridor, Batty senses the exact location of his arm so he can punch through the drywall and grab his gun hand. Afterwards, when he gets the gun in his left hand, he is unable to pinpoint the exact position of Batty's head and merely grazes his ear.

All of the final chase is typical human-vs-machine (see Terminator) or human-vs-superhuman stuff. Make both of them replicants and it makes no sense at all.

Note: I watched the original film a dozen times before the Director's Cut was even out. Never did it occur to me that Deckard could be a replicant. None of my friends thought that either.

MATTYBLU2 · 01-04-2008, 03:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sean10mm

Nothing in the movie says they don't feel pain. Several of them are obviously in pain at various points in the movie.

yes i realize that now i have seen it again tonight. it has been a while since i have seen it. thanks

MATTYBLU2 · 01-04-2008, 03:38 AM

i scored this one along with 4 others today at BB with the 5 free instantly. got to watch it again for the first time in years and really enjoyed it.

Mr. Joshua · 01-23-2008, 02:33 AM

WOW, people are over analyzing Blade Runner. Deckard is a replicant. Enough said... Too many what if questions with people watching this one. It is what it is, the movie makes you think. Replicants have a human side, they were made like their creator... Sounds familiar doesn't it? Created in the image of the creator... A religious movie? One wonders.........

DeeChizzle · 01-23-2008, 03:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wsciv123

WOW, people are over analyzing Blade Runner. Deckard is a replicant. Enough said... Too many what if questions with people watching this one. It is what it is, the movie makes you think. Replicants have a human side, they were made like their creator... Sounds familiar doesn't it? Created in the image of the creator... A religious movie? One wonders.........

I would think that a movie that needs 4 different versions (counting euro version) would need plenty of analyzing and some over analyzing to not only understand the film but to appreciate it as it well. I hope that you are not misinterpeting my excessive analyzation of this film by thinking that I don't appreciate it as well. I will admit I was not fond of this movie as a kid, but now that I've watched it again with an open mind, I can see why so many people are fond of this movie.

tron3 · 01-02-2008, 01:14 PM

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 · 01-02-2008, 01:22 PM

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.

ZeeMan84 · 01-04-2008, 03:22 AM

The way I see it after watching the Final cut is that Deckard is a replicant. I draw this conclusion from this one shot where Sean Young's character and Harrison Ford's character are in his apartment and you can see her eyes have RED pupil and so does Deckard's. This RED pupil thing is visible in all the other four replicants too.

MATTYBLU2 · 01-04-2008, 03:35 AM

just picked this up today at BB and watched teh final cut tonight, it was great. thought they did a nice job. looks fantastcic in blu ray by the way.

i did enjoy not having the voice overlay in this one. my opinion is that deckard is not a replicant, why would he be? he is an old beat up cop/blade runner sent out to kill 4 more of his own? does not seem to go since the replicants stick together and kinda defend each other. i still think he is human and like someone else said he fell in love with a replicant...

just my 2 cents.

makaveli21 · 01-22-2008, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MATTYBLU2

just picked this up today at BB and watched teh final cut tonight, it was great. thought they did a nice job. looks fantastcic in blu ray by the way.

i did enjoy not having the voice overlay in this one. my opinion is that deckard is not a replicant, why would he be? he is an old beat up cop/blade runner sent out to kill 4 more of his own? does not seem to go since the replicants stick together and kinda defend each other. i still think he is human and like someone else said he fell in love with a replicant...

just my 2 cents.

Like Rachel, he doesn't know he is a replicant. It makes the line "How does it not know what it is?" in reference to Rachel pretty ironic...

01-02-2008, 01:14 PM	#16
tron3 Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Aug 2004 Location:New Jersey Blu-ray reviews:3	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. Last edited by tron3; 01-03-2008 at 12:28 PM.

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01-01-2008, 11:40 PM	#1
School Power Member Member since:Dec 2007 Home Theater Gallery:11 Blu-ray collection:299 Trading Score:7	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

01-01-2008, 11:51 PM	#2
Kirsty_Mc Power Member Top contributor Member since:Oct 2007 Location:UK Blu-ray collection:536 Blu-ray reviews: 21	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!!!

01-02-2008, 01:02 PM	#6
sean10mm Active Member Member since:Nov 2007 Blu-ray reviews:4	- 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.

01-02-2008, 01:13 PM	#7
MATTYBLU2 Banned Member since:Sep 2007 Location:NH Blu-ray collection:60 Trading Score:21	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?

01-04-2008, 02:51 AM	#9
Paladin Active Member Member since:Dec 2006 Blu-ray collection:11	If Decker was a replicant, then somebody needs to get their money back on him. Pris, the pleasure model replicant kicked his ass, and that's about as low as you can go on the food chain. I actually liked the U.S. release over the final cut. The voice over on the roof of Decker rationalizing why he wasn't killed was better then the plain rainfall of the final cut.(IMHO) A little nit pick, they implanted memories into Rachel, family stuff, and incidents to try and get a more stable model. There is no indication (movie wise) they implanted certain dreams into Rachel. From what was said she was the first, which would mean Decker would have been a newer model, which then wouldn't explain why he got his ass kicked all the time. Paladin

01-04-2008, 03:03 AM	#10
Sandman416 Member Member since:Jan 2008 Location:Keller TX	All I will say on this is read the book, Blade Runner 2. I just finished it and it might help.

01-04-2008, 03:38 AM	#13
MATTYBLU2 Banned Member since:Sep 2007 Location:NH Blu-ray collection:60 Trading Score:21	i scored this one along with 4 others today at BB with the 5 free instantly. got to watch it again for the first time in years and really enjoyed it.

01-23-2008, 02:33 AM	#14
Mr. Joshua Blu-ray Guru Member since:May 2007 Home Theater Gallery:6 Blu-ray collection:153	WOW, people are over analyzing Blade Runner. Deckard is a replicant. Enough said... Too many what if questions with people watching this one. It is what it is, the movie makes you think. Replicants have a human side, they were made like their creator... Sounds familiar doesn't it? Created in the image of the creator... A religious movie? One wonders.........

01-02-2008, 01:22 PM	#17
Mikeesracing Active Member Member since:Oct 2006 Location:Kuwait	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.

01-04-2008, 03:22 AM	#18
ZeeMan84 Active Member Member since:Nov 2007 Location:Orlando, FL	The way I see it after watching the Final cut is that Deckard is a replicant. I draw this conclusion from this one shot where Sean Young's character and Harrison Ford's character are in his apartment and you can see her eyes have RED pupil and so does Deckard's. This RED pupil thing is visible in all the other four replicants too.

01-04-2008, 03:35 AM	#19
MATTYBLU2 Banned Member since:Sep 2007 Location:NH Blu-ray collection:60 Trading Score:21	just picked this up today at BB and watched teh final cut tonight, it was great. thought they did a nice job. looks fantastcic in blu ray by the way. i did enjoy not having the voice overlay in this one. my opinion is that deckard is not a replicant, why would he be? he is an old beat up cop/blade runner sent out to kill 4 more of his own? does not seem to go since the replicants stick together and kinda defend each other. i still think he is human and like someone else said he fell in love with a replicant... just my 2 cents.

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