*Spoiler Alert* Blade Runner Question

[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.