Blade Runner

This article is about the 1982 film. For Bladerunner (disambiguation), see Blade Runner (disambiguation).

Blade Runner
File:Blade Runner poster.jpg Original theatrical poster
Directed by	Ridley Scott
Written by	Screenplay: Hampton Fancher David Peoples Novel: Philip K. Dick
Produced by	Michael Deeley Bud Yorkin
Starring	Harrison Ford Rutger Hauer Sean Young Edward James Olmos Daryl Hannah
Cinematography	Jordan Cronenweth
Edited by	Marsha Nakashima Les Healey (dir. cut)
Music by	Vangelis
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release dates	June 25, 1982 (USA)
Running time	117 min. (intl. cut) 115 min. (dir. cut)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	US$28,000,000

Blade Runner is a 1982 neo-noir science fiction American film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. The film features Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, Daryl Hannah and Joanna Cassidy.

The film depicts a dystopian Los Angeles in November 2019 in which genetically manufactured beings called replicants – visually indistinguishable from adult humans – are used for dangerous and degrading work in Earth's "off-world colonies". Following a small replicant uprising, replicants become illegal on Earth; and specialist police units called "blade runners" are trained to hunt down and "retire" (kill) escaped replicants on Earth. The plot focuses on a brutal and cunning group of replicants hiding in Los Angeles and a semi-retired blade runner, Rick Deckard (Ford), who reluctantly agrees to take on one more assignment.

Blade Runner initially polarized critics; some were displeased with the pacing, while others enjoyed its thematic complexity. The film performed poorly in North American theaters but achieved success overseas. Despite the box office failure of the film, it has since become a cult classic. Blade Runner has been hailed for its production design, one said to depict a "retrofitted future". The film is credited with prefiguring important concerns of the 21st century, such as globalization, global warming and genetic engineering. It remains a leading example of the neo-noir genre. Blade Runner brought author Philip K. Dick to the attention of Hollywood and several more films have since been based on his work. Ridley Scott regards Blade Runner as his "most complete and personal film." In 2007, the American Film Institute listed it as the 97th greatest film of all time and the Internet Movie Database ranks the film as number 103 in the top 250 films.

Seven versions of the film have been created, for various markets, as well as a result of controversial changes made by film executives. A rushed Director's Cut was released in 1992 after a strong response to workprint screenings. This in conjunction with its popularity as a video rental made it one of the first films to see a DVD release. Warner Bros. announced in January 2006 the upcoming 25th anniversary theatrical and DVD release in late 2007 of the long-awaited remastered definitive Final Cut by Scott.

Production

Producer Michael Deeley became interested in Hampton Fancher's screenplay entitled Android (subsequently it was changed to Dangerous Days). Deeley convinced director Ridley Scott to create his first American film using Fancher's screenplay. Scott had previously declined the project, but after leaving the slow production of Dune, wanted a faster paced project to take his mind off his older brother's recent death. He joined the project on February 21, 1980, and went on to push Filmways promised financing on April 9 of $13 million up to $15 million.

When Scott noted Deckard's line of work needed a new name, Fancher found a cinema treatment by William S. Burroughs for Alan E. Nourse's novel The Bladerunner (1974), entitled Blade Runner (a movie). Scott liked it and Deeley obtained the rights to the titles, but Scott soon considered Blade Runner a working title for the film and wanted to find something more "commercial". (Note: Some editions of Nourse's novel use the two-word spacing Blade Runner, as does the Burroughs book.)

Over time, Scott became unhappy with the direction of the script and had David Peoples rewrite it. Fancher left the job on December 20, 1980 over the issue, although he later returned to contribute additional rewrites.

Having invested over $2.5 million in pre-production, as the date of commencement of principal photography neared, Filmways withdrew financial backing. In ten days, Deeley secured $21.5 million in financing through a three way deal between The Ladd Company (through Warner Bros.), the Hong Kong-based producer Sir Run Run Shaw, and Tandem Productions. This would later prove problematic as the release of the film's Special Edition (Final Cut) was delayed due to legal wrangling over distribution rights.

Philip K. Dick became concerned that no one had informed him about the film's production. After Dick criticized an early version of the script in an article in the Los Angeles Select TV Guide, the studio sent Dick the David Peoples rewrite. Although Dick died before the film's release, he was pleased with a forty-minute special effects test reel that he viewed and the motion picture was dedicated to him.

Blade Runner owes much to Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Ridley Scott credits Edward Hopper's painting Nighthawks and the proto-cyberpunk short story comic The Long Tomorrow (by Dan O'Bannon, art by Moebius) as stylistic mood sources. In addition, he drew on the industrial night time landscape of his one-time home of Teesside. Scott hired as his conceptual artist Syd Mead, who, like Scott, was influenced by the French science fiction comic magazine Métal Hurlant (Heavy Metal), to which Moebius contributed. Moebius was offered the opportunity to assist in the pre-production of Blade Runner, but he declined so that he could work on René Laloux's animated film Les Maîtres du temps, a decision he later regretted. Lawrence G. Paull (production designer) and David Snyder (art director) realized Scott's and Mead's sketches. Jim Burns briefly worked designing the Spinner hover cars; Douglas Trumbull and Richard Yuricich supervised the special effects for the film. Principal photography of Blade Runner began on March 9, 1981. Set design was partly inspired by cities such as Hong Kong and Tokyo, particularly the bright red light district of Kabukichō.

In 2006 Ridley Scott was asked "Who's the biggest pain in the arse you've ever worked with?" He replied: "It's got to be Harrison...he'll forgive me because now I get on with him. Now he's become charming. But he knows a lot, that's the problem. When we worked together it was my first film up and I was the new kid on the block. But we made a good movie." Ford has said of Scott in 2000: "I admire his work. We had a bad patch there, and I’m over it." More recently in 2006, Ford reflected on the production of the film saying: "What I remember more than anything else when I see Blade Runner is not the 50 nights of shooting in the rain, but the voiceover...I was still obliged to work for these clowns that came in writing one bad voiceover after another." Ridley Scott confirmed in the summer 2007 issue of Total Film that Harrison Ford has contributed to the Blade Runner Special Edition DVD, having already done his interviews. "Harrison's fully on board," said Scott.

Plot

Note: The following synopsis refers to the director's cut version of the film.

File:Bladerunner tyrellbuilding.jpg

A Spinner flies over the 700-story Tyrell Complex in Downtown Los Angeles, 2019.

An opening crawl following the main titles informs the viewer that advances in genetic technology have allowed scientists to create sophisticated biologically-engineered humanoid beings called "replicants". Following a violent revolt that takes place "off world," replicants are declared illegal on Earth.

In Los Angeles, November 2019, Deckard (Harrison Ford) is called out of retirement when a fellow Blade Runner, Holden (Morgan Paull) is shot during a Voight-Kampff test by Leon (Brion James), an escaped replicant. A reluctant Deckard is brought to his old boss Bryant (M. Emmet Walsh), who informs him that the recent escape of Nexus-6 replicants is the worst yet. He orders Deckard to eliminate the four replicants, a process referred to as "retirement". Deckard agrees to help after Bryant threatens him.

Bryant briefs Deckard on the replicants: Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) is a commando, Leon Kowalski (Brion James) a manual laborer, Zhora (Joanna Cassidy) an assassin built for martial arts, and Pris (Daryl Hannah) a "basic pleasure model". Bryant also explains that the Nexus-6 model has a four-year lifespan as a failsafe against their developing unstable emotions. Deckard is teamed up with Gaff (Edward James Olmos) and sent to the Tyrell Corporation to ensure that the Voight-Kampff test works on Nexus-6 models. While there, Deckard discovers that Tyrell's (Joe Turkel) young assistant Rachael (Sean Young) is an experimental replicant who believes she is a human; Rachael's consciousness has been enhanced with implanted memories from Tyrell's niece, an accomplishment that is satisfying to Tyrell.

Deckard and Gaff search Leon's apartment as Roy and Leon force Chew (James Hong), an eye designer, to direct them to J.F. Sebastian (William Sanderson) who can lead them to Tyrell. Later, Rachael visits Deckard at his apartment to prove her humanity to him, but leaves in tears after Deckard tells her that her memories are in fact implants. Clues lead Deckard to a sleazy strip club owned by Taffy Lewis (Hy Pyke), who employs Zhora. A chase through the crowded streets ensues and Deckard shoots and "retires" Zhora. Deckard meets with Bryant shortly after and is told to add Rachael to his list of retirements after she has disappeared from the Tyrell Corporation Headquarters. However, after Rachael saves Deckard's life when he is attacked by Leon, they become close and begin to fall in love. In another part of the city, we see Pris and Sebastian for the first time while she's on the street in search of Roy and company. After she freshens up, Roy arrives: then he and Pris employ Sebastian's help by explaining their plight in a very subtle, yet threatening manner. We then turn to Tyrell's penthouse apartment and see Sebastian and Roy arrive on the elevator. Once inside Roy proceeds to demand an extension to his lifespan and absolution for his sins; upon receiving neither, he kills Tyrell and then Sebastian.

Deckard is sent to Sebastian's apartment and is ambushed by Pris. Deckard manages to get the upper hand and retires Pris, just as Roy returns. Roy then traps Deckard in the apartment, hunting him throughout the dilapidated Bradbury Building and forcing him to the roof. As Deckard attempts to escape from the roof, he ends up hanging from a beam. Just as Deckard is about to fall, Roy saves his life. Roy is quickly deteriorating, as his 4-year lifespan is up early, and he "dies" on the rooftop. Deckard then considers whether or not to kill Rachael. His thoughts are echoed by Gaff who calls from a distance, "It's too bad she won't live; but then again, who does?" Deckard returns to his open apartment and finds Rachael alive. As they leave, Deckard finds an origami unicorn calling card left by Gaff and they depart towards an uncertain future together.

Cast

Main article: Characters in Blade Runner

With the exception of Harrison Ford, Blade Runner had a significant number of then-unknown actors in its cast. The cast included:

File:BladeRunner Deckard and Rachael.jpg

Deckard and Rachael share a tender moment

• Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard. Coming off some success with Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, but still a year before the release of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Ford was looking for a role with dramatic depth. After Steven Spielberg praised Ford and showed some Raiders rushes to Deeley and Scott they hired Ford. Due to the initially poor reception of Blade Runner and friction with Scott, Ford has usually avoided discussing the film, but in the July 2007 issue of Empire magazine, he revealed, "When we started shooting it had been tacitly agreed that the version of the film that we had agreed upon was the version without voiceover narration. It was a fucking nightmare. I thought that the film had worked without the narration. But now I was stuck re-creating that narration. And I was obliged to do the voiceovers for people that did not represent the director's interests."
• Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty, the violent yet thoughtful leader of replicants; and was regarded by Philip K. Dick as "the perfect Batty — cold, Aryan, flawless." Of the many films Hauer has done, Blade Runner is his favorite. As he explains:

Blade Runner needs no explanation. It just is. All of the best. There is nothing like it. To be part of a real masterpiece which changed the world's thinking. It's awesome.

• Sean Young as Rachael.
• Edward James Olmos as Gaff. Olmos used his diverse ethnic background, and some in-depth personal research, to help create the fictional "Cityspeak" language his character uses in the film. It later turned out that what he addresses to the sitting and eating Rick Deckard is partly in Hungarian and means "Horse dick! No way. You are the Blade... Blade Runner."
• Daryl Hannah as Pris.

Supporting roles

Main article: List of minor characters in Blade Runner

• M. Emmet Walsh as Captain Bryant. Walsh lived up to his reputation as a great character actor with the role of a hard drinking police veteran. Walsh's sleazy and underhand character resembles in many ways Orson Welles' Hank Quinlan in A Touch of Evil, and represents a further homage to the Film Noir genre.
• Joe Turkel as Dr. Eldon Tyrell. With a confident penetrating voice and a penchant for self-aggrandizement, this corporate mogul has built an empire on slavery.
• William Sanderson as J.F. Sebastian, a quiet and lonely genius who provides a compassionate yet compliant portrait of humanity. This led to more varied work for Sanderson.
• Brion James as Leon. Although at first glance a dumb replicant used for muscle, Leon did have an undertone of intuitive intelligence.
• Joanna Cassidy as Zhora. Cassidy portrays a strong woman who has seen the worst humanity has to offer.
• Morgan Paull as Holden. The Blade Runner initially assigned to the case, he is severely wounded by Leon while screening new Tyrell employees in an attempt to find the replicants, prompting his replacement with Deckard.
• James Hong as Hannibal Chew. An elder geneticist who loves his work, especially synthesizing eyes.
• Hy Pyke as Taffey Lewis. Pyke conveys Lewis' sleaziness with ease and apparently with one take; something almost unheard of with Scott's drive for perfection resulting at times in double digit takes.

Themes

Main article: Themes in Blade Runner

Despite the initial appearance of an action film, Blade Runner operates on an unusually rich number of dramatic levels. It owes a large debt to film noir, containing and exploring such conventions as the femme fatale, first-person narration (removed in later versions), and the questionable moral outlook of the Hero, extended here to include even the humanity of the hero, as well as the usual dark and shadowy cinematography.

It is one of the most literate science fiction films, both thematically enfolding the philosophy of religion and moral implications of the increasing human mastery of genetic engineering, within the context of classical Greek drama and its notions of hubris – and linguistically, drawing on the poetry of William Blake and the Bible. A theme subtly reiterated by the chess game between Roy and Tyrell based on the famous Immortal Game of 1851 symbolizing the struggle against mortality imposed by God. However, Scott himself has stated in Paul M. Sammon's Future Noir that this resemblance was purely coincidential.

File:BladeRunner Sun.jpg

Tyrell polarizing his office window

Blade Runner delves into the future implications of technology on the environment and society by reaching into the past using literature, religious symbolism, classical dramatic themes and film noir. This tension between past, present and future is apparent in the retrofitted future of Blade Runner, which is high-tech and gleaming in places but elsewhere decayed and old.

A high level of paranoia is present throughout the film with the visual manifestation of corporate power, omnipresent police, probing lights, and in the power over the individual represented particularly by genetic programming of the replicants. Control over the environment is seen on a large scale, hand in hand with the seeming absence of any natural life, with artificial animals being created as a substitute for the extinct originals. This oppressive backdrop underscores the reason many people are going to the off-world colonies. The film also makes extensive use of eyes and manipulated images to call into question reality and our ability to perceive it.

These thematic elements provide an atmosphere of uncertainty for Blade Runner's central theme of examining humanity. In order to discover replicants, an empathy test is used with a number of questions focused on the treatment of animals, thus making it the essential indicator of someone's "humanity". The replicants are juxtaposed with human characters who lack empathy, while the replicants appear to show compassion and concern for one another at the same time as the mass of humanity on the streets is cold and impersonal. The film goes so far as to put in doubt whether Deckard is a replicant and forces the audience to reevaluate what it means to be human. The question of whether Deckard is intended to be a human or a replicant has been an ongoing controversy since the film's release. Ridley Scott, after remaining coy for twenty years, stated in 2000 that Deckard is a replicant, and has reinserted a unicorn sequence into the Director's Cut indicating Deckard has false memories like Rachael. Both Hampton Fancher and Harrison Ford have stated that Deckard is human. The rough consensus of the debate is that in the original theatrical release of the film Deckard is probably human, whereas the Director's Cut hints that he may be a replicant.

In an interview with Ridley Scott in 2002, Journalist Lynn Barber of The Observer described the film as being "extremely dark, both literally and metaphorically, with an oddly masochistic feel." Ridley Scott explained that he "liked the idea of exploring pain" in the wake of his brother's death from skin cancer. "When he was ill, I used to go and visit him in London, and that was really traumatic for me."

Soundtrack

Main article: Blade Runner (soundtracks)

The Blade Runner soundtrack by Vangelis is a dark melodic combination of classic composition and futuristic synthesizers which mirrors the film-noir retro-future envisioned by Ridley Scott. Vangelis, fresh from his Academy Award winning score for Chariots of Fire, composed and performed the music on his synthesizers. The sound scape of 2019 was created in Vangelis' "space" mode of new age music, as heard on such albums of his as Heaven and Hell. He also made use of various chimes and the vocals of collaborator Demis Roussos. Another memorable sound is the haunting tenor sax solo "Love Theme" by UK saxophonist Dick Morrissey, who appeared on many of Vangelis' albums. Ridley Scott also used "Memories of Green" from Vangelis' album See You Later (an orchestral version of which Scott would later use in his film Someone To Watch Over Me).

Along with Vangelis' compositions and ambient textures, the film's sound scape also prominently features a track by the Japanese Ensemble Nipponia ('Ogi No Mato' or 'The Folding Fan as a Target' from the Nonesuch Records release "Traditional Vocal And Instrumental Music") and a track by harpist Gail Laughton ('Pompeii 76 A.D.' from Laurel Records recently reissued "Harps of the Ancient Temples").

Both emotional and unsettling, the Blade Runner score plays off conflict (discord versus harmony, light against dark) for a rich, textured tapestry of sound. — musicoutfitter.com

Despite being well received by fans and critically acclaimed and nominated in 1983 for a BAFTA and Golden Globe as best original score, and the promise of a soundtrack album from Polydor Records in the end titles of the film, the release of the original soundtrack recording was delayed for over a decade. There are two official releases of the music from Blade Runner. In light of the lack of a release of an album, The New American Orchestra recorded an orchestral adaptation in 1982 which bore little resemblance to the original. Some of the film tracks would in 1989 surface on the compilation Themes, but not until the 1992 release of the Director's Cut version would a substantial amount of the film's score see commercial release.

These delays and poor reproductions led to the production of many bootleg recordings over the years. A bootleg tape surfaced in 1982 at science fiction conventions and became popular given the delay of an official release of the original recordings, and in 1993 "Off World Music, Ltd." created a bootleg CD that would prove more comprehensive than Vangelis' official CD in 1994. A disc from "Gongo Records" features most of the same material, but with slightly better sound quality. In 2003, two other bootlegs surfaced, the "Esper Edition," closely preceded by "Los Angeles — November 2019." The double disc "Esper Edition" combined tracks from the official release, the Gongo boot and the film itself. Finally "2019" provided a single disc compilation almost wholly consisting of ambient sound from the film, padded out with some sounds from the Westwood game Blade Runner.

Reception

Template:Infobox movie certificates Blade Runner was released in 1,290 theaters on June 25 1982. That date was chosen by producer Alan Ladd, Jr. because his previous highest-grossing films (Star Wars and Alien) had a similar opening date (May 25) in 1977 and 1979, making the date his "lucky day." However, the gross for the opening weekend was a disappointing $6.15 million. A significant factor in the film's rather poor box office performance was that its release coincided with two other science fiction films, The Thing which opened the same day and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which was released in the U.S. on June 11, 1982, and dominated box office revenues at the time.

Film critics were polarized as some felt the story had taken a back seat to special effects and that it was not the action/adventure the studio had advertised. Others acclaimed its complexity and predicted it would stand the test of time.

In the United States, a general criticism was its slow pacing that detracts from other strengths; one film critic went so far as to call it "Blade Crawler." Roger Ebert praised Blade Runner's visuals and recommended it for that reason; however, he found the human story clichéd and a little thin. In 2007, upon release of The Final Cut, Roger Ebert somewhat revised his original opinion of the film and added it to his list of Great Movies.

Blade Runner has been nominated for and won many awards.

Year	Award	Category — Recipient(s)
1982	Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award	Best Cinematography — Jordan Cronenweth
1983	BAFTA Film Award	Best Cinematography — Jordan Cronenweth
		Best Costume Design — Charles Knode, Michael Kaplan
		Best Production Design/Art Direction — Lawrence G. Paull
1983	Hugo Award	Best Dramatic Presentation
1983	London Critics Circle Film Awards — Special Achievement Award	Lawrence G. Paull, Douglas Trumbull, Syd Mead — For their visual concept (technical prize).

It was nominated for the following awards:

• BAFTA (1983)
  • Best Film Editing — Terry Rawlings
  • Best Make Up Artist — Marvin G. Westmore
  • Best Score — Vangelis
  • Best Sound — Peter Pennell, Bud Alper, Graham V. Hartstone, Gerry Humphreys
  • Best Special Visual Effects — Douglas Trumbull, Richard Yuricich, David Dryer
• British Society of Cinematographers: Best Cinematography Award (1982) — Jordan Cronenweth
• Fantasporto
  • International Fantasy Film Award (1983) — Best Film — Ridley Scott
  • International Fantasy Film Award (1993) — Best Film — Ridley Scott (Director's cut)
• Golden Globe: Best Original Score (1983) — Motion Picture — Vangelis
• Academy Award (1983)
  • Best Art Direction-Set Decoration — Lawrence G. Paull, David L. Snyder, Linda DeScenna
  • Best Effects, Visual Effects — Douglas Trumbull, Richard Yuricich, David Dryer
• Saturn Award (1983)
  • Best Science Fiction Film
  • Best Director — Ridley Scott
  • Best Special Effects — Douglas Trumbull, Richard Yuricich
  • Best Supporting Actor — Rutger Hauer
  • Best Genre Video Release (1994) — Director's cut

Current rankings

Current recognitions for Blade Runner include:

• In 2007, the American Film Institute listed it as the 97th greatest film of all time, making it new to the list, having it been left of the 1997 version.
• The Internet Movie Database ranks the film as number 103 in the top 250 films. (November 2007)
• Blade Runner is currently ranked the third best film of all time by The Screen Directory.
• One of Time's 100 All-Time best movies.

Influence in film

File:BladeRunner Spinner Billboard.jpg

A police spinner flies alongside a huge advertising-laden skyscraper in Los Angeles at night.

Although it initially gained a small North American audience, the film was popular internationally and became a cult classic and has been often referenced. Blade Runner's dark style and futuristic design have served as a benchmark and its influence can be seen in many subsequent science fiction films and television programs. Batman Begins director Christopher Nolan used Blade Runner as a case study on how to create a "credible universe that doesn't appear to have any boundaries."

Blade Runner continues to reflect modern trends and concerns, and an increasing number consider it one of the greatest science fiction films of all time. The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1993 and is frequently used in university courses.

Cultural references

Music

Blade Runner is one of the most musically sampled films of the 20th century.

The character Roy Batty served as the apparent inspiration of several songs, such as electronic "The Fires of Ork" by Pete Namlook and Geir Jenssen (a.k.a. Biosphere), Unkle's "Main Title Theme" (both using Batty's line: "Fiery the angels fell... burning with the fires of Orc"), and in rock: Audioslave's "Show Me How To Live," White Zombie's "Electric Head Pt. 2 (The Ecstasy)" and "More Human Than Human" (a Tyrell Corporation slogan), Covenant's "Like Tears In Rain," Front Line Assembly's "Replicant," Sigue Sigue Sputnik's "Love Missile F1-11," Hoodlum Priest's "Tyrell" and Kent's "OWC," Fightstar's "Lost Like tears in rain." and "Tannhäuser Gate". Alain Jourgensen's Ministry-offshoot Revolting Cocks also reference Batty in their song "Attack Ships On Fire" from their debut album Big Sexy Land. Further, the band Haujobb derives its name from the misspelling of the German translation for "skinjob" as used by Captain Bryant when referring to replicants. Drum and Bass artist DJ Trace samples Deckard's dialogue in his track "Replicants."

Extracts from the musical score and dialogue have been used in several trance music mixes, the earliest being Paul Oakenfold's 1994 Goa Mix, which samples Roy Batty's "Tears In Rain" speech, and Vangelis' "Tears In Rain", "Main Titles" and "Rachel's Song".

Gary Numan is a Philip K. Dick fan and has cited Blade Runner as one of his favourite films; the title of his 1979 single "Are 'Friends' Electric?" (from the album Replicas) was influenced by Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Numan used vocal samples from Blade Runner for his songs "Call Out The Dogs," "My World Storm" and "From Russia Infected," and his song "Time To Die" was derived from Roy Batty's death scene (the lyrics paraphrase Batty's final speech). Numan admired Dick Morrissey's work on the Blade Runner score and invited the saxophonist to play on his 1983 album Warriors; Morrissey played on five of Numan's albums between 1983 and 1991.

Ambient/Electronic duo B12 From the album, "Time Tourist" (Warp/ Wax Trax/TVT,1996) samples the hover car in the song, "VOID/Comm- Replicant CMetric".

1987 Academy Award Winner (best score) and electronic/avant-garde musician/composer, Ryuichi Sakamoto has written two pieces of music inspired by the film, "Replica" and "Broadway Boogie-Woogie" (the latter of which used voice samples taken directly from the film). In 1999 an orchestral arrangement of "Replica" (initially an electronic piece) was performed on the "f" tour and can be heard on the album Cinemage.

There are several other songs influenced by the film (and book):

• Joe Satriani's "Tears in the Rain"
• Altered State's "Where's Harrison Ford?"
• Blind Guardian's "Time What Is Time"
• Fear Factory's "Replica,"
• Incubus' "Talk Shows On Mute"
• Kim Wilde's "Bladerunner"
• Circle of Dust's "Pale Reflection"

Games

In 1997 Westwood Studios released the PC adventure game Blade Runner.

Blade Runner has also influenced the adventure games Rise of the Dragon, Snatcher, Beneath a Steel Sky, and Flashback: The Quest for Identity, the anime series Bubblegum Crisis, the role-playing game Shadowrun, the computer game System Shock and the Syndicate games. The fictional language Cityspeak has been used in many cyberpunk genre role-playing games. The memorable Scrap Brain Zone level from the original Sonic the Hedgehog features an almost identical score to the Blade Runner 'End Title' theme, and is clearly a direct tribute. The J-E-N-O-V-A track from Final Fantasy VII also bears a close resemblance to the ending credit's theme. A level in the acclaimed TimeSplitters 2, "Neo Tokyo", is an obvious homage to Blade Runner, as it is set in the same year (2019), similar landscapes, and has an overall cyber-punk theme. The 1996 Battle Arena Toshinden URA fighting video game features an android character named "Replicant" like the humanoids in Blade Runner. Bryan Fury of the Tekken series is based heavily on Roy Batty.

Television

The film and music inspired a Subaru commercial.

The line "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe" occurs several times in the Torchwood episode Ghost Machine shown on BBC3 in 2007. In the new Battlestar Galactica series, the humanoid Cylons are sometimes referred to as "Skin-jobs".

Yoko Kanno's "Velveteen" from the Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex soundtrack album contains samples from the scene of Deckard driving through a tunnel while voices and sirens from police vehicles are heard.

Other

The "prototype issue" of Steve Gallacci's anthropomorphic comic book Albedo Anthropomorphics included a parody of the film entitled Bad Rubber. The Rick Deckard character was presented as a duck named "Rick Duckard".

Versions

Seven different versions of the film exist, but the most well known are the International Cut (1982) and the Director's Cut (1992):

• The U.S. theatrical version (1982), known as the original version, also called Domestic Cut, released on VHS in 1983, and re-released in 1992 as a "10th Anniversary Edition."
• Original workprint version (1982) shown to audience test previews, and occasionally at film festivals.
• The International Cut (1982) also known as "Criterion Edition" or uncut version, included more violent action scenes, than the U.S. theatrical version. Although initially censored in the U.S., and available in European and Asian theatrical and local Warner Home Video LD releases, it was later released on VHS and Criterion Collection Laserdisc in North America.
• The U.S. broadcast version (1986), the original version edited for profanity and nudity to suit a broad TV audience.
• Another workprint (1990) was distributed in 1991, as a Director's Cut at film festivals without Scott's approval. Its positive reviews pushed the studio to approve work on an official director's cut.
• The Ridley Scott-approved (1992) Director's Cut (1'51''48); prompted by the unauthorized 1991 workprint theatrical release, and made available on VHS in 1994 (1993 in Japan), and on Laserdisc in 1995.
• Ridley Scott's Final Cut (2007), or the "25th Anniversary Edition," was released by Warner Bros. theatrically on October 5, and scheduled for release on DVD, HD-DVD, and Blu-Ray on December 18. This is the only version Ridley Scott had complete artistic control over, while the Director's Cut was rushed and he was not directly involved.

Original versions (1982)

The 1982 American and European theatrical versions released by the studio included a "happy ending" (using stock footage from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining) and voiceovers added. Although several different versions of the script had included a narration of some sort, Harrison Ford and Ridley Scott decided to add scenes to provide the information; but studio executives rewrote and reinserted narration during post-production after test audience members indicated difficulty understanding the film. It has been suggested that Ford intentionally performed the voice-over poorly, in the hope it would not be used, but in a 2002 interview with Playboy magazine, Ford clarified: "I delivered it to the best of my ability, given that I had no input. I never thought they'd use it. But I didn't try and sandbag it. It was simply bad narration." Ford also stated in 1999: "I contested it mightily at the time. It was not an organic part of the film."

The International Cut, or "Criterion Edition," is similar to the U.S. theatrical release but has more violence in three scenes:

• When Batty confronts Tyrell in his bedroom, in addition to crushing Tyrell's face with his hands, Batty pokes out Tyrell's eyes with his thumbs, releasing a huge amount of blood.
• When Pris has somersaulted onto Deckard's back, rather than hitting him three times and then dropping him (as she does in all other versions), she hits him twice, then inserts her fingers into his nostrils and releases her legs, holding him up by his nostrils for a few seconds before he falls to the floor. The shot of him falling to the floor is identical in all versions. Deckard also shoots Pris an extra time, and the scenes of her thrashing spasmodically on the floor after having been shot are slightly extended.
• At the end of the film, Deckard hunts Batty, who pushes a nail through his own hand, which again bleeds profusely.

Director's Cut (1992)

File:BladeRunner Unicorn1.jpg

Deckard's dream in the 1992 Director's Cut

In 1990, Warner Bros. briefly allowed theatrical screenings of a 70 mm copy of the workprint version of the film, advertising it as a "Director's Cut." These sell-out screenings ran for two weeks at the NuArt Theater in Los Angeles, and the Castro Theatre in San Francisco. Ridley Scott publicly disowned this workprint version of the film as his definitive Director's Cut, citing that it was roughly edited, and lacked the score composed for the film by Vangelis. In response to Scott's dissatisfaction (and in part because of the film's resurgent cult popularity in the early '90s), Warner Bros. decided to assemble a definitive Director's Cut of the film, with direction from Scott, to be released in 1992.

They hired film-restorationist Michael Arick, who had rediscovered the workprint of Blade Runner, and who was already doing consultation work for them, to head the project with Scott. He started by spending several months in London with Les Healey, who had been the assistant editor on Blade Runner, attempting to compile a list of the changes that Scott wanted made to the film. He also received a number of suggestions/directions directly from the director himself. Three major changes were made to the film, which most would agree significantly changed the feel of the picture:

• The removal of Deckard's explanatory voice-over
• The re-insertion of a dream sequence of a unicorn running through a forest
• The removal of the studio-imposed "happy ending," including some associated visuals which had originally run under the film's end-credits.

The original sequence of Deckard's unicorn dream was not found in a print of sufficient quality; the original scene shows Deckard intercut with the running unicorn. Arick was thus forced to use a different print that shows only the unicorn running, without any intercutting to Deckard. This footage was inserted into what had previously been a continuous tracking shot. As mentioned above, the restoration of the unicorn scene suggest a completely different ending to the film: Gaff's origami unicorn means that Deckard's dreams are known to him, implying that Deckard's memories are artificial, and therefore he would be a replicant of the same generation as Rachael.

The cut did not include much of the "extra violence" included in the "International" version of the film.

Scott has since complained that time and money constraints, along with his obligation to Thelma & Louise, kept him from retooling the film in a completely satisfactory manner. While he is happier with the 1992 release of the film than with the original theatrical version, he has never felt entirely comfortable with it as his definitive Director's Cut.

In 2000, Harrison Ford gave his view on the Director’s Cut of the film saying, although he thought it "spectacular," it didn’t "move him at all." He gave a brief reason: "They haven't put anything in, so it's still an exercise in design."

Originally released as a single-disc DVD in March 1997, the Director's Cut was one of the first DVDs on the market. However, it is of low quality compared to DVDs of later standards, due to it being produced in the early days of the format. Warner Home Video re-released it with a new transfer in 2006 as a "Digitally Remastered Version." The 1997 2.0 Dolby Surround audio track remained unchanged, however.

The Final Cut (2007)

File:Blade runner final cut.jpg

Movie poster of Blade Runner: The Final Cut

Scott found time in mid-2000 to help put together a final and definitive version of the film, which was completed in mid-2001 with Blade Runner fan Charles de Lauzirika. During the process, a new digital print of the film was created from the original negatives, special effects were updated and cleaned, and the sound was remastered in 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound. Unlike the rushed 1992 Director's Cut, Scott personally oversaw the new cut as it was being made. The Special Edition DVD was slated for a Christmas 2001 release, and was originally rumored to be a three-disc set, including the full international theatrical cut, an early workprint with additional scenes, and the newly-enhanced version, in addition to deleted scenes, extensive cast and crew interviews, and the documentary On the Edge of Blade Runner. But Warner Bros. delayed the "Special Edition" release after legal disputes began with the film's original completion bond guarantors (specifically Jerry Perenchio), who were ceded the copyright to the film when the shooting ran over budget from $21.5 to $28 million.

After years of legal disputes, Warner Bros. announced in 2006 that it had finally secured full distribution rights to the film, and that there would be a three-stage release of the film. First, a digitally remastered single-disc re-release of the 1992 Director's Cut was released on September 5, 2006 in the United States, on October 9, 2006 in Ireland and the UK, and in the following months in continental Europe. Second, Ridley Scott's "Final Cut" of the film began a limited theatrical release in New York and Los Angeles on October 5, 2007, in Washington, DC at the Uptown Theatre on October 26, 2007, as well as Chicago on November 2, 2007, in Toronto on November 9, 2007 at Theatre D Digital's Regent Theatre, Melbourne, Australia on November 15, 2007, Boston at the Coolidge Corner Theater on November 16th, 2007, and Austin, Texas on November 18th, 2007. The third and final phase — a multi-disc box set — will be released on the DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-ray disc formats. The set will include the workprint, the two 1982 original theatrical versions (U.S. domestic and uncensored International cuts), the 2006-remastered Director's Cut, the 2007 Final Cut, and bonus features; all are scheduled for release December 18, 2007. Four-disc and two-disc sets will also be released, containing some of the features of the five-disc set.

The Final Cut contains the following changes to the Director's Cut:

• The shot of Deckard waiting to eat at the White Dragon has been shortened, its editing reminiscent of the workprint version of the shot. This was done due to the removal of the voiceover.
• All the violent scenes in the International Cut that were deleted in the U.S. theatrical release and Director's Cut are restored to the Final Cut.
• When Bryant and Deckard are looking at the Nexus-6 profiles, Bryant gives a description of Leon's job. This was from the workprint. There is also a change in Bryant's line to, "Two of them got fried running through an electrical field," thereby eliminating the erroneously missing "sixth replicant."
• When Gaff and Deckard first appear at Leon's apartment, the landlord now says "Kowalski". Another small bit originally from the workprint.
• A background behind Batty when he is first introduced speaking to Leon has been changed. As the shot was taken from a later scene, this has now been corrected to appear as if Batty is actually in the phone booth as Leon finds him.
• Deckard's conversation with the snake merchant Abdul Ben Hassan has been altered so that the dialogue is no longer out of sync; Ben Ford's mouth (lip-syncing the spoken dialog) was digitally placed over his father's.
• A shot of the busy crowds in the streets was restored. Immediately after that, a shot of two strippers wearing hockey goalie masks was restored. Finally, there's a shot of Deckard talking to another police officer. This sequence takes place just prior to Deckard entering the Snake Pit. These three shots had previously appeared in slightly different form in the workprint version.
• The original full-length version of the unicorn dream has been restored. This is a much different version than the one that appeared in the Director's Cut, and has never been in any version seen by the public prior to this one. Deckard is shown to be awake, previously he was asleep or nearly asleep.
• During Deckard's pursuit of Zhora, Joanna Cassidy's face has been digitally superimposed over that of the stunt double. This scene was re-filmed specifically for the Final Cut.
• A scar on Deckard's face after his "retirement" of Zhora has been removed. Originally, the scene in which Deckard meets Bryant after retiring Zhora was to take place after his encounter with Leon, explaining the scar. This was done prior to the removal of the "sixth replicant," creating a continuity error. Due to the re-ordering, the scar was always present before Deckard had actually gotten it.
• When Batty confronts Tyrell, he says, "I want more life, father." (from the workprint version and used in television broadcasts of the film), as opposed to the original line "I want more life, fucker."
• After killing Tyrell, Batty says "I'm sorry Sebastian. Come. Come." when before he merely approached the desperate Sebastian. This is also from the workprint.
• When Batty releases the dove, it now flies up into a background that matches 2019 L.A.

Future Noir

Prior to principal photography, Paul M. Sammon was commissioned by Cinefantastique magazine to do a special article on the making of Blade Runner. His detailed observations and research later became the book Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner, which is commonly referred to as the "Blade Runner Bible" by many of the film's fans. It will have a second edition published in 2007.

The book outlines not only the evolution of Blade Runner but also the politics and difficulties on set. It focuses particularly on the British director's experiences with his first American crew. About these difficulties, producer Alan Ladd, Jr. has said:

Harrison wouldn't speak to Ridley and Ridley wouldn't speak to Harrison. By the end of the shoot Ford was 'ready to kill Ridley', said one colleague. He really would have taken him on if he hadn't been talked out of it.

In addition, there are short biographies and quotes of some of the cast concerning their experiences with Blade Runner. Many photos of behind-the-scenes elements of the movie making process are printed, and preliminary sketches are provided as well.

Documentaries

On the Edge of Blade Runner (55 minutes) was produced in 2000 by Nobles Gate Ltd. (for Channel 4), was directed by Andrew Abbott and hosted/written by Mark Kermode. Interviews with production staff, including Scott, give details of the creative process and the turmoil during preproduction. Stories from Paul M. Sammon and Hampton Fancher provide insight into Philip K. Dick and the origins of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.

Interwoven are cast interviews (with the notable exceptions of Harrison Ford and Sean Young), which convey some of the difficulties of making the film (including an exacting director and humid, smoggy weather). There is also a tour of some locations, most notably the Bradbury Building and the Warner Bros. backlot that became the LA 2019 streets, which look very different from Scott's dark vision.

The documentary then details the test screenings and the resulting changes (the voice over, the happy ending, and the deleted Holden hospital scene), the special effects, the soundtrack by Vangelis, and the unhappy relationship between the filmmakers and the investors which culminated in Deeley and Scott being fired but still working on the film. The question of whether or not Deckard is a replicant surfaces.

Future Shocks (27 minutes) is a more recent documentary from 2003 by TVOntario (part of their Film 101 series using footage compiled over the years for Saturday Night at the Movies). It includes interviews with executive producer Bud Yorkin, Syd Mead, and the cast, this time with Sean Young, but still without Harrison Ford. There is extensive commentary by science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer and from film critics, as the documentary focuses on the themes, visual impact and influence of the film. Edward James Olmos describes Ford's participation and personal experiences during filming are related by Young, Walsh, Cassidy and Sanderson. They also relate a story about crew members creating T-shirts that took pot shots at Scott. The different versions of the film are critiqued and the accuracy of its predictions of the future are discussed.

Although neither documentary appears on the special edition DVD, a new 3 1/2 hour documentary, "Dangerous Days: The Making of Blade Runner," directed and produced by Charles de Lauzirika, will appear. It was culled from over 80 interviews, including Harrison Ford, and will also contain several alternate and deleted shots within the context of the documentary itself.

Novel

See also: Differences between the novel and film

The original screenplay by Hampton Fancher was based on Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which he optioned in 1980 after an unsuccessful previous attempt. However, Fancher's script focused more on environmental issues and less on issues of humanity and faith, which weighed heavily in the novel. When Ridley Scott became involved with the film, he wanted changes to the script made, and eventually hired David Peoples to perform the re-writes after Fancher refused. The film's title also changed several times during the writing process; it was to be called Dangerous Days in Fancher's last draft before eventually taking the title Blade Runner, borrowed (with permission) from a William S. Burroughs treatment of Alan E. Nourse's science fiction novel The Bladerunner (1974).

As a result of Fancher's divergence from the novel, numerous re-writes before and throughout shooting the film, and the fact that Ridley Scott never entirely read the novel on which the film was based, the film diverged significantly from its original inspiration. Some of the themes in the novel that were minimized or entirely removed include: fertility/sterility of the population, religion, mass media, Deckard's uncertainty that he is human, and real versus synthetic pets and emotions.

Philip K. Dick refused an offer of $400,000 to write a novelization of the Blade Runner screenplay, saying "[I was] told the cheapo novelization would have to appeal to the twelve-year-old audience" and "[it] would have probably been disastrous to me artistically." He added, "That insistence on my part of bringing out the original novel and not doing the novelization — they were just furious. They finally recognized that there was a legitimate reason for reissuing the novel, even though it cost them money. It was a victory not just of contractual obligations but of theoretical principles." In the end, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was reprinted for a time as a movie tie-in with the film poster as a cover and the original title in parenthesis below the Blade Runner title.

The producers of the film arranged for a screening of some special effects rough cuts for Philip K. Dick shortly before he died in early 1982. Despite his well known skepticism of Hollywood in principle, he became quite enthusiastic about the film. He said, "I saw a segment of Douglas Trumbull's special effects for Blade Runner on the KNBC-TV news. I recognized it immediately. It was my own interior world. They caught it perfectly." He also approved of the film's script, saying, "After I finished reading the screenplay, I got the novel out and looked through it. The two reinforce each other, so that someone who started with the novel would enjoy the movie and someone who started with the movie would enjoy the novel."

The film also draws upon We Can Build You, another of Dick's novels. In chapter 3 of We Can Build You, another character named Pris is described as wearing "odd make-up, eyes outlined in black, a harlequin effect, and almost purple lipstick; the whole color scheme made her appear unreal and doll-like." This description inspired the make-up worn by Pris in Blade Runner.

Folklore

Among the folklore that has grown up around the film over the years has been the belief that the film was a curse to the companies whose logos were displayed prominently in some scenes. While they were market leaders at the time, many of them experienced disastrous setbacks over the next decade and hardly exist today.

Atari, which dominated the home video game market when the film came out, never recovered from the next year's downturn in the industry, and by the 1990s had ceased to exist as anything more than a brand, a back catalog of games and some legacy computers. The Atari of today is an entirely different firm, using the former company's name. The Bell System monopoly was broken up that same year, and all of the resulting Regional Bell operating companies have since changed their names and merged with each other or other companies.

Pan Am suffered the terrorist bombing/destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 and went bankrupt in 1991, after a decade of mounting losses. Cuisinart similarly went bankrupt in 1989, though it lives on under new ownership. RCA was acquired by General Electric in 1986 and subsequently broken up.

The Coca-Cola Company suffered losses during its failed introduction of New Coke in 1985, but soon afterwards regained its marketshare and has continued to thrive as a leading soft drink manufacturer. Its continued success has made Coca-Cola a notable exception to the Blade Runner curse.

Spin-offs

Video games

Main article: Blade Runner (video game)

There are two video games based on the film, one for Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC 6128 by CRL Group PLC (1985) based on the music by Vangelis (due to licensing issues), and another action adventure PC game by Westwood Studios (1997). A prototype board game was also created in California (1982) that had game play similar to Scotland Yard. The cult computer game Snatcher was heavily influenced by Blade Runner, so much so that websites exist detailing the numerous similarities between the two. The Westwood PC game featured new characters and branching storylines based on the Blade Runner world, coupled with voice work from some of the original cast from the film and some recurring locations from the film.

It is noteworthy that the events portrayed in the 1997 game occur not after, but in parallel to those in the film – the player assumes the role of another replicant-hunter working at the same time as Deckard, though of course they never meet, so as to remain consistent with the film. The game was highly advanced for its time, featuring a non linear plot, and advanced non player characters that each ran in their own independent AI. Unfortunately, the game was hobbled by an unusual pseudo-3D engine (which eschewed polygonal solids in favor of voxel elements) that did not require the use of a 3-D accelerator card (then a very optional piece of hardware) to play the game. This system was credible when the game went into production, but seriously outclassed by the time the game was finally released. Westwood's production also presented some of the most technically advanced and visually stunning pre-rendered cutscenes seen in any game of its time.

Comics

Archie Goodwin scripted the comic book adaptation, A Marvel Comics Super Special: Blade Runner, published September, 1982. The Jim Steranko cover leads into a 45-page adaptation illustrated by the team of Al Williamson, Carlos Garzon, Dan Green and Ralph Reese. This adaptation was poorly received and widely ridiculed because of poor writing and misquoted dialogue taken from the film. (This adaptation includes one possible explanation of the title's significance in story context: the narrative line, "Blade runner. You're always movin' on the edge.") Two Blade Runner parody comics have been written: Blade Bummer by Crazy comics, and an anthropomorphic parody of the film known as Bad Rubber, which was written and illustrated by Steve Gallacci, and published in the prototype issue (Number 0) of his comic book title Albedo Anthropomorphics. In Bad Rubber, the character based on Rick Deckard is a duck named "Rick Duckard".

Sequels

Three official and authorized Blade Runner novels have been written by Philip K. Dick's friend K. W. Jeter that continue the story of Rick Deckard and attempt to resolve many of the differences between Blade Runner and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.

• Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human (1995)
• Blade Runner 3: Replicant Night (1996)
• Blade Runner 4: Eye and Talon (2000)

David Peoples, who co-wrote Blade Runner and wrote the 1998 film Soldier, has said that Soldier is intended to be what he calls a "sidequel" to Blade Runner. Soldier takes place in the same fictional universe, and the spinners used in Blade Runner are also used in Soldier. However, Soldier is an informal sequel as it was never formally approved by the Blade Runner partnership, which owns the rights to the Blade Runner universe.

Though not an official sequel to Blade Runner there are many similarities between the 1999 television series Total Recall 2070 and the Blade Runner universe. Total Recall 2070 was based on two works by Phillip K. Dick: "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" (the basis for the film Total Recall), and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (the basis for Blade Runner), so many consider the series a sequel to (or at least a spin-off of) Blade Runner. The artist Shu Lea Chang has suggested that her art-porn movie I.K.U. is meant as a sequel to Blade Runner.

Ridley Scott apparently toyed with the idea of a sequel film, which would have been titled Metropolis. However, the project was ultimately shelved due to rights issues. A script was also written for a proposed sequel entitled Blade Runner Down, which would have been based on K. W. Jeter's first Blade Runner sequel novel. At the 2007 Comic-Con Scott again announced that he is considering a sequel to the film.

External links

• Blade Runner – Official website
• Off-world: The Blade Runner Wiki
• Blade Runner at IMDb
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