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Kelly O. posts on 4/2/2009 6:00:37 PM Reading over the forums, and reading over this discussion, I feel like there is a fine line between being a replicant and being a human. I really got a sense that it is almost impossible, without interrogating a replicant, to tell if they actually are a replicant. (There are a few other ways such as the glowing eyes, but I'll leave that for others to discuss.) Otherwise, they are seemingly like everyone else, unless called out. It really makes you question what being is, and what it is to be a human. The debate between whether or not Deckard is a replicant will probably continue well in to the future, but I agree with many of the recent posts, that he is indeed a replicant. Being that the only way to tell is through interrogation, the director sets up the question throughout the whole movie, because Deckard is skilled in interrogation and knowing what to look for. Plus they never explicitly say whether or not he took the test himself. There is also the unicorn dream which would have been impossible for Gaff to know about unless there is something they aren't telling you, such as that this dream had been implanted like Rachael's were. His "relationship" with Rachael also brings up questions about his emotion and whether he is emotionally more disconnected. I think this shows when they make love and Deckard is extremely aggressive. Does that make him a replicant? Not necessarily, however, the hints are there to take them as you will. Who better to lead a fight against replicants than a replicant himself?
Jacob Y posts on 4/1/2009 12:17:17 AM Watching Blade Runner this time was very interesting for me. I have seen it only once before with a good friend of mine, but I was not really giving it my complete attention at the time. I had the basic understanding of the film, but it was not until watching it this last time that I really picked up on some key, important details; the most interesting detail being the possibility of Deckard being a replicant. The first I watched the movie I did not understand why there was a unicorn on the floor at the end, but I just brushed it off assuming that I had missed something earlier on in the film. However, this time I remembered his dream and thought there must be the connection there. Upon reading some posts on various websites, it was obvious that this has been debated for quite awhile, and from these sites I came to a decision. Basically I agreed that there is a lot of evidence that would suggest that Deckard is a replicant; but some people insisted that there was evidence that proved the opposite, or simply showed flaws in this theory. I decided to investigate this further and found out that this part was not actually included in the original release; therefore many claim that it was merely added to revive interest in the film when it was re-released. This made sense, until I happened to find an interview with Ridley Scott where he states that there was always intent to include that scene. In fact, he states that it works perfectly with doing a film noire; having the theme of the main character being the very thing he is chasing all along. Basically, it was very interesting to watch this movie again since I missed so much; but of all the themes and details this movie explores, this “twist” of sorts was by far my favorite.
Laura F. posts on 3/30/2009 11:21:54 PM I think that Blade Runner was a very interesting movie. I went into watching it with a very skeptical and critical mindset because I have never really enjoyed futuristic movies much. After watching it and reading about it more online I found that I actually enjoyed it. Parts of the movie did confuse me though. One of the scenes that was particularly perplexing for me was the one in which Deckard and Rachel make love. Deckard is especially rough with Rachel to the point that it is almost disturbing. I was unable to figure out why he acted this way toward her. It just didn't make sense to me because he loves her but treats her like an animal in this scene. One review of the movie that I found online explained that this rough treatment might be evidence that Deckard is a replicant. He said that because replicants are supposedly undeveloped emotionally, that they find it difficult to process very emotional things in an appropriate way, such as love making. I'm not sure I necessarily agree with this interpretation however the idea was intriguing especially because of the other evidence pointing to the fact that Deckard is possibly a replicant.


Mike A - UMD posts on 3/30/2009 8:50:47 PM This was the first time that I have seen the movie, but have heard very good things about it from many people. The first thing that struck was how futuristic the world was (flying cars, voice activated computers, etc...). For being set in 2019, which is only 10 years away, it was interesting to get a glimpse into what people thought the world could be like in the early 1980's. In regards to Deckard, I can say that although I think that Deckard probably is a replicant, I can't say that I believe that with any certainty. There is a lot of evidence that points in both directions. The unicorn aspect is very interesting (something I missed at first) but finding it at the end made me lean towards replica. All in all, it is a very thought provoking movie which touches on a lot of aspects about our humanity and our general appreciation for life.
Dan posts on 3/30/2009 8:47:18 PM Deckard is a great character in Blade Runner because he brings so many questions to the table for discussion. The main one is if he is a human or not, which I still can't figure out. I want to say that he is a replicant though because he has never been tested and he was just starting to feel attachments to the people he was killing when he was rehired, which means he must not of felt that before. Also the dream about the unicorn and how the man hinted towards him that he will be hunted if he doesn't take the job. Whether or not he or any of the others are humans shouldn't matter because they have all of the same qualities of humans anyway. They feel emotion so I don't see how it is fair to limit their life to only four years. After a couple years they are the same as humans anyway and shouldn't have to live with fear. Another part of the movie I enjoyed was Roy outsmarting his maker in chess and taking out his aggression on him for limiting his life. I would have done the same thing for only giving me four years to live. I also liked how Deckard ended up running away from the terrible world they were put in to go with his love to live in peace until one day they would die the right way, not living in fear everyday of getting their life taken for just being there.
Chris S. UMD posts on 3/5/2009 11:38:56 PM I just watched the movie Blade Runner for the first time. I do not usually watch Sci-fi films so this is a newer experience to me. After reading some of the posts before me I caught realized a lot of different things that I did not catch during the movie. I guess that is one quality of a good movie in that you can watch it again and find stuff that you had missed before. I liked this movie in how it showed the emotional aspect of this otherwise "diseased" earth. The earth seems like an over populated place that has been forgotten to go to waste, which is why most people were on a hurry to get off of it, but there is still that sense of love and feelings that Deckard and Rachel feel as well as Pris and Roy. Whether they were human or not. One of my favorite quotes from the movie was just before Deckard almost fell off the building in the end and Roy says, "Quite an experience living in fear isn't it, that's what it is like to be a slave." I just think it showed how the replicants felt about being a slave to the human race and not knowing when they were going to "expire".
Dave O posts on 2/24/2009 9:46:43 PM I have just watched blade runner. I must have missed an important part where Deckard dreams about a unicorn, because on my first watching of the film, I had no idea that he was a replicant. On looking at some sites discussing the film, I realized that I missed something and went back and watched it again with the idea that Deckard was a replicant. It led to 2 very different viewings of the film. The first is that it presents an equality of life discussion. If replicants can feel, and think, and remember and do everything else that a human can, then how are they different. It is very similar to the discrimination issue that the U.S. went through. It didn't belong then and it doesn't belong now, or in the future. Since life is so short, enjoy what time we have on it. The second viewing, with Deckard as the replicant, was a far darker movie. It highlighted abuses in power, predetermined fate, but eventually freedom. At the begining of the movie, as Deckard is being "rehired" into being a blade runner, the captain threatens him by saying "if you're not one of us, you're one of them," meaning that Deckard would be just another rogue replicant to be retired. But if he worked in the system he wouldn't be. Hypocrisy exists and is highlighted. If he was just a replicant then he is just built to hunt others, until his time expires, yet as he comes to understand the feelings he has and is developing for Rachel, he makes the choice to run for freedom and to take the time and enjoy it with someone he loves.
stah0124 posts on 2/18/2009 2:16:49 AM There seems to be a lot of discussion about whether Deckard is a replicant himself or not. I believe this is a good question for one reason. That being, one of the questions this movie seems to address is that of what it means to be human. Is Deckard? Is Rachel? What makes the distinction? Rachel thinks she is human, the other Nexus 6 models are on a quest to live, and the dancer flees from Deckard when she feels her “life” is in danger. Are these not all things that would be experienced by a human? Interesting is the fact that Deckard has never taken the test himself. Is he afraid to test his humanity? What would happen if we all had to take the test? Are there some replicants among us? Are you truly human? The chess game is great. I love how Roy defeats Tyrell in the game before he deflects him in real life. The creator’s creation is his demise. It is almost poetic that Roy meets his creator and shows him defeat before killing him. There is so much symbolism in that chess game.
kevin skalicky UMD posts on 2/11/2009 2:38:05 PM I would have to disagree with the fact that Deckard is a replicant. I think that he being a human enhances the love story side of the movie. Much like a Romeo and Juliet example, they are two people who society views as incompatible. I think that the storyline was way ahead of it's time, but the graphics and special effects were less than impressive. Even by 1982 standards, they were average at best. Star wars debuted in 1977 and had far better graphics. I really enjoyed the scene where Roy meets Tyrell. I thought the chess match was very symbolic of how society views the replicants as pawns in our own game. Vice versa, Roy was able to manipulate Sebastian into leading him to Tyrell. Overall I thought it was an interesting movie, but it's easy to see why it was originally unpopular among the sci fi community. I think people were attracted by the story line, but didn't understand Scott's hidden messages within the movie.
Dani Spolarich UMD posts on 2/9/2009 7:23:12 PM This was also my first viewing of BladeRunner. I borrowed it from a guy that I work with who is a huge fan of the movie and got a whole box set from him. I did watch the extended version but, not having anything to compare it to, I am not sure how much different it actually is. One of the things that I thought was really interesting was that earth was actually kind of the slums in 2019. Those that met the criteria were allowed to leave earth and medical issues and such would hold you back on this planet. The interaction with Rachael was the thing that probably interested me the most. If she was a replicant and her apparent ability to have feelings and such. I really that idea overall was pretty interesting. That they were making clones but, they knew ahead of time that there might be a catch so, they opted to set them to die in four years. Bladerunner was really very new to me. I haven't watched much sci fi in the past and from what I hear, this was a pretty good introduction. I thought that the idea was pretty interesting but, the thing that really hooked me the most was what their idea of the future was in 1982, to think that was was envisioned is a time that is only ten years away.
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