Blade Runner Message Board
Val Morton posts on 9/18/2010 3:54:11 PM
The thing that I found most interesting about the film was how the concept of mortality was repeated in the replicants and how the knowledge of death and the desire to escape it was foremost in each character. Even though the replicants were not human, this one element, more than any other in my opinion, is what blurred the line between what is human and what is not. The Nexus-6 models were given memories which made them feel connected to people and to the past. When they know they have an expiration date they go to great lengths to prevent the inevitable. As Roy begins to expire he laments how his memories will be washed away like tears in the rain. This is one of the fears of many who die, that they will be forgotten and that their lives will have meant nothing. When Roy saves Deckard, Deckard credits it to Roy's appreciation for all life, not just his own. I found it interesting that in the final scene it is presumed that Rachel will expire at some point even though she was made with "no expiration date". The final scene drives home the message that none of us knows how much time we have, but we should enjoy it while we can.
Cooper Camille posts on 9/17/2010 11:38:56 PM
I really enjoyed all of the concepts and somewhat hidden meanings in Blade Runner. I watched this film with a few other friends who were not analyzing it as I was and they missed so many of the subtleties and messages within the film. I particularly love the origami pieces throughout the film that Gaff gives to or leaves for Deckard. At the end of the film, Deckard and Rachel are driving in a place that is bright and has trees and life, unlike the rest of the setting for the film. I felt like in a way this was a whole new world...not at all like the one they left. They are starting a new life and they get a whole new clean and beautiful world to start over.
Stacy Schweikert posts on 9/16/2010 1:43:00 AM
Surprisingly this was the first time I had ever seen Blade Runner. I found the movie to be both exciting and thought provoking. It seems to be ahead of the times with the amount of ethical questions it raises about humanity. With the way technology is advancing I do believe that the creation of something similar to a replicant is highly possible (though maybe not in the next 9 years). Who then gets to decide upon a "life span" or what their purpose will be?
I enjoyed the fact that this movie required thinking, analysis, and ultimately the implementation of your own conclusions. The best example of this is the idea that Deckard himself was a replicant. The final scene of him with the origami unicorn left by Gaff could suggest that Gaff knew Deckard's dreams, because Gaff programmed them himself when creating Deckard.
I now understand what all the fuss was about; after 28 years people still talk and the mystery continues.
Shane Omersa posts on 9/15/2010 8:27:20 PM
I thought Blade runner was, overall, an excellent movie on many different levels. The graphics and effects were fantastic. The casting was superb. Underlying themes were vividly expressed as the movie commenced. I suppose the movie was meant to be fast paced, but it was too quick for my own liking. I found the character stories and movie plot intriguing and I would have liked for the movie to have expanded on those aspects more.
What jumped out at me about the replicants was the appreciation for life that they had. Of course they did wrongful things in the attempt to ultimately get to Tyrell, but faced with a certain death, they cherished the lives the had and did what they could to preserve it. Life is experience and Roy especially understood this, hating for it to merely fade away.
The way humanity was portrayed in this movie was interesting. Technology was undoubtedly the primary focus for the depicted future. Living complexes and skyscrapers extended to unreal heights. The technology was advanced and yet most humans lived poorly. Humans were greedy and selfish with an over-abundance of consumerism, but the making of artificial animals shows that they had not forgotten nature.
As to Deckard being a replicant, I find it plausible for him to be one. It would take reasoning not clear in the movie, but I think he very well could be.
M-64 posts on 9/14/2010 2:26:16 AM
I haven't seen Blade Runner in a long time, but I reject the notion that Deckard was a replicant on the grounds that it's too easy. If Roy saved Deckard the replicant, he was merely saving one of his own and that cheapens him as a character. Saving Deckard the human makes Roy more "human" himself.
Ember Curtiss posts on 9/12/2010 7:51:02 PM
What is humanity? The film goes to extreme depth to make the watcher question what humanity truly means. In the movie Blade Runner, humans are portrayed as self-centered, emotionless, and just plain evil. On the otherhand, the replicants in the movie portray a deep love for one another, a love of life, and a will to live. Evaluating this concept futher, I think that Scott perhaps was trying to show us the effects of technology on humanity. In the future, with so much technology, humans became almost numb to the world around them which can be seen in the world today. Not quite to that profound level, but to a level non the less. We need to be careful not to let technology control our humanity.
Alison Engelhardt (UMD) posts on 9/12/2010 2:14:45 PM
I found this films predictions of the future to be very interesting. Our technology has greatly advanced since when this film was made, yet in todays world technology has advanced in a way that is more streamline and more compact. I also found it interesting how crowded earth was portrayed as because the population is truely ever increasing. This film also greatly expressed the consequences of technology on the world. Real animals had become almost extinct, plant life seemed to have disappeared, and the world seemed less like a place with humanity. Sebastion was the only character to exhibit a trace of kindness towards others. Nothing good came of his kindness in the end either. This film portrays humanity as uncaring and mostly devoid of feelings. In a way, the replicants were the characters that potrayed the greatest range of determination, fear, and love. I also agree with the fact that the film leaves you wondering if Deckard is a replicant (especially when Rachel asks him if he has ever used his machine on himself). Overall, it was a very creative film with many themes to ponder.
Jeff Kramer (UMD) posts on 9/11/2010 10:12:26 PM
Hi Everyone
It took two times of watching this film for me to really start to find some of the underlying themes and depth of Blade Runner. For a film from 1982 I was very surprised by the special effects as well as the overall feel of this film (aside from some of the cars looking very cardboard).
The overall strongest message that I took from Ridley Scott's film was the broad theme of humanity and what it means to be human in this world. even though there were different classes of replicants in the city (rachel vs leon, etc) they were all looked at as less of a human even though they all had emotion, memories, feelings, and a purpose in life. Even though the Replicants were set to live a life of only four years, even they did not know when they were going to die, just like the rest of the humans on the earth. The theme of humanity and society's effects on the treatment of individuals is a very important topic even in today's (2010) society.
I was really impressed with this film and I imagine the next time I view it I will find even more under this complex and interesting story
Elizabeth Buenzow (UMD) posts on 9/9/2010 1:09:39 AM
I thought this movie was a great representation of many issues in our society today. So many people are quick to judge, many times based on appearance alone. I was a little confused during the movie as to what Deckard's opinion about the replicants truly was. It seemed to change throughout the movie and in the end, I had a feeling that Deckard might have been a replicant himself. This movie helped to prove that we are unable to judge a person based on one or two characteristics. The humans relied on empathetic responses to determine whether or not a person was a replicant or a human, but the replicants were able to learn the emotions and pass the empathy tests. We can all learn to be something or someone that we are truly not so judging a book by its cover is generally the wrong choice in most situations. This was a great movie and I can see why it has been nominated and has received so many awards. There are so many themes to pull out of this movie and so many possible interpretations of those themes. I would definitely suggest this movie to others!!
Vanessa Garcia posts on 8/16/2010 2:50:11 AM
I thought the movie was really slow in the beginning. As I continued to watch it, it slowly progressed into something more exciting. I was also at first confused on who the bad guy were. The replicants and the blade runner could have been seen in both ways. The replicants just wanted to live just like other people did, but they were seen as the criminals for breaking the rules. Dekkard could have been seen as the hero since he was the one who was retiring the replicants but I began to question if he really knew what his job was all about. His job was to kill replicants, no questions asked. But it seems like he began to question his job and humanity. There was a moment when I wondered if he was a replicant himself. The movie was dark and enforced deep thinking about what it really means to be human.
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