A few gripes about BladeRunner

[Orrex]

After a discussion here last week about the relative merits of voiceover narration, I re-watched the director's cut of BladeRunner which, IMO, wisely omitted the distracting and heavy-handed VO. But in the viewing I noticed several things that really bug me:

The first and second scenes with Bryant are almost entirely redundant, with Bryant telling Deckard two separate times that the Replicants had stolen a shuttle and killed the passengers. It seems likely the the two scenes were filmed to see which worked better, but then they went ahead and put both in anyway. Sure, it's possible that police procedure required Bryant to repeat the details a second time, but there's nothing onscreen to support this other than the glaring repetition.

Deckard receives far too much backstory via expository dialogue. If he's really "the old BladeRunner," as Bryant calls him, then surely he must know something about the nature of Replicants without Bryant going into a long discussion of their advanced technology. This is likewise a glaring repetition, because the film's opening titles clearly establish what Replicants are and why their presence on Earth is forbidden.

The line "Memories. You're talkin' about memories" that Deckard says to Dr. Tyrell seems totally false and forced. The sentiment is believable, but the execution is flawed.

The dialogue between Deckard and "the Egyptian" snake-merchant is poorly matched to the lip-movements of the two characters. I don't know if that's a problem in ADR or something else, but it really distracted me.

Don't get me wrong—I really like the film, and the line "It's too bad she won't live/But then again who does?" is among my all-time favorites. But these minor glitches could easily have been remedied during edit or filming.

Oh. I also don't care for Scott's contention that Deckard is a Replicant. His rescue by Roy is much more powerful IMO if Deckard is forced to realize that the machine has lived more richly and is, frankly, more human than Deckard, if Deckard himself really is a human being.

[LisaLynne]

1. I've always thought that it was more powerful ...

if Deckard wasn't a Replicant, but my friends always whack me on the head when I say it. x(

[Orrex]

3. FWIW

Philip Dick explictly didn't hold that view, and neither did Harrison Ford. Not that PKD's view really matters that much, of course, since he wrote the novel and not the screenplay.

Still, I agree with you re: the relative power of Deckard-as-Replicant vs. Deckard-as-Human.

[tigereye]

16. I always thought of the Deckard as Replicant thing

as metaphorical.


as to the rest, I am impressed with your diligence in analyzing the film ;)

I still prefer the VO version, but I suppose I might feel differently if I had only seen the DC numerous times. It's much more noirish with the VO - more Dashiell Hammett and Bogartish...

[6000eliot]

19. I think the point is that it doesn't matter anymore

who is or isn't "human." I think it's a very powerful point.

[kay1864]

4. Good Wiki article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Themes_in_Blade_Runner#Deckard:_replicant_or_human.3F

And very good essay here: http://www.brmovie.com/Analysis/D-a-H_by_MC.htm (WARNING: very small type. Copy&paste to read)

[Blue_Tires]

25. thanks

i'll give it a look

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

24. I thought the 'Deckard as replicant' thing was primarily Ridley Scott's

interpretation, which he made more forcefully in the Director's Cut by inserting the little unicorn waking dream in the scene where Deckard is at the piano. I believe that footage was cribbed from "Legend" by the way... It makes the final scene with the silver origami unicorn significant, because then not only is Gaff saying "I was here, but it's cool, I'm letting you go", but also, "remember your unicorn dream? An implant. You are a replicant, also.".

A very cool device, I think, but for me the story works just as well if not better without this.

[Bridget Burke]

2. PK Dick hinted that Deckard was a Replicant...

In the source: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? But the movie was Something Else Again & I just accept it on its own--mostly.

One thing "left out" of the movie might help explain the world of Bladerunner--there had been a low-grade nuclear war. Not "the Big One"--but results were evident. The war messed up the weather, which was also used to dramatic effect: rain & gloom until the sun rose over the dove flying from the hand of the dying Replicant. Most animals were extinct. And many humans had physical problems--like the "toymaker."

It is evident that you like the film--these are just quibbles. And excuses to discuss it. Hmmm--maybe it's time for ME to watch it again.

(My vote: No voiceover!)

[Orrex]

5. Really? I'll need to re-read it

PK Dick hinted that Deckard was a Replicant in the source: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? But the movie was Something Else Again & I just accept it on its own--mostly

I'm astonished by this, because Deckard from the outset was able to participate in Mercerism and to use the Penfield Mood Organ, both of which required the emotional awareness and empathy that the Replicants lacked.

One thing "left out" of the movie might help explain the world of Bladerunner--there had been a low-grade nuclear war.

With Red China, if memory serves. This was a common theme in PKD's writing, as you're probably aware!

Honestly, I like that this element of the backstory was omitted, because it created a backdrop without smothering the foreground. A very nice scripting/directorial choice, IMO.

Also, either there's some kind of "warp" technology available (if Roy was indeed able to see "attack ships burning off the shoulder of Orion") or else this, too, was an implanted memory far more vivid than any "real" memory enjoyed by Deckard or the rest of us lowly humans...

[EstimatedProphet]

18. What I got from the novel

It's been a long time too, so bear with me...

There's a scene in the novel where Deckard encounters another set of police that hunt replicants, but turn out to actually be replicants. Neither group is aware of the other. Each group see members of the other group as replicants-the replicant police group hunts down humans because they believe that they actually are humans and that real humans are replicants. I think it was from this that Scott tried to imply that Deckard may be a replicant and not know it, in order to try to capture that confusion from the novel.

[democracyindanger]

6. PKD also seemed to make a repeated point

about Deckard having to put on his "codpiece." It's like everytime he was headed outside, the reader had to be assured that Deckard's codpiece was in place.

[bikebloke]

7. A bit of trivia

While living in a group flat, one of my flat mates was chinese and watching Bladerunner. Suddenly he started laughing. He said some of the chinese writing on the set said "americans are stupid".

[anarch]

9. haha! that is awesome

one of those "it's funny 'cause it's true" sort of things

[jukes]

8. MY gripe?

sean young didn't show us her tits.

o'wise, it was a GREAT film!

[Orrex]

10. Now *that's* a sophisticated reading

In the book, by the way, the Rachael Rosen and Pris Replicants were cast literally from the same mold. It would have been interesting to see either Sean Young or Daryl Hannah play both parts, though it might have changed other aspects of the story.

[jukes]

11. sometimes

you just have to go w/ your, uh, gut reaction!




BARELY remember having read the book, wasn't it "do androids dream of electric sheep?"?

[Orrex]

12. Correct!

The title makes more sense in the context of the story, but the film is pretty far removed from the novel in any case.

[jukes]

13. apsitively!

excellent film for the time, though.

[Orrex]

14. It's aged surprisingly well

Despite the Commodore VIC20 graphics in the Police Spinner.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

15. I think they used the same graphics as in 'Alien' (ship navigation).

[tigereye]

17. still one of my favorite films

[DrGonzoLives]

20. I always thought the movie sucked

Seriously. It's awful.

"And Deckard and the android lived happily after all..."

Vomit.

[Orrex]

21. Clearly, you're a Replicant. What else could explain it? (nt)

[DrGonzoLives]

22. *smoke comes out ears*

n/t

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

23. Director's Cut REMOVES the cheezy 'happy ever after' ending that felt

so tacked on, and inconsistent with the dark tone of the rest of the film, when I saw it on initial release in the theaters.

Obviously this was not part of Ridley Scott's concept of the film and was forced on him by the studio marketing geniuses.

It's worth checking out. I think that's the main, or only, DVD version you see in stores now.

[DrGonzoLives]

26. So I've heard

I might have to go check it out again sometime. I just always preferred the book's ending, where everything is just kind of unchanged.

I also object to the removal of Buster Friendly, but that's an argument for another day.