Blade Runner

Blade Runner
File:Blade Runner poster.jpg
Directed by	Ridley Scott
Written by	Philip K. Dick (novel) Hampton Fancher David Peoples
Produced by	Michael Deeley
Starring	Harrison Ford Rutger Hauer Sean Young Edward James Olmos Daryl Hannah
Music by	Vangelis
Distributed by	Warner Brothers
Release dates	June 27, 1982 (USA)
Running time	117 min. (international cut) 115 min. (director's cut)
Language	English
Budget	$28,000,000

Blade Runner is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, which depicts a dystopian Los Angeles in November 2019.

The screenplay, which was written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely 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, M Emmet Walsh, Daryl Hannah, William Sanderson, Brion James, Joe Turkel and Joanna Cassidy. The lead art designer was Syd Mead, and the soundtrack composer was Vangelis.

The film describes a future in which genetically manufactured beings called replicants are used for dangerous and degrading work in Earth's "off-world colonies." Built by the Tyrell Corporation to be 'more human than human', the Nexus-6 generation appear to be physically identical to humans — although they have superior strength and agility — while lacking comparable emotional responses and empathy. Replicants became illegal on Earth after a bloody mutiny. Specialist police units — blade runners — hunt down and "retire" (i.e. kill) escaped replicants on Earth. The film primarily focuses on a particularly brutal and cunning group of replicants hiding in Los Angeles and a semiretired blade runner, named Rick Deckard, who reluctantly agrees to take on one more assignment.

Blade Runner initially received polarized reviews from film critics; some were confused and disappointed that it didn't have the pacing expected from an action film, while others appreciated its thematic complexity. The film performed poorly in North American theaters while achieving success overseas. Despite poor early ticket sales, it was adored by fans and academia and quickly attained cult classic status. It gained such great popularity as a video rental, partly due to the film's ability to reward repeated viewing, that it was chosen to be one of the first DVDs to be released. Blade Runner has been widely hailed as a modern classic for its immersive special effects and prefiguring important themes and concerns of the 21st century. It has been praised as being one of the most influential films of all time because of its detailed and original setting, serving as a postmodern visual benchmark with its realistic depiction of a somber retrofitted future. Blade Runner brought author Philip K. Dick to the attention of Hollywood, and numerous films have since been based on his writings.

Production

File:BladeRunner Spinner Billboard.jpg

A police spinner flies alongside an advertising-laden skyscraper in LA.

The screenplay by Hampton Fancher, which was initially titled Android, and then Dangerous Days, attracted producer Michael Deeley, who eventually convinced director Ridley Scott to create his first American film. Scott had previously passed on the project, but soon after, he bailed out of the slow production of Dune and wanted a faster project to take his mind off his brother's recent death. With Ridley onboard on February 21, 1980, the movie studios began lining up to finance the film. On April 9th, Filmways Pictures promised $13 million; but after a request by Scott it was bumped up to $15 million.

When Scott noted Deckard's line of work needed a new name, Fancher happened upon a copy of Bladerunner, A Movie, which was a cinema treatment by William S. Burroughs for Alan E. Nourse's novel The Bladerunner (1974). 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.)

Scott became unhappy with the direction of the script and had David Peoples rewrite it. This infuriated Fancher who quit on December 20, 1980 (he came back near the end to do some rewrites) because he believed a hack was hired to give Scott what he wanted. But after reading the Peoples script he was surprised how well Scott's ideas were incorporated into the script, and in the end Fancher and Peoples became good friends.

Then disaster struck when Filmways pulled their financial backing weeks away from principal photography and after investing over $2.5 million in pre-production. This forced Deeley to scramble for new financing and in ten days he managed to secure $21.5 million in financing through a three way deal between The Ladd Company (through Warner Brothers), 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 continues to be delayed as a result of legal wrangling over distribution rights.)

Just as things were coming together, Philip K. Dick became concerned that no one had informed him about the film's production, and it was a snub he didn't appreciate. After some heated phone calls and an article in the Los Angeles Select TV Guide critical of an early script, the studio became cooperative by sending Dick the Peoples rewrite — Dick was relieved to see how the script had evolved. Philip K. Dick died before the film's release, but he did manage to see a forty-minute special effects test reel, which converted him from a skeptic into a full supporter of the film, as it looked just as he had imagined it.

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 hometown of Hartlepool. Scott hired Syd Mead as conceptual artist, both were influenced by the French science fiction comic magazine Métal Hurlant (Heavy Metal), to which Moebius contributed. Moebius was offered pre-production of Blade Runner, he declined, to work on René Laloux's animated film Les Maîtres du temps — a decision Moebius later regretted. Lawrence G. Paull (production designer) and David Snyder (art director) realised Scott's and Mead's sketches. Jim Burns briefly worked designing the Spinner hovercars; Douglas Trumbull and Richard Yuricich supervised the special effects for the film. Principal photography of Blade Runner began on March 9, 1981.

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 also called the Blade Runner Bible by the cult following of the film. The book outlines not only the evolution of Blade Runner but also the politics and difficulties on-set; particularly on Scott's expectations (coming from Britain) of his first American crew. Also, his directing style with actors created friction with the cast and likely contributed to Ford's subsequent reluctance to discuss the film.

Synopsis

Note: The following synopsis refers to the "Director's Cut" version of the film.

In Los Angeles, November 2019, Rick 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.

File:BladeRunner Sun.jpg

Tyrell dimming the sun.

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. Deckard resists getting involved but relents after Bryant threatens him enigmatically.

Bryant briefs Deckard on the replicants: Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) is a commando, Leon a soldier and manual laborer, Zhora (Joanna Cassidy) a sex worker retrained as an assassin, 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 secretary Rachael (Sean Young) is an experimental replicant (who believes she is a human) with implanted memories from Tyrell's niece, which provide a cushion for her emotions.

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 recites several of her most secret memories and states they were not her memories at all, but were implanted. Pris meets up with Sebastian and takes advantage of his loneliness and kind nature to gain access to his apartment.

Clues from Leon's apartment lead Deckard to Taffy Lewis' (Hy Pyke) bar where the tattooed Zhora is performing with a snake. Zhora attacks Deckard and makes a desperate attempt to get away into the crowded streets; Deckard chases her down and "retires" her. After the shooting, Gaff and Bryant show up and inform Deckard that Rachael will also need to be "retired". Deckard conveniently spots Rachael in the distance, though as he follows her he is suddenly disarmed by Leon who then proceeds to beat him. Rachael kills Leon, saving Deckard's life, and they go back to Deckard's apartment where they discuss her options, and in a rough scene ending in musical intimacy they begin to fall in love.

Meanwhile, Roy arrives at Sebastian's apartment and they convince Sebastian to bring Roy to meet Tyrell. Once in Tyrell's bedroom Roy demands an extension to his lifespan and requests absolution for his sins from the Godlike replicant creator; upon receiving neither he kills Tyrell and Sebastian.

The Bradbury Building

Deckard is sent to Sebastian's apartment and is ambushed by Pris, though he manages to shoot her after a struggle. Roy returns moments later, trapping Deckard in the apartment and playfully hunts him throughout the dilapidated Bradbury Building, eventually forcing him to the roof. Deckard attempts a jump to another building and ends up desperately hanging from a beam. Roy easily makes the jump and stares down at Deckard — just as Deckard loses his grip Roy grabs his wrist and saves his life. Roy is deteriorating quickly (his 4-year lifespan is up) as he sits down in the rain and eloquently marvels at the highlights of his life and concludes, "All those moments... will be lost... in time... like tears... in rain. Time... to die." Roy quietly dies as Deckard looks on in silence. Gaff arrives in a spinner shortly afterward and, as he's leaving, cryptically shouts, "It's too bad she won't live. But then again, who does?"

Deckard returns to his apartment and cautiously enters when he sees the door is ajar. He finds Rachael alive and as they leave Deckard comes across an origami calling card left by Gaff; he has allowed them to escape, and they depart toward an uncertain future together.

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. As with much of the cyberpunk genre, it owes a large debt to film noir, containing and exploring such conventions as the femme fatale, a Chandleresque 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. Blade Runner also features a chess game based on the famous Immortal Game of 1851. (The king and queen are interposed on Tyrell's side, a position which a grandmaster would never attempt.)

File:BladeRunner Bradbury.jpg

Dark sprawl overlooked by the glimmering towers of LA 2019.

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 but also with how animals are created as mere commodities. This oppressive backdrop clarifies why many people are going to the off-world colonies, which clearly parallels the migration to the Americas. The popular 1980s prediction of America being economically surpassed by Japan is reflected in the domination of Japanese culture and advertising in LA 2019. The film also makes extensive use of eyes and manipulated images to call into question reality and our ability to perceive it.

File:BladeRunner Deckard and Rachael.jpg

Deckard and Rachael.

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 are unempathetic, while the replicants appear to show passion 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.

Is Deckard a replicant?

Main article: Deckard: replicant or human?

Among fans of the film, the question of whether Deckard is human or replicant has been an ongoing controversy since the film's release. Ridley Scott, after remaining coy on the subject for twenty years, stated in 2002 that Deckard is a replicant. Hampton Fancher and Harrison Ford, however, have stated that Deckard is human. The rough consensus among fans is that in the original version of the film Deckard is probably human, whereas in the Director's Cut he is a replicant. Specifically, the Director's Cut shows a dream of Deckard's that features a unicorn; when Gaff leaves Deckard an origami unicorn at the end of the film. This suggests Gaff knew about the dream and implies that Deckard is, like Rachael, a replicant with implanted memories.

Cast

Blade Runner had a significant number of then-unknown actors in its cast:

• Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard. Coming off some success with Star Wars, but still a year before Raiders of the Lost Ark was released, Ford was looking for a role with dramatic depth. After Steven Spielberg praised Ford and showed some Raiders rushes to Deeley and Scott they got Ford onboard. Due to the initially poor reception of Blade Runner and friction with Scott, Ford has usually avoided discussing the film.
• Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty. Hauer gave a brief but "effective" performance as the violent yet complex leader of replicants with nothing to lose; 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 IZZ. 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. – brmovie.com

• Sean Young as Rachael. The picture of female "perfection" at 22 years old, Young still counts Blade Runner among her favorite films, despite friction with Ford and Scott as a result of her inexperience and youth.
• Edward James Olmos as Gaff. Olmos used his diverse ethnic background to help create the Cityspeak his character uses in the film. This helps, along with his cane, to create mystery around a character whose exact role isn't clarified while he observes and comments (through his origami) on Deckard. Although he is a man of few words there is a strong implication he knows more than Deckard about what is going on.
• Daryl Hannah as Pris. Hannah managed to bring out the dangerous innocence of a replicant in love with Roy Batty. Pris also demonstrated the impressive physical ability of replicants with her combative gymnastics.

File:BladeRunner Gaff.jpg Gaff with his cane.

File:BladeRunner Roy Tyrell.jpg Roy (left) meets his maker, Tyrell.

Supporting roles:

• 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.
• Joe Turkel as Dr. Eldon Tyrell. With a confident penetrating voice and a panache for self-aggrandizement, this corporate mogul directed scientific progress to create a successful enterprise built on a gradual recreation of slavery with few sympathetic characteristics.
• 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 that helped him nearly kill Holden, torture Chew and beat Deckard.
• Joanna Cassidy as Zhora. In a limited time Cassidy conveys a strong woman who has seen the worst humanity has to offer, and her death upsets Deckard.
• Morgan Paull as Holden. Holden didn't have much of a chance when going up against a Nexus-6 for the first time, but he did manage to draw his gun while being shot and warn Deckard about the replicants in a deleted hospital scene.
• James Hong as Hannibal Chew. An elder geneticist who loves his work, especially with synthesizing eyes.
• Hy Pyke as Taffey Lewis. Despite only having one scene, Pyke conveys Lewis' sleasiness with ease and apparently with one take; something unheard of with Scott's drive for perfection resulting at times in double digit takes.
• Unknown as Abdul Hassan. It remains a mystery as to who played the snake dealer Deckard interrogates.

Music

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 off of his Academy Award winning score from Chariots of Fire, composed and performed the music on his synthesizers. The musicscape of the 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. 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).

"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 – 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 it wasn't until the 1992 release of the Director's Cut version would a substantial amount of the film's score see the light of day. However, while most of the tracks on the album are from the film, there were a few that Vangelis composed but were ultimately not used and some new pieces. Many do not consider this to be a satisfying representation of the score.

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." The Gongo release is considered the best presentation of the music, while Los Angeles - November 2019 and the Esper Edition are excellent mementos of the film.

"Dreamy, evocative, beautiful and essential." – moviegrooves.com

Reception

Template:Infobox Film rating 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 another science fiction film, "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.

A general criticism was its slow pacing takes away from other elements; one film critic went so far as to call it "Blade Crawler." Roger Ebert praised Blade Runner's visuals, but found the human story a little thin. Ebert thought Tyrell's unconvincing character and the apparent lack of security measures allowing Roy to murder Tyrell were problems. Also he believed the relationship between Deckard and Rachael seemed "to exist more for the plot than for them."

Other critics have countered that the strong visuals serve to create a dehumanized world where human elements stand out. Furthermore the relationship between Deckard and Rachael could be essential in reaffirming their respective humanity. In a later episode of their show, Ebert and Gene Siskel admit they were wrong about their early negative reviews and that they consider the film to be a modern classic.

Awards and nominations

Blade Runner has both won, and been nominated for, many awards.

It has won the following accolades:

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

Influence

File:RoyBatty.jpg

Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty.

Initially avoided by North American audiences, Blade Runner was popular internationally and has become a cult classic. The film's popularity and cult status has made it popular to reference in other media. The television show Futurama has made multiple references to Blade Runner, and the shows Cutting It, Stargate SG-1, and Battlestar Galactica have used quotes from the film. Actor William Sanderson, who played Sebastian, voiced a similar character in the cartoon series Batman: The Animated Series. In the action film The 6th Day, a virtual psychologist says, "You seem to be avoiding talking about your parents. Imagine, two turtles are walking through the desert..."

It is also notable that Blade Runner's opening frames feature a tight close-up on a human eye; Strange Days, Minority Report, and certain episodes of the 2004 television series LOST start with similar shots.

The film's dark cyberpunk style and futuristic design have served as a benchmark and inspired many subsequent science fiction films and television programs, including Batman, RoboCop, The Fifth Element, Ghost in the Shell, Dark Angel, Firefly, and The Matrix. It has also influenced animes, including Akira, Armitage III, Cowboy Bebop and Bubblegum Crisis. Before shooting began on Batman Begins, director Christopher Nolan reportedly screened Blade Runner to the film's crew and told them, "This is how we're going to make Batman." Even the Star Wars prequels have paid homage to Blade Runner in their special effects sequences.

"Blade Runner is a unique film, incredible on every level. It is a prophetic and emotional tale that stands as one of the most original and intelligent science fiction films ever made." – Alex Ioshpe

The film is often thought to have inspired William Gibson's Neuromancer. Gibson has said in interviews that he was already writing Neuromancer when Blade Runner was released, and was actually inspired by the implied background of the film Alien. The film arguably marks the introduction of the cyberpunk genre into popular culture. 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. Its memorable quotations and soundtrack have made it the most musically sampled film of the 20th century.

Notably the character Roy Batty, served as the apparent inspiration of two rock songs. In the song "Show Me How to Live" by Audioslave, the lyrics include "Nail in my hand / from my creator / you gave me life / now show me how to live." During the final fight scene between Batty and Deckard, Batty sticks a nail through his hand to prevent it from closing up. The song also includes references to science fiction themes; "And in the aching night under satellites / I was not received / Built with stolen parts / A telephone in my heart." The song "More Human Than Human" by Rob Zombie named after Tyrell Corp. motto "More human than human", has the lyrics "I am the Nexus One / I want more life / Fucker, I ain't done." This is in reference to Batty's famous line "I want more life, fucker!"

"Ridley Scott's film remains the defining vision of futuristic science fiction." – Steve Biodrowski

Blade Runner also served to influence the cyberpunk role-playing game, Shadowrun, the seminal computer game System Shock and the Syndicate games. The Bradbury scene influenced the 1986 music video of Tonight, Tonight, Tonight by Genesis, where similar photography was used as Collins walks through the Bradbury.

Versions

Six versions of the film exist, but only the Director's Cut and Criterion Edition are widely known and seen:

• The original 1982 international cut (a.k.a. Criterion Edition), which included more graphic violence than the U.S. theatrical release, and which was released on VHS and on Criterion Collection Laserdisc.
• The U.S. theatrical version, also called the domestic cut.
• Two workprint versions, shown only as audience test previews and occasionally at film festivals; one of these was distributed in 1991, as a Director's Cut without Scott's approval.
• The Ridley Scott-approved 1992 Director's Cut; prompted by the unauthorized 1991 release, it is to date the only version officially released on DVD.
• The broadcast version, edited for profanity.

Theatrical versions

File:BladeRunner Unicorn1.jpg

Deckard's daydream in the 1992 Director's Cut.

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 a voice-over added at the request of studio executives during post-production after test audience members indicated difficulty understanding the film. Although several different versions of the script had included a voice-over of some sort, both Ridley Scott and Harrison Ford disliked the studio V.O. and resisted having it added to the film. It's been rumored Ford intentionally did the voice-over poorly in the hope it wouldn't be used, but recent interviews indicate otherwise.

Director's Cut

In 1990, Warner Brothers briefly allowed theatrical screenings of a 70mm copy of the workprint version of the film, advertising it as a Director's Cut. However, Ridley Scott publicly disowned the 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 Brothers decided to assemble a definitive Director's Cut of the film with direction from Scott to be released in 1992.

File:Brdvd.jpeg

The DVD cover of the 1992 Director's Cut.

They hired film-restorationist Michael Arick, who had been the one that rediscovered the workprint of Blade Runner and who was already doing consultation work for them, to head up 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 got a number of suggestions/directions directly from the director himself. Arick made several changes to the film, most of them fairly minor editing changes, including the reinsertion of Deckard finding Gaff's origami unicorn in the hallway near his apartment at the film's closing. However, three major changes were made to the film which most would agree significantly changed the feel of the film: the removal of Deckard's explanatory voice-over, the re-insertion of a dream sequence of a unicorn running through a forest, and the removal of the studio imposed "happy-ending", including some associated visuals which had originally run under the film's end-credits.

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

Special Edition

Partly as the result of those complaints, Scott was invited back in mid-2000 to help put together a final and definitive version of the film, which was completed in mid 2001. 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 time 2001 release, and was originally rumored to be a three-disc set including the full international theatrical cut, the 1992 director's cut and the newly enhanced version in addition to deleted scenes, extensive cast and crew interviews, and the documentary "On the Edge of Blade Runner".

However, Warner Brothers indefinitely delayed the "Special Edition" release after legal disputes began with the film's original completion bond guarantors (specifically Jerry Perenchio), who were ceded ownership of the film when the shooting ran over budget from $21.5 to $28 million. As of 2005, the legal issues remain unresolved – although at a press conference in late January 2006, Warner Bros. hinted at a 25th "Anniversary Edition" to be released in 2007 – including release on a next generation High Definition home video format (either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray). For the time being, Warner Bros. remains the film's distributor and is authorized to release the 1992 Director's Cut on video. Warner Bros. also acts as distributor for the original 1982 theatrical version, which remains in circulation on television (albeit edited for the medium).

Documentaries

File:BladeRunner Fancher and Peoples.jpg

From the Edge documentary, featuring the Blade Runner screenwriters Fancher (left) and Peoples (now friends).

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

Interweaved are cast interviews with the notable exceptions of Harrison Ford and Sean Young. Through these interviews we get a sense of how difficult and frustrating the film was to make as a result of an exacting director without allies and hot, wet, smoggy conditions; which added to the high pressure atmosphere everyone increasingly felt as the film went over budget. There is also a tour of some locations, most notably the Bradbury Building and the Warner Brothers backlot that was the LA 2019 streets, which look very different from Ridley's dark version.

The documentary then details the test screenings postproduction editing/changes (voice over and happy ending, deleted Holden hospital scene), special effects, soundtrack by Vangelis, and the unhappy relationship between the filmmakers and the investors; which culminated in Deeley and Ridley being fired but still working on the film. The question of whether or not Deckard is a replicant surfaces. After being a "disaster" in the box office (a financial loss initially) Blade Runner was reborn in the video rental market, and a great reception of a chance screening of Ridley's workprint at the Fairfax Theater, Los Angeles, in May 1990 led to Warner Bros. having the "Director's Cut" done by film archivist Michael Arick.

Future Shocks (27 minutes), a more recent documentary from 2003 by TVOntario (as part of their Film 101 series), has interviews with executive producer Bud Yorkin, Syd Mead, and the cast along with Sean Young, but again without Harrison Ford. There is extensive commentary by science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer and film critics as the documentary focuses on the themes, visual impact and influence of the film. Olmos goes into Ford's participation and personal experiences during filming are related by Young, Walsh, Cassidy and Sanderson. They also relate a story where crew members created t-shirts which took pot shots at Ridley. The versions of the film are critiqued and how closely Blade Runner predicted the future is discussed.

Novel

See also: Differences Between the Novel and Film

The original screenplay by Hampton Fancher was based loosely 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 name Blade Runner, actually 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 it was based on, the film diverged significantly from its original inspiration. The changes have led many critics and fans to consider them as independent works of fiction, despite the fact that the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was reprinted for a time with the title Blade Runner with the intention of promoting sales. 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.

The producers of the film arranged for a screening of some rough cuts for Philip K. Dick shortly before he died in early 1982. Despite the fact that the movie deviated significantly from his book and his well known skepticism of Hollywood in principle, he became quite enthusiatic about the film. He predicted that: "This will change the way we look at movies."

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?. The novel Blade Runner 2 contains numerous inconsistencies with the film, however, including the resurrection of a dead character and a complete reworking of the nature of another. The final result is more of an alternate universe than a direct sequel.

• 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 a "sidequel" to Blade Runner. Soldier takes place in the same universe, and the spinners used in Blade Runner are also used in Soldier. However, Soldier is an unofficial sidequel, as it was never formally approved by the Blade Runner partnership, who own the rights to the elements of Blade Runner that appear in Soldier, and to that overall universe.

Though not an official sequel to Blade Runner, many fans have noted the similarity of the 1999 TV series Total Recall 2070 to the Blade Runner universe. Many consider the series a sequel to, or at least set in, the same universe as Blade Runner. Some truth actually lies in this assumption. Total Recall 2070 was based on two works by Phillip K. Dick: the short story, We Can Remember It for You Wholesale (on which the film Total Recall is based), and the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, on which Blade Runner is based.

Games and comics

PC game cover.

There are two computer games based on the film, one for Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum 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). The latter 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 3D engine that was credible when the game went into production, but outclassed by the time the game was finally released.

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.

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.") Also there was a parody comic of Blade Runner called "Blade Bummer" by Crazy comics.

Steve Gallacci wrote and illustrated an anthropomorphic parody of the film as Bad Rubber in the prototype issue (Number 0) of his comic book title Albedo Anthropomorphics. The character based on Rick Deckard was a duck named "Rick Duckard".

Curse

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 Bell System monopoly was broken up that same year, and some of the resulting Regional Bell operating companies have since changed their names and merged with each other or other companies.
• Pan Am went bankrupt in 1991, after a decade of mounting losses.
• Cuisinart similarly went bankrupt in 1989.

Coca-Cola almost joined this list in the wake of its failed introduction of New Coke three years later, but has since experienced a thirty-fold increase in share price.

See also

• Films that have been considered the greatest ever
• List of films recut by studio
• Union Station (Los Angeles) – Used as police headquarters.
• Bradbury Building – The setting for J.F. Sebastian's apartment.
• Kabukicho – Tokyo's red-light district was an inspiration for Blade Runner set design.
• Million Dollar Theater – Seen across from the Bradbury.
• Ennis House – The setting for Deckard's apartment.

File:BladeRunner Voigt-Kampff machine.jpg

Voight-Kampff empathy test.

• Spinner (Blade Runner)
• Voight-Kampff machine
• Dystopia
• Postmodernism or Postmodernity
• Synthetic biology
• Kipple
• Bubblegum Crisis - A Japanese Anime that uses several references from Blade Runner.

External links

• Blade Runner at IMDb
• Template:Filmsite
• Blade Runner at Rotten Tomatoes
• Blade Runner: The Director's Cut at Rotten Tomatoes
• 2019: Off-World – One of the first Blade Runner fan sites
• BladeZone – The Online Blade Runner Fan Club & Museum
• BRMovie.com – alt.fan.blade-runner site
  • Special Edition News Page
  • Encyclopedia Blade Runner
• Los Angeles, 2019
• BR-Insight – Analysis of the film
• BBC: Blade Runner tops scientist poll
• July 24, 1980 draft script
• February 23, 1981 shooting script
• New Berlin
• Movie-monsters.co.uk – The best sci-fi film ever?
• Films that reference Blade Runner