Blade Runner
1. How are replicants represented in this film in terms of politics? Contrary to some of the other films we've seen, Westworld for example, in which the artificial people have no rights and no claim to human status, in Blade Runner this need to acquire human status is exactly the issue. How is this demand represented? Is it a political demand? A social demand? An existential demand?
2. What does the film represent as central features of being human? What does humanity entail? What types of human status do we see in the film?
3. How are the artificial people represented in this film in terms of race, gender, class, profession, and experience? Think about issues such as sexuality and sexual desire in relation to the replicants.
4. Think about the ending (or multiple endings) of the film in relation to these complicated definitions of humanity. How does Roy's final monologue reflect on our understanding and expectations of human rights?
William Gibson wrote that he saw Blade Runner as he was finishing Neuromancer, and that he was impressed but also upset by how similar the film's vision was to his imagined cyber-future. Many people have responded to this film in very personal ways, and it has acquired a devoted cult following. As a result, production information and trivia about the making of this film abound, especially online.
If you want to find out more, start with The Official Blade Runner On-line Magazine. Make sure you look around in Sector 1 for interviews with Philip K. Dick and Ridley Scott. They have good links to Dick's biography and other writings. Also, if you want to research the special effects and city landscape of the film, check out this site for images, and interviews with Doug Trumbull and the special effects team. The dialogue in all releases of Blade Runner alludes to another replicant who dies before Deckard's final battles with Pris and Batty. The part was never shot, though the dialogue regarding how many replicants are on the loose is conflicting because of this. (Clarification: There were 4 replicants that escaped and tried to break into Tyrell Corp. One got fried at the "electronic gate." This is the one we never see. Later in the movie, after Deckard kills Zhora, Bryant tells Deckard that there are 4 more to go because Rachel has disappeared, and must be terminated.)
Dustin Hoffman was reputedly the original choice to play Deckard.
The computer screen in Gaff's police spinner shows the same computer sequence (with the word "Purge") that the Nostromo displays in the film Alien (also directed by Ridley Scott).
The building used in the final chase scene between Deckard and Roy, the Bradbury, was the same building used in the 1964 episode of the original Outer Limits titled 'The Demon With a Glass Hand' staring Robert Culp.
In July 2000, director Ridley Scott said that Deckard is, in fact, a replicant.
The end of the chess game in which Sebastian, with help from Batty, defeats Tyrell, is inspired by the endgame of the real-life "Immortal Game" (so-called) in which Adolf Andersson beat Lionel Kieseritzky in London in 1851.
Deckard: Harrison Ford
The Official Blade Runner Fan Club, Blade Zone, is a great research resource. They have excellent sources about everything, from technical information, to pictures of Deckard's wardrobe.
A newer site that is starting some interesting conversations is 2019: Off World.
Cast Information
Cast overview:
Roy Batty: Rutger Hauer
Rachael: Sean Young
Gaff: Edward James Olmos
Bryant: M Emmet Walsh
Pris: Daryl Hannah
J F Sebastian: William Sanderson
Leon: Brion James
Tyrell: Joe Turkel
Zhora: Joanna Cassidy
Chew: James Hong
Holden: Morgan Paull
Bear: Kevin Thompson (II)
Kaiser: John Edward Allen
Taffey Lewis: Hy Pyke
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