Timothy Winslow

CINE 129
6/4/2014
Themes and Interpretations of Blade Runner
Released several years after the seminal science fiction film Alien, Ridley Scott
matched and possibly even surpassed his previous film with the release of Blade
Runner in 1982. With a fairly high budget and top-tier talent, it was a surprise that
Blade Runner wasnt an immediate success, although the release cut differed from
what Ridley Scott had intended. The addition of noir-esque narration was demanded
by Warner Bros. to guide the audience through the bizarre and sometimes abstract
world that Scott and his screenwriters had created. The narration was done
grudgingly by Harrison Ford, and his voice is as flat and disinterested as it ever was.
To some, this benefited the films noir themes, but to others, including Scott, it
diminished the role of the visual storytelling by outright telling Deckards thoughts
and actions. Another major difference in the original release was the studiomandated happy ending which was tonally separated from the darkness of the
rest of the film. After various additions and edits, the Final Cut presents Scotts
final vision of the film, with the most important changes being the removal of the
narration and happy ending, and the addition/modification of many lines of dialogue
giving more insight into the characters and the world.
Blade Runner is incredibly unique due to its vast number of cultural and
philosophical influences. The film is singularly cynical about the portrayal of
corporations and the power of individuals in the future, not unlike 1984, but Blade

Runners presentation is far less political and more about making its characters
powerless. The aesthetics function as an odd amalgamation of dark science fiction,
noir tropes, and Ridley Scotts penchant for the surreal. Likewise, the films deals
with high-minded science fiction thematics, intertwining the basic hunt story of
Deckard with questions about what responsibilities humans have to care for their
creations, what defines human, and what determines the value of a life at all. Blade
Runners status as one of the most important science fiction films ever made comes
from both its unique interpretation of the future aesthetic, and the way it handles its
heightened existential themes about futurism and humanity.
Blade Runners vision of a decaying future of corruption, paranoia, and predatory
large corporations mirrored Aliens, even to the minute details of futuristic
technology running on 80s analogue standards. This contrasted the generic, sleek
look that many earlier depictions of the future had and like Star Wars before it,
wasnt afraid to show futuristic technology being as broken as modern tech. The
darkness, old architecture, and the constant rain are obvious examples of the films
noir influences, and they serve to create a world where the most fortunate humans
have seemingly already left, and the world is divided between the ultra-rich and the
ultra-poor. The class struggles are never really emphasized in the film, except in
that showing everyone is below the heavenly Tyrell Corporation and the other realworld corporations such as the Japanese blimp advertising the unattainable OffWorld colonies.
The Tyrell Corporation itself is similar to the Company in Alien in that both
have passively malicious intentions; the Company wants to extract an alien
specimen sacrificing the crew of the Nostromo, the Tyrell Corporation wants to
exploit genetically engineered humans and kill the ones that escape their clutches,

including the innocent Rachel. The evil at work here is morally ambiguous, because
it could be argued that the value of the alien specimen would outweigh a few
human lives and that the Replicants were a serious danger to humanity,
respectively. But what is clear is that the presence of the corporation presents an
ulterior villain to the protagonists of both films; a greedy, overbearing entity that
feeds on the suffering of the common man. In multiple scenes in Blade Runner,
advertising of real and fake corporations literally overbears Deckard, such as the
garish blimp advertising off-world colonies. This can be seen as a reflection of
growing fears of megacorporate growth in the early 80s, especially with the
prominence of Japanese companies and iconography channeling concerns of the
time that Japanese business would overtake American business.
The dark aesthetic of the film is also very directly inspired by film noir, especially
evident in the bizarre future version of LA that has massive skyscrapers as well as
constant rain and darkness. The Los Angeles depicted in the film is vastly different
than it was then (or now), making it look more like a decrepit New York City. The
contrast between the typical flat, brown LA and Blade Runners towering, black LA
helps illustrate the overpopulated and overdeveloped state of the rest of the world.
While areas outside of LA are rarely ever mentioned, its assumed that LA is one of
the last great cities of Earth and that many people with brighter futures had
already moved to the off-world colonies. The unforgiving environment exaggerates
the films noir setting, creating a world where only crime, corruption, and darkness
are left behind.
Apart from the pure aesthetics of the film, Blade Runner weaves many more
themes about love, memory, humanity, and death throughout its plot and
characters. First and foremost, Deckard deviates from typical protagonists due to his

vulnerability, especially in the last act. Deckard is a Blade Runner, a hunter of

replicants, but in the last act he becomes one of the hunted when he confronts Roy
Batty. The Replicants had to live in fear due to his presence, and when he is tortured
and hunted by Roy Batty he finally sympathizes with their fear of impending death.
Deckards love affair with Rachel humanizes his character and hers, even though
its established that shes not technically human. This forces the viewer to question
the difference between Deckards and Rachels humanity, considering that they
share the same connection and same needs. His orders to terminate her later in the
film place even more mistrust onto the authorities in the film, and Deckards love
affair with Rachel and their needs to survive become his primary motivators at the
end of the film.
The presence of implanted memories in newer Replicants, and the way Batty and
the other rogue replicants take pictures and seem to treasure their own memories
suggests that memories are a necessary element of humanity. Batty specifically
mentions his best memories in his final monologue, and his fear of losing them to
mortality. Deckards own memories are unclear, and his unicorn dream may hint at
the possibility of an implanted memory (that Gaff has knowledge of, as revealed
later).
Another recurring element in the film is the symbolism of eyes, which are used
very literally in a number of scenes. Eyes are established early on as an indicator of
humanity; Tyrells owl is very clearly fake and the Voigt-Kampff test uses eye
fluctuations to interpret empathy, an emotion that replicants are supposedly
incapable of. Rachel answers one hundred questions before she is identified as a

replicant, possibly because her implanted memories give her more empathy and
human experience than the average replicant.
Eyes are viewed as windows to the soul by humans, with the implication that
replicants dont have souls (which is explored by the finale of the film and the
romance with Rachel). Pris eyes have an unnatural tint in the dark and its how J.F.
Sebastian recognizes her as a replicant, and shortly after she drops her fake
concern for him. Tyrell is literally myopic, requiring oversized glasses to see, which
in turn magnify his eyes to ludicrous proportions, giving an obvious display of his
own humanity. Consequently, his death is ironic, because Batty destroyed
something he couldnt have in the most symbolic way possible.
Death and mortality play a large role in the film, and fear of death becomes a
prime motivator for Batty, Pris, Deckard, and Rachel in the last of act of the film.
The rogue replicants reason for returning to Earth is to find a way to survive past
their four-year lifespans. Tyrell explains to Batty that the flame that burns twice as
bright, burns half as long and that the replicants gifts are the reason behind their
short life spans. Batty, in his rage, kills Tyrell and JF Sebastian and later finds Pris
killed by Deckard. During their final duel, Deckard is pushed to the edge of death
and once Deckard understands the life he forced Batty to live, Batty allows himself
to die. At this point, Deckard realizes Rachels life is in danger from other Blade
Runners, and he escapes with her to an uncertain future.
Finally, the question of Deckards humanity is a continual topic of debate even
today. The film works whether he is or not, and it doesnt necessarily provide any
solid evidence to either answer. Deckard never takes a test himself in the film
(which Rachel mentions at one point), but most characters seem to act like hes a

human. Deckards unicorn dream being a sign of an implanted memory or

malfunction of some sort is the strongest evidence to him being a replicant,
especially with Gaffs unicorn origami left at the end of the film implying Gaff
somehow knew what he was dreaming about. Harrison Ford has mentioned that
Deckard was not a replicant, while Ridley Scott has said he is. Either way, the
ambiguity surrounding Deckard supports the films main themes of paranoia and
what constitutes a human being.
Science fiction works best when it pairs the extraordinary and imagined with
themes and feelings common to the human experience. Blade Runner presents a
simple story, but interweaves many different themes and thoughts throughout,
making it a dense, complex film. That, combined with Ridley Scotts grandiose
aesthetics, Vangelis moody score create one of the most uniquely textured science
fiction films ever made. Blade Runners philosophical undertones and unique view of
the future provide extra dimension to a dark, noir tale that represents science
fiction at its best.