Blade Runner - just the facts

Blade Runner - just the facts ( A Article written in May 2007 ) Blade Runner is an influential 1982 cyberpunk, neo noir film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay written by Hampton Fancher & David Peoples, loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. It features Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, Daryl Hannah & Joanna Cassidy.

The film depicts a dystopian Los Angeles in November 2019 in which genetically manufactured beings called replicants, visually indistinguishable from adult humans, are used for dangerous & degrading work in Earth's "off-world colonies." After replicants became illegal on Earth, specialist police units — called "blade runners" — were trained to hunt down & "retire" (kill) escaped replicants on Earth. The plot focuses on a brutal & cunning group of replicants hiding in Los Angeles & a semi-retired blade runner, Rick Deckard (Ford), who reluctantly agrees to take on one more assignment.

Blade Runner initially polarized critics; some were displeased with the pacing, while others enjoyed its thematic complexity. The film performed poorly in North American theaters but achieved success overseas. Despite poor early ticket sales, it has since become a cult classic. Blade Runner has been hailed for its production design, one said to depict a "retrofitted future". The film is credited with prefiguring important concerns of the 21st century, such as globalization & genetic engineering. It remains a leading example of cyberpunk & neo-noir. Blade Runner brought author Philip K. Dick to the attention of Hollywood & a number of films have since been made from his writings. Ridley Scott regards Blade Runner as his "most complete & personal film." Seven versions of the film have been created for various markets & as a result of controversial changes made by film executives. A rushed Director's Cut was released in 1992 after a strong response to workprint screenings. This in conjunction with its popularity as a video rental made it one of the first films to see a DVD release. Warner Bros. announced in January 2006 the upcoming 25th anniversary theatrical & DVD release in 2007 of the long-awaited remastered definitive Final Cut by Scott.

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

Tyrell polarizing his office window.An opening crawl following the main titles informs the viewer that advances in genetic technology have allowed scientists to create ultra-sophisticated, biologically-engineered humanoid beings called "replicants." Following a violent revolt that takes place "off world", replicants are declared illegal on Earth.

In Los Angeles, November 2019, 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. 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. He orders Deckard to eliminate the four replicants, a process referred to as "retirement." Deckard agrees to help after Bryant enigmatically threatens him.

Bryant briefs Deckard on the replicants: Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) is a commando, Leon a manual laborer, Zhora (Joanna Cassidy) an assassin built for martial arts, & 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) & 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 assistant Rachael (Sean Young) is an experimental replicant who believes she is a human; Rachael's consciousness has been enhanced with implanted memories from Tyrell's niece, an accomplishment that Tyrell himself is quite proud of.

A Spinner flies over the 700-story Tyrell Complex in Downtown Los Angeles, 2019.Deckard & Gaff search Leon's apartment as Roy & 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 tells her that her memories are in fact implants. Clues lead Deckard to a sleazy strip club owned by Taffy Lewis (Hy Pyke), who employs Zhora. A chase through the crowded streets ensues & Deckard shoots & "retires" Zhora. Deckard meets with Bryant shortly after & is told to add Rachael to his list of retirements after she has disappeared from the Tyrell Corporation Headquarters. However, after Rachael saves Deckard's life when he is attacked by Leon, they become close & begin to fall in love. In another part of the city, we see Pris & Sebastian for the first time while she's on the street in search of Roy & company. After she freshens up, Roy arrives: then he & Pris employ Sebastian's help by explaining their plight in a very subtle, yet threatening manner. We then turn to Tyrell's penthouse apartment & see Sebastian & Roy arrive on the elevator. Once inside Roy proceeds to demand an extension to his lifespan & absolution for his sins; upon receiving neither, he kills Tyrell & then Sebastian.

Deckard is sent to Sebastian's apartment & is ambushed by Pris. Deckard manages to get the upper hand & violently retires Pris, just as Roy returns. Roy then traps Deckard in the apartment, playfully hunting him throughout the dilapidated Bradbury Building & forcing him to the roof. As Deckard attempts to escape from the roof, he ends up hanging from a beam. Just as Deckard is about to fall, Roy saves his life. Roy is quickly deteriorating, as his 4-year lifespan is up, & he "dies" up on the rooftop. Deckard returns to his open apartment & finds Rachael alive. As they leave quickly Deckard finds an origami unicorn calling card left by Gaff & they depart towards an uncertain future together. Well you learn something every day, I wondered what that was about.

Production
Ridley Scott on the set of Blade Runner with Harrison Ford.Producer Michael Deeley became interested in Hampton Fancher's screenplay entitled Android (subsequently it was changed to Dangerous Days). Deeley convinced director Ridley Scott to create his first American film using Fancher's screenplay. Scott had previously passed on the project, but after leaving the slow production of Dune, he wanted a faster project to take his mind off of his older brother's recent death. He joined the project on February 21, 1980, & went on to push Filmways promised financing on April 9 of $13 million up to $15 million.

When Scott noted Deckard's line of work needed a new name, Fancher found a cinema treatment by William S. Burroughs for Alan E. Nourse's novel The Bladerunner (1974), entitled Blade Runner (a movie). Scott liked it & Deeley obtained the rights to the titles, but Scott soon considered Blade Runner a working title for the film & wanted to find something more "commercial". (Note: Some editions of Nourse's novel use the two-word spacing Blade Runner, as does the Burroughs book.)

Scott became unhappy with the direction of the script & had David Peoples rewrite it. Fancher subsequently resigned on December 20, 1980 over the issue, although he later returned to contribute additional rewrites & was pleasantly surprised Peoples had done a good job incorporating Scott's ideas into the script. Subsequently Fancher & Peoples became good friends.

Having invested over $2.5 million in pre-production, as the date of commencement of principal photography neared, Filmways withdrew their financial backing. In ten days, Deeley secured $21.5 million in financing through a three way deal between The Ladd Company (through Warner Bros.), the Hong Kong-based producer Sir Run Run Shaw, & Tandem Productions. This would later prove problematic as the release of the film's Special Edition (Final Cut) was delayed due to legal wrangling over distribution rights.

Philip K. Dick became concerned that no one had informed him about the film's production. After Dick criticized an early version of the script in an article in the Los Angeles Select TV Guide, the studio sent Dick the David Peoples rewrite. Although Dick died before the film's release, he was pleased with a forty-minute special effects test reel that he viewed. Ridley Scott credits Edward Hopper's painting Nighthawks & 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 one-time home of Teesside. Scott hired as his conceptual artist Syd Mead, who, like Scott, was influenced by the French science fiction comic magazine Métal Hurlant (Heavy Metal), to which Moebius contributed. Moebius was offered the opportunity to assist in the pre-production of Blade Runner, but he declined so that he could work on René Laloux's animated film Les Maîtres du temps — a decision he later regretted. Lawrence G. Paull (production designer) & David Snyder (art director) realised Scott's & Mead's sketches. Jim Burns briefly worked designing the Spinner hovercars; Douglas Trumbull & 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 & research later became the book Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner, which is commonly referred to as the "Blade Runner Bible" by many of the film's fans. The book outlines not only the evolution of Blade Runner but also the politics & difficulties on set. It focuses particularly on the British director's experiences with his first American crew. It also sheds light on Scott's directing style, which caused friction with the cast & likely contributed to Harrison Ford's subsequent reluctance to discuss the film. Producer Alan Ladd, Jr. has said (on difficulties during production) that, Scott & Ford "stopped speaking to each other." He added: "Harrison wouldn't speak to Ridley & Ridley wouldn't speak to Harrison. By the end of the shoot Ford was "ready to kill Ridley," said one colleague. He really would have taken him on if he hadn't been talked out of it."

Ridley Scott was recently asked "Who's the biggest pain in the arse you've ever worked with?" He replied: "It's got to be Harrison...he'll forgive me because now I get on with him. Now he's become charming. But he knows a lot, that's the problem. When we worked together it was my first film up & I was the new kid on the block. But we made a good movie." Ford has said of Scott in 2000: "I admire his work. We had a bad patch there, & I’m over it." More recently in 2006, Ford reflected on the production of the film saying: “What I remember more than anything else when I see Blade Runner is not the 50 nights of shooting in the rain, but the voiceover... I was still obliged to work for these clowns that came in writing one bad voiceover after another.”

Themes
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 & exploring such conventions as the femme fatale, a Chandleresque first-person narration (removed in later versions), & the questionable moral outlook of the Hero — extended here to include even the humanity of the hero, as well as the usual dark & shadowy cinematography.

It is one of the most literate science fiction films, both thematically — enfolding the philosophy of religion & moral implications of the increasing human mastery of genetic engineering, within the context of classical Greek drama & its notions of hubris & linguistically, drawing on the poetry of William Blake & the Bible. A theme subtly reiterated by the chess game between Roy & Tyrell based on the famous Immortal Game of 1851 symbolizing the struggle against mortality imposed by God.

Blade Runner delves into the future implications of technology on the environment & society by reaching into the past using literature, religious symbolism, classical dramatic themes & film noir. This tension between past, present & future is apparent in the retrofitted future of Blade Runner, which is high-tech & gleaming in places but elsewhere decayed & old. A high level of paranoia is present throughout the film with the visual manifestation of corporate power, omnipresent police, probing lights, & in the power over the individual represented particularly by genetic programming of the replicants. Control over the environment is seen on a large scale, hand in hand with the seeming absence of any natural life, with artificial animals being created as a substitute for the extinct originals. 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 & advertising in LA 2019. The film also makes extensive use of eyes & manipulated images to call into question reality & our ability to perceive it.

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 & concern for one another at the same time as the mass of humanity on the streets is cold & impersonal. The film goes so far as to put in doubt whether Deckard is a replicant, & forces the audience to reevaluate what it means to be human.

The question of whether Deckard is intended to be a human or a replicant has been an ongoing controversy since the film's release. Ridley Scott, after remaining coy for twenty years, stated in 2000 that Deckard is a replicant. Hampton Fancher & Harrison Ford have stated that Deckard is human. Of note, in a recent interview in Sactown Magazine, Ridley Scott is quoted by director Joe Carnahan as telling him in a private conversation that Deckard is a replicant who thinks he is human. The rough consensus of the debate is that in the original version of the film Deckard is probably human, whereas the Director's Cut deliberately hints that he may be another replicant. Specifically, the Director's Cut includes a short sequence in which Deckard dreams about a unicorn. David Peoples, who co-scripted Blade Runner, also wrote Unforgiven (1992), the Academy Award winning film directed & starring Clint Eastwood. There are thematic similarities between the two films. Unforgiven has been described as "veteran manhunter, bullied from retirement, shoots down undeserving fugitives." It has been suggested that this has: "obvious similarities to the narrative of Blade Runner." In an interview with Ridley Scott in 2002, Journalist Lynn Barber of The Observer described the film as being "extremely dark, both literally & metaphorically, with an oddly masochistic feel." Ridley Scott explained that he "liked the idea of exploring pain" in the wake of his brother's death from skin cancer. "When he was ill, I used to go & visit him in London, & that was really traumatic for me."

Cast
With the exception of Harrison Ford, Blade Runner had a significant number of then-unknown actors in its cast:
Deckard & Rachael share a moment.Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard. Coming off some success with Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope & Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, but still a year before the release of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Ford was looking for a role with dramatic depth. After Steven Spielberg praised Ford & showed some Raiders rushes to Deeley & Scott they hired Ford. Due to the initially poor reception of Blade Runner & friction with Scott, Ford has usually avoided discussing the film.
Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty. Hauer gave an effective performance as the violent yet thoughtful leader of replicants; & 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."
Sean Young as Rachael. Young still counts Blade Runner among her favorite films, despite friction with Ford & Scott.
Edward James Olmos as Gaff. Olmos used his diverse ethnic background, & some in-depth personal research, to help create the fictional "Cityspeak" language his character uses in the film. It later turned out that what he addresses to the sitting & eating Rick Deckard is partly in Hungarian & means "Horse dick! So you say. You are the Blade... Blade Runner."
Daryl Hannah as Pris. Hannah managed to bring out the dangerous innocence of a replicant in love with Roy Batty.
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. Walsh's sleazy & underhand character resembles in many ways Orson Welles' Hank Quinlan in A Touch of Evil, & represents a further homage to the Film Noir genre.
Joe Turkel as Dr. Eldon Tyrell. With a confident penetrating voice & a penchant for self-aggrandizement, this corporate mogul has built an empire on slavery.
William Sanderson as J.F. Sebastian, a quiet & 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.
Joanna Cassidy as Zhora. Cassidy portrays a strong woman who has seen the worst humanity has to offer.
Morgan Paull as Holden. The Blade Runner initially assigned to the case, he is severely wounded by Leon while screening new Tyrell employees in an attempt to find the replicants, prompting his replacement with Deckard.
James Hong as Hannibal Chew. An elder geneticist who loves his work, especially with synthesizing eyes.
Hy Pyke as Taffey Lewis. Pyke conveys Lewis' sleaziness with ease & apparently with one take; something almost unheard of with Scott's drive for perfection resulting at times in double digit takes.
Unknown as Abdul Hassan. It remains a mystery who played the snake dealer Deckard interrogates.

Music, The Blade Runner soundtrack by Vangelis is a dark melodic combination of classic composition & futuristic synthesizers which mirrors the film-noir retro-future envisioned by Ridley Scott. Vangelis, fresh from his Academy Award winning score for Chariots of Fire, composed & performed the music on his synthesizers. The musicscape of 2019 was created in Vangelis' "space" mode of new age music, as heard on such albums of his as Heaven & Hell. He also made use of various chimes & the vocals of collaborator Demis Roussos. Another memorable sound is the haunting tenor sax solo "Love Theme" by UK saxophonist Dick Morrissey, who appeared on many of Vangelis' albums. 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). Despite being well received by fans & critically acclaimed — nominated in 1983 for a BAFTA & Golden Globe as best original score & 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 not 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 & some new pieces. Many do not consider this to be a satisfying representation of the score.

These delays & poor reproductions led to the production of many bootleg recordings over the years. A bootleg tape surfaced in 1982 at science fiction conventions & became popular given the delay of an official release of the original recordings, & 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 & 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 & the Esper Edition are excellent mementos of the film.

Comedy Explanations for the unicorn, left for his collection of unicorns,

Part 2 of this article

Sherlock Holmes the Computer Game, based on the Hound Of The Baskervilles

The facts on Sherlock Holmes CHEERS - just the facts.Taggart the TV programme - just the facts.Dynasty the TV programme - just the facts
A Page on that Viaduct in France built in the 2000s, that looks amazing.Charlies Angels the facts. Star Trek - the facts
The facts on the Movie, Battle of the River Plate .The Facts on Dallas.Somebody's judgement on who are the best 10 actors

Just the facts on the Sega Saturn.. Just the facts on the Playstation. Just the facts on the Amstrad CPC.

The movie, the Goonies - just the facts A Article on the TV series, the racoons

Saturday Night Live the facts South Park - just the facts

The Usual Suspects the movie - the facts

Casualty - just the facts A Biography of Alan Sugar

GMTV - the facts

A Biography of Joichiro Tatsuyoshi, boxing should be banned of course and all fighting

American Idol - the facts

Rugrats the cartoon, the facts