WAS DECK4RD A REPLICANT

Anyway, I'm not arguing that Scott didn't mean the unicorn to imply Deckard is a replicant; he probably did. (My alternate theory was basically just a way to get around that directorial intent.) I'm just saying that it's a stupid decision, which undermines a central point in the movie just to add a "DO YOU SEE? HOW IRONIC!" ending to it, an ending that doesn't really thematically add anything to BR that wasn't already there.

That's a different argument: does it work? But does the film indicate he's a replicant? Yes.

THAT DRAEM MEAND DERKER IS A REPLICUNT CUZ OF EDWARD JAMES ALMOST MAKING TEH ORIGASMI UNIKORN AT TEH END HE KNOWS HIS D

is what I've always thought

Also his eyes does the glowy thing once in a way that had to have been intentional. Someone may have already said that. I didn't read the whole thread.

eyes DO not does

have you guys seen the sequel

blade runner 2 electric sheepaloo?

Blade Runners?

is the directors cut good i dont think ive seen it

Batty kills lots of people in cold blood because he is going nuts with panic. I always thought it characterization was kind of one of almost childish impulsiveness as he's confronted with his premature mortality.

Yep, this. Batty kills in order to survive, and because he's (justifiably) angry at Tyrell for having such a short life. Deckard is much more detached, he doesn't seem to care about anything. IMO that's the whole point of the ending for Deckard; he realizes that a replicant, a being he used to "retire" for living, can be more alive than him, a human. That point is lost if Deckard is a replicant too.

i think i fell asleep watching it once

Blade Runner 2: Run Sharper

Cool Blade Runnings?

i think i fell asleep watching it once

― lag∞n, Saturday, March 3, 2012 6:27 PM (1 minute ago)

Did you dream about a unicorn?
Tell me in single words only the good things that come to mind... about your mother.

i draemd of electric sheep no doubt

That's a different argument: does it work?

I think there might be some difference here between people who saw the original cut first, and those who saw director's cut first. I saw the OG cut (and read the book) long before watching the director's cut, and IMO the juxtaposition between the "human" Deckard and "artificial" replicants worked very well in that version, so the unicorn stuff in the director's cut felt like a pointless way of changing that. But maybe it's different if you're a bit younger and grew up with the director's cut?

I'm sure there are people 10 years younger than me to whom it feels stupid that Han Solo would have shot first instead of Greedo.

Maybe EVERYONE in the movie is a replicant. Rachel, Deckard, Gaff, Tyrell, Sebastian, the lot of them. Makes u think.

That point is lost if Deckard is a replicant too.

Not at all. He's just experiencing the same sort of panic. Am I human? Am I a replicant? Have I been killing my own kind all this time? Or, just as bad, have I been killing people who are as close to my own kind as possible, indistinguishable from me? It's one of those "what does it mean to be human" themes.

Hence rescuing Rachel, who might as well be a unicorn. Is he protecting her? Or merely running off with her?

maybe theres no such thing as replicants

maybe the replicant exists in each of our hearts

If a replicant is a replicant of a replicant, is he a replicant or just replicated?

Maybe Santa Claus is a replicant.

according to sean young, harrison ford was very replicanty to her. i guess it does kind of come through in his performance.

Have I been killing my own kind all this time? Or, just as bad, have I been killing people who are as close to my own kind as possible, indistinguishable from me? It's one of those "what does it mean to be human" themes.

But these same points are ones that a human Deckard probably considers too; he's already fallen in love with one replicant and seen the human kindness in another one. The "Deckard is a replicant" explanation doesn't add anything to the "what does it mean to be a human?" theme that wasn't there already in the original cut. Like I said, it just a pointless "ISN'T IT IRONIC?" moment tacked to the end.

there's a lot more consonance in the movie, given harrison's cold performance, if you go with deckard being a replicant. him being a human would really be the twist ending.

Ford's coldness is exactly why I think the juxtaposition between the human-but-detached Deckard and synthetic-but-burning-with-life replicants works. The director's cut takes that away, and if it makes viewers think "AHA! He was replicant all along, that's why he was so cold!", then that's kinda detrimental to the movies basic themes.

there's never any m.night reveal, just a continuous stream of nudges that something is off about Deckard. i don't see how that's detrimental to the themes, since the themes mostly boil down to paranoia.

you know what i totally saw the directors cut in the theater i take it all back

My made-up theory/backstory is that Deckard is an advanced prototype replicant based off of that blade runner who gets blown away by Leon in the opening of the movie. He is being used to retire these runaway replicants as an experiment.

Ford even resembles the other actor, sort of.

Like, he's basically an experimental "back-up" blade runner always ready to come out of retirement should he be needed.

When I first saw BR I was under the impression the whole plot of the movie was based around him being a replicant hiding his identity under the guise of a replicant hunter, so I was kind of disappointed at the lack of appropriate twists. I don't know where I got that idea to begin with, though, I might have just been transposing The Fugitive onto BR.

He's searching for the one-armed mandroid

depends, what version u watchin doggie

theatrical: maybe
director's/final cut: almost certainly (unicorn dream)

― Cruller, Cobbler, Poffert, Pie (latebloomer), Saturday, March 3, 2012 5:23 AM (10 hours ago)

I only watch the international version, it's more violent plus it flashes the message "deckard est un humain" at the end

Director's Cut ending is so boss, elevator doors shut IT'S OVER

BRYANT: There was an escape from the off-world colonies two weeks ago. Six replicants, three male, three female. They slaughtered twenty-three people and jumped a shuttle. An aerial patrol spotted the ship off the coast. No crew, no sight of them. Three nights ago they tried to break into Tyrell Corporation. One of them got fried running through an electrical field. We lost the others. On the possibility they might try to infiltrate his employees, I had Holden go over and run Voight-Kampff tests on the new workers. Looks like he got himself one.

three females: pris, zhora, "the one that got fried" OR rachael

three males: roy, leon, deckard

Except that...

In 2007, Ridley Scott released "Blade Runner: The Final Cut", digitally remastered with improved visual and sound effects, and with numerous revisions to the 1992 Director's Cut. The more noticeable differences between The Director's Cut and The Final Cut include:

Bryant says that "2" replicants were fried in the electrical field (as opposed to the theatrical release and Director's Cut, where he says only 1 was killed).

So apparently the discrepancy between the numbers was a production mistake, not a hint at Deckard being a replicant. (Maybe there was supposed to be one more replicant character that was cut from the movie?)

ORIGAZMI UNIKORN ftw

M4YB3 he was, maybe he wasn't. That's the whole point of most of PKD's work: what is human, what does it mean to be human? Would we be able to tell if we weren't? (oh, and how sexy are brown haired girls?)

Pretty sure Deckard was rotoscoped future Keanu in disguise.

I'm just saying that it's a stupid decision, which undermines a central point in the movie just to add a "DO YOU SEE? HOW IRONIC!" ending to it, an ending that doesn't really thematically add anything to BR that wasn't already there.

― Tuomas, Saturday, March 3, 2012 10:22 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

i too saw the original version long before i saw the director's cut, and i struggled with the same thing while watching the latter. i'd already mulled over the idea that deckard might be a replicant, as there are several clues in the original: the mysterious sixth replicant mentioned by bryant, the reflective eyes, rachel's question to deckard about whether he's taken the voight-kampff test, the fact that he collects old family photos. besides, the question's been a part of the film's fan culture since its initial release. it's always seemed to me that the puzzle is more enjoyable when it doesn't have an obvious solution. this encourages you to concentrate not on whether or not deckard is a literal replicant, but on how little difference there is between the film's "real" and "fake" characters. the story works equally well with or without the twist, and the film's examination of human nature is more interesting as a theme than a game. still, i do prefer the director's cut. it's wonderful to finally see the film without ford's narcoleptic voiceover, and the "happy ending" always bothered me. plus it's not like the remix is at all heavy-handed about the new clues it provides. if you weren't aware going in that deckard might be a replicant, you could easily miss the suggestion.

i have all the versions which one should i watch if i wanna watch it again

I guess watch the fancy shmancy new version

the director's schmancy cut?

workprint (1982)
theatrical cut (1982)
international theatrical cut (1982)
director's cut (1992)
final cut (2007)

go w/ final cut I guess

You don't even like the music

then go with the workprint

Edward likes the Brett Ratner version with Yakety Sax soundtrack

nah wish it was popol vuh, tho yakety sax does improve any moving image

maybe I'll just take the aquirre soundtrack and mux it to br

seven long years we've waited

https://i.imgur.com/xrNiUjn.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Tz5ykjis2k

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

worth waiting for

Origasmi?

He knows his D

origasmi unicorn ftw

worth the 7 year wait imo

Director's Cut ending is so boss, elevator doors shut IT'S OVER

― Matt Armstrong, Saturday, March 3, 2012 9:05 PM (seven years ago)

this is so otm btw, probably one of my favorite movie endings ever

Edward James Almost

laughed too hard at this

glad we've had 2049 since this poll was started to offer the definitive answer on this issue, which is of course 'if you're asking this question you're missing the point you fucking rube'