Movie Thread

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

This theory is mostly based on little "hints", like some origami unicorn that can have totally different meanings and implications depending on the specific cut you're watching.

Reminds me too much of TvTropes' iconic "Wild Mass Guessing" sections to bother with, bth.

[veris leta facies]

But it wouldn't make any sense if he was replicant. Replicants are banned on Earth. Why the heck would this police unit see all that effort in creating, concealing from the public, and obscuring this information from itself, especially as he clearly is equivalent to a normal man in strength and ability.

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

It's so idiots can waste time with theories and pretend the movie is deeper than it actually is.

[Guest]

I finally watched the theatrical cut of Blade Runner. I had only seen the director's cut before and it really came as a surprise how similar both versions are. TC includes narration (which has generally been hated, but it didn't bother me much) and different ending (I prefer the DC ending), but otherwise they are pretty much the same thing.

It's funny how Deckard is supposedly this uber-badass replicant-hunter, but he gets his ass kicked by EVERY replicant he meets and seems to defeat those by pure luck. And what is this bullshit about Deckard being a replicant himself? Absolutely nothing indicates that in the movie and it would be completely nonsensical anyway, he is clearly much worse than any replicant he meets, if he would be replicant himself why the fuck would he have been made so weak? All this Deckard being replicant nonsense seems to be just some retarded fan theory making the movie seem to be "deeper" than it really is.

It's worse considering it's not fans, but Ridley Scott is the one who keeps saying Deckard is a replicant.

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

Just skimmed over some news headlines regarding the whole replicant "mystery", and apparently he claimed the sequel only makes sense if he is a replicant.
The sequel never confirms that he is one, naturally.

My guess is he latched onto this fan theory, which could explain why more "hints" towards the "truth" are found in later cuts when he must've read up on this theory.

[rabidtictac]

It's so idiots can waste time with theories and pretend the movie is deeper than it actually is.

This. The movie never implied Deckard is a replicant. It's never indicated anywhere. The closest the film gets is saying it doesn't matter who is a human and who is a replicant. None of us know how long we'll live. That's the take-away.

[Guest]

My guess is he latched onto this fan theory, which could explain why more "hints" towards the "truth" are found in later cuts when he must've read up on this theory.

...you do realise how movies are made? How can he incorporate 'hints' towards the 'truth' with footage he shot way back in 1982?

This. The movie never implied Deckard is a replicant. It's never indicated anywhere

Yes it is. There's the unicorn dream and the unicorn origami and there's visual cues like Deckard having the red eyes that the Replicants have. It is definitely implied

My problem with it is the same as veris said. If Deckard's a Replicant engineered to hunt other Replicants, why does he get his ass kicked by every Replicant he comes across other than Rachael? Surely if you built a Replicant to hunt Replicants you'd make him super strong.

[veris leta facies]

Yes it is. There's the unicorn dream and the unicorn origami and there's visual cues like Deckard having the red eyes that the Replicants have. It is definitely implied

Except that none of that was in the original theatrical cut I just watched. That was all added in the latter director's cut. Ridley Scott can claim the rest of his life that Deckard was a replicant, but the fact is neither the screenwriters nor Ford thought so when they made the film, I don't believe even Scott thought so when directing the film, but later liked the fan theory and made additions to the director's cut based on it.

The theory is not only nonsensical, it would also weaken the highlight of the film; Roy's death scene. "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe." Yeah, you are talking to just another replicant there you dumb fuck, to one who is made to hunt replicants, but who, for some incomprehensible reason, is made substantially inferior to those he hunts.

It wouldn't even fit thematically into the story, there would be minimal human-replicant interaction in the film, just replicant-replicant, like Deckard's relationship to Rachel. Hell, why leave it there that only Deckard was a secret replicant, what if they ALL were replicants, Tyrell, Bryant, Gaff, Sebastian etc. Wouldn't that be cool?!

[Guest]

I don't believe even Scott thought so when directing the film, but later liked the fan theory and made additions to the director's cut based on it

Like I said before, Scott didn't shoot new footage for the Director's Cut. It's all compiled from footage he shot when he made the original cut, and that stuff was cut for whatever reason (time, most likely). Some people think the unicorn actually came from Legend, which was his next film and which featured unicorns, because the scene wasn't seen by general audiences until 1992. But that's wrong. Scott shot the unicorn scene for Blade Runner back in '82 and it was one of the last things he shot for the film.

Basically what I'm saying is that Scott probably did have it in his mind when he made the film. You are correct that he's pretty much the only one who thinks so. Dick wrote Deckard as human, the screenwriters wrote Deckard as human (although Hampton Fancher, the original screenwriter, said he wanted to create some ambiguity) and Ford played Deckard as human. Only Syd Mead sided with Ridley over the Replicant issue

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

About that "old footage only" thing...

Computer-generated special effects were also utilized for The Final Cut in order to fix several errors seen in previous versions, two instances requiring new footage. In the first, the Abdul Ben Hassan scene had its audio completely out of a sync with the video. In order to repair this, the special effects department reached out to Harrison Ford's son Ben Ford, who was filmed reciting his father's lines in the scene. His mouth and chin were then digitally inserted into the film over his father's. In the second, after being suggested by Joanna Cassidy, she was filmed performing Zhora's death scene, as her stunt double Lee Pulford, was clearly visible in previous versions. Her head was then digitally inserted over Pulford's.

The Final Cut was from 2007. They already had the technology to turn Deckard into a dangehair if they wanted to.

The question is the reason for why these newer version added those cut scenes back in. Was it just to be different? To be more "complete"? Or to give the theoryfags more theory to fag over?