I couldn't hear any voiceover from the dodgy stream I caught it on. The human story involving Deckard and Rachel, that seemed far less interesting than Roy and his sidekicks' quest for more life.
I liked the ending, and I liked the philosophy underpinning the film where the replicants seemingly valued life more than the humans simply going through the motions, and the religious symbolism of Roy meeting his "creator".
However I feel BR fans neglect the flaws. The VK test to decipher human from replicant is so long and convoluted, just slap a serial number on them ! The setting seems more Tokyo or Shanghai than LA. And the pacing is glacial ! I guess I went into the film with high expectations given the franchise's cult status, and came out feeling cold.
There is much more to look out for if you were to watch it again in the future. Below I will share just a few of my favourites.
It is implied that Deckard himself could be a Replicant. There is evidence in the film and in the script both supporting and contradicting this theory. Deckard’s clouded memories and his unicorn dream, as well as Gaff’s origami models and cryptic comments throughout the film are subtle hints in support.
Ridley Scott envisages Deckard as a Replicant, whereas Harrison Ford believes that he is a Human. Many of the cast and crew of Blade Runner and of the sequel film still disagree on the answer to this fundamental question — others feel that the answer to the question remaining ambiguous is the whole point of the film.
Replicants and their treatment is also a strong allegory for Race and “Othering”. Consider how Western society and the Arts & Humanities — since the classical European civilisations — have built themselves on sending an idealised, internally haunted and physically chiselled super-masculine Hero on a journey or mission (in this case Deckard), and using him as a Master Signifer in order to negatively posit the Other as standing against him. This and many demarcations, and the racial lines that have been culturally drawn in particular, are entirely socially constructed processes.
This undesirable Other could be anyone who presents as different to the Hero. The further away that the appearance, traits and purpose are of the Other, the more the Other becomes dehumanised. In the film, the Replicants are typically Othered characters. Pris and Zhora do not seem to adhere to conventional norms of gender, sexuality, behaviour, and dress. Leon interacts with others in the manner of an uneducated middle-aged man who would be located on the autism spectrum. And Roy Batty is highly eccentric, with bipolar tendencies. They are firm “Others”.
There is also the Christian imagery in the final chase across the rooftops. Roy holds a dove, which symbolises the bringing of tranquility through the Holy Spirit, and so he seems to act as a broker of peace between Humans and Replicants. Roy is able to lift Deckard to safety, despite having nails in his hands as Jesus Christ did. Roy therefore saves the sinful Deckard, representing Humankind, and he then dies — as Jesus also did.
