Culture news The SF film Blade Runner was ruined by this revelation from Ridley Scott: he would have been better off keeping quiet!
A true masterpiece of science fiction, the film Blade Runner is based on a secret that Ridley Scott finally decided to reveal years after the film’s release.
The Blade Runner Monument
When you are even remotely interested in science fiction, it becomes difficult to miss Blade Runner as Ridley Scott’s film is an essential of the genre. Considered today as a true masterpiece, Blade Runner has nevertheless had a tedious journey since its release in 1982. The feature film initially divided the press and achieved very poor figures in theaters. It was necessary to wait several years and different versions so that the film finally gets the recognition it deserves.
Beyond the many qualities of Blade Runner, the success of the film is also based on a mystery that fans have never really been able to answer: the nature of Rick Deckard, the protagonist. Almost every version of the film fails to answer this big question that has been debated for nearly 30 years. A well-kept secret, which Ridley Scott finally decided to reveal in the 2010s.
Human After All
This is probably the biggest question Blade Runner asks: is Rick Deckard a replicant or not? The film sowed doubt even until the release of the Final Cut in 2007, but Ridley Scott always knew the true identity of his protagonist. And he finally decided to reveal it once and for all in 2014, thus spoiling part of the discovery for all the spectators who had never seen the film before. Be careful, understand that the following lines now reveal precisely this secret.
Asked about the subject in 2014 by Digital Spy, Ridley Scott confirmed that Rick Deckard was a Replicant. A statement that is not necessarily surprising, but which perhaps takes away from the film some of its aura. That being said, this revelation offered a whole new direction for the film as it received a sequel in 2017.
The nature of Rick Deckard is at the heart of the plot of Blade Runner 2049 and alone justifies the existence of this second part. This is precisely what Ridley Scott said to Harrison Ford, while the actor has always considered his character as a full-fledged human. “If you weren’t a replicant, the film you’re about to make wouldn’t exist. So when the audience sees the film, it’s essential to know that you are a replicant here,”
the filmmaker told his actor in 2017. And it is probably because Blade Runner 2049 no longer leaves any room for doubt that some early fans have welcomed this film with reluctance.