Smith - Blade Runner Blog #1

The 1982 version of Blade Runner has a different ending from the Director's Cut. It was demanded by the producers. What effect does the ending have on the rest of the film. Discuss tone, lighting, and character.

Blade Runner (1982) _ Blog

            Blade Runner as a movie cannot be completely explained by the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep because it is a combination of a loose and faithful representation of the book. There were similarities in the scenes and it does follow the main themes brought up in the book.

            In the ending the scene shows the almost happily ever after forced by the producers. The closing and opening of the doors were symbolic of major parts of the movie ending or beginning. “The depressing atmosphere is unrelenting, and the script does not provide any humor whatsoever” (Pfeiffer 123). This quote shows how the atmosphere on set was like and what Harrison Ford was dealing with while shooting this film. It could be why he contested many ideas that the producers had which includes the voiceover.

            While watching this version of the film I noticed that some of the attacks between Replicants and Deckard could be seen as self-defense, he has to change his view on how to treat a situation. In the beginning he killed Zora and just held up his card and said “Blade Runner” and then pointed and said “Replicant”. There was no empathy or hesitation. As the film progresses he become more and more aware of the ethics of what he is doing. In the ending this is apparent, as he has ideally fallen in love with his enemy. The backdrop of the 2019 Los Angeles immediately sets the tone for the movie as a film noir type movie. It allows for the tone to show the detective and contemplative theory of a blade runner. 

            Deckard is the protagonist in the film and it is his character. One of the points of a protagonist is to have them change in some way. What happens with Rick Deckard is that he becomes more empathic to the Replicants and the revelation in the end is that the main bad character saves him and he even says at that point that he values life more and realizes what is important. That is an implication of empathy even in Replicants. 

            He accepts something artificial into his life. He has begun to respect all of the things that he never saw as really living. The ending of the 1982 version occurs when the elevator door closes with. He gets into a spacecraft and drives off into the fresh green breast of the new world. If there is nothing left in the book, how can you have a forest and a blue sky suddenly out of nowhere? It seemed fake and does represent hope. It shows the idea that the earth isn’t really dead and that there is a chance to save the planet. Rachel has no termination date and this can be seen as both a good and bad thing.

            There is a religious aspect in the movie, however, not to the extent as in the book. Mercerism is a religion and is a big part of the book, but in the movie one of the only times religion is brought into it occurs when the dove flies off in the end of the film. That dove represents his spirit leaving the body and the sense that there is an intangible, spiritual element to every being, which can be seen as a visual metaphor for the soul. The lighting in the ending is very futuristic and allows for the imagination to run wild. It is mainly dim lighting with flickers of bright lighting key. The flickers of bring lighting emphasizes the importance of that scene. For example, the dove. Social control is revealed in the film, in order to maintain your status in the community you have to listen to and do whatever the boss tells you. People had an excuse because they did what they were told to do and they were just following orders. Money gives power to change people’s views on what is right and what should be followed.