55
votes
Accepted
How are the off-world colonies reached in Blade Runner?
It seems that film and book might have different interpretations of this.
I really don't remember the book that well, so what do we know about the film interpretation related to off-world travel and ...
- 1,361
46
votes
Accepted
Why hunt replicants?
Because they're basically amoral psychopaths, hence their incapacity to fool the VK test. Notably, many of them have killed humans to get to Earth and have killed on more than one occasion once they'...
- 718k
42
votes
Accepted
Why doesn't Deckard just identify replicants by their glowing eyes?
Deckard can't see it; it's non-diegetic, intended for the film audience, but not for the film's characters. Given that we only ever see the 'glowing eyes' effect when the in-universe characters have ...
- 46.1k
37
votes
Accepted
What are all the known questions that have been asked as part of a Voigt-Kampff test?
Blade Runner (1982) (1, 2)
It’s your birthday. Someone gives you a calfskin wallet.
You’ve got a little boy. He shows you his butterfly collection plus
the killing jar.
You’re watching television. ...
- 718k
33
votes
Accepted
Are the off-world colonies really a "golden land of opportunity"?
Evidence in the film? Some, but not much. All bad.
Roy is described as a
Combat model. Optimum self-sufficiency. ("Colonization Defence").
It seems likely that his role was either to put ...
- 718k
33
votes
Why (in universe) are blade runners called blade runners?
Although it's not mentioned in the film itself, there is apparently another source, although the canonicity is dubious (as the book also contradicts aspects of the movie) and subject to change if they ...
- 31.7k
30
votes
How are the off-world colonies reached in Blade Runner?
The only manned space vessel that I can find in the novel is in some dialogue (bold added):
‘The issue is not the legality of the bone marrow analysis,’ Eldon
Rosen said huskily. ‘The issue is ...
- 1,518
30
votes
Which 2019 technologies were correctly predicted by Blade Runner?
Some of the Blade Runner technologies that have come to fruition by 2019 include:
Giant electronic billboards that show full motion video ads.
Crosswalk Walk/Don’t Walk indicators that include audio ...
26
votes
Did Philip K. Dick watch "Blade Runner" before his death?
Philip K. Dick only saw twenty minutes of the film before his death.
According to Dick's close friend and confidante Maer Wilson (who spoke to him daily until his death) Philip Dick never saw the ...
- 718k
26
votes
Zhora asks Deckard: "Are you for real?" Was this meant to be significant?
That line only seems significant because it is being taken out of context.
In the scene immediately prior while he is waiting for her, we hear an announcer in the background saying:
"Ladies and ...
- 1,274
23
votes
Zhora asks Deckard: "Are you for real?" Was this meant to be significant?
I don't think it is. The whole dialog goes like below; notice how uneasy Deckard appears to be, unlike Zhora:
Deckard: Have you felt yourself to be exploited in any way?
Zhora: How do you mean, ...
- 58.3k
23
votes
How many questions do Blade Runners usually ask during a Voight-Kampff test?
It typically requires 20 to 30 questions.
From the script of Blade Runner:
Deckard: One more question. You're watching a stage play. A banquet is in progress. The guests are enjoying an appetizer of ...
- 12k
18
votes
In 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?', why does Deckard need to apply the Voight-Kampff test at all?
The list that was provided to Deckard was based off "suspicions" as we can see when Bryant tells Deckard:
"Dave used the Voigt-Kampff Altered Scale in testing out the individuals
he suspected (...
- 1,006
17
votes
Why aren't replicants created with some distinctive feature in Blade Runner?
The intent of replicants is to be, a human replication, to the point the best replicants don't even know they are one. This would be subverted if replicants could be easily told apart. The 4 year ...
- 1,434
14
votes
Why (in universe) are blade runners called blade runners?
The answer is simple:
it's a literary, elegant, way to exactly describe the extremely difficult situation a bladerunner finds themselves in:
at all moments they are "on a knife's edge," if you will, ...
- 1,225
14
votes
Accepted
Why would Rachael be hunted?
It's explained that Rachael is a shop floor demo model, allowed to be on Earth presumably under the strictest of conditions, one of which appears to be that she stays under Tyrell's direct control.
...
- 718k
13
votes
Why would Niander Wallace or Eldon Tyrell want Replicants to do this?
Wallace: Increased-mass-production or Generation ships
It is not confirmed anywhere why Niander Wallace would want reproductive Replicants to exist, but I have a couple of explanations.
Increased ...
- 46.1k
11
votes
Accepted
Why did Deckard have to terminate the replicants?
Based on a plain reading of the narrative, it's because Deckard is "little people" and there is an implied threat against him. But there may be more, depending on what theory of Deckard's character ...
- 4,213
10
votes
Accepted
Does it matter which version of the original Blade Runner I've watched if I want to watch Blade Runner 2049?
Your question is twofold.
is there any official mention of which version the Blade Runner 2049 uses as its definitive source?
Not really.
The best "official mention" is in this Collider ...
- 16.5k
10
votes
Accepted
How does Deckard know whose memories were implanted, and what those memories were?
We're meant to assume there's an off-screen conversation between Tyrell and Deckard, and that's when this information about Rachael's memories is shared.
The actual scene is cut short after Deckard ...
- 24.4k
10
votes
Why are the new replicants in Blade Runner 2049 allowed to exist?
Humanity needs replicants; replicants obey their owners.
They are the cheap (or even slave) labour - something really necessary in the collapsing ecosystem; they are also better soldiers than humans ...
- 30k
10
votes
Accepted
What is the significance of Roy Batty's fingernails in "Blade Runner" (1982)?
Based on my recollection, and especially the shot in which he completely peels off one nail, this seemed intended to show how close he was to obsolescence death, already on borrowed time, as it were, ...
- 23.7k
10
votes
Accepted
How does a Mood Organ work?
It seems that Dick is borrowing this invention from his other book We Can Build You, which is a sort of a prequel to the Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
In this book, a company that produces ...
- 30k
10
votes
Accepted
Why create Rachael in Blade Runner?
More human than human
In the movie, the lifespan limitation is a flaw, not a feature. Replicant DNA is more unstable than human DNA - replicants just die earlier.
Tyrell wants to make perfect ...
- 5,087
10
votes
Accepted
Was Rachael enabled/designed to reproduce?
Niander Wallace (who bought out Tyrell's company and presumably has access to all of its internal workings) certainly believes that this 'trick' was intentional on the past of Tyrell.
His frustration ...
- 718k
9
votes
How did Roy Batty know Deckard's name?
So far as I know, your question was first put in publication by Joseph Fancavilla in "The Android as Doppelgänger" (see Retrofitting Blade Runner--edited by poet Judith Kerman, p. 10), but speculation ...
- 109
8
votes
Why do replicants have a short lifespan?
I don't know that the statements listed actually conflict.
They designed them for short life. Roy doesn't want an improved design for other, future replicants, he wants more life for himself, after ...
- 1,901
8
votes
How are the off-world colonies reached in Blade Runner?
I disagree with the source used in wcullen's answer saying:
the "central issues [are] left un- or under-explained" including, "Where are the 'off world colonies'?"
Indeed, Mars is mentioned ...
- 58.3k
8
votes
Why hunt replicants?
This question is answered fairly simply in the film. Immediately after the opening credits, we read the following introductory text:
Early in the 21st Century, THE TYRELL CORPORATION advanced robot ...
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