Blade Runner Analysis

Within Ridley Scott’s 1982 ‘Blade Runner’ memories serve as the “cushion” (‘Blade Runner’ 1982) for replicant emotion; subsequently making them easier to control. By this, memory lays a foundation, with past experiences creating a bridge to feel and identify as more human. Through past and present circumstances, mood, and relationships, memory serves as a lever to react with a “readiness to respond” (HM Works) within both the present and the future. Scott explores the function of memory in order to illustrate the human psychology in a complex light, using scientific references as to highlight key debates in what makes humans more empathetic and how they use memory in order to be a more emotive species; thus, evaluating the superiority of mankind. Memory in ‘Blade Runner’ is used in order to create a platform to mould replicants into society as more functioning humans as to be a more exact replica, rather than to serve as the initial function of a “slave” (‘Blade Runner’ 1982).

Blade runner a box office flop in 1982 but a 1992 re release hit set

Ridley Scott and George Orwell both continually depict control in their texts through the utilisation of various techniques, in order to portray the effect this has on the characters of Blade Runner and 1984 respectively. This is done by both Scott and Orwell expertly and provides the audience with further insight and depth of the characters. Orwell and Scott respectively utilise the surrounding setting of their protagonists to depict the control that they are under, each author does this by likening their protagonist to the setting and displays evidently that the setting has impacted the characters. Motifs and symbols are utilised heavily by Scott and Orwell to further emphasis the control that is currently

Blade runner promotes that empathy is the defining characteristics for humanity. The replicants, designed not to show any emotion, develop spiritually and emotionally throughout the film.

Contrastingly, the modern, technologically driven world of Blade Runner conveys man’s usurption of nature caused through his arrogance and desire for dominance. In this contrastingly industrialized, scientifically grounded world, nature has been relentlessly exploited and commodified, as man has attempted to ‘penetrate into the recesses’. The allusion to the Promethean myth through the symbolic use of fire is seen in the opening scenes of shooting fire, intercut with close up shots of an eye, symbolically representing fire as having the potential to both nurture and destroy life. The ignorance and metaphorical blindness of man, is highlighted through the self-imposed destruction of humanity, as nature is obliterated in favour of ‘commerce (being our) goal”, symbolically representing the destruction of our natural

A Comparison of the Themes of Blade Runner and Brave New World ‘Humanity likes to think of itself as more sophisticated than the wild yet it cannot really escape its need for the natural world’ Despite different contexts both Aldous Huxley within his book Brave New World and Ridley Scott in the film Blade Runner explore the idea that humans feel themselves more sophisticated than the natural world, yet are able to completely sever relations between humanity and the nature. Through various techniques both texts warn their varied audiences of the negative ramifications that will come from such disdainful, careless opinions and actions. All aspects of the ‘New State’ within Aldous

Ridley Scott’s film Blade Runner reflects some of the key themes seen in Mary Shelley’s classic novel Frankenstein. For one, both the sources touch on the necessity of creators taking responsibility for their creations. Another key theme established in both works is the idea that emotional complexity and knowledge, over memory and appearance, allow people to be defined as human beings.

Scott’s depiction of the Replicants in Blade Runner is very different from Shelly’s depiction of Frankenstien’s monster as a result of its different context, however, this representation is equally sceptical about the advances in technology. Whereas Shelley created a creature that was unable to assimilate into society due to his grotesque appearance, Scott uses creatures which are described as “more human than human”. This is reflective of the unprecedented growth in technology during this period, particularly in communicative and medical fields. DNA testing was first used by Sir Alec Jeffreys in 1984 and mice were the first mammals to be cloned in 1986. Scott was clearly influenced by these advances and believed that we may definitely reach a stage in which we had to delve into a psychological test, the Voight Kampff test, in order to distinguish between human and replicant. The fear society has of them is evident in their treatment, and the derogatory terms such as “skin-jobs”. The similarity in the way society views these creatures and Frankenstein’s creature is uncanny, despite the different

Tyrell’s appearance and syntax delivers a cold artificial image. Batty is purposely humanized through emotions, “I want more life, father” while Tyrell’s cold response “it is not something I can promise” highlights the lack of humanity in the predicted context of 2019, depicting the replicants “more human than human”. The neglect of his creation parallels F, urging the audience to reflect on their ideals and notions of humanity in comparison to the characters present in both texts. Thus through texts, it is our ideals and morals shape our image of humanity.

One of these plot points is the character Roy Batty, aka the sadistic fuckhead that gets pleasure from mankind’s heartbreaking distraught caused by Buster Friendly (who ain’t that friendly, friend). In the movie, Roy Batty and the other andies are violent criminals.  They murder quite a few people who get in their way, but they never kill out of some sort of psychopathic detachment. They murder because they are afraid of dying, because they are plagued by the fear of the unknown.  And when Deckard dangles from the roof of Sebastian’s apartment, Roy reaches out and hauls his enemy onto the roof. In short, the Batty of Blade Runner is a flawed hero who empathized with Deckard in his last

“War is peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength”, These are the moral codes and social conventions citizens of George Orwell's 1984 live by. With high level surveillance and publicly inflicted ideologies that promote the governing force puppeteering its nation, 1984 shares shocking similarities with increased security, political power and technology seen in today's world. In the same vein, Ridley Scott's dystopian futuristic thriller Blade Runner, set in an overpopulated, corrupt, corporation governed world can be compared to the world of today in terms of the rapid development in technology and the political influence large corporations can have on governments. Both texts create a futuristic world that is able to form connections with its audience to varying degrees. But how do George Orwell's 1984 and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner depicted futuristic worlds specifically relate to the audience of today?

Blade Runner written by Ridley Scott is a movie based in the future. It is Scott's depiction of what is to become of Earth. But technological advances shown in Blade Runner have come to a point where humanity can be questioned. Reality is blurred and the nature of what is human is changing. Replicants appear identical to humans and even have emotions, while the real humans appear cold and unemotional. So who is really human and what does it mean to be humane?

The central theme of Bladerunner is the relationship between humanity and nature. More specifically it has a purpose in showing how science can negatively influence this fragile relationship. Set in Los Angeles of 2019 we see the decadence of western society into an inhumane harsh impersonal, technology-dominated realm. The inhabitants who fight for their daily survival are in desperate want for nature, contact with which is denied to them by the unrestricted scientific progress and the consequent exploitation of the natural world conducted for the sole purpose of profit. Humanity is also losing touch with it’s own nature. The compassion, the empathy, the love and the emotion are all rare or absent. This ailing relationship between

It opposes the values of love, empathy and community with the innovative forms of technology and social life under advanced capitalism. The binary opposition between man and technology is represented by three characters in the plot: Deckard, apparently a human. Roy, an android who fears death and longs to be human and Rachel, who thinks she is human and who enters a relationship with a human. These replicants represent capitalism’s oppressive characteristics and also to a certain extent the rebellion against exploitation. Deckard's realization of how the Tyrell Corporation exploits him, and the rebellion of the replicants against their oppressors, is the ultimate critique of capitalism. Since both sides — killer and killed — reject their status as servants of the corporation and refuse further exploitation. (Kellner, et all) The corporation in the Blade Runner that is used to illustrate capitalism’s destructive characteristics is The Tyrell Coporation. The Tyrell Corporation invents replicants to have a controllable labor force that will perform difficult and dangerous tasks. Similarly applicable to today, where capitalism turns individuals into machines that have only the function of productivity. Ironically, the replicants form a human rebellion; while the actual human characters in the film seem to submit to corporate domination and live a life like the corporations sees them to. It seems as if the humans have become so dehumanized that the replicants form a rebellion against their oppressor instead of human beings. Capitalism has dehumanized the population to such an extent, that technology is actually more

"Blade Runner" develops the notion of an android or replicant quite well, and it is the depiction of the android that calls into question the meaning of humanity. The viewer is constantly challenged to evaluate how human the androids are and how mechanical the humans are. This distinction is not easily made, as the androids are not simply robots. They are, in fact, artificial people created from organic materials. The robot now "...haunts the human consciousness and stares out through a mask of flesh". They have free will and some of the same emotions as humans, such as fear and love, but lack empathy, the ability to identify with the sufferings and joys of other beings, namely animals. However, in both the novel and the film the empathic ability of certain human beings such as Deckard is called into question. Aside from this, physically and behaviorally androids and humans are indistinguishable. Androids may even believe that they are human because of implanted artificial memory tapes, as is the case with Rachael.