Blade Runner Versus Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep

The authors in the narratives, “The Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury and “Nethergrave” by Gloria are each about technology altering the life of the main characters. Although both narratives include many different subjects as the story progresses, both explore the idea of emotions affect the way technology is used. Due to their theme, conflict, and setting, the story “The Sound of Thunder” is a better novel than the narrative “Nethergrave”.

In 1982, Scott directed what is considered the most accurate mirror of our current society with his movie Blade Runner, influenced by Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. The screenplay covers many common philosophical dilemmas; including but not limited to genetic engineering and divine purpose. The setting is a futuristic city with closely resembles the twenty-first century. Further, the editing illuminates the dismal ambiance that corruption can trap people in.

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.

Science fiction is a type of genre that has to do with stories set in the future and technology that is more advanced than our society today. Ray Bradbury is the prominent author of “The Sound of Thunder”, and “The Pedestrian”. In 1953, he wrote the well-known science fiction novel Fahrenheit 451 which is one of Bradbury’s most famous works. “The Pedestrian" sets place in the year 2053 where a man named Leonard Mead goes on walks alone. Whenever Leonard goes on his walks, he never sees anyone else outside because everyone’s too busy watching TV. In “ The Sound of Thunder” a hunter named Eckels goes to a time machine company that has hunters go back in time to hunt dinosaurs. In “The Pedestrian” and “The Sound of Thunder” there are similar and different aspects of the two stories like the intriguing characters, principles of science, and their futuristic settings.

“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?

Many similarities can be found between Mary Shelley's 1816 novel, Frankenstein and the 1982 movie Bladerunner . The number of similarities between these two works, created more than two hundred years apart, is staggering. A cursory look at both works reveals these similarities:

Bound by different contexts, authors often use a popular medium in order to depict the discontent of the ideas of society. This is evident in the module Texts in Time; as Blade Runner, having been written more than one hundred years after Frankenstein is still able to reflect the ideas proposed in the latter. Blade Runner by Ridley Scott deals with the effects of globalisation and consumerism during 1980’s. Alternatively, the epistolary novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley deals with the kinship to the natural world set in the Romantic Era and enlightenment period. However Blade Runner, although subjected by a different context, also portrays a similar idea to Frankenstein; the fear of science and technology coupled with the value of the definition of a human. Through this commonality, we are able to utilise the values of Blade Runner in order to truly understand Shelley’s purpose.

‘Blade Runner’, the film adaption, directed by Ridley Scott in 1982, of the 1968 novel ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ by Philip K. Dick. This essay will explore the meaning of the Tyrell slogan “More human than human” by following Deckard on Earth in Los Angeles 2019 as a futuristic, dark and depressing industrial metropolis by looking into and discussing what is real and what is not, the good and the bad and why replicants are more appealing than humans. This essay will analyse and pull apart the “Blade Runner’ world, the condition of humanity and what it really means to be human.

This can be observed through Blade Runner’s hero Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) who struggles throughout the film to remember his past. A retired detective, Deckard was specialized in tracking down and destroying human replicants who attempt to live on earth. In 2019 the power of human replication has reached a new peak with the NEXUS 6; replicants that are far more advanced than their predecessors. They are stronger and more specialized than real humans because they are sent to off-world colonies as slave laborers. Deckard the best blade runner in Los Angeles is asked to return to duty a final time to find four NEXUS 6 replicants; Leon, Roy, Zhora and Pris, that returned to earth on a high jacked space shuttle. The replicants leader Roy wants to meet the designer of the replicants Elden

"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.

According to www.scififilmhistory.com science fiction films have been a part of our lives since 1902. SciFi films are described as realistic speculations about possible future events, based on adequate knowledge of the real world and understanding of nature and scientific methods (Robert A. Heinlin. 2015. Definition of Science Fiction. Available at: https:/en.m.wikipedia.org/Definitions_of_science_fiction. [Accessed 19 February 2016].

Speaking at the AFI Fest (American Film Institute), Ridley Scott opened up about what Blade Runner 2 will look like. Picture Harrison Ford and a massive dead tree.

The academic side of the film industry has given plenty of attention to this film too. There are hundreds of articles written about it. For instance, a few articles in the 'Alien Zone' (Kuhn ed., 1990) mentioned this famous film and base their arguments on it. And there are certainly reasons why. Blade Runner touches upon a variety of interesting subject and exhibits rich metaphors and symbolism. The most engaging subject of the film, for me at least, seems to be the question of how human are replicants. One of the best examples discussing this question is the scene in which Rick Deckard meats Rachael and administers to her a Voight-Kampff Test. The ‘Final Cut’ version of the film will be used in this analysis.

The movie that I chose to analyze for this section is Blade Runner. This movie takes

Ridley Scott directed Blade Runner (1982) after his latest hit Alien (1979) This is the start of major fame and recognition in his career and he is still cementing his unique vision onto the industry. The Film is located in a dark futuristic city yet vibrant with neon lights and crowds of people but this world has lots of backstory with off-world colonies and advanced technology. The film is loosely based on a novel called Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) By Philip K. Dick both having the same plot and sharing the same world. Blade Runner has a dark futuristic city vibe yet vibrant with neon lights and crowds of people. The way Scott makes us move through the city in a bird's eye view at odd angles when moving to a new location draws a sense of awe seeing these massive structures and this endless sprawling city in its midst. Camera work is used to make you feel claustrophobic in this packed tight city. The set was almost entirely filmed indoors making this movie very dark, with an ambient controlled environment.