Line #17 YMMV/BladeRunner


1	For the ''Film/BladeRunner2049'' YMMV page, see [[YMMV/BladeRunner2049 here]].
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3	For the ''VideoGame/{{Blade Runner\|1997}}'' video game YMMV page see [[YMMV/BladeRunner1997 here]]
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5	----
6	!!''Blade Runner'' (1982)
7
8	* AccidentalInnuendo: A couple from Batty near the end.
9	** "I'm gonna give you a few seconds before I come."
10	** "You better get it up, or I'm gonna have to kill ya."
11	** The fact that Roy ends up stripping down to his underwear makes these undertones even more palpable.
12	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
13	** Does Rachael actually fall in love with Deckard or does she become his mistress because she knows it's the only way she can avoid being retired by other Blade Runners?
14	** Does Gaff let Rachael go because he has a moment of compassion, because he wants Deckard's job as suggested in the deleted voiceover, or because a Blade Runner having a Replicant mistress is just part of the DirtyCop nature of the work?
15	** Why does Roy Batty save Deckard at the end? Is it empathy, recognizing that Deckard's plight is similar to his own? Or is it a (very understandable) fear of DyingAlone, even if the person about to witness your final moments was your bitter enemy mere minutes ago?
16	* {{Applicability}}: The struggles of replicants have been compared to escaped African slaves, Neurodivergent people and FallenAngels over the years.
17	* AwardSnub: Yes, it got UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominations for Visual Effects and Production design. No, Creator/RidleyScott didn't get nominated for Best Director, Creator/RutgerHauer didn't get up for Best Supporting Actor, Music/{{Vangelis}} didn't get nominated for Best Score and the film's Costume Design was overlooked.
18	* BrokenBase:
19	** Is the theatrical cut's voice-over narration an unnecessary addition, or does it add to the FilmNoir atmosphere of the film?
20	** Deckard's true nature is probably the fanbase's biggest debate.
21	*** A camp considers the "Deckard is a Replicant" theory to be an AssPull that is not even properly foreshadowed beyond the unicorn dream/origami. They often point out that, as the film establishes, the Replicants of the Nexus-7 differ from humans by being stronger and more durable than them, just the opposite of Deckard, who clearly doesn't match the Replicants in skills and only wins any fight scene by scraping by, receiving external help or fighting dirty. Moreover, if Deckard is an older Replicant model or a later up-to-date model, it makes no sense why he should be designated for a job that involves fighting down models far more advanced than he is, or what corporate interest could have an experiment based on pitting an unaware, weaker Replicant against stronger and better trained ones. Then again, "more human than human" is Tyrell's goal, and his ultimate goal is to create artificial humans, not soldiers -- and not knowing they're artificial.\
22	\
23	There's also a thematic argument: one of the major themes of the movie is the rise of the replicants vs. the decline of the mankind. The colonies are thriving while the Earth is decaying. The Replicants are gaining their humanity, while the mankind is losing its humanity. Roy and Deckard embody this conflict, but the juxtaposition falls apart if both Roy and Deckard were Replicants. Plus, there's already a story of a person discovering they're not human but actually a machine: Rachel. It removes the entire point of her role in the story other than as a LI if Deckard's also a Replicant.
24	*** On the other hand, defenders of the theory such as Creator/MarkKermode point out that Deckard in the film is often cold, distant, and a little boring, and that it could be explained by Deckard being a Replicant (particularly one less emotionally experienced that Batty and company, who are war veterans, sexbots and assassins instead of grey city cops like him - as well as one whose implanted, default memories are less emotionally rich than Rachael's). This side of the BrokenBase usually theorizes that Deckard is certainly being part of an experiment, in the same way Rachael was implanted fake memories and emotions to test if it would make Replicants more stable, only that in this case we are not told what is being measured. The [[Film/BladeRunner2049 sequel]]'s villain references this theory by speculating Deckard might have been a Replicant programmed to fall in love with Rachael, which suggests love and human relationships would have been the theme of this possible experiment.
25	* CommonKnowledge:
26	** Common Knowledge says the Voight-Kampff test measures how much empathy a person has. Actually, it doesn't. In the future, most animals (other than humans) have been driven to the brink of extinction, causing humanity to fetishize them to the point they have more cultural value than actual artificial people, the replicants.[[note]]The book is more explicit about the cultural symbolism behind animals in 21 century [=LA=], whereas it's mostly just for flavor in the film.[[/note]] The Voight-Kampff test measures how well a person has been indoctrinated with the animal-deification ideology that dominates the future society. A person is only deemed human if they have the appropriate cultural response to the sanctity of animal life. In keeping with the book's more explicit Nazi allegory, half the name is literally taken from Adolf Hitler's manifesto, who--as we all know--loved animals but accused the subhumans of trying to infiltrate and destroy German civilization.
27	** Everybody "knows" that Creator/RutgerHauer came up himself with at least most of Batty's final monologue because he found the original unsatisfactory. In reality, this is a half truth. He did come up with the metaphor of tears in rain and the bit about time to die, but the rest of his monologue is almost identical to the one in the script he was given. He did leave out a few details mentioned in the original version to simplify it too.
28	* CultClassic: Has since become so ubiquitous in pop culture that it's hard to picture now, but at one time the film was very much this. It's also the very reason it got a sequel 35 years after it came out.
29	* DeathOfTheAuthor: One of the reasons Deckard's being a replicant or not is still hotly debated is because no definite answer was given in the film, and the filmmakers give contradictory answers when asked. Fans who feel that Deckard is a human point out that the theme of the film, and the tragedy of Roy Batty, [[spoiler:i.e. the Replicant who is more human than human, who risks his life to save Deckard despite having every reason to let him die, loses much of its impact if Deckard is a Replicant unaware of his true nature, since it doesn't definitively vindicate the humanity of androids over humans if the AntiHero human we follow around was a robot. Incidentally this is why Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer insist that Deckard is a human and not a replicant because the dynamic between Deckard and Batty in that climax loses most of its impact if it was the other way]].
30	* DesignatedHero: One of Philip K. Dick's recurring themes was human society unintentionally drifting towards Nazi ideology without being explicitly Nazis. In the original novel, even though Deckard isn't a card-carrying National Socialist, his internal monologue is full of paranoia and fear about the Untermenschen "replacing" authentic humanity. This was toned down in the film, but even so he's still a low-rent cop who hunts down and murders humanoid robots for a living. He forces himself on Rachael, and his killing of Replicants is often quite dishonorable (shooting Zhora in the back) and others when they are injured and weak. Likewise the end of the film has [[spoiler:Roy Batty saving his life, not because he respects Deckard but precisely because he has contempt for him and his kind, and his act of rescue is meant to spite Deckard and taunt him about his lack of worth]].
31	* DracoInLeatherPants: Roy Batty is an AntiVillain with sympathetic motivations, but he's still a ruthless murderer who's willing to resort to ColdBloodedTorture. His villainous traits tend to get overlooked by fans, but his moving FinalSpeech doesn’t bring back the people he’s killed.
32	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
33	** Gaff for a variety of reasons. His unique style, his origami, his use of cityspeak, and his HiddenDepths, hinting that he’s both a better cop and better man than he may initially appear to be. In the Westwood Studio's video game, he's something of a StealthMentor.
34	** Taffey Lewis, as played by the hammy Hy Pyke.
35	* EvilIsCool: Despite being an unrepentant serial murderer, Roy Batty has a love of poetry, genuine affection for his team of fellow Replicants, and sympathetic motivation of wanting to extend his artificially shortened lifespan. Combine this with Creator/RutgerHauer's layered and haunting performance, and Batty remains one of science fiction's most complex and intriguing villains.
36	* FanDislikedExplanation: The notion of Deckard being another Replicant, which director Scott seems to favor. Detractors typically consider that Deckard being a cold, unemotional human against an expressive android who quotes Blake and Milton is a much better illustration of the Replicant-Human philosophical conflict than Deckard being merely a blander robot.
37	* FanonDiscontinuity: Toward the theatrical version due to the ExecutiveMeddling. Only the Director's Cut and Final Cut are considered the "real" versions of the film by fans.
38	* GenreTurningPoint: ''Blade Runner'' is the TropeMaker and TropeCodifier for the futuristic dystopian science-fiction film:
39	** Before ''Blade Runner'', the only film to conjure a vision on its scale was ''Film/{{Metropolis}}'' by Creator/FritzLang (which did inspire Scott) but Lang's film, owing to its premise and the limitations of the silent film, created a simplistic world lacking in realistic details and references, where Scott made a future version of a real-life Los Angeles come alive in colour, sound, and set-design. Earlier science fiction films did raise the issue of the humanity of artificial intelligence and robots, but ''Blade Runner'' took it to the next level by making the line between robots and humans far more blurred, and interchangeable.
40	** It was the first Creator/PhilipKDick adaptation in motion pictures and, as Creator/AlanMoore noted in an essay on science-fiction, it marked a more post-modern approach to movie science-fiction compared to earlier films, openly making dystopias an allegory for contemporary concerns, issues of identity, and urbanization, with set-design, costumes, and other props visually communicating its aesthetic via WorldBuilding, an aspect that many later science-fiction films, such as ''Film/TotalRecall1990'', ''Film/MinorityReport'' (both are PKD adaptations), ''Film/AIArtificialIntelligence'' and ''Franchise/TheMatrix'' would incorporate.
41	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: While not a success on its original North American release, the movie proved to be popular overseas, particularly in Japan. While the film went to influence the whole {{cyberpunk}} genre in general, few cyberpunk animes from TheEighties don't reference the film's plot, characters or visuals in very clear fashion.
42	* HarsherInHindsight:
43	** The "Blade Runner Curse" is a bit of folklore developed around the film centered on how many of the companies with prominent ProductPlacement in the film would go bankrupt or go through disastrous setbacks in the following decade:
44	*** Atari was hammered by UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983, barely survived because of its computer business, and is now a shadow of its former self.
45	*** Pan-Am is long extinct.
46	*** ZigZagged with Coca-Cola: They launched the infamous New Coke a few years after the movie was released, although managed to bounce back stronger than ever. However, the same year ''Blade Runner'' came out, they released the more successful Diet Coke.
47	*** Bell (or AT&T) was broken up for monopolistic practices. Most of the subsidiaries that were broken off of it have come back together as either Verizon or the new AT&T.
48	*** Cuisinart went bankrupt and was bought out by a rival company, living on only as a brand name (and a joke on Spaceballs).
49	*** [=RCA=] (big neon sign out Deckard's apartment window), as a company, bit the dust in '86 after being acquired by General Electric, which in turn bought Creator/{{NBC}}. (The name is still trademarked by Technicolor, however, and sometimes used on products that come from its licensees, as well as [[Creator/RCARecords the venerable record label]].)
50	*** Polaroid photos are seen in the movie -- the Polaroid company still exists today but has ceased making cameras and film.
51	*** TDK, whose sign appears on the building opposite the Bradbury near the end, seems to have made it through more or less OK--although its sign is partially obscured.
52	** Gaff's last words to Deckard are [[spoiler: "It's too bad [Rachael] won't live, but then again who does?]] In ''Film/BladeRunner2049'', we find out [[spoiler: she doesn't]].
53	** The whole Deckard and Rachael relationship becomes this come the sequel. [[spoiler: The BigBad all but states outright that Tyrell [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage set the whole thing up]] just to test his theory that Replicants could reproduce. Given Tyrell's resources, Rachael being a Replicant, Deckard ''possibly'' being a Replicant, and the plans for Replicant offspring...]]
54	** The movie is set in the then-future of the 2010s and has a scene where a policeman (Deckard) shoots an unarmed replicant in the back. Fast forward three decades later and coincidentally, there have been several controversies in the U.S. in the 2010s where policeman have shot unarmed people in the back.
55	*** Unfortunately emphasized by the concept that Replicants are often referred to as "skin jobs," a term stated to be analogous to the N-word. The most controversial of the murder-by-cop cases have been against African Americans.
56	** While this is inevitable whenever an actor dies, the famous "Tears in Rain" speech now becomes more poignant after Creator/RutgerHauer passed away in July 2019, especially since the movie is ''set'' in 2019, making this an eerie coincidence (though Roy dies in November).
57	* HilariousInHindsight:
58	** Bryant referring to Replicants as [[Series/BattlestarGalactica2003 "skin jobs."]]
59	** In one of the interviews recorded for the [[LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition Five-Disc Collector's Edition Blu-Ray set]], Creator/EdwardJamesOlmos slips up and calls the Replicants "Cylons" before correcting himself.
60	** Some elements of the film's setting have come true, such as how [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eix8Ptl8g34 many cities]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3t4eWie6U0 have begun installing talking crosswalk signs]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JdN_cgtBU4 to accommodate people with vision disabilities.]]
61	** Viewers today may notice that many elements of Replicant behavior (unusual and robotic body motions, socially awkward behavior, emotional immaturity to where they sometimes come across as child-like) align with that of people on the autism spectrum. It ends up making sense that Ridley Scott would inadvertently cast an actress with UsefulNotes/HighFunctioningAutism (Creator/DarylHannah, of which it was not yet known) to play one of them. Especially as even by Replicant standards, Pris is unusually quirky and childish.
62	** Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer would go on to play the same character in different adaptations of ''Literature/TheCallOfTheWild''.
63	** Deckard has dreams of a unicorn, and [spoiler: Gadd leaves an origami Unicorn at his apartment]]. The sequel ''Film/BladeRunner2049'' and ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017'' were released the same day (October 6 2017).
64	* HypeBacklash: With a movie being hailed as a masterpiece of sci-fi, a good many people might walk away feeling disappointed, praising the visuals and some of the acting, but feeling that ''Blade Runner'''s story is hollow and pretentious. Its alleged philosophical value can also easily fall into this, as the plot neither opens so many questions that weren't addressed by earlier, more known sci-fi works (like Creator/IsaacAsimov's work and other Creator/PhilipKDick stories) nor presents them in a more overtly [[{{Applicability}} applicable]] way (the theory that Deckard is a replicant is the only major second lecture of the film, and is still a farfetched one as shown in BrokenBase above). Consequently, the viewer might go watch the film expecting to see a straight MindScrew fest and leave dissappointed that it was just a slightly contemplative noir film in a cyberpunk setting.
65	* ImprovedByTheReCut: Both the 1992 Director's Cut and the 2007 Final Cut are considered better than the theatrical cut for remastering several scenes that more effectively push the film's FilmNoir atmosphere, removing the theatrical's divisive voice-over narration, and replacing the [[ExecutiveMeddling studio-mandated]] happy ending with a more ambiguous one. Which of the two cuts is better is up for debate.
66	* ItWasHisSled:
67	** The Replicants can't have their lives extended, and Roy dies of old age at the end. Given the fact that one of the most quoted scenes in the movie and what is often considered one of the greatest soliloquies in cinema history also happens to be his last words, it's understandable.
68	** Deckard might be a Replicant.
69	* JerkassWoobie: All of the Replicants. They’re escaped slaves who want to live in peace, but Roy and Leon are ruthless killers, and Pris is a callous manipulator. How sympathetic they are varies from scene to scene.
70	* MagnificentBastard: [[TragicVillain Roy Batty]] is a [[Characters/BladeRunnerReplicants Replicant]] and former soldier model who is driven to gain more life for himself and his partners from his "father", Dr. Eldon Tyrell. Stealing to Earth while eluding all pursuers, Roy has his lover Pris seduce the Tyrell [[Characters/BladeRunnerCorporations Corporation]] engineer Sebastian to provide access to Tyrell, whereupon Roy learns his wish is impossible. Killing Tyrell and Sebastian, Roy engages the [[Characters/BladeRunnerBladeRunnersAndLAPD Blade Runner cop]] Rick Deckard in battle, but ends up saving and sparing Deckard despite having the cop dead to rights. Using his last moments to impart a few of his memories to Deckard, Roy ensures he will not be forgotten even as he notes his own memories shall be gone "[[WarriorPoet like tears in rain]]", proving himself one of the most complex, charismatic and dynamic antagonists in sci-fi cinema.
71	* MemeticMutation:
72	** Roy Batty's "tears in rain" monologue, to the point where [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tears_in_rain_monologue it has its own article]] on Website/TheOtherWiki.
73	** The Voight-Kampff empathy test also qualifies, often being quoted at length on various websites. One website [[https://web.archive.org/web/20060506211308/http://www.thewavemag.com/pagegen.php?pagename=article&articleid=24031 gave the test to every politician in San Francisco's mayoral race]], including eventual victor and current California governor Gavin Newsom. Most, including Newsom, didn't pass; only one, Tom Ammiano, recognised the test. A particularly esoteric application also combines it with the meme comparing American politician Mitch [=McConnell=]'s appearance to that of a turtle, since one of the questions in the test concerns a tortoise:
74	---> "You’re in a desert walking along in the sand when all of a sudden, you look down and you see a tortoise crawling toward you. You reach down; you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can’t, not without your help. But you’re not helping. Why is that?"
75	* {{Narm}}:
76	** "Memories! You're talkin' about ''memories''!"
77	** The unicorn from Deckard's dream sequence.
78	** It was supposed to be terrifying, but Roy Batty chasing after Deckard, howling like a wolf, and smashing his head through walls like a cartoon character? Amusing.
79	** Roy biting his own fist.
80	** [[spoiler: The dying Pris thrashing on her back as if she's throwing a temper tantrum]]. Even between viewings, this scene doesn't necessarily age well. It does not help that the female stunt actress was too exhausted to do the preceding scenes and they had to get a ''man'' in poor makeup to do it. As noted on the [[NightmareFuel/BladeRunner Nightmare Fuel page]], though, many people find that scene disturbing because of how unnatural and jerky her movements are. That is, she really does look like a robot shorting out or something.
81	** From the same scene, Roy [[spoiler: kissing the dead Pris]] would be a lot more tragic and moving if her tongue wasn't sticking out slightly while he does it.
82	* NarmCharm:
83	** [[spoiler: Pris thrashing around wildly as she dies]] is, to a lot of people, far more disturbing than goofy, thanks to the violently jerky, inhuman movements.
84	** Roy stripping down to a pair of boxer shorts and howling like a wolf as he hunts Deckard in the climax, on paper, sounds incredibly goofy. It's not.
85	** Hy Pike hamming it up as Taffy Lewis with his New York accent.
86	* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames:
87	** [[VideoGame/BladeRunner1997 Westwood Studios released a lovingly faithful Adventure Game based on this movie in 1997]]. The game featured randomized plot points and the player's actions could lead the game towards thirteen different alternate endings. There's even a remastered version for [=PS4=], Xbox One, Windows, and Switch in the works.
88	** The 1985 game for the 8-bit home computers, on the other hand, was nothing special. Though, for rights reasons, that's technically an adaptation of the Vangelis soundtrack.
89	* OlderThanTheyThink:
90	** The title originated from the 1974 novel by Alan E. Nourse called ''The Bladerunner'' which was given a screenplay treatment by William S. Burroughs himself. The screenwriters adapted the title Blade Runner for their film because Ridley Scott wanted a new take on science fiction lore (hence renaming androids as replicants). In the original context, blade runner meant a black market guy who smuggled medical equipment (e.g., scalpels) in a futuristic dystopia where medical care had become expensive, and was entirely different from cop who retires replicants.
91	** Also, Website/{{Cracked}} claimed in [[https://www.cracked.com/article_28857_8-classic-movies-that-unintentionally-remade-other-ones.html its article]] that the film is a SpiritualAdaptation of the 1962 film ''The Creation of the Humanoids''.
92	** Many people, such as Creator/RogerEbert, have pointed out the film's potential Nazi implications. In fact, a talk show host ''in the book'' says that human society is ripe for an "ambitious politically minded would-be Hitler". Dick stated the novel was inspired by reading Gestapo diaries while researching ''Literature/TheManInTheHighCastle''. Large swathes of it are paranoid, hypocritical rants by Deckard rationalizing away all the things he sees into "They don't share our values, so they must not be human" just to make his job of killing them (and buying a living animal as a status symbol) easier.
93	* OnceOriginalNowCommon: Giant buildings, neon lights, multicultural cities, film noir aesthetics, and lots and lots of rain? Meh, we've seen it all before. The film's visuals and themes proved to be such an influence on CyberPunk and grittier science fiction works that it's virtually impossible for them not to reference the film in some form or another, and as a consequence, the impact can be somewhat lost on audiences who have already seen the many imitators and their intellectual androids, ugly dystopias, and drunken future cops.
94	* OneSceneWonder:
95	** Pretty much everything about Tyrell is so memorable, it's impressive to remember and easy to forget that he only appears twice in the film proper, and the second time [[spoiler: is his death scene.]]
96	** Taffy Lewis. Despite having three small lines, he's easily memorable.
97	** Edward James Olmos says very little as Detective Gaff, but goddamn, he leaves an impression with his eccentric style of dress and his origami.
98	** Creator/JamesHong as Chew, the creator of the genetic eyes for replicants. You can feel the cold room they're in, along with his fear of Roy.
99	* TheRedStapler:
100	** Sales of Tsingtao beer increased after being featured in the film.
101	** One of the many reasons why the Yamaha [=CS80=] is so expensive is that it's the key element in Music/{{Vangelis}}' trademark sound, and many musicians want to sound like this. Just listen to the soundtrack.
102	* RetroactiveRecognition:
103	** Wondering what happened to J.F. Sebastian? He [[Series/{{Newhart}} moved to rural Vermont]] to run a cafe and do "Anything For a Buck".
104	** Discussed by WebVideo/RedLetterMedia. After watching Hy Pike's...'''''memorable''''' turn in ''Film/HackOLantern'', they wrote him off as a kooky local actor who makes one movie and then disappears forever. They're then astonished when they research him and find out he has a bit part as Taffy Lewis in this, one of the most influential sci-fi movies ever.
105	* RootingForTheEmpire: Roy is an AntiVillain, but a villain nonetheless. His quest to stave off an early death is so compelling, and Roy makes for such an interesting, charismatic figure (helped along by Rutger Hauer's inimitable performance), that many viewers can't help but want him to succeed. In many ways, Roy comes off as a more sympathetic and engaging character than [[DesignatedHero Deckard]]. (Then again, that's the point. The robots struggle to be more human while the humans become more unfeeling, with Deckard slowly trying to regain his empathy and humanity.)
106	* SignatureLine: "It's too bad she won't live! But then again, who does?"
107	** The entirety of Roy Barry’s soliloquy is iconic, but especially the line "All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain."
108	* SignatureScene:
109	** The shots of Los Angeles' cityscape at the start of the film. It was already special during production since it converted Creator/PhilipKDick from a skeptic to a supporter of the film.
110	** The giant geisha advertisement.
111	** Zhora's death scene.
112	** Roy's soliloquy in the rain, often listed as one of the finest moments of the science fiction genre and cinema in general. It even has its [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tears_in_rain_monologue own page]] on Website/{{Wikipedia}}.
113	--->'''Roy:''' I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...
114	* SongAssociation: In Argentina, Torneos y Competencias used "End Titles" for their programs, especially the early years of ''Fútbol de Primera'', so it became synonymous with UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball programs there.
115	* SpecialEffectFailure:
116	** The skies above Batty when he releases the dove were supposed to be grimly grey, causing an unintended CueTheSun moment. This was changed in the 2007 "Final Cut" to reinstate the dark clouds and rain as originally intended. Crew members stated in a behind-the-scenes documentary that this error occurred because they couldn't get the dove to fly in the rain. The water soaked the bird's feathers and made it too heavy to take off, so they eventually had to resort to filming the scene without the rain.
117	** During the chase scene between Deckard and Zhora includes shots where an obvious stunt double can be seen in place of Joanna Cassidy. This too was fixed in the Final Cut, with Cassidy's head superimposed onto the stunt double's body. A documentary on the five-disc 2007 set called "All Our Variant Futures" shows the making of the re-shot sequence.
118	** In many scenes featuring a Spinner (flying car), the cables lifting the car up are clearly visible. Like the dove, these are fixed in the Final Cut.
119	** The opening shot at the plant with the flames shooting out of the towers were similarly retouched in "The Final Cut" to fix the timing errors the scene originally contained.
120	* SpiritualSuccessor: To the 1920s silent film ''Film/{{Metropolis}}'', in the minds of most critics.
121	* StrangledByTheRedString: Deckard's love story with Rachael comes off as highly stiff and unconvincing. It's meant to evoke a classic FilmNoir doomed romance but the chemistry between the two leads doesn't work, and the genre it's meant to evoke has several examples that merely show how it falls short. The fact that, at the very least, ''one'' of them is definitely a Replicant either explains or {{Lampshades}} this for some, but undercuts it for others[[note]]since it makes a love story with a replicant unconvincing in a movie that advocates for their individuality[[/note]]. Rachael is likewise a SatelliteLoveInterest and among the Replicants far less interesting than Roy, Priss, Zhora, and ultimately the Replicant who truly triggers Deckard's CharacterDevelopment is Roy Batty.
122	* TooCoolToLive: [[spoiler:Roy Batty]].
123	-->'''Tyrell:''' You were made as well as we could make you.\
124	'''[[spoiler:Roy]]:''' But not to last.\
125	'''Tyrell:''' The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long. And you have burned so very, very brightly, [[spoiler:Roy]].
126	* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The synth-heavy soundtrack, treasure trove of ProductPlacement for defunct or dethroned companies, analog monitors, primitive computer displays, and heavy use of MiniatureEffects all date this film to the early 80s. The soundtrack in particular is representative of synthesizer-driven music in a pre-SynthPop era; even though the latter genre emerged around 1977 and became the dominant form of music by the time of the film's release, Music/{{Vangelis}}' much more ambient-oriented score is very much tethered to an era in which synths were utilized in a more experimental and/or musically progressive context.
127	* UnintentionalUncannyValley: Sebastian's toys are played by little people in prosthetics, and make some very inhuman, jerky movements. The replicants avert this trope as they are so human, physically and emotionally, but the scene where Pris disguises herself as one of the toys has her wearing some pretty UncannyValleyMakeup.
128	* ValuesDissonance:
129	** The whole initial meeting with Zhora reeks of this, as it's treated as an IKnowYouKnowIKnow, with Deckard asking if she was asked to do anything unsavory to get her job as a stripper, and the unsavory nature of her job in general making such questions a joke. In the 21st century the view of sex workers has changed enough that such questions would actually be quite normal, making sure her consent was never violated.
130	** To a modern audience, the ForcefulKiss from Deckard to Rachael has overtones of DateRape, but at the time apparently nobody complained. Ultimately there is still the context of Rachael not being an actual human and thus having zero knowledge of how to be physically intimate with someone, so Deckard has to teach her as they go along.
131	* VindicatedByHistory: Upon its initial release, the film was advertised as an action movie, met with mixed reviews and an underwhelming box office performance (it did decently and made back its budget, but it was in no way the hit that The Ladd Company assumed it would be. It also had the bad luck of coming out the week after the much anticipated and more successful ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' hit theaters). In the ensuing years it became a CultClassic in its director's cut, and is now generally considered one of the greatest science fiction films of all time.
132	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The designs and the city will ''still'' blow you away, they literally changed sci-fi films.
133	* TheWoobie: Rachael, whose entire world starts falling apart once she realises that she's a Replicant, and Sebastian, a kindly, lonely man who is manipulated [[spoiler:and murdered]] by the villains.
134	** JerkassWoobie: Roy and Pris. Roy is a violent killer and Pris callously manipulates Sebastian, but all they want is freedom and a normal lifespan, which they are denied at every turn.
135	* WriterInducedFanon: Creator/RidleyScott is quite keen on the idea that Deckard is a Replicant over the objections of the screenwriters and Creator/HarrisonFord himself. Scott got the idea mid-production. It wasn't originally in the original novel nor was it planned at pre-production. Ford feels that Deckard has to be the main human being the audiences can relate to and properly be an AudienceSurrogate and he was openly angry when Scott tried to [[spoiler:insert the Unicorn origami scene since he caught on what he was trying to do]]. Hampton Fancher in any case feels that Deckard's humanity or lack thereof should never be openly addressed and become part of the surface experience of the film, and remain an issue of speculation, while David Peoples has described Scott's change as Scott misunderstanding some themes. Fancher initially came to calling it a "total accident" but has lately come to seeing it as a valid interpretation on Scott's part (if one he disagrees with).

Context YMMV / BladeRunner