Blade Runner (1982)

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Plot

Blade Runner takes place in a dystopian future, set in Los Angeles circa 2019. The Tyrell Corporation has developed genetically-engineered androids, called 'replicants' in the film, who are used for Off-world hard labor. After a violent replicant rebellion on an Off-world colony, replicants are banned from Earth.

Rick Deckard

The plot revolves around a retired police detective who specializes in hunting down rogue replicants (termed a blade runner) and eliminating them (called 'retirement' in the film). Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is a blade runner that is pulled out of retirement after the number one runner is critically injured while Voight-Kampffing an escaped replicant. It is Deckard's job to track down four rogue replicants that are hiding out on Earth and retire them. What is unique about these particular replicants is that they are the Nexus-6 models and are virtually undetectable by current police testing.

"Is this testing whether I'm a Replicant or a lesbian, Mr. Deckard?"

During Deckard's investigation, he goes to the Tyrell Corporation to meet with Doctor Eldon Tyrell; the man who created the replicants. There he encounters Rachael (Sean Young), Tyrell's assistant. Deckard deduces through a Voight-Kampff test that Rachael is indeed a Nexus-6 replicant with her none the wiser to the fact. Tyrell reveals to Deckard that she is a special model, who was implanted with false memories as part of an experiment. He goes on to explain that the models have a four year life span to prevent emotions from forming and the eventual rebellion within their systems. Roy Batty, the leader of the outlaw replicants, knows that his life is quickly coming to an end and attempts to find Tyrell and discover a way to extend his brief existence.

Development

Following its publication in 1968, Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? attracted a great deal of attention from the film industry. Producer Hampton Fancher first attempted to option Sheep in 1975, but was unable to work out a deal with Dick. By 1977, Flipper star Brian Kelly succeeded in optioning the property with Fancher as his partner. The duo brought the property to producer Michael Deeley, who encouraged Fancher to produce a screenplay. The first draft, sharing the title of the book, impressed Deeley enough to sign on as a producer.

Fancher's first draft was a very small film, mainly taking place in a series of connected apartments. Steeped in film noir, the ecological disasters faced in the post-apocalyptic world were brought to the forefront. The script even ended with the suicide of the Rachael character. Although the draft impressed Deeley, less enthused was the book's original author. Dick felt that the script represented an insulting dumbing-down of some of the existential concepts that he felt were key to Sheep's success. Intensely protective, Dick's attitude towards Blade Runner would eventually warm, but it was a gradual change.

The influence

While the first draft shared the title of the novel, Fancher stumbled upon a 1978 book of futuristic artwork called Mechanismo that greatly influenced his perception of the film. Fancher shared the book with Deeley and eventually sold the producer on the title, producing a few drafts of the screenplay with the Mechanismo title. However, the producer eventually settled on the title Dangerous Days.

In 1979, Deeley sent a subsequent draft of Fancher’s screenplay, at this point entitled Android, to director Ridley Scott. At that time, Scott was preparing to direct a film adaptation of the Frank Herbert epic Dune, but the project fell apart. Deeley met with Scott during the mixing of Alien and gave the director a copy of the screenplay to read, but Scott turned it down--his rationale being he didn't want to do another sci-fi movie right after Alien. Scott felt that his Dune project would be closer to Star Wars in tone than the future horror of Alien. The breakup of the Dune project, however, combined with the unexpected death of Scott’s older brother from cancer, provided the motivation for Scott to sign on as Blade Runner’s director on Feb. 21, 1980.

On April 9, 1980, Filmways Pictures, through former Universal Pictures executive Raphael Etkes, pledged $13 million to move Blade Runner forward in production. The foundation of promised funding allowed Scott and Fancher to focus on fine-tuning the screenplay. However, the two men disagreed on the tone of the film--Fancher, after endless drafts to accommodate Scott's changing ideas, was burned out and frustrated--and Deeley brought in screenwriter David Webb Peoples to perform rewrites on Fancher’s material. The resulting scripts combined the best of Fancher’s and Peoples’ ideas into a possible shooting script, ultimately known as Blade Runner. Peoples' screenplay began with a scene where Roy Batty escapes from an Off-world disposal point for discarded replicants. The famous speech by Batty at the end of the film also came from Peoples' draft, with the exception of the "tears in the rain" line, which was added by Rutger Hauer during the cast read through.

The bottom almost fell out of the burgeoning production in December, 1980. Filmways, unsecure over the increasingly high budget Scott’s vision would require, backed out. In the midst of building sets and with an entire crew hard at work and requiring payment, Deeley frantically pulled together financing from multiple sources. The resulting deals guaranteed a budget of at least $21 million: Alan Ladd Jr. and The Ladd Co. would provide $7.5 million through Warner Bros., who would distribute the film domestically. Sir Run-Run Shaw, the famous matriarch of Shaw Brothers, pledged $7.5 million for foreign distribution rights. The final monetary contribution came from Tandem Productions, headed by Bud Yorkin and Jerry Perenchio. Both executives loved the script and the concept behind the world Scott planned to build. Tandem, who deferred their $1.5 million fee in exchange for home video and television rights. Tandem also came onboard as completion bond guarantors, pledging to cover the costs of production if the filmmakers went over budget.

Design

While Deeley was focused on establishing the financial stability for the project, Scott focused his efforts on designing the world of Los Angeles, 2019. Scott wanted the vision of Blade Runner to be ultimately authentic, rather than a speculative look at what the world may be like in 40 years. Scott was influenced heavily by period photographs from the 1930s and particularly, Heavy Metal magazine and the work of Jean Geraud.

Mead's design for LA

While designing his futuristic megalopolis, Scott came across the work of futurist Syd Mead. Mead’s vision of the future was grounded heavily in industrial design, producing futuristic technology that looked as if it could be manufactured. In Mead, Scott had found the man who would design most of the visual aspects of Blade Runner. Mead would design the iconic Spinner, the Voight-Kampff machine and many of the exterior buildings seen on the streets of 2019 Los Angeles.

The limited budget available to the production meant that the film’s exteriors would have to be shot on the Warner Bros. backlot in Burbank, California. Retrofitting of the existing New York Street, featured in films as far back as The Maltese Falcon, would be necessary to achieve the futuristic look mandated by Mead’s drawings. The art department would be headed by Production Designer Lawrence Paull and Art Director David Snyder. The Screen Actors Guild strike of 1980 provided additional time for the designs to be finessed, ultimately extending the preproduction process to an unprecedented 9 months.

As with all his productions, Scott would essentially be in charge of the art department—personally approving each concept and piece produced and micromanaging the overall look of the film. Mead, originally at $1,500 a day to design the vehicles, eventually worked on the project for months and designed the entire world around the vehicles. Gene Winfield and his team would end up building 27 cars for the production, including the Police Spinner, J.F. Sebastian’s truck, taxis and various background vehicles. The cars were built from a combination of fiberglass, steel and wood onto existing Volkswagen chassis that would be lengthened or shortened depending on the model.

The Bradbury atrium

In addition to the interior locations built on stages, Scott incorporated two iconic Los Angeles landmarks into the production: Union Station and the Bradbury Building. The former would become the set for the Police HQ visited by Gaff and Deckard, with the interior set of Bryant’s office existing to this day as a part of the offices. The Bradbury, featured heavily in cinema since its inception, would be transformed into the gritty, dank home of J.F. Sebastian.

Deckard’s apartment would utilize the exterior of Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous and controversial Ennis-Brown house, with the cave-like formations of stone translated into the interior set in a futuristic manner. At its peak, some 400 people were working to construct sets and manufacture furniture, vehicles and props for Blade Runner.

Casting

One of the first choices by Scott for the role of Rick Deckard was Dustin Hoffman. Hoffman met with Fancher and Deeley, but the actor’s ideas for the script began to veer away from the established tone of the film. Ultimately, Hoffman contributed most to the screenplay before dropping out of the project.

With less than three months before the scheduled start of production, the search for a leading man became dire. Ultimately, Barbara Hershey, completing her work on Raiders of the Lost Ark, recommended Harrison Ford for the role. Deeley and Scott called Steven Spielberg, who was in the midst of editing. Spielberg couldn't say enough about Ford and invited Deeley and Scott to view dailies. Impressed with the footage, they began courting Ford for the role.

Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty

When Ford read the script however, he shared some of his reservations with the creative team. Uncomfortable with the included narration, Ford felt that Deckard was "a detective who did no detecting." Ford recommended that some of the narration's explanation be converted into scenes, allowing the audience to figure out the mystery alongside Deckard. With his concerns temporarily abated, Ford signed on as Rick Deckard.

Deckard’s replicant prey would be a diverse collection of actors. Chief amongst them was Rutger Hauer as the cold, calculating superman Roy Batty. Haber made Scott watch Katie Tippel, Soldier of Orange and Turkish Delight and lobbied for Hauer early on in casting. As a result, Hauer was cast without ever meeting with Scott. On their first official meeting, Hauer came dressed in a puce Nylon jumpsuit, a silver fox Kenzo sweater and green, floral Elton John-type sunglasses. Scott and Hauer both shared an interest in French cartoonist Bilal, who could become one of the major influences on the design of Blade Runner. Author Philip K. Dick regarded Rutger Hauer as "the perfect Batty - cold, Aryan, flawless".

As the Nexus-6 love interest of Deckard, Rachael would prove the most difficult part to cast. Scott wanted a newcomer, someone whom the audience would not recognize. The final two actresses considered for the part were Nina Axelrod and Sean Young. Both would be put on film in screen tests featuring Morgan Paull, who was brought in to read the Deckard part during auditions for both Rachael and Pris. Scott immediately took a liking to Young, focusing on her combination of beauty, quirkiness and intelligence—but other members of the crew weren’t sure her performance would match up with her look. Scott tasked Haber with working with Young to polish her performance and cast her as Rachael.

Daryl Hannah as Pris

Daryl Hannah brought her inherent athleticism to the role of Pris, something she demonstrated for Scott during her audition. Along with Stacey Nelkin and Monique van de Ven, Hannah was brought in for an elaborate screen test in full hair and makeup. Each actress was allowed to come up with their own look for the character, and Hannah channeled Nosferatu with as blonde fright wig and hollow, black eye paint. Nelkin would eventually be cast as the fifth replicant, Mary, but would be cut before filming following an actor’s strike due to budget cuts.

The film’s human characters would be just as diverse as their synthetic counterparts. Edward James Olmos’ as Deckard’s rival blade runner, Gaff, met with a linguist and fabricated the cityspeak language featured in the film from bits of Hungarian, German and French. Joe Turkel, perhaps most famous for his role as the ghostly bartender in The Shining, came on as the creator of the replicants, Eldon Tyrell. William Sanderson would play the rapidly-aging programmer J.F. Sebastian, while M. Emmet Walsh came on as the hardboiled Lt. Harry Bryant. Rounding out the cast, Morgan Paull would be offered the part of the blade runner interrogator, Holden, James Hong was cast as the eye geneticist Hannibal Chew and Hy Pyke as the nefarious saloon owner Taffey Lewis.

Production

The production moved to Warner Bros. studios in Burbank on Feb. 13, 1981, where the studio’s famous New York Street backlot was transformed into “Ridleyville.” Production would take a heavy toll on both the actors and the crew. The long night shoots, constant rain and Scott’s tendency to demand multiple takes from actors all contributed to a general feeling of uneasiness.

On the first day of principal photography, Scott arrived on set to find that the columns in Tyrell’s office had been installed upside-down, postponing the original 9:00 a.m. start time until 2:00 p.m. once the columns had been turned over. By the end of the first day, the production was five days behind schedule.

Frustrations between Ford and Scott began quickly. Ford became frustrated due to the lack of time he felt Scott was spending with him, whereas Scott felt that Ford was enough of a professional to not require constant attention and instead focused on the overall look of the picture. Ford, who had previously worked primarily with directors that included him in the creation process of his character, now found Scott had his hands full with everything else on the production. Ford would not be the only person aggravated by Scott’s meticulous nature; Yorkin and Perenchio were upset over the number of takes Scott would frequently print—even of the simplest shot.

Scott on set. Tensions would rise as production went on.

Highlighting the complexities of production, Hauer’s first day consisted of the Tyrell murder scene. A $20,000 prosthetic head was constructed for Batty to crush, but never appeared on film. Instead, blood tubes were run up Turkel’s face and provided the effect. The original concept of Tyrell being a replicant and Batty finding the real Tyrell dead in a cryogenic sarcophagus was cut before shooting due to budget concerns.

Perhaps the most difficult relationship of the film was between Sean Young and Harrison Ford. Young was very inexperienced and Scott had to essentially talk her through the role, which proved frustrating for Ford. The original love scene between Deckard and Rachael was scripted as a much more erotic affair, but the scene proved so difficult to shoot that Ford resorted to mooning Young after the actress broke down in tears.

Mishaps plagued the production, evidenced by Daryl Hannah slipping on the wet pavement outside the Bradbury Building and chipping her elbow on the window of Sebastian’s van. The crew could only shoot at the Bradbury from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. and had to clean the debris off the floors to make way for the business occupying the building. The art department eventually discovered that sprinkling the floors with ground up cork allowed for a convincing dirt substitute, combined with simpler cleanup once filming had wrapped.

The scenes in Chew’s Eye Works were shot in a functioning meat locker, preventing the temperature of the set from being regulated. During the shoot, the carbon arc lights providing illumination began to produce noxious fumes and the entire set had to be aired out using giant fans. In all, some 33 days of production consisted entirely of night shoots, in the rain, often accompanied by Vangelis temp music blasted from the rooftops to provide mood.

As production wore on, issues with time and money came to the forefront. The climactic death scene of Zhora crashing through a glass shopping display was only allowed one take, preventing an adequate wig from being found for Lee Pulford, the famous stuntwoman doubling Joanna Cassidy. As a result, the face scene in slow motion for much of the scene barely resembles the Zhora featured elsewhere in the film—an oversight that would be corrected almost 25 years later in The Final Cut. Even the character’s introduction suffered from budget constraints, as an elaborate dance sequence featuring a transforming mud pit was sacrificed and replaced with a shot of Deckard reacting to Zhora’s dance.

Dueling t-shirts

As time ran on and tensions flared, the gulf between Scott and the American crew would grow. After Scott was quoted in an interview with an English journalist saying he preferred to work with British crews, the American crew almost rebelled. The so-called “T-shirt war” was the culmination of the disagreement, with some members of the crew sporting “Yes Guv’nor my ass!” shirts in response to Scott’s quote. In, response, Scott, Deeley and producer Katy Haber wore shirts reading “Xenophobia Sucks.” The frustration eventually evaporated, however, as the shoot wound to a close and Scott became more accustomed to the American film atmosphere.

On the final day of shooting, the confrontation between Deckard and Batty on the rooftop would take center stage. Hauer performed his own jump between buildings after two stunt people fell onto the pads below. It was also the actor’s idea to hold a dove throughout the final scene and Hauer incorporated much of his own dialogue into Batty’s death speech—including the famous “all those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.” When it came time to release the dove, however, the bird was so saturated by rain that it was unable to fly out of the shot, necessitating a later reshoot against a bright blue sky that was utterly inconsistent with the city featured previously.

The final day wore on, extending to some 27 or 28 hours of shooting. To ensure the death scene was captured sufficiently, the outdoor rooftop set was actually dismantled using chainsaws and moved to an interior stage. Once the shot was complete, Deeley and Scott arrived home to find a letter waiting from Tandem informing them that they had been fired. Citing their rights as completion guarantors, since the production was at that point 10% over budget, Perenchio and Yorkin wanted to take control of the picture. In reality, Scott never stopped working on the film and the memo was eventually forgotten.

Special Effects

For the extensive visual effects work required to generate the world of 2019 Los Angeles, Scott considered a number of prominent special effects houses. John Dykstra’s Apogee and Industrial Light and Magic were briefly considered, but Scott eventually settled on Dogulas Trumbull’s EEG.

Trumbull, responsible for the ground-breaking effects in 2001: A Space Odyssey, had just finished production on his directorial debut, the landmark sci-fi film Silent Running. Trumbull concentrated on achieving the gritty, realistic feel Scott wanted for his vision of the future. Trumbull and Dick Yuricich supervised the special effects team, but Trumbull had to leave the production partway through to direct his second feature film. The miniscule budget remaining for effects work, around $2 million compared to the estimated $5.5 million required to complete the planned shots, would plague the effects work until the end.

Work on the visual effects actually began before principal production was completed, with Scott splitting his time between shooting and supervising the effects. Once Trumbull left to direct Brainstorm, he brought on special effects supervisor David Dryer to supervise the effects work with Yuricich.

"Hades" landscape

One of the most iconic shots of the film was the opening “Hades” landscape, presenting a Los Angeles overrun with urban decay. The model was a force-perspective, 15 ft. plywood table featuring building silhouettes made from acid-etched brass. Shot in smoke to achieve an effect of distance, the additional fire elements and flying Spinners were optically composited in layers. Utilizing a proprietary motion control camera system called the Icebox, 17 passes were filmed to achieve the final shot.

The Tyrell Pyramid, featured in numerous close-ups and arguably the most iconic building in the 2019 Los Angeles skyline, was built at 1/750 scale and layered with acid-etched brass plates to provide detail. Essentially an 8 sq. ft. light box, the pyramid was lit from a single 10,000 watt light source within the structure. A separate model was built containing a miniature interrogation room and working elevator for the close up shots zooming in on Holden standing at the window. Once filming was completed, the model actually caught fire and melted due to the heat generated by the light source.

The gigantic media screen featuring an advertisement with an Asian woman popping pills was meant to personify the perceived media overload present in future Los Angeles. 15 faux commercials were created by the production and the chosen scenes were composited on top of the miniature screen. According to Dyer, the pill the geisha woman is swallowing is meant to advertise birth control. Buildings in the Los Angeles skyline were constructed from all sorts of models, including discarded pieces from previous films—famously a model of the Millennium Falcon. The roof of the Police HQ utilized a model built for the Close Encounters of the Third Kind revised edition, where Roy Neary enters the mothership.

"Hero" Spinner

The scene of Deckard being driven in a Spinner by Gaff to police headquarters was achieved through the use of a miniature Spinner, shot against blue screen and composited optically with the miniature buildings. The “hero” Spinner seen descending towards police headquarters was 45 inches long and weighed 65 pounds. The incredible matte paintings representing the metropolis outside the windows, most memorably on display in the Tyrell’s office scene, were created by Matthew Yuricich. He would go on to provide 20 full matte paintings and a number of partials for the production. The effect of the sun rising in Tyrell’s office and the shade being lowered was achieved through traditional animation.

Post-production

Editor Terry Rawlings and Scott developed a rough cut that was viewed by Fancher, Deeley and other members of the production. Running almost four hours, the film was greeted with confusion and aggression—especially from Fancher. Scott and Rawlings traveled to England to continue cutting the film.

While Scott’s sons assisted Rawlings with editing, Scott shot additional pickup scenes in London using stuntman Vic Armstrong as a stand-in for Ford. Scenes shot in London included Deckard’s exploration of Leon’s bathroom, culminating in the discovery of the snake scale in the replicant’s bathtub. Also filmed, ostensively as a test for Scott’s next project— Legend—was the infamous unicorn scene, foreshadowing the possibility of Deckard’s synthetic nature. Aspects of Deckard’s proposed dual nature were featured in scenes later removed during editing by Tandem, sacrificing the thought-provoking sub-plot for time.

One of the first sequences sacrificed to editing was Deckard visiting Holden in the hospital following the blade runner’s interrogation of Leon. Holden, kept alive in a futuristic iron lung, would help Deckard work through aspects of the investigation. Scott also trimmed the length of the scenes between Rachael and Deckard in the detective’s apartment, including shortening the love scene and reducing the amount of time Rachael dwelled on Deckard’s recovery from his fight with Leon.

A sneak preview of the edit was held in Denver and the reaction from the audience was less than enthusiastic. Many viewers had trouble following the film’s plot and were confused throughout. Tandem wanted to incorporate a voiceover narration to help clarify aspects of the plot, something to which Scott reluctantly agreed in an attempt to increase the commercial hopes of the feature. Voiceover was featured in Fancher’s original draft and later rewrote by Peoples both during preproduction and in London while Scott and Rawlings were editing.

Ford never thought that the voiceover would make it into the film and both he and Scott agreed that the lines recorded weren’t right, but they couldn’t agree on what the narration should convey. The final voiceover, recorded without Scott, was written by a nameless writer and recorded by an exhausted and lackluster Ford—who was contractually obligated to provide his services.

Even after the controversial addition of narration, Scott knew the audience still wasn’t onboard. Tandem suggested a happier ending, resulting in a small shoot at Big Bear Lake with Ford and Young in a Spinner, driving off into a lush wilderness. Haber spent six days in a helicopter shooting wide shots of the Spinner driving through the wilderness, but the footage was unusable due to weather. Scott, remembering the introductory shots of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, got in touch with the reclusive director and obtained six weeks’ worth of helicopter outtakes. Scott would later state that he felt the inclusion of such green scenery after the earlier bleak and dark dystopian landscape to be both jarring and preposterous.

Reception

Blade Runner’s premiere was held on June 16, 1982 at the Directors Guild of America Theater in Los Angeles. Cast and crew were amazed by the film, but the commercial reaction would be decidedly negative. Word of mouth following the Friday premiere was poor and critics, while praising the look of the film, felt the story fell flat.

Criticisms leveled against Blade Runner focused on the extensive art direction that at times drained the emotion from the story and characters. As a result, Blade Runner would become known as the first science fiction art film. The advertising did nothing to assuage viewers’ surprise upon seeing the finished film, promising an action-packed follow-up to Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Empire Strikes Back, rather than a gritty meditation on the definition of humanity.

The summer of 1982 was also crowded with dozens of similar genre films, most overshadowed by the juggernaut known as E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. Films like Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, John Carpenter’s The Thing, Poltergeist, Conan the Barbarian, The Road Warrior, Tron, Rocky III and Fast Times at Ridgemont High were all released within a few months of one another, leading to box office saturation.

What it failed to gain in commercial acclaim, however, Blade Runner would make up for in cult devotion. Beginning a few months after its release, midnight showings began popping up in New York and Los Angeles—testaments to the growing fan base. The film would essentially create the cyberpunk genre, showing its influence in films like The Matrix. The theme of oppressive corporate culture would become more relevant as the millennium ended and Blade Runner’s success on cable television and home video would ensure its place in the cultural mindset.

In 1990, a 70mm copy of the Workprint, the cut shown at sneak previews in Denver and Dallas, was leaked onto the festival circuit. The resulting response was highly positive, leading to the eventual release of the Director’s Cut—sans narration and including scenes removed in editing—on DVD to widespread acclaim.

To commemorate the 25 anniversary of the film, Ridley Scott produced a definitive Final Cut of Blade Runner. The only version that Scott had complete artistic control over, the Final Cut included numerous special effects corrections and was accompanied by extensive behind the scenes features produced for a deluxe release on DVD and Blu-Ray.

Versions

The Final Cut poster

There are seven different cuts of Blade Runner:

1. Original Workprint Cut - A rough cut of the film that was shown to preview audiences. It does not include the voiceover, 'unicorn dream' and 'happy ending'.
2. San Diego Sneak Preview Cut - Almost identical to the domestic cut, with only a few extra scenes.
3. U.S. Theatrical Cut - Widely known as the original/domestic cut. The studio felt that the film felt 'static' and required some form of narration in order for the audience to understand what was going on. This version has Deckard narrating throughout and includes a 'happy ending' at the end (which uses leftover footage from The Shining).
4. International Cut - Also known as the Criterion/Uncut version. It is very similar to the US Cut, but adds more violent action scenes along with some minor additional footage.
5. U.S. Broadcast Cut - The U.S. Theatrical cut, editing out profanity, violence and language to make it suitable for broadcast.
6. Director's Cut - The widely talked about Director's Cut of the film removes Deckard's voiceover, inserts a 'unicorn dream sequence' (implying that Deckard may be a replicant) and removes the studio-imposed happy ending.
7. Final Cut - The only version of the film that Ridley Scott had complete artistic control over. The Final Cut has numerous changes that were made over the Director's Cut, including a more refined version of the Unicorn sequence and corrections with special effects, stuntwork, continuity, etc.

Influence

Blade Runner would go on to be a huge contributor to the cyberpunk/neo-noir scene. It was even reported that William Gibson had to leave a screening because he was seeing what he was currently writing in his seminal novel "Neuromancer". Its effects are still felt to this day in novels, movies, and video games.