Deckard's Description

Harrison Ford & Rick Deckard

Deckard a Rep

Deckard not a Rep

Ridley Scott: "Deckard is a Rep"

Director Ridley Scott has finally revealed the answer to a plot twist in his film Blade Runner which has been the topic of fierce debate for nearly two decades. Movie fans have been divided over whether Deckard was not human but a genetically-engineered "replicant". Little suspicion was raised by the 1982 original version of the film. But a decade later the Director's Cut edition convinced many that the hero was indeed a replicant and in a Channel 4 documentary Scott at last reveals they are correct. "He's a replicant".

The acclaimed British director, who also directed Alien, Thelma and Louise and current box-office hit Gladiator, settles the issue when questioned on key aspects of the film's imagery. In the Director's Cut version, the biggest clue for analysts was the appearance of a unicorn on screen while Deckard is lost in thought. Movie mysteries. The image of the mythical creature appears again towards the end of the film when he picks up an origami model discarded by Gaff. As the replicants had no memories of their own, they had to be implanted, and fans interpreted the appearance of the model as a sign that Gaff knew what Deckard was thinking because it was an image shared by other non-humans.

In Channel 4's documentary On The Edge Of Blade Runner, Scott discusses the scenes and asked what they mean, he confirms with a grin: "He's a replicant". Another hint in the film comes from the number of replicants which Deckard is hunting. We find out that six had made their way to earth, one of whom was killed. Deckard is looking for four, begging the question: "Who is the fifth replicant?". Blade Runner's futuristic urban imagery was hugely influential on later movies but at the time of its release it was a relative box office flop. However the film noir-style movie proved to be a success when released on video with repeated viewings revealing hidden depths. When it was first made, poor reception at preview screenings prompted the film's backers to call for a happy ending being added, as well as a voice-over from Ford. Scott removed these for his revised version. "What we'd done was kind of a dark novel, it was rather novelistic," he said. "I didn't really realise that that eventually became the true longevity of the whole film - you revisit it constantly like re-reading one of your favourite books. You always find you get sucked in again. "I still think it's one of the best films I ever made," he added. The documentary - which includes previously unseen footage - is being broadcast on 15 July, immediately after a screening of Blade Runner: Director's Cut.

"We knew about [Deckard being a replicant] all along. That was supposed to be the original idea, but they didn’t cut it that way because the studio said that we couldn’t have the hero not being human,” actress Sean Young, who played Rachael, the lovely android femme fatale. Young doesn't think Scott's revelation will change the way that "Blade Runner" resonates with its audience. "When it came out in the early '80s, there were people who sent me theses and dissertations they wrote on the film. It was a vision of the future that’s very bleak, and I think the realistic generation was responding to that vision. It taps into people’s anxiety about the future of society. "It’s still my favorite film after all these years." Now we know why.

So, if she knew all along, how come Young never piped up and settled the "is-he-or-isn't-he?" debate for die-hard "Blade Runner" fans? Young tells us that she didn't because 1) viewers should be able to infer from the 1992 director's cut that Deckard was a replicant, and 2) in her words, "Well, it’s show business. You have 50 people, and they all have their own opinions." How true.

Ask practically anyone who knows "Blade Runner" backward and forward and they'll tell you: If you're a die-hard fan of the film, you should already know Deckard was a replicant. "People have a problem [figuring it out] because it’s presented as an allusion, and it’s very subtle," Paul Sammon, author of Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner.

Why did Scott feel it necessary to settle the debate now, after all this time? Sammon thinks it's partly because the 20th anniversary of Blade Runner is only 18 months away, and the director is finally reflecting on the film. "I think ... it’s only recently that (Scott) has become aware of the cult response surrounding the film. I think it's slowly dawning on him to look backward and comment on his legacy. The documentary [where he revealed the secret] is the first ever professional, sustained documentary done on the film. I think Ridley just thought that he finally has an opportunity to talk about it, and he did.”

Most of the fans say they've always known. No surprise there. "I knew it all along. ... I thought it was pretty obvious he was a replicant," says Shirley LeVasseur, staff writer for The BladeZone (www.bladezone.com). LeVasseur adds, "I'm more surprised that Ridley Scott came out and said definitely one way or the other whether he intended Deckard to be a replicant." So, 18 years after "Blade Runner" first came out and eight years since the director's cut fueled the debate, it looks like Ridley Scott's Deckard declaration won't end the debate.

I think the dialogues and different interpretations will continue anyway. ... That's one of the things about fandoms.