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| It is 2019, Los Angeles. Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is a
retired Blade Runner-a person who must track and kill genetic replicants, man-made
humanoids who resemble humans in every possible way, only stronger, smarter,
and more cunning. He is forced to come out of retirement when five replicants
hijack a cruiser and make their way to Earth, apparently to meet their creators
at the Tyrell corporation and find a way to prolong their limited four-year
lifespans. Along the way, Deckard must deal with pressing issues of identity and
what it means to really be "human."
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| Harrison Ford (Rick Deckard): the Blade Runner, whose
origins are clouded in mystery.
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| Rutger Hauer (Roy Batty): leader of the rogue replicants,
who desires a longer life.
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| Sean Young (Rachael): works for the Tyrell corporation
as a personal assistant to Mr. Tyrell himself, but leaves when she discovers
that she is a replicant.
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| M. Emmet Walsh (Bryant): chief of the Blade Runner
unit, brings Deckard out of retirement.
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| Joe Turkel (Eldon Tyrell): head of the Tyrell Corporation,
the genius behind replicant production.
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| Blade Runner is a picture of a dystopian future, a world
where technology has gotten out of hand to the point where it does not serve
society's best interests. Capitalistic greed and technological grandiose have
replaced natural beauty; grotesque buildings have dominate the city, and sky is
permanently covered in a cloudy, murky smog. Miscreants run amok on the ground.
Replicants, created in the image of man and in some ways more perfect, are
destined for a life (albeit a short one) of slavery. This is obviously a
society in which technology benefits a chosen few.
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| More importantly, Blade Runner poses very important questions.
What does it mean to be "human"? Can technology recreate a "human", or
will it always be an imperfect (or too perfect) copy? Deckard struggles
continually with these questions, whether internalized in his own mind or posed
by others, such as Rachael, who asks him if he has ever taken the same
replicant "test" that he administers, or by Roy, who after his murderous spree,
spares Deckard's life on the rooftops. This very act shows that replicants are
capable of human emotion, even compassion and mercy. Deckard's love affair with
Rachael is also rather poignant-does the fact that he loves her, a replicant,
and that she loves him back, make her "human?" Or is this one of the signs
that suggests that perhaps Deckard himself is a replicant? This struggle for
acceptance is a powerful thematic element, not just in movies, but in life
itself. It manifests itself in our history and our culture. Blade Runner takes
an important look into a world where they haven't taken the time to answer
these fundamental questions before crossing these technological and social boundaries.
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