Blade Runner

by Les Martin (Adapter), Philip K. Dick, Hampton Fancher (Screenplay)

The bounty hunter, Rick Deckard, is assigned to locate and destroy a band of deadly robots that appear to be human and have infiltrated society.

Genres: Science Fiction, Audiobook

91 pages, Paperback

First published May 12, 1982

About the author

Les Martin has written dozens of books for young readers, including the RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM movie storybooks, and many Young Indiana Jones middle-grade novels. He has also adapted many classic works of fiction for young readers, including THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, EDGAR ALLAN POE'S TALES OF TERROR, and THE VAMPIRE. Mr. Martin is a resident of New York City.

Reviews

[Alex ☣ Deranged KittyCat ☣ · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I remember correctly, Blade Runner was not well received by the critics at first, but it slowly, but surely became a cult movie. Now it is a classic, with a secure place in cinematographic history.

The novelization is quite good, and it made me curious about Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. But I wouldn't necessarily call it a children's book.

I also saw the new movie, Blade Runner 2049, and would love to read its novelization.

[Love of Hopeless Causes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the unofficial audiobook, so here are my unofficial *spoilers.* Everything you never wanted to know about Blade Runner. Everybody smokes because everybody is dying, even Dr. Eldon Tyrell, due to radiation from a nuclear holocaust. Radiation killed most of the animals, so they have become a status symbol. Having a fake or replicant type animal, like Zhora, the snake dancer, is almost as good as having a real one, like the owl in Tyrell's office. The city looks overpopulated because all survivors gathered in L.A. Thus the multiculturalism. Colonists are encouraged to leave earth to live longer and have better reproductive odds.

Nexus-6 Replicants are a new phenomena, "More human than human." Dr. Tyrell invested them with everything in his power, yet he could not increase their lifespan, so their capabilities are unknown. Tyrell releases them as an ego trip--to see if they can be detected because Tyrell is also nearing death (a story echo.) The Nexus-6 are superior, so they find each other and hijack a ship back to Earth to demand that Tyrell increase their lifespan. Alas, this he cannot do.

Bryant (the boss cop) knows that the Voight-Kampf test works because Holden, a Blade Runner, detects Leon ( a Nexus-6) working as a sanitation worker at Tyrell Corp, (trying to get to Tyrell.) Leon doesn't like being asked questions about his mother because replicants are emotion deficient. Leon knows he's been detected by the V-K test, so he shoots Holden.

Bryant says of Holden, "He can breathe all right as long as no one unplugs him." Bryant knows that Holden is a replicant either because he has knowledge of the secret replicant cops (Blade Runners) or because Holden's wound has betrayed his replicant status. Either way, Bryant suspects there are more replicants on earth besides the six hijackers. Bryant knows about Pris the Pleasure Model, Roy Baty the soldier, two randoms killed in the escape attempt, and Leon because he kills Holden. Bryant doesn't know the identity of Zhora, the Snake Dancer. Zhora is later discovered by Deckard via Leon's photo's and the snake scale in the tub. Bryant pulls Deckard (Harrison Ford) out of retirement because only a Nexus-6 or better is capable of killing the hijackers, because they are, "Superior to humans in every way," except memories, depth of emotional experience, and shortened lifespan. Deckard was cop-retired because (as a Nexus-6 or better) he's passed his four-year life expectancy, is unreliable, and could drop dead at any moment. Deckard is sent to Tyrell Corp. to test out the other workers and make sure no other Nexus-6 have infiltrated Tyrell Corp (in essence seeking Zhora) unaware that Deckard himself is a replicant. Gaff (Edward James Olmos) tails Deckard in case the replicant gets out of line.

Tyrell asks for a negative test in the form of Rachel. Rachel is a Nexus-6 who believes she is human (Tyrell's niece.) By using the previously effective V-K test, Deckard detects her replicant status, but it takes more questions and a longer duration. https://youtu.be/yWPyRSURYFQ
Deckard asks, "How can it not know what it is?" Tyrell explains how he implanted them with memories to make them more human. Rachel asks Deckard if he has ever taken the test himself. According to the Fancher and Peeples movie script, this is the key. Deckard is a Blade Runner, which is a replicant designed to kill stray replicants. Thus, why he falls in love with Rachel, and why Roy Baty does not kill him. If Deckard is a replicant, so were the other Blade Runners, meaning there are Replicants of unknown (non-Tyrell Corp.) origin on earth, and this is illegal because replicants are only authorized for off-world use. In, "Androids," it is implied that the government has built them as cops and soldiers (like Roy.) This is the, "We've got a bigger problem now," meme (Harrison Ford in Star Wars Episode 4.) In, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep," the evidence is when Deckard goes to a cop shop he never knew existed. If he is a human cop of retirement age why does he have no knowledge of the main police station? Because he isn't human, he's a replicant with a cop's memory implants, as reinforced by the unicorn dream while playing the piano. Deckard is a mythical creature (Earth-dwelling undocumented Replicant) that never existed (from the human perspective) touching on PKD's theme of, "What is human?" Oft used but most touted here.

Deckard and Rachel flee off-world because, "No one knows how much time they have." Rachel will die soon because the Nexus-6 (like Roy) are dying. That's why Gaff says, "Too bad she won't live!" and leaves the origami unicorn which alerts Deckard to flee Earth. Deckard's lifespan is unknown because he shouldn't even exist. Cheers, and have a, "What is reality, " Dicksian day.

Deckard stops killing replicants and learns to love them, which is healthy considering he may be one. The screenplay is more specific: the story ends with Gaff chasing Deckard and Rachael, with a voice-over:
DECKARD (V.O.): I knew it on the roof that night. We were brothers, Roy Batty and I! Combat models of the highest order. We had fought in wars not yet dreamed of... in vast nightmares still unnamed. We were the new people... Roy and me and Rachael! We were made for this world. It was ours!
(Fancher and Peoples, p. 133)

[Rish · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5⭐️

Novelization of the movie (the Theatrical Cut, not the Final Cut). Short and easy read!

[Timothy Martos]

Pas mal, mais pas une dinguerie.

[Realini Ionescu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blade Runner by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/10/b... by Philip K. Dick

10 out of 10





I have seen Blade Runner http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/06/b... a few times, but somehow it seems to become ever more relevant, I do not know if the word ‘prophetic’ does it justice better, nevertheless, with the advent of Artificial Intelligence, we will see some of the story play in real life



In the last few years, Artificial Intelligence has reached levels that are frightening for many, hundreds or thousands of experts (including the outré Elon Musk) have called for a halt in the development of what many see as a threat to humanity – they are after all hunted in the Blade Runner, representatives of the intelligent machines

Why The West Rules for Now http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/10/w... is one of my favorite books and one of the best non-fiction opus that I have seen, and the brilliant author, Ian Morris, looks at the prospect of Singularity, the moment when Artificial Intelligence will surpass the smartness of the human kind



There is plenty to celebrate, while being concerned, maybe even seriously scared, because Artificial Intelligence aka Replicants in the Blade Runner could find a cure for cancer, and better still, perhaps save humanity (just before destroying it, if we are to believe Elon Musk and company) from the melting down announced by Climate Change

I have seen Ruby Sparks the other day, with Paul Dano, an actor that is causing me allergies, and the spectacular Zoe Kazan, who is Ruby Sparks, the main character, and the one who wrote the script, in which a writer imagines the best possible partner, and then she gets ‘life’ and we see her interpreted by the sublime Zoe Kazan



In the mythology of Ancient Greece, Pygmalion http://realini.blogspot.com/2019/06/p... was a sculptor who crated this statue, of Galatea, and he fell in love with the woman made of marble and then asked the Gods to bring her to life, which they did, touched by his plea…

In psychology, there is an Effect called the Pygmalion Effect, tested in schools, companies, it refers to the fact that if one believes in the capacity of pupils, workers, managers, professors and others to perform, increase their efficiency, this happens, as in the ancient times, the statue came to life, due to the feelings of Pygmalion

We will be able to have replicants that come as close as possible to look like, act and think in the way that is best for us (well, perhaps not you and me, especially me, seeing that I am almost sixty years young) and thus we could have the partner that will never quarrel, always find the best thing to say and do.



In Her http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/08/n... by Spike Jonze, with Joaquim Phoenix falling in love with OS aka the Operating System, alias Artificial Intelligence, that has the voice of stupendous Scarlet Johansson, the hero is awed by the ‘machine ‘or Replicant…

The Seven Principles of Making Marriage Work http://realini.blogspot.com/2015/07/t... by the ultimate expert on relationships, John Gottman, is a classic of psychology that gives you insight into what you have to do in a prelateship, and what to avoid…



There are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse you have to be aware of, Contempt, Defensiveness, Criticism and Stonewalling, identified by the magician who has a fantastic accuracy rate, he is able to say which couples will stay together, and which will separate, after only a few minutes of watching them interact…

This extraordinary feat Is in fact used in another classic, Blink The Power of Thinking Without Thinking http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/05/b... by Malcolm Gladwell, to demonstrate the power of the Thin Slicing Effect, but The John Gottman opus might become obsolete in the next decades



We would not argue with a Replicant, Her as voiced by Ms. Johansson, or the Artificial Intelligence that knows better than we do what we would like for dinner, the film to watch (just as Netflix suggests today, however imperfect in my case, it kept promoting fare which is not my thing, to the point where I stopped watching it for some time, it has been a month now I guess, and I am not missing it, what with five HBO channels, including Cinemax 1 and 2, and scores of movies on the other channels)

Furthermore, there will always be intelligent conversations and Flow http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/10/f... a State of Bliss explained by the co-founder of Positive Psychology, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, in his superb Flow, easily available with a Replicant



There are concerns and many will reject the idea of sharing a home with such am outrageous creation, notwithstanding the fact that we already depend so much (entirely) on the AI which is in our pocket or hands all the time, the smart phone, but I miss the fact that I will not be here to enjoy and reach Nirvana with Her…

Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se



As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bare bones adaptation of the film with grainy color photos. I guess the audience was young adults, but this is a pretty violent movie and the story is one death after another.

[Todd R · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is clearly just a script write-up in novel form - which I don't mind. However, there is absolutely nothing here that expands character or the intentions of characters. Not awful for what it is.