Blade Runner

Question: When Roy and Leon enter Chew's lab, Chew is muttering to himself in his native language. What language is he speaking exactly, and what is the translation of what he is saying? (00:28:05)

Quantom X

Chosen answer: The language is Chinese Cantonese, and is saying something like "... Now we can more time.", and when the replicants came inside the lab he says "... What a f*** doing here..."

Question: I'm aware that there is debate on whether or not Deckard was a replicant, but as I was watching the movie, I couldn't see any clues as to why anybody would think this. Did I miss something obvious? Why do people think this?

Answer: The two most notable hints are as follows. The first (which is only in the Director's Cut) is that after Deckard dreams of a unicorn, Graf makes an origami unicorn and leaves it at Deckard's apartment. Some people interpret this as suggesting that they're aware of the memories that have been given to Deckard to prevent him realising his true nature. The second hint is that replicant eyes glow in certain lights - at one point in the film, Deckard's eyes can be seen glowing in the same fashion. Ridley Scott has stated on several occasions that, as far as he's concerned, Deckard is a replicant, but he does concede that they deliberately left it as somewhat ambiguous - the viewer should decide for themselves.

Tailkinker

Answer: Rachel asks Decker at one point if he had ever taken the replicant test himself, and he doesn't answer. Even though the movie itself doesn't seem to stress the point, in the book on which the movie is based "Do androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", the question of whether the protagonist detective is an android is the main theme.

Question: When Roy confronts Tyrell, he says something that I'm having difficulty figuring out. The captions read that he is saying "I want more life... father!" But to me, and I've listened to that part over and over trying to figure it out, it sounds like he is saying "I want more life... fucker!" So is he saying Father, or Fucker?

Quantom X

Chosen answer: It's a more complicated question than you might think. Two versions of the scene were filmed, the main one, where Roy says "fucker" and an alternate, originally intended for use on television, where he says "father." Different versions of the movie use different takes. Of the three best known variants, the original theatrical release and the inaccurately-named Director's Cut both use the "fucker" line, whereas the Final Cut, the only one that Ridley Scott had full control over, uses the "father" line. What he's saying will depend on which version of the movie you were watching. Only you can answer that one.

Tailkinker

Question: Why had the replicants tried to break into Tyrell Corporation? How come Roy Batty knew the corporation existed at all?

Answer: Replicants appear to know about their origin and lifespan, and even if they didn't, Roy is highly intelligent and motivated, and could easily have determined Tyrell's role in his creation through various means. The reason they broke into Tyrell Corp was they wanted the company or Tyrell himself to extend their lifespans, or to work out the means to do it themselves.

Sierra1

Question: When Rachael leaves and Deckard is looking at the photograph and flips it over, there's writing on the back. What was written and what does it mean? And was this something Rachael wrote on the back before leaving? Looking online I could only find people guessing what was written or what it meant. So is there a correct answer that I missed or is it just an ambiguous clue?

Bishop73

Chosen answer: Keep in mind, Deckard already determined that Rachel was a replicant. Her memories were implants, and her family photos were fake. So, the text on the back of the photo was probably meaningless, placed there just to lend another level of authenticity to Rachel's false memories. The text appears to be a phone number at the top (CAS 4217) followed by an address (68 W. Thika Blvd, South Wenton, Waytton). The word or name "Waytton" has a line drawn through it, apparently striking it out. This was possibly Rachel's childhood home phone number and address (completely fake, of course), which had sentimental value for Rachel but was useless information for Deckard's assignment.

Charles Austin Miller

Chosen answer: No-one was murdered in Leon's bathroom, Deckard just finds a scale from Zhora in the tub. There was a deleted scene of a dead woman in a bathtub in the Bradbury Building at the end when Deckard is fleeing from Batty.

Sierra1

Question: After the cop comes to take Deckard to see Captain Bryant, they get in a police car and the screen says Purge, as mentioned in a trivia entry, just before taking off. Why does it say purge before lifting off the ground?

Quantom X

Chosen answer: "Purge" is another word for "liftoff". It also means "to purge", as in to expel something, in this case the engine fuel necessary to raise the cop car into the air.

CCARNI

Chosen answer: It's simply a term used for the police detectives who specialise in tracking down and "retiring" replicants. The origin of the phrase is not given in the movie. In reality, Hampton Fancher, who wrote the first draft of the script, encountered the term as the title of a movie that was never made, that centred around a supplier of illegal medical equipment. He and Ridley Scott liked the phrase so much that they acquired the rights to use it for their movie.

Tailkinker

Question: What exactly prompts Zhora to attack Deckard when he's posing as an abuse agent? I guess there is something that makes her realize he's lying and or that he's a Blade Runner. But what tips her off? (00:55:08)

Quantom X

Chosen answer: She's paranoid, in hiding, and an expert killer. Either Deckard tipped her off or she decided it wasn't worth taking the chance that he wasn't legit.

Question: What effect did they use to get the actors' eyes to glow, revealing they are replicants?

Quantom X

Chosen answer: A two-way mirror at a 45 degree angle in front of the camera with the camera pointing at the see-through side. A light was shone at the reflective side and reflected into the actor's eyes on the optical axis of the lens.

Sierra1

Chosen answer: He dislocated them. You see Rick try to relocate the fingers later on.

Casual Person

Question: When Bryant and Deckard are watching the tape of Leon's VK test, the screen displays the letters V.K. But below that it shows 96/W/9-3H. What does that mean?

Quantom X

Chosen answer: The tape was possibly numbered so the police know which tape is which. 96/W/9-3H is probably the number of Leon's VK test.

Casual Person

Question: On the VK test, there is a bar light above the screen that shows the subject's eye. The bar lights up across from green to red. What does this bar indicate?

Quantom X

Chosen answer: The bar is meant to represent how far the eye monitor had zoomed in. One way this can be noticed is when Rick starts to question Rachael, the monitor zooms in and the bar goes down. The lights on the VK test load, then each light turns off one by one depending on how much the monitor had zoomed out.

Casual Person

Chosen answer: File this under 'Who shot first' and 'Is Childs a Thing'. There are a bazillion arguments for and against. Draw your own conclusion.

Grumpy Scot

Question: Why did Roy kiss his his maker just before killing him? Same-sex kisses on screen were far more unusual at the time the film was made, so the filmmakers presumably did it for a reason. What is that reason? And why, in the context of the plot, did Roy kiss him then kill him?

Quantom X

Chosen answer: He's kissing his father, thanking him for what life he has, before punishing him for making it so short.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: One of the things I've never been able to figure out. When Roy's hand is clenching why does he shove the nail through it? Beyond the obvious reference to Christ, does the pain shock his nerves into working briefly again or what?

Grumpy Scot

Chosen answer: Exactly. His body is shutting down and he's trying to hold that off long enough to finish his battle with Deckard. His hand starts to freeze up, so he uses the pain from the spike to get it working again temporarily.

Chosen answer: It measures a number of involuntary physical responses, like heart-rate, breathing, eye movement and pupil dilation in response to questions designed to provoke an emotional response. By examining the intensity of these responses over a series of different questions, the subject's empathy and emotional response levels can be measured, allowing those running the test to determine the true nature of the test subject.

Tailkinker

Answer: It was probably a matter of public record or a big company she worked for would have some connections to find out.

Question: Is there any reason why the sushi chef bothers haggling with Deckard in his native language when it's revealed not two seconds later he actually speaks perfect English?

Answer: Why shouldn't he? Just because he speaks English, it doesn't automatically mean that he must therefore bow to the linguistic preferences of others and use it. Many people take pride in their native tongues and prefer to use it. And if it puts Deckard at some small disadvantage in the haggling, so much the better.

Tailkinker

Question: Can anyone tell me the translated piano notes of the original soundtrack?

Answer: Back to the future 1 Yes he was sent back to 1955 thereby he accidently interacted with his parents he didn't know they were from the beginning and when he did it was too late he already interacted with them thereby altering 1985 thankfully with the help of his friend Emmett Brown he was able to fix the timeline and go back to the future Back to the future 2 Emmett Brown went 30 years into the future thereby discovering Marty's son altering the future so Emmet Brown had go back to 1985 to take Marty back to the future to repair the future which they did unfortunately Marty obtained Greys Sport Almanac Biff from the future obtained it& the DeLorean sending himself back to Nov 5th 1955 handing to his younger self what he obtained from the future which created 1985a the reason why 2015 wasn't altered by old Biff future because Emmet Brown and Marty McFly repaired that timeline n the timeline old Biff collapsed in pain and slowing faded away in 1985a both Emmett and Marty discover both Emmett and Marty decide go back to Nov 5th 1955 to repair that timeline meaning that timeline never really existed meaning Biff from the future is alive and well Back to the future 3 On Nov 12 1955 the lightning struck the clock tower and the DeLorean sending Emmett Brown into existence Emmett wrote a letter what had happened 6 days before he was shot in the back by Biff's great grandfather realising this Marty raced back to 1955 to get help so he could go into the past so he could rescue his friend and get him get him back to the future this brought timeline 8 into existence that's where Emmett fell in love with Clara later the marry and to have a family unfortunately when Marty goes into the past so he could rescue his friend and get him get him back to the future Back to the future 4 Marty learns he' not in 1885A he's in 1885B similar to timeline 4 with Emmet Brown's help Marty goes back to January 1st 1885 10 minutes before Emmet brown arrives Marty explains 6 days after you sent me that letter which Marty shows who get shot in the back by Buford Tannen over 80 dollars both Emmet and Marty head back to 1985 Marty wakes up believing he's now back in 1985 only he discovers he's not n 1985 he's in 1955B similar to timeline 4 Marty writes a letter to his friend 30 years into the future Emmett arrives and collects Marty and arrives back to Nov 12 1955 at 6am unfortunately the clock tower hasn't changed its still at 10:04pm Emmett then remembers 4 hours ago he did sent himself back into the past his did damage the clock tower and it's because of that the clock still reeds 10:04pm.

This is an answer for the wrong film.

Bishop73

Other mistake: When Deckard visits the Tyrell Corporation, he prepares to test Rachel with the "VK" machine. He is shown putting his briefcase of the table and lifting the "VK" machine out and onto the table. If you look closely, the "VK" machine is already on the table and Harrison Ford is miming the lifting - there is nothing in his hands! (00:19:45)

More mistakes in Blade Runner

Batty: It's not an easy thing to meet your maker.
Tyrell: What could he do for you?
Batty: Can the maker repair what he makes?

More quotes from Blade Runner

Trivia: In the scene where Ford and the other policeman take off in a police car, there is a shot of the inside of the car showing a computer screen with a flashing word "purge" on it. The screen was originally used in "Alien" when Ripley set off the shuttle to escape from Nostromo. (00:10:30)

More trivia for Blade Runner

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.