Question: As Deckard is giving Rachel the VK test, her eyes have the golden glow to them when he asks the second question about the boy with the butterfly jars. Why does he not catch right then that she's a replicant just by seeing her eyes glow?
Quantom X
10th Sep 2013
Blade Runner (1982)
Chosen answer: Deckard already knew that Rachel was a replicant before starting the VK test (Tyrell told him); Rachel was a new model of replicant who could supposedly beat the VK test. Deckard just wanted to see if this was true.
10th Sep 2013
Blade Runner (1982)
10th Sep 2013
Blade Runner (1982)
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?
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.
10th Sep 2013
Blade Runner (1982)
6th Aug 2013
Blade Runner (1982)
Question: Why is he called a Blade Runner?
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.
6th Aug 2013
Blade Runner (1982)
6th Aug 2013
Blade Runner (1982)
Question: What effect did they use to get the actors' eyes to glow, revealing they are replicants?
6th Aug 2013
Blade Runner (1982)
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?
Chosen answer: He's kissing his father, thanking him for what life he has, before punishing him for making it so short.
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Answer: The glowing eyes phenomenon was actually an effect added by Scott, who probably thought it would look cool. Obviously he didn't think it through because it would make detecting replicants very easy indeed, and would make the VK test redundant. I believe he has said in interviews that it is intended as a cinematic effect, and is not intended to be a characteristic of the actual characters. This is one of several mistakes that the director made in the film, and which have subsequently passed into the folklore of Blade Runner.