Blade Runneris one of the most beloved and iconic sci-fi movies ever made, and thebest moment in Ridley Scott’s masterpiecewasn’t even supposed to happen. While not a success when released in theaters,Blade Runnerearned a reputation as a masterpiece as the years went on, considered the grandfather of cyberpunk films and one of the best sci-fi releases to incorporate a film noir design.Blade Runneralso became known for its multiple releases,with a theatrical studio cut, a separate international cut, Scott’s Director’s Cut,and The Final Cut, which arrived in 2007.
Released in 1982,Blade Runnertells the story of a copnamed Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) who hunts down cloned replicants and kills them when they go rogue. His target is Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), and while he is a murderer and terrorist, he is also someone who fights with the belief that he is alive, just like any real human, and deserves to live as he desires. The final confrontation includes an intense and amazing speech on the rooftop, and the best lines in the speechweren’t even in theBlade Runnerscript.
Why Blade Runner’s “Lost Like Tears In Rain” Scene Is The Best Of Ridley Scott’s Sci-Fi Career
This Line Humanizes The Replicant Roy Batty
In the final confrontation, Rick Deckard kills Roy Batty’s associate Pris (another replicant played by Daryl Hannah) andchases Roy to the rooftops in the rain.Knowing that he is dying because of a replicant’s planned lifespan,Roy allows the chase, but knows when it is time to end the fight. Roy leaps across from one rooftop to another, and then Rick leaps after him. However, Rick doesn’t make the clearing and desperately grabs the ledge, hanging there precariously.
Shockingly, Roy reaches down and takes Rick’s hand and helps him up, saving his life. As Rick lies on the ground, not knowing what to do next, Roy delivers a huge speech that changes everything Rick and the viewers knew about the replicant to that point. Roy then dies, leaving viewers with one of the best endings in science fiction movie history. Here is Roy’s speech to Rickin theBlade Runnerending:
“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off (the) shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.”
Roy Batty’s Speech Wasn’t Part Of The Plan
Rutger Hauer Made Changes To The Speech
There have been different stories about this speech, but they all say the same thing. This speech was not written as Rutger Hauer delivered it. In one story in the documentaryDangerous Days: Making Blade Runner,Hauer and Scott both say that the actor significantly modified the final speech. Hauer said in that documentary that he only made some additions, including the “like tears in rain” line.
However, Ridley Scott also changed the story somewhat. In his second telling of this scene, while he and Michael Fassbender were promotingAlien: Covenant,Scott said thathe went to get Rutger Hauer for the scene,and the actor told him he had written a speech he wanted to read to him. While Scott said he was worried about this, what resulted was this amazing monologue:
“He read it and it was great. I said, ‘You stole that.’ He said, ‘No, no. I just wrote it… I said, ‘That’s what we’re going to do… [Screenwriter] Hampton [Fancher’s] line, saying ‘Time to die’ was kind of nice. But, the leadup to it, ‘I’ve seen things you people have never seen’… You’d say it, like it’s a [Percy Bysshe] Shelley poem.”
Another 60 Seconds Is A Close Runner-Up
The Chestburster Scene
While that moment inBlade Runnerremains the best in any Ridley Scott film,there is a close second when looking at his horror movieAlien.In this movie, it wasn’t a cast member who came up with an idea that delivered a great moment, but it was Scott himself. This happenedduring the memorable Chestburster scene.In this scene, all the actors knew something would come out of Kane’s (John Hurt) chest, but they weren’t told how it would happen.
However, no one knew that Scott had bought real organs from a butcher shop to have in the fake chest. No one knew that he had a pump and spray device to splatter blood over all the cast members. He wanted the reaction to be genuine, so he had it burst out and spray blood everywhere, and what the film showed was the actual reaction of each actor, making it easily one of the most memorable scenes from anyAlienmovie, and a close second toBlade Runnerfor Scott’s career.
