The VO changes the tone. The studios put it in to help the slower viewers understand what was going on.... "My mother. I'll tell you about my mother...." Okay, from memory, as I don't have time to read.... Replicants are starting to think for themselves, and Roy Batty leads the movement. They know they have a limited lifespan. They wish to get this fault removed.... Decker, our hero, goes to where they're made or built, depending on how you look at it, and meets Sean Young (like I said, I'm doing this from memory) and correctly deduces that she's a replicant, although, she doesn't know it. Decker goes hunting for the four that have escaped, with the help of his former police officer buddy, but he's pretty much on his own, although he runs into current cop Edward James Olmos a few times.... I probably should read it again.... Okay, he takes out two, then he takes out Darryl Hannah, and then chases Batty through the rooftops of the city, they have a knockdown dragout, and a long conversation, and Decker loses!!! But Batty having burned his candle twice as bright, lasts half as long, so he expires.... He makes his report back to his police buddy, and then rides off into the sunset with Sean Young. Now, depending on whether or not you have the VO, either they lived happily ever after because she was built with no expiration date, OR They go off into the sunset and Decker knows that he has a limited time, so he needs to make sure he uses it wisely..... There's more with the resulting dystopia and overcrowding themes, but like I said, I'm doing this from memory. It's actually a very simple detective story when you get down to it.

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That is the story and well summed up, Batman. What is so hard about that? As you point out, a straight ahead detective story and frankly not a lot of twists and turns to it, or even all that much detective work. So why the V.O.? Especially bad V.O.? For years, the rumor has been that Harrison Ford -- who by the way doesn't much like the movie -- dogged the V.O. recordings because he didn't like the concept of it nor the actual written words. As I recall, his tone is rather a downer and laconic. I guess the moral of the story is never underestimate the instinct of movie studios to underestimate the audience's IQ.

I know the finished and edited film inside out (original, "director's" and real director's cuts) but reading this version of the script was kind of weird as it has elements of all of them (which is probably not surprising) but in an unfinished form. Fairly standard overall structure, Act I set-up introducing this world; Act II complications as the replicants become harder to kill - not harder because they're stronger (Pris is not stronger than Leon) but harder because they are becoming more human and it's more difficult for Deckard. Act III starts as Deckard kills Pris and she dies with in-human agony - and Deckard is trapped by the arrival of Roy. Roy chases him through the building - but could have killed him at pretty much any time, why doesn't he? And finally Roy saves Deckard. Why? Because there is the other story going on, the story of the Replicants represented primarily by Roy. They want to live, which is what any living thing wants to do. And they are desperate, hounded into a corner by their brief lifespans. You can say they make bad choices - yet they seem to have no choice, fight and die or just die. They need to reach Tyrrell, their God, to have him change what they are. And ultimately he says he can't, so Roy kills him - why? Perhaps to stop him, perhaps because he's angry at his own failure. At the point Deckard reaches his low point, Roy reaches his - the woman he loves (if it can be called love? why not?) has just been murdered simply for existing in the wrong place. But faced with his own mortality Roy changes. He could kill Deckard but first he gives him a taste of what it's like have death before him. And then saves him, because life is life and has value merely by existing. Then Roy dies and all his memories die with him. Then there is Rachel's story, the discovery that she is a replicant. The destruction of her life, all of which was a lie, then clinging to Deckard, quixotically the only person that treats her as human. Rebuilding her identity, and ultimately putting her complete faith in the person who destroyed her.

(Must we discuss the VO? I didn't hate it when I first saw the film. I am happy without it.)

The detective story structure gives a basic framework, and clear, powerful stakes, to a story that's essentially about what it means to be human. Crime or detective structures are always a good way to pull the audience into a SF story that might otherwise be simply a moral meditation - see also Inception, and Alfred Bester's novel The Demolished Man...

There are a couple of "the making of" documentaries on youtube, where this story is covered. The V.O was put there at the insistence of Bud Yorkin and Robin French, who financed the movie. Apparently, Harrison Ford deliberately did a bad job of the V.O., with the express hope that it wouldn't be used. What's interesting is that the Director's cut, doesn't have the V.O, and everybody said how much better the movie was without it. Of course, all those people saw the movie the first time around, and have the benefit of hindsight.

I'm still sniffing from Batty dying. As sad on the page as on the screen. Quick note about his death, I assumed he saved Deckard to have a witness to his death, to share his last moments, that kind of thing, human social impulses. Reading last stretch of script, struck how it really was a basic detective story, as mentioned in comments up, gussied up with dystopic world and questions about humanity. In other words, awesome. Simple story told so well it's packed with layers and meaning, is one of a kind, and will stay with us for a long time. Only one structure thought, the halfway point jumped out, where Deckard tries not to wince noticing blood from Zhora on his shoe. Demarcation point.

Here is my Campbell by way of Vogler structural breakdown of the screenplay: ANDROIDS IN HADES (ORDINARY WORLD) Two definitions of "android" followed by our first view of the hellish industrial landscape where the story will play out. "I NEED YOUR MAGIC" (CALL TO ADVENTURE) Bryant asks Deckard to go after the skin jobs. "I WAS QUIT WHEN I WALKED IN HERE, I'M TWICE AS QUIT NOW." (REFUSAL OF THE CALL) Deckard refuses, but Bryant then makes him an offer he can't refuse. "QUESTIONS!" (MEETING WITH THE MENTOR) Deckard gathers information from various sources, androids Batty and Leon do the same. DEAD SKIN JOB (CROSSING THE THRESHOLD) Deckard commits to the mission by killing Zhora - Rachel joins him by killing Leon. "I'M SURE GLAD YOU FOUND US" (TESTS, ALLIES, ENEMIES) Deckard's alliance with Rachel turns romantic, Batty and Pris get Sebastian on their team. CASA SEBASTIAN (APPROACHING THE INMOST CAVE) Deckard goes after the androids at Sebastian's pad when we know Batty is homicidal after learning he'll get no more life. "PROUD OF YOURSELF LITTLE MAN" (ORDEAL) Deckard is beaten up by Pris and Batty and gets his fingers broken. "ALL THOSE MOMENTS... THEY'LL BE GONE" (REWARD) After toying with Deckard, Batty decides not to kill him. "YOU DID A MAN'S JOB" (THE ROAD BACK) Deckard leaves after a brief go-to with Gaff and goes back to his apartment. "RACHEL STIRS" (RESURRECTION) At first Deckard thinks Rachel may be dead, but she stirs as we hear a baby crying in the distance. "TINFOIL UNICORN" (RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR) Deckard and Rachel escape to enjoy what time they have left, and Deckard's knowledge of his true nature. BLADE RUNNER has a pretty classical structure, but one thing I noticed is that the protagonist here is pretty ineffectual at the climax - Deckard doesn't survive because of his actions, only because Batty decides not to kill him! I wonder if that may have contributed to the film's unpopularity with mass audiences at the time.

Excellent breakdown, Deaf Ears, via the 12 stage version of The Hero's Journey. Re Deckard being "ineffectual," check out this quote from Harrison Ford about his character: "I played a detective who did no detecting," he says. "There was nothing for me to do but stand around and give some vain attempt to give some focus to Ridley's sets." Ouch.

Per the 10 major Plotline points of my screenplay structure paradigm: Opening (1-4): Holden and Leon Hook (11-13): Deckard forced by Bryant to take on the gig. Lock (28-33): Deckard intersects with Batty, Leon, et al by finding their hotel room and the photographs. Decon Test (42-45): Deckard informs Rachel she is a replicant, crushing her world. Transition (61-66): Deckard with the snake sex act woman from Leon's photos. Recon Test (75-77): Deckard vs. Leon, shot dead by Rachel. All Is Lost (91-96): While Batty convinces Sebastian to take them to his boss, Deckard meets with Holden who castigates him for having sex with a replicant and talks about the replicants' desire to meet "God." On The Offensive (109-114): Deckard vs. Pris at Sebastian's. Final Struggle (123-127): Deckard vs. Batty. This focuses more on Deckard's journey.

Harrison is right, he really had nothing to do in the film :( Shame, because it looks fantastic -- but there's not enough interesting plot for the protag to get his teeth into. Why are we even following Deckard - is he good at his job? Not really. Okay, let's say he's not good at his job, there's nothing in the film that even suggests this.

"You fucked a washing machine" was definitely my favorite line from the script that didn't make it into the movie, and as somebody else said I would have liked to see more of Holden, he was a great character.