Is this another "directors cut"? Because the version that has power and truth is Roy speaking directly to Deckard, saying "time to die", and dying. All those fake planets distract from the speech.

And no one has ever addressed my real question about the movie: how does Rachel go from straight hair to curly hair? It's not like she has time to get a perm. She just takes down her hair from that 40s hairdo and sprong!! Curly hair! That should tell you she's a replicant right there

Inception Date 8Jan2016

With the Crispr Gene Editing becoming a Reality, we are not that far from a Terrell Corporation attempting to 'make' a "more human than human" being.

reason . com/blog/2015/12/21/crispr-gene-editing-is-scientific-breakt

That video is always a fav of mine, Gerard. I am glad you have reasons to share it with us.

---here's one of yours that'll fold in nicely with this post---

www . youtube . com/watch?v=0cm55Hl6g0I

We've tried each spinning space mote
And reckoned its true worth:
Take us back again to the homes of men
On the cool, green hills of Earth.

The arching sky is calling
Spacemen back to their trade.
All hands! Standby! Free falling!
And the lights below us fade.

Out ride the sons of Terra,
Far drives the thundering jet,
Up leaps the race of Earthmen,
Out, far, and onward yet--

We pray for one last landing
On the globe that gave us birth;
Let us rest our eyes on the fleecy skies
And the cool, green hills of Earth.

~Robert A. Heinlein, 1941

'If I Forget Thee, O Earth'- A. C. Clarke, 1951

A short story with title adapted from Psalm 137:5.

The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long - and you have burned so very, very brightly, Roy. Look at you: you're the Prodigal Son; you're quite a prize!

Ah yes, the Green Hills of Earth. A great poem from the far future.

Blade Runner is the movie I sought to purchase first when DVD players became available at reasonable prices. My favorite movie, so far, of all time.
All of us still amongst the living should consider, IMO, what happens in death. All of the emotion, experience, knowledge and wisdom gathered in one life ceases to be. Well, for sure, so far ceases to be available to the rest of us.
My Grandfather, the industrial arts professor, his son, the Aircraft Powerplant Engineer, are no longer with us, and their knowledge and experience, which they tried so hard to pass on to me and siblings, as diminished as it was by my inability as a youth to receive and understand, is the only thing I have left of them.
My own mortality has come close to being extinguished a couple times, and I realize that life has another bookend that is clearly approaching, hopefully a bit into the future.
My Dad died at twice my age, then 32. Since then I have passed the 64 year goalpost several years ago, and tried to understand at 32 how long 'a full life' was. Too fricken short..
Have I made the best of it as Rutger Hauers character, Roy, did with his? Likely not, but that should not stop me from trying to make the best of what is left.
To my mind, Blade Runner had many more 'layers and complexities' than does "Moby Dick", touted by so many Literature "Experts" as having multiple levels and layers. Maybe my experiences since the 1960's have opened my mind to other 'layers'.
Either way, we are all here as renters, and nothing we 'own' will go with us when we leave. To my knowledge...
tom

Can't remember who wrote it, and I may be paraphrasing:

"You know you're getting old when life starts taking more than it gives."

I'm well past that point now.

When bodymind begins its unwind
And passion and thought no home can find
What's loved in what's now lost
Becomes the seed that blooms, from thawing frost.

http://www.newenglishreview.org/Theodore_Dalrymple/And_Death_Shall_Have_Its_Dominion/

TomW, That's a great, heartfelt, and well considered comment. Thanks.

Gerard

Two thoughts. Roy was not a very nice guy. Remember he was a murderer.
Also, its amazing how many people think its his birthday, not his "conception" day.

Actually, it would be a lot more fascinating if, rather than knowing our "birthday", we could know the details of the day of our conception.