Like Tears in the Rain

Over the Christmas holidays, I rented Blade Runner (Director's Cut) on Blu-Ray and was pleasantly surprised at how convincing the screenplay, the acting and the special effects were after almost thirty years.


Apparently, there are fifteen odd mistakes in the film, not counting problems with translations and subtitles, but the suspension of belief and the character immersion is such that, even knowing a couple of them didn't spoil the film.


Science fiction is unique as a genre in that it puts science, whether it is speculative, imaginary or real, in the spotlight, but the truly great science fiction stories expose how much more there is to learn about ourselves.

The dramatic conclusion of Blade Runner, with the dying replicant saving the life of Deckard, his mortal adversary, is, perhaps, the greatest scene in science fiction history, as an android comes to understand the true value of life while mankind continues to treat life with disdain. I still remember the first time I heard that speech and the delivery of Roy's final line, "Time to die," with its ambiguity about who would die. Roy had Deckard dead to rights, but Roy saves him from falling and allows him to live on, choosing not to waste yet another life. Roy talks of the impending waste, that with his last breath, his memories will be lost like tears in the rain, and we all realise our memories too will one day be washed away. It is the quintessential human realisation.

In the same manner, my latest short story, Serengeti, explores human emotions and the meaning of our all too brief lives through the eyes of two clones searching for intelligent extraterrestrial life. This is something I think science fiction does better than any other genre. It detaches and divorces us from reality, immersing us in an artificial world, but ultimately drives home real world truths that help us to better understand ourselves.


If you haven't seen the sketchbook for the set design of Blade Runner, it's worth flipping through. There's some great sketches, including at least one that didn't make it into the movie.

I have mixed feelings about a reboot. I just can't see how Blade Runner could be improved. The script writers have their work cut out for them.