Not just another sci-fi thriller; the search for meaning.

Rating: 10/10 (11 June 2005)

This is one of my favorite films because I can watch it again and again, get something more out of it, and take what I learn from it to a deeper level. I must stay objective and observe my emotions, re-actions, and perceptions in order to get clarity on what is being brought out in the film.
The challenge for the main character (Rick Deckard/Harrison Ford) is to find meaning in a world that has gone mad. He has tried to retire from this world and shut himself away. But life is not finished with him yet. His challenge is brought to him by a beautiful woman (Rachel/Sean Young) who is a replicant, or what we might call today a human clone.
The scene that sets up his challenge is when Rachel comes to visit Deckard. He drops the key to his apartment; she picks it up and says, "Let me help." Totally oblivious to what is really happening, he replies, "What do I need help for?" He soon finds out. For as he is hunting down his prey, he himself becomes the hunted and must fight for his life. He is hunted by the ultimate replicant (Roy Batty/Rutger Hauer) who has just discovered his own death is imminent. He decides that if his life is to have meaning, it will serve a purpose to teach Deckard a lesson in what it means to be alive. This becomes one of the most intense battle scenes ever recorded on film.
Roy is not only closing in on Deckard to kill him, he is giving him verbal clues that wax poetic. He taunts him by asking him; "Aren't YOU the GOOD man?" Then when he has him cornered he challenges him by saying; "Unless you are alive, you can't play. And if you don't play" At that point, Deckard pounds him twice on the head with a lead pipe. Roy replies; "That's the spirit!" Then, when he has him cornered one last time, Roy tells Deckard; "Quite an experience to live in fear isn't it. That's what it is to be a SLAVE." The final scene is set up when Deckard thinks he is finished with this challenge. Another cop refers to Rachel and says to him; "Too bad she won't live. But then again, who does?"