A dark vision that questions what it means to be a person

Rating: 10/10 (22 July 2013)

Writer Philip K. Dick posed the question: "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" It seems like an odd thing to ask, but it puts into context the question of what it means to be human; does a human analog, like and android, mimic human behaviour in it's own terms? If life is electric, as opposed to bio-chemical, will that life see other life only as being equally electric? Blade Runner takes Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" and examines that concept. Set in a dark future in which robots are visually indistinguishable from humans, it forces us to ask what it is to be truly human; does humanity require a physical body that is exactly the same as ours, or is our true essence found in the mind and the choices we make? In Blade Runner we encounter military grade androids that are so highly developed, they don't know that they are not human. Or at least they aren't supposed to. At least one of these above average beings seems to develop a strong sense of self and self-preservation that is beyond what the programmer intended. As a result, these automata behave rather badly; it is up to Blade Runner Harrison Ford to stop them. This is where the line between humanity and android begins to blur. Who is more human? The Blade Runner sent to stop the Androids from running amok, or the androids that seek only to live as best they can? Where does the heart truly lie? Is it in only in the soul of a flesh and blood person born of man and woman, or is it possible that even a factory made robot can develop a sense of good, evil and morality that is indistinguishable from that of the human it imitates? Blade Runner explores those questions in a way that combines excellent story telling and taut direction. It is an excellent film.