I can’t state enough what an impact the original “Blade Runner” had on the (then) 21 year old me and what an impact that film has had on me so many years later. It’s easy to see how it’s visual impact (groundbreaking at that time) would grab me at first, while it’s unique characters and that hauntingly beautiful Vangelis soundtrack were enough to make me love the film. But what’s made it stay with me, these 35 years later, was the story.

Most specifically, the ending. No, not where Deckard & Rachel leave, running off together, it was Roy Batty’s (Rutger Hauer) monologue, “Tears in the Rain”. As he’s about to die, he says;

“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.” 

Yes, it’s the final words of a dying replicant, a robot, but it could have easily been said by a human. As I get older and especially as I’ve seen relatives and friends pass away, it’s become more meaningful to me.

All of us, when we die, will have “moments lost in time”. Things that we’ve seen, done and experienced that have been significant and small, that will be gone when we are.

It’s this exploration of humanity and what it means to be human that the original “Blade Runner” and this excellent sequel, “Blade Runner 2049” explores and presents to it’s audience. It’s  science fiction at the top of it’s game.