Episode 080: Does an Android's Dreams Define Them? Blade Runner (1982) with Chris Mazurek

CinemaPsych Podcast

Join Alex and guest host Dr. Chris Mazurek as they discuss the implications of a near-future world with human-looking androids called Replicants in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982). The film is based on Phillip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? The film stars Harrison Ford, in between his Indiana Jones and Star Wars stints, who plays Rick Deckard, a Blade Runner — a person who hunts and kills (retires) these replicants because they're not supposed to be on Earth. Rutger Hauer plays Roy Batty, the leader of the replicant group being hunted, who ends up a tragic figure rather than merely a bad guy. He just wants to live more than four years! The guys explore the nature of life as a replicant, such as emotional development, sentience, memories, and objectification. It's a wild — and wet — world in Los Angeles 2019... of course those memories will be lost like tears in the rain.

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Legal stuff:
1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended).
2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license.
3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC-BY 3.0.