Blade Runner: Genetics In L.A.

Blade Runner was a groundbreaking sci-fi movie for 1982. Harrison Ford was still ascending and Rutger Hauer, as Roy Batty (at left), never got a better role. The film is set in the industrial wasteland of Los Angeles in the year 2019 and fire belches out of smokestacks in a polluted sky where the sun can barely be seen because of the heavy, thick smog. There appears to be a constant acid rainfall in a congested landscape that looks like a combination of Hong Kong, Tokyo, and New York. The neon-lit, dark, downtown streets are populated by police, Asians, Spanish and street gangs. I don't remember seeing any blacks in this film.

The Tyrel Corporation is an industrial giant that makes Replicants. Four off-world Replicants, Roy Batty, Leon, Zhora and Pris, comandeer a space ship and return to Earth to see if their lifespans can be increased. Nexus 6 Combat Model Replicants are artificially created through genetic engineering. have a four year life span as a fail safe device, and are not mechanical robots, but rather more like clones. The short life span cannot be lengthened and after Roy kills his maker, he hunts Deckard but saves his life just before he dies. He releases a dove at his death.

Harrison Ford's 'Deckard' character falls for a specially made Replicant named Rachel and at the end of the movie they escape what will surely be attempts to 'retire' her. Unlike L.A., the scenery where they escape to is beautiful with sunshine and moutains in a pristine environment.