Harrison Ford v Ridley Scott: the dispute at the centre of ‘Blade Runner’
Between Ridley Scott’s original take on the fictional dystopia in 1982 and Denis Villeneuve’s modern entry into the universe in 2017, the Blade Runner series has become one of film history’s most beloved sci-fi masterpieces. The project paired expansive, neon landscapes with themes of humanity and uncertainty, carving out a permanent place as one of the most thought-provoking works in the genre.
When Scott took on the project in the early 1970s, he had just three other directorial credits to his name. He had already enjoyed commercial success with Alien in 1979, but Blade Runner was his biggest project yet. Meanwhile, his star had already established himself as Han Solo and Indiana Jones.
Though they were both on the path to becoming blockbuster stalwarts, Scott and Ford would butt heads on set. Ford suggested that he “tangled with Ridley”, while the director once named the Star Wars star as the “biggest pain in the arse” he had ever worked with. Between their difficulties working together and Ford’s distaste for Scott’s use of voiceovers, the tension on set was high.
The director and actor also disagreed on one key aspect of the film. A sense of uncertainty underlies every entry into the Blade Runner series – in the testing and retirement of replicants but also in our understanding of the main characters. Debates surrounding Ford’s character’s identity have stemmed from his robot-like acting, leading many to question if Deckard was really a replicant.
This dispute will likely never be solved, as even those behind the scenes couldn’t agree on it. While Scott believed that his lead character was a replicant, Ford was less certain. Sequel director Denis Villeneuve suggested that their disagreement was ongoing even during the making of Blade Runner 2049 via Cinema Blend. “I felt that the key to deal with that was in the novel of Philip K. Dick. Which was that, in the novel, that characters are doubting themselves,” he stated.
“They are not sure if they are replicants or not. From time to time, the detectives are having to go and perform [tests] on themselves to make sure they are really humans. I love that,” he continued. The director loved it so much that he made it a central part of his own film. Testing and uncertainty made up a big part of Villeneuve’s entry into the series – Ryan Gosling’s K completes the baseline test to check he isn’t developing emotional capabilities, resulting in the iconic “interlinked” scene.
Villeneuve also decided to call Deckard’s identity into question. “Deckard, in the movie, is unsure, as we are, of what his identity is,” he explains, “Because I love that. I love mystery. That’s an interesting thing to me. I really love that.” Villeneuve may have loved it, but Scott and Ford seemed less enthusiastic. “Harrison and Ridley are still arguing about that,” he stated, “If you put them in the same room, they don’t agree. And they start to talk very loud when they do. It’s very funny.”
Scott and Ford’s continuing disagreement only serves to represent the contemplative capability of the story. Perhaps it remains more interesting and more thought-provoking when audiences are left to contemplate humanity themselves.
