MOVIE NEWS – Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner is based on a book with a completely different title, raising questions about why exactly the director decided to change it.

Ridley Scott’s iconic sci-fi film Blade Runner takes its name from an entirely different book than the 1968 novel on which it is based. The 1982 classic enjoyed numerous creative liberties that set it apart from the original text and ultimately made it a completely unique and distinctive entity. The stylish neo-noir aesthetic of Blade Runner was largely the result of Ridley Scott’s vision for the project, which justifies the title change, as it is not a complete or direct adaptation of the novel’s tone, pacing, and overarching philosophical outlook.

Blade Runner’s main character, Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), is portrayed with much more determination and charisma than the Deckard characterized in the original novel, where he’s not portrayed as simultaneously attractive and perpetually pouting. The book also explores Deckard’s personal life in much greater detail, while the movie chooses not to delve as deeply into Deckard’s background. These significant differences between Blade Runner and the novel that inspired it contribute to the idea that changing the movie’s title was the right decision.

The inspiration for Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner came from Philip K. Dick’s seminal novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Although Blade Runner is a loose adaptation of Dick’s innovative sci-fi novel, Scott chose the title of a completely unrelated book for his Harrison Ford-led film. The Blade Runner, also published as The Blade Runner, is a 1974 science fiction novel by Alan E. Nourse, and was the primary inspiration for the title of Scott’s 1982 film.

Blade Runner (the movie) is a novella penned by famed Beat Generation writer William S. Burroughs, based on Nourse’s original novel. Both Nourse’s novel and Burroughs’ novella tell the story of a futuristic yet apocalyptic world in which blade runners smuggle medical equipment such as scalpels. In Scott’s film, as well as in Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049, the term “blade runner” has an entirely different meaning, referring to police officers tasked with tracking down and killing fugitive replicants.

Why changing Blade Runner’s title made the movie better

Philip K. Dick’s acclaimed novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? arguably has a title that’s too ambiguous for a major motion picture. In the novel, Deckard is clearly referred to as a police officer and bounty hunter, not a blade runner as he is known in the film. The terms “blade runner” and “replicant” don’t appear in the novel at all, making them excellent additions by Scott and screenwriters Hampton Fancher and David Peoples.

The intriguing title change to Blade Runner appropriately reinforces the film’s futuristic and sci-fi thematic elements. It gives Deckard an iconic label that leaves a strong impression, lifting him out of the standard tropes of any cop or bounty hunter character. The title change adds more distinction to Ford’s character, creating a more memorable impact that aligns with the film’s ominous aesthetic and sharp themes.

Source: Screenrant