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page.
Differences between the book DADoES and the movie Blade Runner.
There
are lots of differences between the novel DADoES and the film that
was (loosely) based on it. In fact, there are so many differences
they are really two different stories.
The book is situated in San Francisco - in the year 1992! - while
the film takes place in L.A., in the year 2019. {Note: There is
another set of prints of DADoES that has the year changed to 2021.}
The main character is still called Rick Deckard, but in the book
he has a wife named Iran. Deckard is not a "blade runner"
(not by that name anyway, as the term is not used anywhere in the
book) but a "bounty hunter". The job is essentially the
same as it is in the movie, but in the book the targets are known
as androids or "andys" for short.
As you would expect in any movie adaptation of a novel, some events
from the book were changed or dropped entirely for the film (just
like the movie contained things not in the book). Some characters
have different names in the book: Eldon Tyrell is called Eldon Rosen
in the book; interestingly, Rachael is called Rachael *Rosen* in
the book. There is a character called J.R. Isidore in the book which
seems to have inspired the J.F. Sebastian we know from the movie,
(although it is quite a leap from a "chickenhead" to an
alleged top level genetic engineer).
The novel also seems to have a different focus: it is very concerned
with ecological themes, explaining how a nuclear world war ravaged
the earth (forcing the majority of humanity to leave the planet)
and making most animal life extinct - thereby rendering the surviving
species and specimens invaluable.
These things are never explained in the movie; the opening scene
does suggest heavy industrial pollution is responsible for the dreary
condition the city is in, and the situation with the animals is
alluded to in some of the dialogue, but we are never explicitly
told.
In
the movie, Deckard's big problem is obviously retiring the replicants
without getting himself killed in the process, while in the book,
Deckard's biggest issue was getting himself a real sheep. Having
a real animal is kind of a status symbol in the book, because of
their value. (Also, getting a real sheep ties in closely to the
title of the book…) Hunting the "andys" is merely
an opportunity for him to get the money to buy the sheep. Deckard
has relatively little trouble dealing with all of them - compared
to the movie, it almost seems like an afterthought.
In the movie, focus is much more on the replicants themselves,
who are also presented much more like real humans, giving a moral
ambiguity to Deckard, his job, and society in general.
Also, the book emphasizes the androids lack of empathy, which is
the concept behind the Voight-Kampff test: measuring empathic responses.
The concept of Mercerism also ties into this empathy concept, emphasizing
people's need for it and thereby contrasting the androids' lack
of it.
Although there are many differences and even a different vision
being presented by Scott to that presented by Dick, there are also
many similarities and many of Dick's fundamental themes are actually
represented in the film, such as "What does it mean to be human"
and "What is real?". Despite all the script rewrites,
some lines of dialogue make it from book to film surprisingly intact.
Themes in DADoES
[NOTHING YET]
Is Deckard a replicant in the book?
No, he isn't, although the question is raised when at one point,
he is suspected of being an android; he also meets another bounty
hunter who (Deckard suspects) might be an android himself.
Eventually, they test each other; both come out "clean".
Are there any sequels to DADoES?
Yes! Sort of...
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