Here Are 17 Of The Best Moments From The "Blade Runner" Franchise

It's 2022, and we're still waiting on those flying cars.

Though unsuccessful when it was released, Blade Runner is now widely considered the greatest science fiction film of all time.

Warner Bros. / YouTube

The film has since spawned an anime series, a sequel film, multiple shorts, and an upcoming show set to premiere on Amazon Prime. And now that the franchise has just celebrated its 40th anniversary, we're going to look back at the 17 best moments from the Blade Runner films.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

17. A Day in the Life of Rick Deckard

Warner Bros. / YouTube

In this scene, we follow Deckard as he goes about his day in Los Angeles before he is picked up by the police. This scene stands out because of its stunning visual effects, which are so realistic that it's almost hard to believe that this movie was released way back in 1982. The geisha candy billboard alone has become an iconic image in sci-fi, and the oversaturation of media accurately reflects modern society.

16. Testing Rachael

Warner Bros. / YouTube

In a lengthy Voight-Kampff test, Deckard interrogates Tyrell's assistant Rachael and learns that she is a replicant who believes she is human. The fact that Tyrell gave her false memories to make her easier to control makes this an even more thought-provoking moment, making us question what makes us human.

15. Enter 2049

Warner Bros. / YouTube

Director Denis Villeneuve re-creates the original film's spectacular opening at the beginning of his acclaimed sequel. Following K as he flies over some massive solar farms, the film takes us far beyond Los Angeles as it explores more of this bleak and desolate future.

14. Deckard vs. K

Warner Bros. YouTube

Having found Deckard in an abandoned casino, K reluctantly fights the former Blade Runner throughout its empty halls. Both men end up battling in a malfunctioning music hall projecting holograms of dancers, Elvis Presley, and Marilyn Monroe. You feel as though you're following the characters through a haunted house as we see them fight around these digital ghosts of Vegas past.

13. A Good Joe

Warner Bros. / YouTube

After losing Joi and learning he isn't Deckard's son, K wanders Los Angeles, sad and alone. He then comes across a sentient advertisement for Joi that calls him a "good Joe," the way his former companion did. Here, we see K coming to terms with the fact that he isn't the special person he thought he was, but he still decides to do something meaningful and save Deckard.

12. Sea Wall Fight

Warner Bros. / Via YouTube

As Deckard is transported off-world by Luv, K flies in to rescue him in a final act of heroism. After he shoots down Luv's flying car, both replicants battle on the edge of LA's sea wall with the waves crashing down on them. This final fight looks as if it is being held on the edge of the abyss itself, with Luv's car being the only light in this dark and watery chaos. Though K nearly dies and Deckard almost drowns, our hero succeeds in defeating Luv and saving Deckard from being swallowed by the ocean.

11. The First Scene

Warner Bros. / Via YouTube

The first film opens with a breathtaking shot of Los Angeles in a dystopian vision of 2019. Everything about this scene is jaw-dropping, including the futuristic music, the incredible set design, and that almost mystical shot of the eye reflecting the fire shooting into the sky.

10. The Baseline Test

Warner Bros. / YouTube

Returning to the police station after killing Morton, K goes through a post-traumatic baseline test that harks back to the original Voight-Kampff test. Reciting a passage from Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire, the interviewer gauges K's emotional state as the latter vacantly responds to his commands. This scene conveys how K's society tries to keep him "in line" as an android by having him act as intended without any emotion.

9. K Retires Morton

Warner Bros. / YouTube

Based on Blade Runner's original script, our first day with K has him interrogate the replicant Sappan Morton at his protein farm in the countryside. Naturally, Morton doesn't go without a fight, and both men bust through the walls with their android strength. Though he isn't alive for long, Dave Bautista gives a terrific performance as the tough but humble replicant.

8. Deckard Meets "Rachael"

Warner Bros. / YouTube

After Wallace captures Deckard, the villainous tech giant offers a clone of Rachael to him in exchange for what he knows. In an outstanding display of CGI, we see Rachael just as she looked 30 years ago. Even so, Deckard rejects Wallace's offer, knowing full well she isn't the same woman he fell in love with.

7. A Special Lady

Warner Bros. / YouTube

After a rough day at work, Joi tries to give K a truly physical romance by hiring Mariette as a sexual surrogate. Joi syncs her movements with her, and we see them become a single person before our eyes. It's a bizarre but beautiful scene that explores the possibility of these artificial life forms achieving love and intimacy with the help of some marvelous special effects.

6. Deckard vs. Roy

Warner Bros. / YouTube

The hunter has become the hunted as Roy faces Deckard in the film's climactic battle. In a scene straight out of a horror movie, Roy chases Deckard throughout an abandoned building, howling like a wild animal as he taunts his prey. Though the Blade Runner is significantly weaker than his opponent, Roy struggles to fight as his life span nears its end, making for a gripping battle between man and machine.

5. Joi's First Scene

Warner Bros. / YouTube

Audiences are introduced to another form of AI when K returns home. Ana de Armas steals the show as his holographic companion, Joi, as her beaming personality makes her a bright light in this dark future. While she may seem like a servant programmed to blindly cater to her master's desires, it is implied that she has developed true sentience as she is overjoyed (pun intended) when K gives her an Emanator that allows her to go anywhere in the world.

4. Viva Las Vegas

Warner Bros. / YouTube

Having located Deckard, K and Joi travel to the barren and irradiated ruins of Las Vegas. The scene is both haunting and beautiful because of its stunning visuals, eerie music, and foreboding atmosphere, and all of these factors allow the film to completely immerse the audience in this amber wasteland without relying on any dialogue.

3. The Real Ending

Warner Bros. / YouTube

In the final scene of Ridley Scott's intended film, Deckard finds Rachael alive, and they both decide to leave the city. But before he departs, Deckard comes across an origami unicorn made by Gaff, harking back to his dream earlier in the film. The implication that Gaff knew about his dream has left people debating whether or not Deckard is a replicant. And even with Villeneuve's sequel, we still haven't gotten a clear answer, making it one of the greatest cinematic mysteries of all time.

2. The Death of K

Warner Bros. / YouTube

After rescuing Deckard, K takes him to reunite with his replicant daughter, Ana. But as Deckard goes in to see her, K sits in the snow and succumbs to his wounds. In a beautiful homage to Roy's demise, K embraces his fate, knowing that he did the right thing. Thus, his sacrifice will be preserved in Deckard's memory as if frozen in time, like tears in snow.

1. Like Tears in Rain

Warner Bros. / YouTube

Though Roy overpowers Deckard in the original film's climax, the former chooses to save his life just as he's about to fall to his doom. Despite the fact that Deckard gave him only hate and violence, Roy displays his humanity by showing his opponent mercy. And in one of the saddest death scenes in all of cinema, Roy recounts all the wonders he's seen but laments how they'll all be "lost in time" in the end.

Do you agree with this list? Are there any other Blade Runner moments that I missed? Please let me know in the comments section below.