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Tears in rain monologue

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Soliloquy from the 1982 film Blade Runner

"C-beam" redirects here. For steel beams with a C-shaped cross-section, see structural channel.

Roy Batty (portrayed by Rutger Hauer) during the scene in the Final Cut of Blade Runner<br>"Tears in rain " is a 42-word monologue, consisting of the last words of main antagonist Roy Batty (portrayed by Dutch actor Rutger Hauer) in the 1982 Ridley Scott film Blade Runner, as he dies during a thunderstorm. Written by David Peoples and altered by Hauer,[1][2][3] the monologue is frequently quoted.[4] Critic Mark Rowlands described it as "perhaps the most moving death soliloquy in cinematic history",[5] and it is commonly viewed as the defining moment of Hauer's acting career.[1][6]

Context<br>[edit]

The monologue is near the conclusion of Blade Runner, in which detective Rick Deckard (played by Harrison Ford) has been ordered to track down and kill Roy Batty, a rogue artificial "replicant". During a rooftop chase in heavy rain, Deckard misses a jump and hangs on to the edge of a building by his fingers, about to fall to his death. Batty turns back and lectures Deckard briefly about how the tables have turned, but pulls him up to safety at the last instant. Recognizing that his limited lifespan is about to end, Batty talks to Deckard, reflecting on his own experiences and mortality.

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.

Script and Hauer's input<br>[edit]

In the documentary Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner, Hauer, director Ridley Scott, and screenwriter David Peoples confirm that Hauer significantly modified the speech. In his autobiography, Hauer said he merely cut the original scripted speech by several lines, adding only, "All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain".[7] One earlier version in Peoples' draft screenplays was:

{{cite web|author=Scott Myers|date=3 December 2009|title=\"Blade Runner\" dialogue analysis|url=https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/blade-runner-dialogue-analysis-ff0e306a7630|access-date=6 December 2018|archive-date=July 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722211741/https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/blade-runner-dialogue-analysis-ff0e306a7630?gi=cdfac14ced0d|url-status=live}}"}},"i":0}}]}'/>I've known adventures, seen places you people will never see, I've been Offworld and back... frontiers! I've stood on the back deck of a blinker bound for the Plutition Camps with sweat in my eyes watching stars fight on the shoulder of Orion... I've felt wind in my hair, riding test boats off the black galaxies and seen an attack fleet burn like a match and disappear. I've seen it, felt it...![8]

And, the original script, before Hauer's rewrite, was:

{{cite web|author=Hampton Fancher|author2=David Peoples|name-list-style=amp|date=23 February 1981|title=Blade Runner Screenplay|url=http://www.brmovie.com/Downloads/Docs/BR_Script_1981.txt|access-date=11 March 2010|archive-date=June 10, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610023909/http://www.brmovie.com/Downloads/Docs/BR_Script_1981.txt|url-status=live}}"}},"i":0}}]}'/>I've seen things... seen things you little people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion bright as magnesium... I rode on the back decks of a blinker and watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments... they'll be gone.[9]

Hauer described this as "opera talk" and "hi-tech speech" with no bearing on the rest of the film, so he "put a knife in it" the night before filming, without Scott's knowledge.[10] After filming the scene with Hauer's version, members of the crew allegedly applauded and cried.[1] In an interview with Dan Jolin, Hauer said that these final lines showed that Batty wanted to "make his mark on existence ... the replicant in the final scene, by dying, shows Deckard what a real man is made of".[11]

Critical reception and analysis<br>[edit]

Sidney Perkowitz, writing in Hollywood Science, praised the speech: "If there's a great speech in science fiction cinema, it's Batty's final words." He says that it "underlines the replicant's humanlike characteristics mixed with its artificial capabilities".[12] Jason Vest, writing in Future Imperfect: Philip K. Dick at the Movies, praised the delivery of the speech: "Hauer's deft performance is heartbreaking in its gentle evocation of the memories, experiences, and passions that have driven Batty's short life".[13]

The Guardian writer Michael Newton...