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Blade Runner: Difference between revisions
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The above is a fan made blaster sculpted by Rick Ross. Rick has has also created many variations on the the blasters theme, including snubby blasters, a magnum blaster, and an assassin model with optics and a supressor. | The above is a fan made blaster sculpted by Rick Ross. Rick has has also created many variations on the the blasters theme, including "snubby" blasters, a "magnum" blaster, and an "assassin" model with optics and a supressor. | ||
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Revision as of 23:37, 5 September 2010
Blade Runner is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott (Alien, Black Hawk Down, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven et al), written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples and based on the Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Harrison Ford plays Rick Deckard, a police officer who is a member of a special police squad called "Blade Runners", who is tasked with killing (euphemistically called "retirement") androids called "replicants"--called pejoratively "skinjobs"--who have been banned, upon pain of death, from ever returning to Earth.
Several production problems led to re-editing of the film and several narrative elements added without the consent of the director. The best known example of this is the narration track that the studio insisted be added to the theatrical release; the studio believed the audience would be lost without some kind of explanatory device. Neither Scott nor Ford wanted to add this to the film. Ford has been quoted as saying that he read the narration as "badly" as he could so that the studio wouldn't use it.
A box office disappointment upon its initial release, the film is now hailed as visionary and highly influential to film to this day (the remade Battlestar Galactica series openly acknowledged the influence of the film by calling the organic Cylons "skinjobs" and modeling the Colonial service pistols after Deckard's service weapon, and even using the COP 357 Derringer one episode). After years of controversy, Scott released his final version of the film in 2007 as Blade Runner: The Final Cut in a 5-disc set that included the original theatrical release as well the three more versions of the film and the work print and a plethora of extras and commentaries [1].
The following firearms were used in the film Blade Runner:
COP 357 Derringer
In the opening scene, Leon (Brion James) is armed with a COP .357 four-barrel Derringer. The prop gun was modified to fire two barrels at a time to provide a more dramatic muzzle flash.
LAPD 2019 blaster
Deckard is armed with an undesignated, unnamed blaster throughout the film. The prop was constructed from parts of a Steyr-Mannlicher Model SL (SL Images 1 2) rifle and a Charter Arms Bulldog revolver. Side covers were added to cover the bulldog's cylinder, and different bolt heads and screw heads were used to offer an illusion of knobs and controls. The gun was also equipped with at least 6 LED lights, though not all of them worked throughout the production.
Note the white electrical cord running from the "sight" which houses two green LED's.
Same gun appears in PC game Fallout 1 and Fallout 2 as one of rare items.
Original Design
The original design for the intended Rick Deckard blaster was done by production artists Syd Mead. It was a "black hole gun" and was to fire a black beam.
This was ultimately rejected for unknown reasons, and then a modified COP was to be used until the director saw an exposed Steyr SL 223 action. The prop master then fit the bolt action rifle parts over, and under a charter arms bulldog revolver.
An odd looking weapon, and a prop with a mysterious origin It is said that Deckard was originally intended to have a small COP derringer based customized blaster, but when Ridley saw the Steyr SL chamber on the prop masters workbench, he insisted it be used as his heroes main sidearm.
Note, the front Steyr magazine is fitted crooked. This may have been from on set abuse, as later pictures of the gun do not reflect this crooked nature.
The firing "hero" was, for years, thought lost, or put in mothballs on the studio lot somewhere. Stunt castings of the weapon made the rounds, and some of them hang on the walls of Planet Hollywood and reside among cherished private collections.
Information: http://props.steinschneider.com/blade_runner/bldrunbl.htm
The hero prop surfaced a few years ago, and was profusely photographed by Karl Tate.
http://karltate.wordpress.com/2006/08/31/props-of-blade-runner/
Double Triggers
The double trigger nature of the weapon has fooled some into believing the gun had two barrels. In the Marvel comics adaptation of the film, we can even see some of the artists drawing the handgun with side by side barrels.
In reality, it was a feature carried over from the steyr design simply because director Ridley Scott liked the look.
Stunt Castings
Here is a picture of the stunt casting hanging in the Seattle Science Fiction Museum. It was coated with a glossy clear to keep the rubber from breaking down any further that it already had.
The stunt castings vary from the hero gun in many ways. They were cast before the LED's were placed into the magazine, and before the "pinky groove" was cut into the hero grip, which was done at Ford's request as the grip was just too small for his hand. Also, some castings have "hero grips" meaning they have orange amber grips, and some have black grips, which were used by the street cops, and background players in the police station scene.
Note the casting seam clearly visible along the top of the "hero" stunt gun.
Stunt castings, and resin castings of the stunt guns have made the rounds through the hands of fans and private collectors over the years.
Fan Made Blasters
The Blade Runner Blaster stands as one of the most sought after props in the history of cinema. Since the release of the film many fans, and some prop companies, have stepped up and created their own versions of the gun based on images from the film, and also working from stunt castings.
An incredible fan made version of the Syd Mead design:
THE PKD
Plager Katsumate Series-D blaster replica
The above is a fan made blaster sculpted by Rick Ross. Rick has has also created many variations on the the blasters theme, including "snubby" blasters, a "magnum" blaster, and an "assassin" model with optics and a supressor.
The gun in the film did not have any official name or designation, though fans of the film who seek to own a reproduction of this prop tend to call it a "PKD" coined by mister Ross in honor of Philip K. Dick.