r/bladerunner • u/RefuseDry1108 • Apr 15 '26
Video I always thought Batty saved Deckard out of random mercy. Thanks to Ridley Scott's director commentary for pointing out that Roy Batty saves Deckard only after he spits at him in defiance as he is about to fall.
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u/My_friends_are_toys Apr 15 '26
Holy Crap. I've seen this movie hundreds of times. I'm not kidding and I've never noticed him spitting. My mind is blown.
I just thought that Batty saved Deckard because at the end of his life, any life was precious.
Welp, I guess I know what I'm watching later...
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u/spaektor Apr 15 '26
i'm blown away as well. i've noticed it, but i always thought it was because he was exerting so much energy trying to hold on that he expels his last breath as he lets go. i never saw it as a conscious act of defiance.
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u/FTProductions Apr 16 '26
This is how I always saw it and probably will continue to see it that way in future watches, but knowing that there was a different intention is interesting!
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u/anjowoq Apr 16 '26
It kind of cheapens the moment for me as I digest this new version. I liked the idea that his empathy exceeded humans' but I guess this is a different type of empathy.
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u/defiantmoss39 Apr 16 '26
How does this contradict the idea of his empathy exceeding humans? I feel like it reinforces it
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u/anjowoq Apr 16 '26
First, I said that I need to digest this because it differs from the interpretation I've had for years.
After that, it may reinforce it but I always thought that he felt sorry for Deckard even though he would lose his own life. Maybe he felt that his own life being artificially shortened was a waste and so he should not artificially shorten another life.
Instead, it feels like it was a warrior to warrior thing which is his past rather than some change. We just saw him appear to change in this scene. It feels counter to the character arc I had imagined.
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u/defiantmoss39 Apr 16 '26
Maybe, I’m trying to understand what you’re saying. I just want to clarify, you realize that Deckard is the one that spits right? I realized it before so it’s not new to me. I feel like it makes Roys choice even more impactful. This person has killed all his friends and has been chasing him the whole movie, and now is helpless. And literally spits in his face. But he chooses to save his life anyways. I personally don’t even feel like it changes that much. I don’t think it would make sense for deckard spitting to stop Roy, and deckard doesn’t beg for help in his last moments so i don’t think it’s out of character for him to spit, he still hates him at the time
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u/anjowoq Apr 16 '26
Ok let me start over.
My former understanding:
The VK is said to measure an emotional response, which I took to be an empathy test supposedly used to ID replicants who don't demonstrate it. We see that concept get pushed to the limit mid-story when Rachel almost passes the test, (I assume this because it took longer than others).
Then on the rooftop that we are discussing, when I never noticed the spit or the director's cut commentary, I understood Roy's saving Deckard as a demonstration that replicants not only feel empathy, but also compassion. Or, possibly, that in facing death, Roy came to value life more deeply, even that of his enemy who threatened his Roy's life and killed all of his "family". In other words, "They took life from me. You took life from my friends. However, in my final moments, I refuse to let you die." It's also like he passed the VK by doing it.
What changed for me with this spit is that the reason for rescuing Deckard seemed more external. He recognized defiance in Deckard and that impressed him: maybe because Deckard went down defying his potential killer just as the other replicants and Roy had defied theirs.
As described in the commentary, it was "warrior to warrior" which just made me feel like it was professional respect more than the extension of compassion.
As I said, I need to digest it.
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u/defiantmoss39 Apr 16 '26
Ok I understand what you're saying (sorry, I didn't actually watch the clip in this post with the sound, I thought it was just the clip from the film with the title mentioning the directors commentary). I understand what you mean though, it almost seems like Ridley is suggesting that he solely saved him because of the admiration.
You're explanation about the moment being a VK test is exactly how I interpret the scene though. It almost mirrors the question in Leon's VK in the beginning "You reach down and you flip the tortoise over on its back, Leon." (cont.) "The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can't. Not without your help. But you're not helping."
Very much mirrors the situation with Deckard at the end. I personally don't think the spitting itself takes away from that interpretation, but I agree that it does if Ridley suggested it solely as a reason for Roy to finally respect Deckard. But Ridley also says that Deckard is for sure a replicant, and I think that that being stated blatantly takes away from the film as well, so I just ignore it haha.
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u/OwariHeron Apr 17 '26
I would suggest that you cannot get to even a professional respect of “warrior to warrior” without empathy, and a fairly advanced one at that.
I would further contend that Batty could have felt such a professional respect and still let Deckard die. For such a respect to lead to saving his life, there must be some sense of compassion, or mercy, a value put on another’s life outside the expected purview of a machine mind.
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u/RefuseDry1108 Apr 15 '26
This recontextualizes the ending scene for me. Deckard is completely exhausted, terrified, and about to die, but he still doesn’t just submit. He clings on, resists, even spits at Roy Batty instead of going quietly.
Batty sees that and recognizes the same instinct he’s had the entire film—the drive to live, to fight against death. In that moment, Deckard becomes a mirror of him, and that recognition is what leads to mercy.
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u/F0tNMC Apr 15 '26
This is awesome! I always felt like Batty saved Deckard as a reflexive response to something he saw or felt in the moment. This is an excellent addition to my interpretation of the scene. As you said, this scene is a mirror image of the movie as a whole, the doomed replicants defiantly struggling for life while being hunted by Deckard; and here, Deckard, defiantly clinging to life, being watched by the last of the replicants. In the end, Batty shows that he’s better than those that hunted him.
All those moments will be lost, like tears in the rain. Time to die.
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u/Ebessan Apr 16 '26
What an AI thing to say.
Even got an em dash in there.
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u/Quartrez Apr 16 '26
"AI is when em dash"
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u/Ebessan Apr 16 '26
I actually work in AI training and recently received guidance about em dashes lol
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u/relliott107 Apr 15 '26
Oh yeah, same here! This was a great listen and cool to point out!
It also almost sounds like he shouts “kinship” when he saves him - further proving your point of him recognizing himself in Deckard!
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u/Large_Mountain_Jew Apr 15 '26
My own take was that Roy saving him was for many reasons.
For one, it's showing mercy as proof of humanity. He's saving the tortoise. It's a rejection of the deliberately weird and emotionally challenging Voigt-Kampf test.
Roy is at the end of his life no matter what he does, so defiantly proving humanity is one of the few final acts he can take.
That leads into the whole speech. He tells Deckard just some of the amazing things he has experienced as a kind of final proof of life, and so that someone will remember him and his actions. His own moments may be lost like tears in rain but he can still be remembered.
The defiant spit thing slots in well with my interpretation, I believe.
Deckard proves that he's Roy's mirror. He's defiant to the end just like he is. So who better to save, who better to remember him, than his mirror?
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u/NBrakespear Apr 16 '26
The "proof of life" thing was always my interpretation too, given that he knows he's going to die. He turns his opponent into a living record of his triumphant raging against his creator's design.
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u/Moppo_ Apr 19 '26
I agree with this, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a bit of spite in there, too. Batty's life has been "played" with by humans. By letting Deckard think he's going to die, then catching him at the last second he's toying with Deckard's life.
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u/Infamous-Arm3955 Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26
It's important to remember Batty is also just playing cat and mouse with Deckard. He's just slapping him around for the sheer pleasure of doing that as he could kill Deckard anytime he wants to really. Batty just enjoys the hunt. I mean that's what he's designed to do so he finds it fun. You can see when he makes the jump Rutger beautifully makes a transition between this is exciting to serious in his expression so the whole scene Batty is gaining and gaining respect for Deckard as he doesn't give up. He keeps fighting for his life in fear. Roy respects that and Deckards last spit, a fuck you to his killer seals Roy's respect to the desire to fight to live, something Roys been doing the whole movie. It's pretty amazing story telling.
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u/YakResident_3069 Apr 16 '26
Deckard just gave him water... A sign of respect Among the fremen... Oh wait wrong sub
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u/FDVP Apr 15 '26
I’m with this because I always interpreted that spit as Deckard’s very last living action. His last gasp, giving everything left to just stay alive. The pavement awaits below. That’s where I always thought Roy stopped observing and took action. Human action. More human than most humans deserve. He sees his prey give its last spit to cling to life and Roy gets it. It’s precious. Save it because it is you. Plus, if Deckard dies Roy knows there will be no one left to remember the things he lived through. He will truly cease to have ever existed if Deckard isn’t around to carry those memories.
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u/tannu28 Apr 15 '26
Have watched The Final Cut over 50 times and never noticed this detail WTF.
I also thought the reason Roy saved Deckard because he valued life.
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u/mazzicc Apr 15 '26
I always thought it was Batty was going to save him but wanted Deckard to have that moment where he thought all was lost. Batty knew his reflexes and strength, and so he was able to wait for the last possible moment.
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u/SkisaurusRex Apr 15 '26
The tears in the rain speech is about proving that he is a person. He has seen magnificent things. Things more grand and important than Decard will ever see. In someways he is more of a person than the human in front of him.
As Roy realizes he is dying his priorities change. At first he wanted to kill Decard so he could survive. Once he realizes he is doomed no matter what, his motivation changes. He wants to prove to Decard that he was a person, that he didn’t deserve to be hunted, that he deserved to live and be treated like any other human. So he saves Decard as an act of mercy and a sign of his humanity and to prove to Decard he was wrong to hunt replicants who just wanted to be free.
Of course there us also the symbolism of Roy being the son of god and a christ figure and saving those who don’t deserve it
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u/c1ncinasty Apr 15 '26
Eh, that "spitting" always sounded like the end of Deckard's exertions before slipping to his death. Seen this movie 30+ times, its never occurred to me that he was spitting at Batty. Does this recontextualize the scene? Sure. But if that was really the case, maybe Scott should've made the shot a bit more clear. Especially given how many people are in here saying "he was spitting?"
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u/Mippippippi3rd Apr 15 '26
I never noticed him spitting, but is that because; Is he REALLY spitting at Roy Batty? All his muscles are just tensed up and his mouth too, so when he lets go his mouth lets go too and a rush of hair comes out amidst the rain.
I love Ridley Scott but some of his takes are kinda terrible. And this one seems a bit out there to be honest. Did the dove spit at Roy too?
I would love to see what the script says. Does it really say that Deckard spits at Roy?
In the Dangerous Days behind the scenes documentary Frank Darabont sums it up as; at the end of Roys own life he really learned to apreciate life so he spares Deckard. And as Frank points out, the original version with the terrible voiceover that explains deadpan to the audience what is happening in the movie:
"I don't know why he saved my life. Maybe in those last moments he loved life more than he had ever before"
-Deckard
So the movie straight up tells us.
Ridley Scott is of course welcome to is own interpritation, we all are, that's what's fun about such a movie.
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u/csukoh78 Apr 15 '26
Stuff like this is why I love the Internet. It adds to an experience decades later
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u/VOlDknight Apr 15 '26
Roy’s monologue was about being forgotten, his life and memories washed away like tears in the rain.
I always read his act as wanting to be remembered. Deckard will.
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u/woeuntohim Apr 15 '26
It's amazing how this admission / revelation has done more for me to understand the ending than the last 40+ years of rewatch, special editions, final final cuts. etc. I could never understood why, until now, that Roy toyed with Deckard and at the end saved him. It always felt like a device. And now I can see it as a choice. Roy finally got past himself, and did the only thing he could do to live beyond these final moments, and Deckard showed him he was worthy of carrying those memories forward. Wouldn't it be great to talk to Rutger Hauer now?
What a great movie. What great performances.
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Apr 15 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/PrisBatty Apr 15 '26
I think out of all the subreddits, this one understands the importance of memories. So thank you for sharing this.
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u/curbside_profit Apr 15 '26
Are you me?
I too just watched the movie with commentary about a week ago, and had the same ecstatic epiphany.
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u/itsall5x5 Apr 16 '26
I still dont get why he would save him for spitting at him. I agree with other comments, Batty didnt want to die alone and realised how precious life was at the end. In his speech he is even regretful, all his memories and experiences, gone like tears in the rain. He loved Priss, and wanted more time with her and to make more memories. I dont think deckard even really spat at him. His mouth was full of water and i thought he gasped in fright as his grip slipped
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u/ctorus Apr 15 '26
Hmm. Given how many post-hoc theories and explanations Ridley has come up with since the movie, I think if he really meant this at the time then the spitting would be more evident. It's barely noticeable, and I'm not convinced it's even spitting.
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u/whistler1421 Apr 15 '26
I could be wrong but i think it’s in the director’s commentary on the very first DVD that ever became available. Because as long as I can remember, Roy saves Deckard because of that final act of defiance.
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u/BlueSkyValkyrie Apr 15 '26
Totally missed this, watched many times. Should have listened to the comments. Damn.
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u/eric_fell Apr 15 '26
You weren't incorrect in your original read. You're filtering the movie through your thoughts and experiences, which makes your view of the film as correct as everyone else's. And that view is going to change over time!
Also, I'd take anything Ridley Scott says about Blade Runner with a grain of salt, TBH. I feel like there's a lot of after-the-fact "I really meant this" from him.
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u/Taro0311 Apr 15 '26
Wow. That is very subtle. Very quick. I would never have caught that unless he pointed it out. Interesting
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u/40inmn4 Apr 15 '26
I think it might have been hard to spot since it’s already raining and it’s also dark looking down.
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u/Strange-Loan-8874 Apr 15 '26
Wow!!!! Never noticed this! It amazes me how I see/learn something new from this film (and its many versions) still to this day.
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u/pigment-punisher Apr 16 '26
I always thought that as he was about to die he was at the mercy of mortality and there was a moment of kinship that in a way they were in the same boat.
But ridley probably knows better than i do
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u/NBrakespear Apr 16 '26
I always assumed it wasn't "random mercy", but rather, that since he knows he's about to die, and everything about him and his existence is about to slip away... including his final fight, that it made sense to not have his opponent die too, because that way someone would actually effectively keep him alive longer. Essentially, he becomes one of those "moments" he mentions - the struggle, the last-minute salvation, embedded in the mind of another.
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u/MabelRed Apr 16 '26
My head canon was always: “Only a human, not an unthinking killing machine, can show mercy when he has every logical reason not to.” It was Roy demanding Deckard acknowledge his humanity. And it works! Deckard sits there in awe & disbelief and listens to this child in an adult’s body recite a death poem before he passes on.
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u/Lower_Ad_1317 Apr 16 '26
I’ve always noticed this.
And I’ve always assumed Roy always intended to save him.
He knew he was dying. He had said his piece. He had made his point.
His last acts like the dove, were ones of peace and an act of humanity when he had received none.
🫡
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u/ConfidenceUpstairs34 Apr 16 '26
Batty saved deckard because he was the last one to see him before he decommissioned. He would be his final record of his existence. Ridley making stuff up because he forgot what he did 40 years ago
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u/JordynsCanvas Apr 16 '26
I’ve never noticed the spit all the times I’ve seen this movie. I don’t think it’s visible in every cut.
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u/IJustLostMyKeyboard Apr 16 '26
Wasn’t it confirmed in the sequel that deckard is a replicant?
What if the spit also shows Roy that this replicant IS fully human by showing the courage even in the face of death. Kinda validating his own life and struggles in a way.
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u/ryuStack Apr 17 '26
I may have noticed it and assumed it's just a gasp with mouth full of rainwater, but oh gosh, this is a beautiful reveal. Not only did Deckard's last defiance and pride save his life, it also showed how efficient the replicants were, as it took less than a second for Roy to process this information, make a decision, and catch him.
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u/PeachPit69 Apr 17 '26 edited Apr 17 '26
Oooooh, Additionally, connect this commentary, with the fact that it’s raining, in relation to the nearby “All these things will wash away like tears in rain” speech.
So: Deckard isn’t even really that close, so the spit isn’t serious damage, it’ll be rinsed off in a few seconds anyway, so it’s not going to mean that much, and still, in his last moments, he chooses to spend that choice anyway, knowing it’s a waste of energy and effort, but it’s an act of raw feeling, to try in spite of all the reasons not to, to create just one last fleeting extra statement, one more experience, milk one more emotion and action, out of my last second of life, wasting not a single moment, in the face of your impending death and approaching impermanence, to keep pushing the boundary…
Thats a pretty clear glint of what Batty is trying to get Deckard to discover about the replicants…
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u/Baggin_clams Apr 17 '26
I love Ridley Scott… but I call BS, I dont see him spit, Ive rolled this back a hundred times, that seems like something a director says in commentary about what he wanted to happen and maybe originally it was somewhere in there but the producer and editor cut it out because it takes away from the moment.
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u/Ramoncin Apr 19 '26
Funny. I always thought Batty saving Deckard at the end was a bit corny, until my last rewatch. Then Batty's monologue hit different this time. I felt he saved Deckard so everything he had known and seen was not completely lost. It was not a split second of humanity, but the need to satisfy an urge. It certainly felt more coherent to me given Batty's somehow child-like and egotistical behaviour through the film.
I imagine some will see this as unflattering to the replicants. Yes, I get that they would have become more and more human with time, but they didn't have it. That was the point.
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u/NumericalSolutions Apr 19 '26
i always thought: Roy knowing his life was ending, wanted to keep Deckard alive to preserve the memory of Roy's own existence. A final chance to imprint some kind of permanence. It was the impermanence of life he was lamenting in his final worlds after all!
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u/Intrude_N313_ Within cells interlinked Apr 20 '26
This film is a masterpiece. 44 years later and it's still leaving us in awe!
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u/tachyon_floe Apr 21 '26
I guess Ridley's take has more weight (I guess) but isn't the big thing about the film is that replicants are beginning to develop their own emotional responses, which can include empathy. Think about how cold they are toward random humans in the film (Chew, Sebastian) and the VK question to Leon about the tortoise.
Death of the author and all that...guess I'm just gonna have to watch BR for the nth time now.
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u/JorgeRC6 Apr 21 '26
TIL . It's funny that is such famous scene and I think probably most of us never really saw the real meaning behind it because of such little detail
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u/mitsk2002 Apr 15 '26
This movie is a multi-layered masterpiece. Thanks for pointing this out. Never spotted or realized this.
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u/Greyhaven7 Apr 15 '26
This moment was lost… like spit… in the rain.
Holy crap! Yeah, definitely an important moment. Definitely never noticed.
It’s interesting hearing Ridley wrestle with “I think the subtlety is missed”. Yeah mate. You wrote, directed, shot, and edited the scene. You had full control to convey this important moment in your characters’ stories, and you chose to do that with 3 crazily angled frames of breathy spit-mist in the pouring rain at night as the character slips with an immediate snap cut.
The man confuses me sometimes.
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u/woeuntohim Apr 15 '26
Isn't it great that he can look at it now, and realize that it may not have conveyed what he intended at the time?
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u/Left-Excitement3829 Apr 15 '26
Wow. Never noticed that in 44 yrs !