“Like tears in the rain”
Saturday, August 16th, 2008When we were kids, my brother and I were huge fans of the Dutch actor Rutger Hauer. This was largely because of his legendary performance as bad-ass replicant Roy Batty in Blade Runner, of course, but there was also The Hitcher (the original), The Osterman Weekend—heck, we even stuck with him through Ladyhawke.
I might be a little late to this party, but I just learned that the line “like tears in the rain” wasn’t in the original Blade Runner script. Hauer improvised it during shooting. A lot of people consider that the best line of the best scene in the best sci-fi movie ever made. I am one of those people, giving it the nod over “Imperial Walkers on the North Ridge,” because The Empire Strikes Back just doesn’t have the mesmerizing grittiness of Blade Runner. And that was basically a PA announcement, anyway.
So, as a tip of the hat to the Teutonic Terror, here it is. I was a little torn about using this subtitled version (and I really disagree with the ALL CAPS moment), but it is gorgeous text, and this is an author’s blog, after all.
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