Original artwork, not a still
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.
— Blade Runner • 1982
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The film's villain ends it by dying with dignity and insisting that what he witnessed mattered, which is why the speech reads as a eulogy for every unrecorded life, human or not. It is one of the best-loved movie monologues, nominated for the American Film Institute's list of great movie quotes, and fans reach for "tears in rain" whenever memories, data or experiences are about to be lost.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Blade RunnerShow the scene
In the climax of Blade Runner (1982), the replicant Roy Batty chases the blade runner Deckard across the rooftops. Deckard tries to jump to a neighbouring roof and is left hanging from the edge; Roy leaps across with ease and hauls him up to safety. Then, as he dies, Roy recalls what he has seen: attack ships burning off the shoulder of Orion, and c-beams glittering in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. He ends on the line about tears in rain. Rutger Hauer rewrote the speech himself and handed the new words to Ridley Scott on set.
Sources (2)
- Wikipedia: Blade RunnerPlot (rooftop climax) and Production (script)Reference checked
- Wikiquote: Blade RunnerRoy Batty sectionReference checked
Context reviewed
