Deckard Is Human

In 1982's Blade Runner, Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is tasked with hunting down four renegade replicants, humanoid robots which are virtually indistinguishable from real people. And fans of the film often debate whether or not Deckard himself is a replicant. The debate originates with director Ridley Scott, who has gone on the record by saying as much, years after the film's original release.

But here's the thing: one of the screenwriters, Hampton Fancher, says that Deckard is not a replicant (though he likes the ambiguity), and Harrison Ford, until recently, has been adamant that Deckard is human (a recent change of opinion on his part seems...paid for, so to speak, in my opinion, and it's well known that he and Scott disagreed vehemently on it). The filming of a scene, post-production, with a unicorn that ties into a scene at the end of the film is meant to imply Deckard is a replicant, and to be fair, there is a line which was cut from the film where the character of Gaff, who, after telling Deckard he's "done a man's job" asks "But are you a man?", or words to that effect (there's that ambiguity).

But from a simpler level, the film itself doesn't imply what the screenwriter never intended. Physically, Deckard is no match for the replicants who are much stronger than him, and get the better of him -- each one of them. He also feels pain, yet the replicants are able to endure physical punishment without it. One replicant, Leon, places his arm in liquid of sub-freezing temperatures, and, similarly, a replicant named Pris places her arm in boiling water -- both with no ill effects. Deckard's attributes are inconsistent with replicants, and I argue that the only reason for suggesting otherwise is for a Twilight Zone/Law and Order-esque twist.