One of the Internet’s longer-running movie debates concerns Blade Runner. While plenty of elements of the film are subject to interpretation, the biggest point of contention is, easily, whether or not the protagonist, Inspector Deckard (played by Harrison Ford) was a replicant.

With the release of Ridley Scott’s self-proclaimed “Final Cut” of the film, the issue is settled:

The film’s theme of dehumanization has also been sharpened. What has been a matter of speculation and debate is now a certainty: Deckard, the replicant-hunting cop, is himself a replicant. Mr. Scott confirmed this: “Yes, he’s a replicant. He was always a replicant.”…

In the last scene of Mr. Scott’s version, Deckard leads Rachael out of his apartment. He notices an origami figure of a unicorn on the floor. A fellow cop has often left such figures outside replicants’ rooms. In an earlier scene, Deckard was thinking about a unicorn. Looking at the cutout now, he realizes that the authorities know what’s in his mind, that the unicorn is a planted memory, that he’s a replicant and that he and Rachael are both now on the run. They get into the elevator. The door slams. The end.

One thing about the NYT article by Fred Kaplan: It doesn’t get reaction from Harrison Ford. I don’t find this too surprising. I always felt that Ford has tried to live down his science-fiction movie past, to the extent the man most identified as Han Solo can. Had he continued to do movies with similar themes, he would have been typecast right out of the leading-man roles that later made him a major Hollywood big-budget star. Blade Runner failure at the box office was a blessing in that regard, and its later ascent into cult status was something from which Ford was better off disassociating himself.

Still, it turns out that Ford did indirectly inject himself in the Deckard-as-replicant debate, one last time:

Wired: Harrison Ford is on record saying Deckard is not a replicant.

Scott:Yeah, but that was, like, 20 years ago. He’s given up now. He said, “OK, mate. You win! Anything! Just put it to rest.”

So it’s settled, then.

I’ll have to catch the Final Cut at the Ziegfeld this week. It’s been a long while since I’ve seen any version of the movie, and a meticulously remastered and re-clarified version will be a treat!