Bladerunner

Rutger Hauer sat in his hotel room the night before filming Roy Batty’s final moments in "Blade Runner (1982)", holding a script that felt functional but uninspired. The original monologue, written by David Peoples, was serviceable, detailing Batty’s memories as he faced his imminent death. But Hauer, a classically trained Dutch actor with a poetic soul, felt the words didn’t fully capture the depth of his character’s experience. So, he made a bold choice he rewrote it.

Director Ridley Scott and co-writer David Peoples had no idea Hauer planned to change the speech. The original script had Batty listing off war stories from space battles, but Hauer felt it lacked the emotional weight needed for a replicant facing his mortality. That night, he refined the monologue, stripping away excess, simplifying the language, and infusing it with something more profound, something personal. The next day, when the cameras rolled, Hauer delivered what would become one of the most iconic speeches in cinematic history.

The scene unfolds in the rain, with Harrison Ford’s Rick Deckard helpless and exhausted, slumped against a rooftop ledge after a brutal chase. Batty, moments away from shutting down, cradles a dove and reflects on his life. Then, in one of the most hauntingly beautiful moments ever captured on film, he delivers his final words:

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die."

What many don’t know is that the final two lines: "All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die." were entirely Hauer’s creation. The original script had no reference to tears in rain, nor did it contain the poetic brevity that made the speech unforgettable. Hauer instinctively understood that Batty, despite being a machine, was expressing something deeply human, the fear of being forgotten, the sadness of impermanence, and the beauty of fleeting moments.

When Ridley Scott called "Cut", the entire assembled crew and cast burst into spontaneous applause.