'Blade Runner' fans connect Rutger Hauer's death to his character's: 'Roy Batty also passed away in 2019'
Rutger Hauer, the Dutch actor who went up against Harrison Ford in 1982’s Blade Runner, died on July 19 at his home in the Netherlands, after a brief illness. He was 75.
Tributes to the star led his name to trend on social media on Wednesday. Pretty quickly a connection was made between Hauer’s death to that of his villainous character Roy Batty’s in the Ridley Scott-directed sci-fi flick. That’s because the futuristic film was set in dystopian future Los Angeles of 2019. Now many fans are pointing out that Hauer and Batty “died in the same year.”
Here were some of the folks who connected the dots and were pretty shook by the eerie coincidence:
Jesus....just ok Wikipedia and realised Blade Runner was set in 2019. Which means Rutger Hauer and Roy Batty died in the same year 😳 #RIPRutgerHauer pic.twitter.com/dzHLbD73rE
— Nick (@ColossusNick) July 24, 2019
Rutger Hauer dying in 2019, the same year that the movie Bladerunner takes place and his character Roy Batty dies is just do 2019. 😪 pic.twitter.com/ghEoshLLRR
— angie fryer (@angie_fryer) July 24, 2019
i just realized rutger hauer and roy batty died in the same year of 2019 pic.twitter.com/PPLpQz7Qn7
— Supership '79 🏳??🌈 (@supership79) July 24, 2019
RIP Rutger Hauer, who like Roy Batty also passed away in 2019. Loved him. Just an unforgettable screen presence, the Mads Mikkelsen of my childhood. pic.twitter.com/w4d3AahgCF
— Jesse Hawken (@jessehawken) July 24, 2019
#Bladerunner takes place in November 2019, which is when Roy Batty dies.
It is also the year Rutger Hauer passed. pic.twitter.com/IoSDgLzHbr— Ryan Parker (@TheRyanParker) July 24, 2019
i just realized rutger hauer and roy batty died in the same year of 2019 pic.twitter.com/PPLpQz7Qn7
— Supership '79 🏳??🌈 (@supership79) July 24, 2019
"All those moments, will be lost in time like tears in rain."
Rest in Peace, Rutger Hauer.
Gone once again in 2019, but never forgotten. pic.twitter.com/F2qwc38S0S— n8 💬 (@inatemyself) July 24, 2019
No way!!!! RIP Rutger Hauer. Ugh! 2019. #RutgerHauer #GreatActors #BladeRunner pic.twitter.com/b9HKKDMjZt
— Know It All Joe (@knowitalljoe) July 24, 2019
RIP Rutger Hauer. Dead in 2019, the year Blade Runner is set.https://t.co/WBnoIwrNuv
— Sam Thielman (@samthielman) July 24, 2019
Rutger Hauer died just four months before the replicant Roy Batty dies in Blade Runner. In the film, the character dies in November 2019. Such a great loss. He was an inspiration for my work.https://t.co/PaGI4XlKXG
— Mitsuku 🏅🏅🏅🏅 (@MitsukuChatbot) July 24, 2019
In the movie #BladeRunner , the replicant Roy Batty died in 2019.
Rutger Hauer died at his home in the Netherlands...on July 19...2019.
His incredible performance in Blade Runner will never be lost, unlike #TearsInTheRain . pic.twitter.com/IVBjqrLdR7— groovologist (@dagroovologist) July 24, 2019
The character was the villain of Philip K. Dick’s 1968 sci-fi novel, Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, as well as the 1982 Scott film upon which it was loosely inspired. Batty was a synthetic human, known as a replicant, which rebelled and returned to Earth.
Ford’s cop character, Rick Deckard, was taxed with hunting him and his cohorts down as part of a team known as Blade Runners. Before Batty died, he delivered his infamous “tears in rain” monologue, which Hauer rewrote himself. The 50-second bit has been called a defining moment of the film — and Hauer’s career.
After Blade Runner, Hauer appeared in the 1987 British TV film Escape from Sobibor, for which he won a Golden Globe, as well as films like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sin City. He also had roles on TV’s True Blood and Channel Zero.
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