This 1-Minute Moment Is the Greatest Scene in Sci-Fi Movie History

Sci-fi has provided cinema some of its most beloved and, occasionally, heartbreaking moments. Or, in a case of both, Darth Vader’s telling Luke that he is, in fact, his father. The Matrix showed us a whole new world that’s right in front of us if only we’d open our eyes, Back to the Future had a young man create a better future for himself and his parents, and Alien gave us the most awkward dinner scene ever shot. And, while all of those are amazing, as is the Xenomorph rising behind Newt in Aliens and the T-1000 chasing John Connor and the T-800 in the canal, they’re not quite the best or most impactful moment in sci-fi movie history.

Instead, it comes from not Alien, but rather a fellow Ridley Scott sci-fi classic: Blade Runner. It doesn’t even run a whole minute, but it’s a fifty-second stretch that will stick with you for fifty years.

What Makes the “Tears in Rain” Speech So Moving?

Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) is a replicant nearing the end of its life cycle. Or is it “his?” There’s an argument Batty is far more than an “it,” because his final few words spoken, to Harrison Ford’s Rick Deckard, contain more humanity than most impassioned, lengthy speeches.

Every scene in J.F. Sebastian’s apartment is exactly as creepy as it’s trying to be. He is (was) a sweet man, but his toys definitely give off Sid in Toy Story vibes. It’s the perfect location for an intense finale, all of which works very well, from Deckard’s scuffle with Darl Hannah’s Pris to his pursuit by Batty. Batty has strength like the T-800, and because we know his life cycle is just about run out, we keep hoping for Deckard to beat out the clock. But, after trying to jump from the roof of Sebastian’s apartment complex to another, things don’t look so bright. It’s pouring rain, his hand is gravely injured, and now Batty is standing above him seemingly getting ready to exact vengeance for Deckard killing all his replicant pals.

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But Batty makes a different choice, a very human choice. It’s a move of compassion that is even greater than any and all humanity Deckard has shown throughout the movie. Batty bends over, and lifts Deckard up and places him on the roof, safe and sound.

Then, he gives a speech. It goes as follows: “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.”

It’s an amazing string of 42 words not just because they’re so well-delivered or because they’re so well written, but because there are so few of them, yet they make you believe this individual has genuinely crossed worlds. It’s the combination of two voices in a seamless merger. One of those voices is Blade Runner co-writer David Peoples. The other is Hauer, who tightened the monologue considerably and added what is undoubtedly its best part.

What he removed was fine description, but it didn’t add anything to the speech. What he added, which was replacing “All those moments…they’ll be gone” with “All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain,” was of indescribably large value. We still get he’s been all over the universe fighting fat cats’ battles, but now we get a true sense of just how sad he finds it that his memories, like anyone else’s are hugely impactful just to the one who holds them. Once that person is gone, so too are the memories and the beauty (or struggle) they represent. Tears are generated by emotion but, once they’re mixed in with a horde of raindrops, there really is no differentiating them.

The monologue reminds us that, like Roy Batty’s, our lives are limited. We’re best off creating impactful memories because, when our time had run out, they’re what we’re going to be able to hold on to. It’s sad that, in time, the vast majority of us will be forgotten, but it’s better to accept that and just live life to its fullest. If a replicant, a synthetic being, can view existence through such beautiful and succinct terms, we should be able to as well.

What is your favorite moment from sci-fi movie history? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!