Rutger Hauer Tribute: A One-Man Slaughterhouse

His acting career began (officially) by studying drama in Amsterdam and he soon worked his way to becoming one of the countries most interesting leading men. In the 1970s, he worked frequently with Paul 'Show Girls' Verhoeven a move that bought them both international attentions. Together they made the erotic Oscar nominated drama Turkish Delight (1973) and later the epic war movie Soldier of Orange (1977) where he played a rousing WWII hero.

He made his US debut in the Sylvester Stallone vehicle Nighthawks (1981) and was later signed up for Ridley Scott's polluted cyber-noir masterpiece Blade Runner. Based on a novel by Philip K. Dick, the film envisions a future where androids (replicants) have outlived there usefulness and been declared illegal on Earth. As the synthetic Roy Batty, Hauer slides effortlessly through this neon lit hell hunting his creator, ready to spit in God's face. And he is lethal and perverse, bleached blond and androgynous - a punk rock Ken doll gone berserk.

His glassy European coldness and perfect plastic body epitomised artificial humanity, but he would somehow become the film's emotional core, his performance giving way to moments of stark vulnerability. On his character's death, the original script called for Batty to recount an epic dying monologue, but Hauer himself cut it down to just 27 words. The result is an iconic moment in cinema history;

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 Tanhauser Gate. All these moments will be lost in time like tears in rain. Time to Die.

The last fifteen words were Hauer's own adlib.

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