Spinner (Blade Runner)

Spinner is the generic term for a flying car in "Blade Runner" that can drive as a ground car, take off vertically, hover and cruise using jet propulsion much like Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft today. They are used extensively by the police to survey the population, and it's clear that despite restrictions wealthy people can acquire spinner licenses. It was designed by Syd Mead and has been "replicated" in films such as "The Fifth Element" and the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy. These films have the popular vision of flying cars, and people use spinners like traditional cars; in "Blade Runner", the flying cars substitute for helicopters and very light jets.

Designer Mead has described the spinner as an aerodyne – a vehicle which directs air downward to create lift, though press kits for the film stated that the spinner was propelled by three engines: "conventional internal combustion, jet and anti-gravity".

The Flying Spinner Car from Blade Runner, the 1982 film by Ridley Scott is currently on permanent exhibit at the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle, WA. [http://www.empsfm.org/exhibitions/index.asp?articleID=97]

Appearances

* "Blade Runner" (1982) - Spinners are seen prominently in "Blade Runner". Deckard and Gaff are seen riding in police spinners, and other various spinners driven by the "general" public, Very Important Person public are seen flying through the city.
* "Soldier" (1998) - A spinner can be seen in a pile of wrecked vehicles in one scene.

Out-of-universe appearances

* The redesigned Batmobile depicted in the Christopher Nolan directed films "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight" are influenced by the Spinner's design of two, independent front-axle wheels.
* The film "Back to the Future II" paid homage to the Spinner from "Blade Runner" in that a garishly repainted spinner can be seen parked on a street. [http://media.bladezone.com/contents/film/interviews/gene-winfield/]
* Another tribute to the Blade Runner spinner can be seen at various points in the "Star Wars" films: they are seen in ' and '. The homage was made in part because of the similarities between 2019 Los Angeles, as seen in "Blade Runner", and the landscape of the planet Coruscant, as seen in the "Star Wars" films. [ [http://www.bladezone.com/contents/film/tie-ins/star-wars/] ]
* The video game Snatcher (itself influenced by Blade Runner)Fact|date=October 2008 has 'flying cars' that are extremely similar to Spinners.

External links

* [http://www.empsfm.org/exhibitions/index.asp?articleID=972 Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame] Blade Runner Flying Spinner Car on permanent exhibit.
* [http://media.bladezone.com/contents/film/interviews/gene-winfield BladeZone interview] with Gene Winfield, builder of the full-sized spinners
* [http://www.brmovie.com/Collect/BR_Col_Spinners.htm BRmovie.com] – Spinner collectibles
* [http://scifi3d.theforce.net/details.asp?intGenreID=11&intCatID=23&key=432 TheForce.net] – 3D Spinner model
* [http://www.mattwalsh.com/twiki/bin/view/Main/BladeRunnerGallery MattWalsh.com] – Spinner blueprint
* [http://www.roadabletimes.com RoadableTimes.com] – History of flying cars
* [http://www.propsummit.com/ PropSummit] — An online community featuring discussion of the props from Blade Runner