Why did Batty save Deckard?

ALL of the above! ;-)

Because in his last moments he valued all life as much as his own. That is what I understood anyways.

My take is that Batty wasn't inherently evil. Amoral, yes, but evil, no. In his last few moments of life, he got to see Deckard struggling to survive. From the expression on Roy's face, that in itself was a fascinating experience for him to witness. It would have served no purpose to kill Deckard. Roy could have destroyed him in an instant and wouldn't have cared about it, but he let him live so that he could have his little chat on the roof before he pegged it.

Watch the origanol theatrical release version, the voice over explians (in Ford's p*ssed off about a voice over way)!expians. Read DO ANDRIODS DREAM... and realize that its all about life and being alive. From Batty's point of view he and the others were treated like cattle; they were owned! He saves Deckard to show his kind aren't heartless... they are emotiona(y'know Love, hate,fear,anger,envy)l, thinking, feeling beings or more Human than Hunan. It is what Bryant says earlier in the film about emotion "Y'kow Love, hate, fear, anger, envy that shows you his progession through the film (but backwards). I have always believed it was an action of emotion and he finally showed empathy!

Well, I held off as long as I could. Scott himself said that it was "purely reflex" that saved Deckard. The Nexus 6 reps are faster than fast. Deckard let go and he grabbed him without thinking. Scott insisted that a characteristic of the Nexus 6 was that they did not hesitate in the slightest. They reacted. Regarding Scott's thinking I believe it was Hauer that said this... [i] [b] "This reply might bother some people, because so many folks have read a lot of meaning into Batty saving Deckard's life. But actions always come first. THEN we think about them, later. Roy doesn't know why he saves Deckard or grabs a dove. He just does."[/b] [/i] Another theory is that since the Nexus 6 replicants are "More Human than Human" and in a situation where he and Deckard's roles had been reversed and most humans in the same situation would have just let Deckard fall, Batty showed compassion which in a way prooves that he's "More Human than Human." I suppose you could also throw in that Batty wanted a record of his death. He wanted Deckard to pass on the idea that how replicants were being made and used was wrong.

Just reread my last post and the edit function is screwy again. When I said "Scott himself said" it might make others feel that this is what I believe simply because it was Scott's point of view. That's not the case. Though it is many times with me. Like in regards to Dec-A-Rep.

As for the "reflect action goes" yeah I buy it. A sign he was still functioning, maybe self denying his mortal coil. But... he does release the dove and he does save Deckard. Not only that he has one nice final chat with him about the things he saw while wherever he came from [and the bad things he did when he spoke to his own creator]. All in all is a kind of self redemption. A last try on his Humanity.

These ideas are all great. I'm with LGW, all of the above. Gonna watch it now. :)

All great ideas and in the end Roy respected Deckerd's life. However, wasn't Deckerd a replicant too? He may not have known it, but perhaps Roy did!

Irish: I thought of that too at a time. But then he said "you People wouldn't believe" including Deckard as a "people". Albeit, Roy might actually not had known Deckard was himself a Replicant... Either way, a classic movie moment full of significance.

Without reflection on what's been posted above, I would say it was for this reason: at the core of Blade Runner and story from which it is inspired is a fundamental question "what makes us human?" Roy saving Deckard suggests that the answer to this question, of what makes one human, is the ability to be compassionate towards another.. as well as our own need for compassion. Roy simutantionly gives and asks for compassion, the greatest of all human traits. This also is the greatest irony of the film and I believe as well the meaning of the title, DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP

...then maybe it was just because he could? But the rest seems to still hold true. We act then try to understand that actions meaning. More human than human. Ya, that all kinda makes sense...

CULT: Nicely said man. Kudos.

yep, @CULT - because he could. he has no restraints of morality of humans, he just could do this - it was HIS choice, unjudged by heaven, hell etc. that's why i speak about this particular moment as nietzschesian. he was more NOBLE than humans are. he did it, because he had a "caprice" to do so.