Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)

[che-etienne]

just curious did you see the director's cut or the theatrical version?

[portnoy]

Our theater just tried to book Blade Runner, but Warners have pulled all their repertory prints from circulation in anticipation of a theatrical rerelease next year. Which version is being rereleased is as-yet-unknown...

[Matt]

Which version is being rereleased is as-yet-unknown...

Only if you haven't read this press release.

Hint: it's the new "final cut".

[portnoy]

Which version is being rereleased is as-yet-unknown...

Only if you haven't read this press release.

Hint: it's the new "final cut".

[flyonthewall2983]

Who thinks Deckard is a Replicant?

[David Ehrenstein]

I do.

[colinr0380]

Who thinks Deckard is a Replicant?

You should play the Blade Runner CD-ROM game, which has different endings which decide whether you are a replicant or not depending on how sensitive you are to their plight! (He turned out to be a replicant the time I played it - I think you have to play the game as a heartless bastard to end up as the human!)

[Polybius]

It's a distinct possibility.

Two or three years up in the mountains with an '82 era version of Sean Young. There are worse ways to end up your run.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know where one can find Philip Strick's review/essay of BLADE RUNNER? As far as I know the late Mr. Strick has been a lifelong champion of the film and coined some interesting observations about it.

[exte]

The most Google could tell me was:

Strick, Phillip. "Blade Runner Telling The Difference:
Does the director's cut show that Deckard is a
replicant?" Sight and Sound. (12/2/92) p. 8.

I don't have a subscription to lexisnexis, sorry...

[Matt]

I don't have a subscription to lexisnexis, sorry...

Wouldn't help. Beyond their website, Sight and Sound isn't available online at all. Visit your library and request a copy of the article through interlibrary loan.

[Galen Young]

Who thinks Deckard is a Replicant?

Maybe not in the theatrical release cut, but in the "director's cut" -- definitely. Wasn't that the purpose of the infamous live-action unicorn shot?

[Polybius]

I think it's on the table the minute Rachel asks him if he's ever subjected himself to the Voight-Kampff test.

[Andre Jurieu]

Who thinks Deckard is a Replicant?

Maybe not in the theatrical release cut, but in the "director's cut" -- definitely. Wasn't that the purpose of the infamous live-action unicorn shot?

That was Scott's intention.

[flyonthewall2983]

All the talk surrounding the new DVD coming out (which I'm sure most of us will have by the time '08 rolls around) has made me revisit the film again today, and it made me think of the possibility of a bias against any other version of the film. I should say now that the only version I've seen is the one that's out currently on DVD. Hopefully, I can put aside any bias and enjoy each version of it when I do get it.

I was just wondering if anyone reading this has thought about this themselves.

[lord_clyde]

All the talk surrounding the new DVD coming out (which I'm sure most of us will have by the time '08 rolls around) has made me revisit the film again today, and it made me think of the possibility of a bias against any other version of the film. I should say now that the only version I've seen is the one that's out currently on DVD. Hopefully, I can put aside any bias and enjoy each version of it when I do get it.

I was just wondering if anyone reading this has thought about this themselves.

I have enjoyed each new version of Blade Runner more than the last. I saw the theatrical cut first and fell in love with it, narration and all, then I saw the DC and felt it was even better. The definitive cut has me excited beyond all reason.

[David Ehrenstein]

Everybody get ahold of the Ryuichi Sakamoto cut "broadway Boogie Woogie."

You'll thank me profusely.

[fdm]

I have enjoyed each new version of Blade Runner more than the last. I saw the theatrical cut first and fell in love with it, narration and all, then I saw the DC and felt it was even better. The definitive cut has me excited beyond all reason.

I've watched/seen the various versions of BR enough times that any more I am just lulled to sleep if I'm the least bit tired. The original work print version I am definitely looking forward to seeing again, and I suppose time will tell just how well the new final cut turns out. The supplements will definitely be worthwhile as well...

[flyonthewall2983]

The key to the film is the fact that the real hero of the story is Roy, not Deckard. Deckard is like a one-man Greek Chorus with a gun. In a way, that's why I prefer the theatrical release with its clumsy narration and "happy ending" (happy for whom?) to the director's cut.

I don't see the film much in terms of good and evil, but if one were so inclined it's not a terrible notion. I see it not so different from a vampire movie (of which several must have been inspired by this, starting with Tony Scott's The Hunger), with the Replicants seen as such by the forces bent on seeing their "retirement". It has plenty shades of grey that manages to paint nearly everyone with both negative and positive qualities.

[flyonthewall2983]

[Trees]

Hilarious. Yorkin comes off like some shitbag producer straight out of central casting in "Dangerous Days: Making of Blade Runner". Imagine if Yorkin had cut the film! He's complaining about the VO, but it was Yorkin and Perenchio who insisted on the VO in the first place, when Scott and Ford and everyone else were against it. Ford purposefully did a terrible job on the VO so that it could not be used, but they used it anyway!

I have always loved "Blade Runner", but my love of the movie has grown with each new viewing. Also, once I learned the back story of how the film was made, and all the turmoil and hell Scott had to go through to get the picture made, my appreciation grew even more. It is now in my top 10 films.

For me, the first 23 minutes or so of "Blade Runner" is some of the finest filmmaking ever. It's a tour de force, in terms of both sound and visuals. Tyrrell's office is a master stroke.

I am very fond of both the DC and the "Final Cut". My only real gripe with the Final Cut is that they got rid of the blue sky at the very end, after Batty's death. I realize that in terms of continuity, the darker sky in FC might be correct, and I do understand that technically the blue sky in the earlier cuts was only caused because a night shoot ran over into the morning, but I always thought of this as a happy accident -- one that gave the ending a glimmer of hope.

[djproject]

Hilarious. Yorkin comes off like some shitbag producer straight out of central casting in "Dangerous Days: Making of Blade Runner". Imagine if Yorkin had cut the film! He's complaining about the VO, but it was Yorkin and Perenchio who insisted on the VO in the first place, when Scott and Ford and everyone else were against it. Ford purposefully did a terrible job on the VO so that it could not be used, but they used it anyway!

When I first heard the initial VO attempts - and there was a bit of it still toward the end after Batty's death - I maintained that that was the correct way if VO was going to be used. The big problem I have with the VO they ended up using for the initial 1982 theatrical release is that it belongs not only in another movie but for another character. The VO sounds way too confident and too cocky* and there's nothing really in the film that justifies Deckard sounding like that, even Deckard biting back at Bryan or him bluntly telling Rachel she's really a replicant. Then there's the final VO for Batty's death, which sounds *way* too OTN (Frank Darabont described it best). This also indicates that the VO was initially thought of as fulfilling stylistic convention rather than serving another purpose (Scott's initial frustration with it; Ford's disgust of it).

*Now I'm hearing Han Solo in my end. That's what I get for talking about Harrison Ford's acting oeuvre =D

I have always loved "Blade Runner", but my love of the movie has grown with each new viewing. Also, once I learned the back story of how the film was made, and all the turmoil and hell Scott had to go through to get the picture made, my appreciation grew even more. It is now in my top 10 films.

For me, the first 23 minutes or so of "Blade Runner" is some of the finest filmmaking ever. It's a tour de force, in terms of both sound and visuals. Tyrrell's office is a master stroke.

Agreed. This is easily one of my top favourite films.

I am very fond of both the DC and the "Final Cut". My only real gripe with the Final Cut is that they got rid of the blue sky at the very end, after Batty's death. I realize that in terms of continuity, the darker sky in FC might be correct, and I do understand that technically the blue sky in the earlier cuts was only caused because a night shoot ran over into the morning, but I always thought of this as a happy accident -- one that gave the ending a glimmer of hope.

I'm also a fan of both the 1992 DC and the 2007 FC. I like the former because it was how I first saw the film from beginning to end (I caught snatches of the 1982 TC/IC when broadcasted for television) and I feel it's more moody/melancholic, especially with the VO absence. And I like the latter's clean-ups of shots that was tastefully done to address the bigger issues while maintaining its original charm (i.e. keeping the continuity error regarding Zhora's shoes). And I even don't mind Batty calling Tyrell "father" as opposed to "fucker" ... and this is what I love about the current home video presentation: you are allowed a choice of viewing. Unlike some other directors: *cough*Lucas*cough*. (Michael Mann is also notorious about putting only his final final cut of something.)

P.S. I'm sure the spoiler tag could be used here and there. But I think potential spoilers of Blade Runner are in the "It Was His Sled" territory =]

[Roger Ryan]

...P.S. I'm sure the spoiler tag could be used here and there. But I think potential spoilers of Blade Runner are in the "It Was His Sled" territory =]

Wait a minute, you mean "Unicorn" was the name of Deckard's sled? You've ruined the film for me.

[beamish13]

I think Blade Runner has to have the most eclectic roster of producers/financiers ever assembled on a film: two former actors from the 60's, China's longtime multimedia kingpin,
the former President of 20th Century Fox, and Norman Lear's partner

[solaris72]

When I first heard the initial VO attempts - and there was a bit of it still toward the end after Batty's death - I maintained that that was the correct way if VO was going to be used. The big problem I have with the VO they ended up using for the initial 1982 theatrical release is that it belongs not only in another movie but for another character. The VO sounds way too confident and too cocky* and there's nothing really in the film that justifies Deckard sounding like that, even Deckard biting back at Bryan or him bluntly telling Rachel she's really a replicant. Then there's the final VO for Batty's death, which sounds *way* too OTN (Frank Darabont described it best). This also indicates that the VO was initially thought of as fulfilling stylistic convention rather than serving another purpose (Scott's initial frustration with it; Ford's disgust of it).

One big problem I have with it is that when you put VO on a movie you're sort of implying that the movie is being narrated by the VO character. But Blade Runner is decidedly not only from Deckard's perspective; he isn't even a part of the opening scene, but then he shows up narrating right after it. Obviously it's a different matter when you have multiple narrators, but of course that's not the case here.