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(Another) Cut of Blade Runner
dereferenced writes "Director Ridley Scott is set, once again, to re-edit Blade Runner for the Special Edition DVD due for release later this year. He discusses his plans for the new version briefly in an interview in Empire Magazine, excerpts of which can be read here.
It's getting so it's hard to count all the different versions of Blade Runner out there; We have the original theatrical release, the Home Video version originally released on VHS, the Director's Cut, and now the Special Edition DVD, to say nothing of the various LaserDiscs, and pre-release screenings. I can't wait for the next version where, in addition to being a replicant, we find that Deckard was actually the first female president of the United States."
First of all, Blade Runner's importance is obvious from the influence it has had on other more recent major Sci-Fi movies. Think about The Fifth Element (the huge cityscape with flying cars, seen it in BR) and The Matrix (Gothic style buildings, lots of rain, style of clothing.)
:)
:) (Besides, I don't mind seeing it in a theater again :))
And he got it right the very first time, but the PHBs didn't like the unicorn dream that is so vital to the story (they thought it would be deemed "too artsy" by the general public), the open ending (it's supposed to end when they step into the elevator, not the ridiculous happy ending... I mean why would anybody live in cities like those when other places still exist and are within reasonable distance?) and they also forced him to put in the stupid voiceover, which just doesn't fit here.
So then he did the Director's Cut, which fixes these issues but is still not perfect (especially the parts where they're messing with how many replicants they're looking for - this has to do with some original scenes where Deckard chases some other replicants, they were removed because of budget but in scenes shot earlier they're mentioned in the dialogue. Supposedly there were fixed retakes of those scenes but somehow they didn't make it into both the original and the Director's Cut...) So more PHB messing, this time involving budget
The other versions of the movie were the broadcast version which removes some profanity, an international version which is more violent (more gore when Batty kills his creator for instance) and some workprint versions which were shown to test audiences' responses - which is probably why so much was changed before the movie made it to release.
All in all I think Ridley Scott had a clear vision of how he wanted this movie to be straight from the start. So what if it took him a while to get it into a final product? Is Linux finished yet?
Actually, you've got that wrong.
The Criterion Collection edition of Brazil has three discs:
1. Terry Giliam's directors cut, which WAS the theatrical release!
2. Disc of extras, including some great documentaries on the controversy surrounding Brazil.
3. The studio's version, which ended up being sold to the TV markets!
The Director's cut has commentary from Giliam, while the TV cut has commentary from a film critic, who discusses all the differences between the two cuts and how the film's meaning changes because of the different edits.
Great set, it was the first thing I bought on dvd.
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There are coca-cola ads on the electronic billboards in blade runner as I recall. I think rumours of coca-cola going out of business are greatly exaggerated. :)
Although the company we once knew as Atari is long gone, they do still exist, and several games have been released recently on various platforms under the Atari brand. The company's assets (mainly the name and rights to various Atari properties) have been passed around several times over the years, from JTS to Hasbro and now Infogrames.
In the book, Deckard starts doubting where he is or not a replicant. Of course, he never takes the test himself but IMHO that's the ultimate argument of the book.
Um... are you SURE you actually read the book? That's certainly not what happens in DADOES... maybe you read that horrific "sequel" written by Jeter (which is one of the worst pieces of crap I've ever read, and has little more than the title and character names in common with either the movie or the book).
Deckard DOES take the test in DADOES, and passes it. Additionally, the entire subplot involving Mercerism is absolute proof that Deckard is human. Replicants cannot use the empathy boxes that are the key to Mercerism, and Deckard is shown to use them in several instances throughout the book.
--The Rizz
"You will be required to do wrong no matter where you go. It is the basic condition of life, to be required to violate your own identity." --Philip K. Dick
actually, you're both wrong. :)
the theatrical release was 131 minutes long, the criterion edition is sometimes referred to as the "final final cut" (142 minutes), and it also has the 93-minute "love conquers all" version - the one that was hacked to bits by the studio for TV.
the normal 131-minute cut is available on dvd as well as the criterion edition.
Dammit, a half-dozen versions of the movie available for home viewing, and the only (real) soundtrack available are pirates from Eastern Euro. Thanks God for MP3: I nearly wet myself when, a couple of years ago ago, wnile browsing some of the alt.binary.sounds.mp3 hierarchy I stumbled across the entire set. I'd waited for years for that music. However, although they sound good, I believe they were ripped from vinyl or, at most, from Audio CDs based on sub-standard originals. If we could just get Vangelis's originals remastered..... Not sure what it was that set Vangelis and Scott at odds, but sure wish they'd bury the hatchet and give the public a chance to enjoy (legally) one of the greatest soundtracks of all time (second, at least, to "The Graduate").
A side note: I enjoy Japanese traditional music and, several years ago I purchased a CD by Ensemble Nipponia (can't remember the name). After listening to it I was certain that I'd heard one of the tracks before, but couldn't place it. It wasn't untill I next saw Bladerunner (at an old theater in Waterloo, Canada that specialized in classic/cult movies) did I realize that it was exact same vocal track from the "Blimp Advertising" song sung by a Japanese female. Very haunting, and perfect as a device to complement the heavy asian influence of Scott's future LA.
Just to comment a bit on what you wrote.
The name of the book is indeed "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" which is a pretty far cry from "Blade Runner". The story is:
When Ridley Scott made his 1982 film based loosely on the novel he eliminated the electric sheep (along with much else), and Dick's title no longer made sense (nor would it have been very effective on a marquee). The film company bought the rights to another novel by a different author and threw away everything but the title--Blade Runner--a term which occurs nowhere in the book. The film eventually gained great fame, and the novel was eventually retitled to match.
I can't really decide which title I like better. Considering the differences between the book and the film, I actually like the fact that Ridley Scott (or whoever) chose a different title.
BTW, as fan of PKD it bothers me that I don't recognize the qoute in your sig. Where's it from?
Hurra for Knark!
you must be kidding right?
Since Star Wars [1977] won 7 Oscars, I think the Academy had come to terms with "computers in movies" by the time of Blade Runner [1982]
What computers in Star Wars.
And I thought the reference was for Tron,
around the same time, which _was_ denied
oscars for FX because computers were considered
cheating...
> The movie itself is fine
No it's not! It's universally reviewed as the worst quality DVD ever made!
There's VISIBLE JITTER and "fuzzies"! It's like they played back a third generation copy that had been in the theaters for 5 years on an old projector without aligning the film, and so it "vibrated" the entire time. You can't notice it in the motion shots because it's drowned out a bit in the overall motion, but ANYTIME the action stops and you see a static scene, you can see the jitter.
First and last DVD I ever bought.
Uh, the original soundtrack by Vangelis IS out -- at least in the U.S. It came out in '94
Yes, I own it, yes, it IS the Vangelis one and not the crappy New American Orchestra rendition (The booklet even has a statement by Vangelis saying how glad he is to finally be able to release this), and yes, it kicks ass.
If you don't see it under the soundtracks section, try the New Age section under Vangelis.
FWIW, Vangelis has an alternate version of the End Titles on his album titled Themes which is pretty good also. That album also has the Love Theme and Memories of Green (The song from the Unicorn dream sequence if I remember correctly), both of which are on the soundtrack as well.
Ooh, I just remembered this little anecdote!
If you listen carefully, you can hear some beeping in the background of the piece. When I first heard this, I was stunned: It was the sound from the very first handheld video game I ever owned (and still do!): The UFO Master Blaster Station by Bambino.
How cool is that!
XML causes global warming.