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'Final Edition' of Blade Runner to be Released
gevmage writes "CNN reports that a
new version of Blade Runner
will be released by Warner Home Video in a few months, for the 25th anniversary of the original film's release." From the article: "After a limited theatrical release, the newly spruced-up "Runner" will be released in a multidisc special edition DVD that also will include the original theatrical cut, the expanded international theatrical cut and the 1992 director's cut. Warner said specifics about the two DVD editions will be announced later."
It's about damn time! Now, I can FINALLY get my father the version he likes, and I can see what the hell he is talking about all the time.
Kernel Krunch - Part of a Complete OS
Watch how it's supposed to be done:
*SPOILER ALERT!*
From the Wikipedia Entry: I hope that the characters still get guns in this version! And that Harrison Ford is allowed to shoot it at the point in the duel when he originally did!
My work here is dung.
Will they contain more hints that Deckard was a replicant?
Any proof that Gaff was the actual Blade Runner?
I find it hillarious that the movie was portraying the future, 2019, as totally different and disturbing than the year it was made which was 1982. I guess thinking that 30+ years into the future it was possible that such a drastic change to occur. But here we are just 13 years away and LA doesn't look that bad... yet :)
Remember the predictions back in the 50s of flying cars be common-place in 2000 :)
http://religiousfreaks.com/If you like blade runner, the you should definately try the game (which runs well with wine btw). It is spot on regarding the spirit of the film and has 14 different endings, depending on what you do.
A bad analogy is like a leaky screwdriver.
If the DVD is inadeqate for your needs, you may still be in luck. From Sci Fi's version of the story at http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category= 0&id=36328:
Blade Runner: Final Cut will arrive in 2007 for a limited 25th-anniversary theatrical run, followed by a special-edition DVD with the three previous versions offered as alternate viewing.
We'll see how "limited" that limited release is, but certainly if you're in a major city (or if you're dedicated enough to travel), you should have the chance to see it on a big screen again.
I have wanted the theatrical release on DVD for a long time. I think that the narration adds to the movie. I understand Ridley Scott's reasoning for removing the narration I just don't agree.
My humor is probably your flamebait
The first time Deckard meets Rachel, they have an interesting dialogue, which Tyrell interrupts with "Is this to be an empathy test?".
I always took this as Tyrell knowing they were both Replicants.
I'd like to have a go at these issues, not to argue, but because it is fun to speculate and I'm sure Ridley wont reply...
For the story to work, he needs to be human. Otherwise all kinds of plot problems open up. Like if he was a replicate, how come he sucks so much in a fight? All the other models kick the shit out of him--including the so called pleasure models.
Clearly the military models are stronger and deadlier than the other models, so he is not going to win against the male replicants. The pleasure model was Pris (Darryl Hannah) and he blows her away with his gun whereas she resorts to gymnastics, so he is smarter and better with weapons, but she is more ... athletic. That seems to fit. Similarly, Zhora is an assassin model, nearly strangling him with a surprise attack using his tie - not too unrealistic
And does not explain if he escaped with the other models on the spaceship, why don't they know him? And if he is a special model like Rachel, why the hell does Tyrell not know this?
Tyrell knows Rachel is special, but doesn't let her know, he plays along with the pretense that the "replicant test" is being tested first on a negative (i.e. human) subject. So it is not a big stretch that he's playing mindgames with Deckard too. Perhaps he has only recently let both Rachel and Deckard out into the world with their implanted memories. He wants to reinforce that he knows they are human, so he has Deckard come to test Rachel (letting Deckard, therefore, believe he is human) and conspicuously asserts that Rachel is also human by using her as the negative subject.
>I've often sort of wondered if Roy knew Deckard was a replicant.
That's been my assumption. Roy and Rachel both considered Deckard to be at least some type of equal.
(by the way, the 'if Deckard's a replicant, why did he get the crap beat out of him' question could also be asked of Rachel during the, well, date rape scene, for lack of a better way of dealing with that unsettling bit. I've assumed in the past that since Deckard doesn't know he's a replicant but does know she is, that's some weird sort of assertion of himself -- since he can't bring himself to kill her, he rapes her instead, as an assertion of power.)
So, in the book, there were almost no actual animals in the world: sheep were unbelievably valuable. I've often wondered if, in the movie, most all the humans were actually replicants, if humans were as rare as all the other animals and it was only Tyrell and a few others, who were repopulating the whole world with replicants, and nobody knew.
Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
Others have answered your questions pretty well. Here is my interpretation of the story behind the scenes.
Replicants are illegal on Earth. The Tyrell Corporation does research into replicants and is allowed special exceptions for research purposes. Racheal is one such exception created using new memory implantation technology. Because she is a prototype, she may or may not have a built-in shortened lifespan.
Several replicants escape their servitude off world and make it to Earth to find a way to extend their preset lifespan. One of them is caught breaking into Tyrell. This is Decker. Tyrell sees an opportunity to field test his new memory technology and convinced the police to allow him to reprogram the replicant so that he thinks he is a retired Bladerunner and hunt down the other replicants. The reprogram him. Release him on the streets, then bring him into the police station and coerce him into coming out of retirement. This elaborate story is needed so that he doesn't have to remember everyone at the police force and everyone doesn't have to pretend to know him. Bryant is very nervous talking to Decker. He is afraid the programming didn't take and Decker will suddenly turn and kill him. Gaff is cooly standing by reading to send him back into retirement should this happen.
Decker is then sent back to Tyrell for evaluation before the experiment is fully put into effect.
Decker goes out to hunt down his comrads. They are weirded out when they see him because they know he was captured, but try to play along until they get an advantage. Gaff always shows up after a kill. He is evaluating Decker and standing by to end the experiment if it goes bad. The experiment is a complete success and Gaff declares, "You've done a man's job."
I'm not really sure why Gaff lets him go at the end. Maybe Gaff has sympathies for the replicants. Maybe as a Bladerunner he doesn't retire the replicants, but helps them go into hiding. I don't know what happens next.
Who does?