What's New in Blade Runner - The Final Cut?

tripper700 writes "25 years since its original release, a definitive version of Ridley Scott's science fiction masterwork Blade Runner, Blade Runner: The Final Cut, has been released. So what exactly has changed? And is it worth all the fuss? SFFMedia describes each change in detail. Is it just a patch up job attempting to cash in on a cult film? Or like an oil painter retouching a masterpiece, or a novelist polishing prose, is Ridley Scott simply trying to perfect his original vision?"

Comments

That's nothing.

[palegray.net]

When "Tron - Final Cut" is released, it's gonna smash every box office record for the next 10 years. Just you wait.

Re:That's nothing.

[Anonymous Coward]

Lets establish a timeline for these movies:

Theatrical Release > Extended Version > Uncut Version > Director's Cut > Aniversary Edition > Remastered Edition > Final Cut > Final Cut: Pro

I hate films with more versions than the software used to edit them.

Re:That's nothing.

[MillionthMonkey]

I thought Tron totally rocked when I was a kid. It was full of stupid stuff, like the Master Control Program's AI, and the laser that digitizes Flynn and sucks him into the computer. The "kiss" scene was gross. (I've written plenty of "ugly chicks" that I hope aren't making out with anybody in the hidden cyberworld.) Even I knew that an arcade game that took quarters wouldn't be interfaced to the Master Control Program at Dillinger's headquarters (this was the early 80s). And while the "bit" was an interesting character, it wouldn't be able to emphasize no as "no no no no" in a tight situation. Talk about TMI.

But what a pretty movie it was, even if it was stupid. The old 3D graphics were actually pretty cool- it was a weird world full of square clouds and straight blue lines. You just don't see stuff like that anymore. The quality of today's CGI is so good and so photorealistic that anything produced now is unimpressive and boring. It's evolved into junk for commercials: whales jumping up out of freshwater lakes where financially secure guys are fishing, expensive cars performing risky ballet moves while cruising down empty superhighways, etc. It's sucked the magic out of almost everything you see- if it looks incredible, you know instantly you're looking at CGI crap. Soon, even pornography will be ruined.

I wanted to see Tron again but my mother didn't care for it, so I dragged my father (mainframe programmer) to see it. He hates movies. But he liked it so much he dragged me there to see it again so I saw it three times. END OF LINE

Re:That's nothing.

[xSauronx]

Soon, even pornography will be ruined.

You blasphemous motherfucker, take it back!

Re:That's nothing.

[palegray.net]

I agree with you on the effect of overdosing the population with CG. I still remember seeing Jurassic Park in the theater as a kid, and having to pick my jaw up off the floor every few minutes (coupled with having to wipe the drool off my shoes from seeing all those shiny SGI boxes). I don't get that feeling from CG film sequences anymore. I actually get more of a kick out of browsing still-image sites like Digital Blasphemy.

Yeah, it's kind of sad, but it was inevitable. Look at the bright side: we're getting closer and closer to realtime immersive photorealistic worlds. When I get to build my own universe, that will be cool.

P.S. John Arnold from JP is still one of my personal heroes :).

Re:That's nothing.

[martin-boundary]

Personally, I'm waiting for Duke Nukem Forever: The Now Cut.

Re:That's nothing.

[MillionthMonkey]

Heh heh heh... you're just jealous because I rendered your girlfriend on my laptop.

Re:That's nothing.

[the_fat_kid]

ha, ha jokes on you, she has a virus!

wait...

Re:That's nothing.

[Martian_Kyo]

Soon we'll have auto update functions in the movies.

Please wait.. the movie is being updated

The updates will fix visual bugs as well as plot holes.

Re:That's nothing.

[tabby]

I think the casting decisions for Tron Final Cut is pretty cut & dry.

Re:That's nothing.

[soulsteal]

You blasphemous motherfucker, take it back!

Best. Porn title. Ever.

Re:That's nothing.

[TychoCelchuuu]

Darwinia definitely has the kind of graphics you're talking about. CGI used for style, not just for kicks.

Riddle me this:

[imstanny]

If I never saw the movie, which 'cut' should I watch?

Re:Riddle me this:

[fyngyrz]

IMHO, watch the one with the voiceover. Certainly watch that one first. Like most Hollywood movies, the transition from book to movie was made clumsily, protestations of "art" notwithstanding. Deckard's voiceover is done tastefully and serves to focus the movie in many places where it becomes meaningless and context-free in the "director's cut."

One of the best 2-3 SF movies ever made in the voiceover version.

Re:Riddle me this:

[Enderandrew]

Harrison Ford openly tanked the voice-over because he fought with the director on doing it. He thought it was stupid, and mailed in a poor performance in that regard. Many fans hate the voice-over, and thusly it was thankfully later removed.

Storytelling 101 - show, don't tell. Especially don't tell poorly.

The movie stands up quite well without the narration.

Re:Riddle me this:

[greg1104]

Some people recommend watching the theatrical release first, presumably because they agree with the studio that the film was too hard to follow otherwise. Unfortunately that version also loses much of the atmosphere of the film, as the voice-over added interrupts and masks the music and visual work that you can appreciate better in the director's cut (or this final version). As long as you can follow the plot this final cut should be the best version yet to watch. So as I see it, this turns into a slightly different question: how to lower the risk that you may get annoyed at not knowing what's going on when you watch the movie?

Watching the voice-over version first is one way to do that, but if you like it you really need to turn right around and watch the final one to get the good version. What I suggest instead to those who like reading Science Fiction books anyway is to read "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" first, then see the best available version without the voice-over--that will now be this Final Cut version. That way you will know what's going on but won't have your first viewing distracted by the voice-over. The book and movie have many shared elements but plenty of things that are different between the two; both have unique elements worth experiencing, and it's not the case that the book "ruins" the movie or anything.

Re:Riddle me this:

[Papabryd]

I have to disagree. I watched the 1992 director's cut first and it's the version I've come to associate with "Blade Runner." The voice over is kludgey, awkward, and unnecessary. There only reason it's there is because the production went over budget and Ridley Scott lost control to the bondsman. Given control of the movie they decided that test audiences were getting too confused by the narrative and demanded a voice-over against Scott and apparently Harrison Ford's protest. The rumor is that Ford thought if he performed it poorly enough they would opt against using it. Obviously they went ahead and used it anyway. Granted this is just a rumor, but consider what the rumor is trying to say.

I think the voice-over ruins the subtlety of the movie and if you have the opportunity to watch it more than once, which I suggest you do if it turns out to be your cup of tea, new moments and discoveries will appear with each viewing. Hell I watched it for probably the 20th time last week and noticed something for the first time. In the scene where Deckard and Gaff check out an apartment they are let it by a landlord wearing some oxygen mask apparatus on his chest. And he's on screen for half a second!

The attention to detail and texture in Blade Runner is why it still holds together today, not just the sets and props, but the music, acting, and storytelling. I don't think the voice-over does anything to improve upon what Ridley intended, it ends up only marring a beautiful finish.

Re:Riddle me this:

[gEvil (beta)]

There are some great articles around that detail the whole Blade Runner saga--definitely worth looking up. In short, due to the original production being over-budget, ownership of the movie went to the underwriters, who decided to add in the voiceover and happy ending after the movie tested poorly. This was a rush job, and both Ford and Scott were against the changes. When the first Director's Cut came out, they reverted some of the stuff back, but again, it was a rush job, so Scott didn't get an opportunity to really go back over it the way he wanted to (apparently he wasn't even really involved in this). There was supposed to be a big 20th anniversary release, but there were still legal wranglings over ownership. Finally, for the 25th anniversary, the ownership issues were sorted out, and Scott was given ample time to really sit down and polish the movie the way he wanted to originally. Since technology had advanced so much, they took the opportunity to clean up the effects a bit (using the original assets--no Special Edition crap here). The end result of all of this is the Final Cut.

Re:Riddle me this:

[jo42]

The movie stands up quite well without the narration. Horse poop. You've already seen the version with the voice over, so you know what is going on in the director's cut. If you watch the director's cut for the first time ever, you have absolutely no clue WTF is going on. Only after watching the original, do you know what was going on in the director's cut.

IMO, the voice over gives the movie the right character. Someday soon, when the technology is there, we the fans will do our own version with Harrison's voice in a fan voice over cut.

Re:Riddle me this:

[xubu_caapn]

that's not true. he didn't tank the voiceover, he's stated himself his narration was just bad because he didn't know what he was reading, or how it fit into the movie.

Re:Riddle me this:

[Chris Burke]

Horse poop. You've already seen the version with the voice over, so you know what is going on in the director's cut. If you watch the director's cut for the first time ever, you have absolutely no clue WTF is going on. Only after watching the original, do you know what was going on in the director's cut.

Yeah, whatever. I saw the director's cut first, and I had no problems figuring out what was happening. When I watched the theatrical release, I thought the unnecessary explanation of everything was distracting at best, insulting at worst.

And speaking of no clue WTF is going on, in the theatrical version sans dream sequence, the origami unicorn at the end means nothing except that Gaff had been there. The deeper implications are gone.

But then again, the same people who made the decision to add the voice over were the same ones who decided to shoe horn in a deus ex machina happy ending (Surprise! Rachel is special and won't die! And what do you mean, "what about Decker"?) because they didn't think the audience could handle the protagonists getting away, but still being subject to a shortened lifespan.

IMO, the voice over gives the movie the right character. Someday soon, when the technology is there, we the fans will do our own version with Harrison's voice in a fan voice over cut.

And that version will suck even more. Please don't try to pull a Lucas and go back to something twenty years old and try to "improve" it, and at least he was the guy who came up with it in the first place. Ridley Scott can easily be forgiven for the Director's Cut since it was in fact the version of the movie that he wanted to release originally. It remains to be seen if the "Final Cut" is a cut too far.

But unless this hypothetical tech can not just reproduce Ford's voice but also his acting ability (so, a time in the future when actors are obsolete) you're pretty much guaranteed to be polishing a turd with more turd, ignoring what these voice-over-loving fans do with the script. You might as well use the voice of Jar Jar, at least then it'd be amusing.

Re:Riddle me this:

[wish bot]

Considering that the Directors Cut makes the whole "Deckard is a replicant" thing incredibly obvious, I'm not sure which one would be considered more condescending...

Re:Riddle me this:

[Capt James McCarthy]

I wonder if Harrison was pissed because they switched all the ads to modern day products and in every scene he's cleaning his Nikes and drinking a Coke while waiting in line at McDonalds.

Doesn't matter.

[bigstrat2003]

The man is releasing different versions of his film. If the changes aren't to your liking, fortunately for you, there's still the original right at your fingertips. What does it matter, then, if he's cashing in or trying to perfect his work?

Hell, not like these changes are generally of any real significance (although, given how extensively different the director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven was, Blade Runner may be significantly different). For all the bitching that was done about Star Wars, for example, barely anything was changed in those movies. I just really don't see why this is worth getting worked up over, as people inevitably will.

Re:Doesn't matter.

[CRCulver]

The original version isn't always kept available. The original ending of Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove is available only on an old laserdisc; no subsequent DVD issue had it. The only version of Star Wars available on DVD is the Special Edition. Now, you are right that the changes are few, but they are infuriating. Lucas claimed that in adding digital special effects he was only making the film closer to his 1970s dreams, that's fine. But having Greedo shoot first was a significant change to Han Solo's characterization, and really it seems that Lucas was looking more to direct marketing of the film towards a gullible child market than preserve a solid artistic vision.

Re:Doesn't matter.

[ScrewMaster]

George Lucas never had a solid artistic vision in his life, and I agree that he was going for the action-figure market, particularly in the last three films and the re-releases of the original trilogy.

That said, however, this is the Age of the Tracker. Everything is available, and if you can't get if from legitimate channels, well ... there are other means. That often plays hob with the studio's desire to control the re-release of films in order to target the next generation of moviegoers, but that's just too bad.

Re:Doesn't matter.

[vux984]

It moves his motive from self-defense to murder. If you can't see that being a difference I can't help you.

But at least ask yourself this: if it makes no difference why did they change the order?

Re:Doesn't matter.

[Altima(BoB)]

Well, as far as making the original versions of Blade Runner available, the expensive 5 disc edition of the Final Cut (in all 3 formats, DVD, HDDVD, Blu-Ray) contain every single cut of the film that's ever been released, in their entirety. I don't know how you could ask for better, even though it is expensive and who knows how long it'll be available (In my opinion, while original cuts should be made available, expect to find it more difficult to obtain. In the case of Kingdom of Heaven for instance, I'm amazed that the director's cut hasn't totally replaced the standard release DVD, because the former is so, astonishingly superior, and transforms the original from a mediocre, or even bad film, to a worthy one. Same goes for "Alexander: The Final Cut" In my opinion the original cuts of both should be replaced by the later cuts.)

But as for Star Wars, you CAN get the original cuts on DVD. Though I think you had to buy them separately, and each box came with the special edition, remastered with all that fanciness, while the original cuts were in a lame non anamorphic laserdisc master. So even though you can still technically get the originals on DVD, it has deliberately less quality, and as such is kind of subversive in my view...

Re:Doesn't matter.

[blzabub]

I would offer this argument: Lucas is a student of various American and World film genres, in this case I spotlight the American Western. If you've watched lots of Westerns as I have, you come to see certain concepts of morality in the old west codified and mythologized. One of those concepts is justice by the gun, self-made justice because the law is not available to protect you. Whoever "draws" first in a Western matters a great deal. Most of the heroes in Westerns had to follow a code whereby they waited until the other fellow made a move, and then they drew quicker and shot straighter. People who drew first without warning, without making it clear they were challenging you were considered killers and were subject to posse justice or retribution. Many characters plead "he drew first" as a socially accepted alibi. The fact that Han deceitfully plans the removal of his gun from his holster, misdirects Greedo and fires first in cold blood IMO was a very specific coded message from Lucas: Han was very much an anti-hero, redeemed only when he came flying with a star at his back (classic combat tactic) and saved Luke's bacon. If you remove the meaning of that scene with Greedo, you eliminate the arc of the character, there is no character development which IMO reduces the beauty and significance of the artist's vision.

Re:Doesn't matter.

[The Ultimate Fartkno]

And just to add on to your frigging genius comment (me without mod points... grr!), keep in mind that when Han flies in with the star at his back he's also the classic western character of the stealing, smuggling, black-hatted bandit who has always been the self-directed, rootless loner, yet has now found himself in the center of something far out of his control. The local authority has given him a badge which now legitimizes his previously criminal actions, and at the last second he decides to do the right thing, which erases his previous life and gives him a second shot in life as a reluctant hero with a checkered past.

Re:Doesn't matter.

[blzabub]

Yes agreed, Han is definitely an archetype derived from Western mythology and other places, Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces , etc. which is a well documented influence on Lucas. I've seen many a Western with similar characters as you describe: Shane, The Searchers, Doc Holiday in Tombstone, etc...

The obvious question...

[mrsam]

Does Han shoot first in this one?

(...sorry)

Re:The obvious question...

[Robber Baron]

Does Han shoot first in this one? It could be worse...

"Meesa seen things, yousa wouldn believe!"

All I Really Care About

[His Shadow]

Clean up the video, go CD quality on the sound, and get rid of the dialog artifacts artifacts that were only in there to further the voice over, which I hate with a passion after seeing the first Directos Cut.

Changed or not?

[Thornae]

From TFA: In the scene where Batty confronts Tyrell, the line, "I want more life, fucker" has been replaced with "I want more life, father".

I'm wondering if this is actually a change. In the original, it's a beautiful bit of ambiguity: Hauer slurs the word, so that it sounds halfway between "father" and "fucker", neatly summing up his feelings towards Tyrell.
If they've actually re-dubbed that, I'll be a little disappointed.

Oh well, Scott's still unlikely to mess things up as much as Lucas did ...

Re:Changed or not?

[murderlegendre]

I'm wondering if this is actually a change. In the original, it's a beautiful bit of ambiguity: Hauer slurs the word, so that it sounds halfway between "father" and "fucker", neatly summing up his feelings towards Tyrell.

I've watched this film thirty-plus times, and it sounds like 'fucker' to me, every time. Really not sure where people get this idea of a slurred / doubled pronunciation. Don't forget that Hauer is a Nederlander by birth and despuie all his work and training, isn't immune from occasional inflections.

FWIW, wikiquote "I want more life, fucker" points to an IMDB 'trivia' entry, which could have been added or edited by just about anyone. Personally, I just don't hear this..

I want more life "father"??

[NotZed]

WTF? The guys' gonna die and he goes to the arsehole who made him and calls him father? Why cut out 'fucker', it makes much more sense.

Personally I'm holding out for the

[sammyo]

Revised Ultra Final Re-Revisited Very Very Final Directors Special Absolutely Final Cut

i saw it at the ziegfeld two months ago

[circletimessquare]

i don't remember many changes. dancer chicks in hockey masks, more unicorns running around

and?

doesn't f***ing matter what they changed in minutaie

if i love the film for the same reason so many slashdotters do, it's one of the best f***ing movies ever made, and the minutaie doesn't matter, the whole of its incredible existence does

and it really is best in the theatres. 17 inch crt monitors don't do it much justice. if you missed it in the theatre 2 months ago, all i have to say to you is

if only you had seen what i had seen with your eyes

or something like that ;-)

Re:Stlll boring, I bet

[ludomancer]

You may be a Sci-Fi nut but I am pretty certain the Film Noir genre has to appeal to you a great deal too in order to enjoy this (assuming it doesn't already).
I felt Blade Runner was a masterful work. It did not bore me because what it lacked in action (if action can be "lacking", since it's not a prerequisit for a good film anyhow), it made up for in atmosphere.

Five versions

[magunning]

The box set released in a few weeks will contain five versions of the movie.

Workprint version - pre-release test screening version
US original cinematic version
International original cinematic version
Directors cut - 1992 version - approved by Scott, but he was not directly involved
Final cut - Scott had complete control over this version

Re:Five versions

[gEvil (beta)]

HD DVD is region free, which is kind of nice since some of the BluRay exclusives in the US are released on HD DVD elsewhere in the world. Xploited Cinema specializes in these releases for those of us in the States.

Re:Five versions

[Smorkin' Labbit]

HD-DVD is region free, whereas Blu-ray supports region-coding. However, the idea is that catalogue releases will not be region-coded (catalogue = film finished playing on the big screenmore than a year ago, approximately), but this is really up to the movie companies. So far Sony & Disney follows this (so Ratatouille is region-coded, Cars is not) but sometimes they do region-free stuff even if the movie is new; FOX tends to region-code everything (although there are signs they are moving to region-free for older movies, like Die Hard 1-3); Warner doesn't region-code anything (so Bladerunner is OK to buy anywhere). Nice, and not at all confusing, right?

Re:Stlll boring, I bet

[Zarjazz]

Being a sci-fi nut myself, along with most of /. readers at a guess, I have to admit that while I appreciate the film it never blew my away when I first saw it - good but not great.

I blame the "Citizen Kane" affect, i.e I only got around to watching the 'great work' after first seeing so many films that were based upon the original, that when I did finally see it with high expectations I was underwhelmed and like "Oh I've seen this before". Sure this may of spoiled my enjoyment, but even so I never had that "wow" moment when watching Blade Runner, even the newer versions. Compare that with a film like 2001 or Alien, I could watch those again today and still be amazed.

Riddley Scott vs The Script Writer

[MrSteveSD]

It always seems to me that Scott was going against what the scriptwriter intended. He keeps adding in clues that Deckard is a replicant but the script really doesn't support that idea at all.

The Digital Bits' Review

[antdude]

Yesterday, The Digital Bits posted its long review on this set.

It's hard to imagine not hearing the voiceovers

[podperson]

I loved the original movie, but always thought it should end when the elevator doors close (which the first "Director's Cut" did) and should lose the voice overs. With those two changes, I'd be happy.

That said, when I watch the first "Director's Cut" I hear the voiceovers in my head ... so there's no point. I can't tell whether the movie would hang together well without the voice overs because I can't get them out of my head. And I don't think the voice overs make the movie easy to understand the first time through because I can remember not understanding it the first time I saw it. It seems to me the one thing they could have done with the voiceovers and didn't was patch the continuity error caused by cutting the original opening scene (where Deckard "retires" the mysterious fifth replicant).

I disagree about that "the transition from book to movie was made clumsily". The only thing I really object to, although I understand it, is the cinematic differentiation of replicants from humans displayed by Leon removing an egg from boiling water. If you can stick a replicant's hand in boiling water without hurting them, then the VK test is kind of pointless. Frankly, I'd cut that scene.

From TFA: In the scene where Batty confronts Tyrell, the line, "I want more life, fucker" has been replaced with "I want more life, father".

Bad change, IMO. In a movie with zero profanity, that line really hit hard.

Also from TFA: Equally, if Deckard really is a Nexus 7 created to work as an exterminator, why is he lacking the strength of the inferior Nexus 6 models he is chasing? He seems to spend a large part of the film being bashed to a pulp.

True, if you assume "Nexus 7" vs. incredibly illegal experimental Nexus 5 ... or whatever ... which would make perfect sense.

Re:It's hard to imagine not hearing the voiceovers

[MsGeek]

"I want more life, father" was the line as it was shown in test marketing. It also appears in the notorious "70mm Workprint" version, aka "The Nuart Version" which will finally be available to the public on Disk 5 of the uber leet briefcase version. "I want more life, fucker" is my preference. But Ridley Scott made the call on this one. He believes the scene hangs together better when the whole religious/father-son aspect of the scene remains intact. It was not a bowdlerization. The cut made for TV has Batty saying "I want more life."

This was an artistic decision. Not a bid for a reconsideration of the MPAA rating. The theatrical release is still considered a hard-R, 25 years later.

Re:It's hard to imagine not hearing the voiceovers

[cozziewozzie]

I disagree about that "the transition from book to movie was made clumsily". The only thing I really object to, although I understand it, is the cinematic differentiation of replicants from humans displayed by Leon removing an egg from boiling water. If you can stick a replicant's hand in boiling water without hurting them, then the VK test is kind of pointless.

Not really, since the VK test is designed to tell replicants apart from humans. If you don't know whether somebody is a replicant or not, you can't simply stick their hand into boiling water. What if you're wrong?

Counting replicants

[starglider29a]

Since we have the Spoiler Alert above, I can say this...

In the Director's Cut, RS added the possibility that Deckard was a replicant, while the original (with voiceover) made us assume he was what PK Dick calls "An authentic human", and frankly, not a very good one. I and my BR fan peeps debated whether or not Deckard ***was*** a replicant, based on evidence from the movie. But we didn't really debate whether or not RS wanted us to debate it. He clearly wanted us to think that he POSSIBLY was. There were MANY clues in the Director's Cut that supported his Replicantshipiness. Not the least of which was the missing replicant, one of which "got fried." Some (not I) thought that Deckard was the missing replicant, re-programmed to kill the others. I always thought it was a continuity gaff. (Sorry for the pun)

I saw it in LA on the huge screen, and aside from the sheer grandeur of enhanced city effects, the most significant change was that they changed the numbers of replicants that arrived and were fried. THERE WERE NO MISSING REPLICANTS after this new, improved release. By changing that gaff, RS sent a clear signal that Deckard's Replicanticity was ***NOT*** a foregone conclusion. It is STILL left to the viewer to decide.

But I gotta tell you, I still prefer the voiceover. Although they fixed the "dead air" when Roy dies and Deckard just stares stupidly (sans voiceover), there is still too much lost without the voiceover. We really have no clue WHY Roy tried to kill Deckard, then saved him.

I was PRAYING that they at least added the original finale, with the "best line that most people have ever heard in a movie..." "We didn't know how long we had... who does?

Someday, I'll get a bottle of Johnny Walker Black (notice the label on deckard's booze... AND ROY'S!!!) rip both versions into an iMac (with voice command... Enhance 34 to 46. k'ch k'ch k'ch beep beep beep) and make my own cut. Or, maybe someone has already beat me to it?

Re:It's hard to imagine *SPOILERS*

[east coast]

I can't tell whether the movie would hang together well without the voice overs because I can't get them out of my head.
 
IMHO, "I don't know why he saved my life. Maybe in those last moments he loved life more than he ever had before. Not just his life, anybody's life, my life. All he'd wanted were the same answers the rest of us want. Where did I come from? Where am I going? How long have I got? All I could do was sit there and watch him die." is the best line in just about any film ever.
 
This one line makes anything else in the film worth enduring (not that the film isn't good without the line) and is the crux of the entire film. I guess other people see it in other lights but it's hard for me not to see the entire film leading up to this one line. I just can not accept that this film is about anything outside of the questions that artificial life will dwell on in the future when we produce it. I think it's great that science fiction discusses these questions. All of the robot/alien junk is just crap in comparison to the hard questions that will arise from our journey from natural human beings into a synthetic society where anything goes. With the stem cell debate being what it is we are kinda starting to ask these questions today in a round about way.
 
Still, see the film for what it is but it's still fantastic that all of the crap about cops and killing skin jobs and the Tyrell corporation comes down to one beautifully made point about our inevitable future. These questions are neat to address in fiction but warns us of the moral puzzles we will have to solve in the future.
 
I'm left wondering everytime after the movie; what will we decide and who will we answer to when the question becomes more than hypothetical.
 
That's science fiction to me. Again, just my humble opinion.

Still waiting for E.T. The Final Cut

[ivoras]

Personally, I'm still waiting for "E.T. - The Final Cut", where the walkie-talkies get replaced with plush Teletubby toys!

Stupid comment

[glwtta]

"Equally, if Deckard really is a Nexus 7 created to work as an exterminator, why is he lacking the strength of the inferior Nexus 6 models he is chasing?"

Well, gee, if he is not supposed to know he's a replicant, super-human strength might be a bit of a give-away, no?

Re:Stupid comment

[gbjbaanb]

worse, if you're going to make superhumans its ok to keep them locked up in a military campaign away from the civilian population. Roy was created to be capable of starting a revolution and overthrowing the government - this is why its such a big deal when they escape.

So if you want a Nexus 7 to go hunting them, you can't create it as powerful as Roy - you'd only be running the risk of 2 supermen running riot out there! So you create Dekkard as a bit of a wuss, if he realises what he is and tries to escape the damage is limited.

Dekkard isn't working as an exterminator primarily anyway, he's an investigator. Perhaps in Blade Runner 2 (or should that be "Blade Runners") we'd see the special forces troops in the background with the big guns ready to come in when Dekkard2 reports he's found them (or gets killed)

Incidentally, why doesn't Holden know Leon was a replicant in the beginning? Think that these are military creations, the military doesn't exactly let anyone know what's going on unless they have to. You can imagine the political turmoil when they first escaped, the military tried to find them quietly until they came to the attention of the civil authorities by killing Holden, questions were asked in special committee, a junior secretary in the defence department 'resigned', the media was given an order restricting reporting (to maintain public order), and only *then* were the replicants' files released to the police.

Cash in?

[Lahiru]

Blade Runner has only been released once on DVD, over 10 years ago; as you can imagine, that DVD isn't exactly a top of the line release anymore. If they wanted to cash in easily they could've just issued a new edition with a clean transfer and sound and a few obligatory special features. If you look at the specs for these releases, they are quite comprehensive! And from what I've read about this new release it's been in the works for some time and a lot of work has gone into it... While, obviously, the studio released a new version to make money, they seem to have done a good job with this one.

Re:It's hard to imagine *SPOILERS*

[MillionthMonkey]

IMHO, "I don't know why he saved my life. Maybe in those last moments he loved life more than he ever had before. Not just his life, anybody's life, my life. All he'd wanted were the same answers the rest of us want. Where did I come from? Where am I going? How long have I got? All I could do was sit there and watch him die." is the best line in just about any film ever.

Arrrgh where were you when Roy Batty uttered his last words as his biological clock killed him right before that in the same scene?

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those memories will be lost in time like tears in the rain... Time to die.

Were you in the theater bathroom taking a piss?

OK granted "C-beams" and the Tannhauser Gate whatever that is sounds like total bullshit but that was way better than the graceless and forgettable voiceover from Harrison Ford that followed.

A short list

[hyades1]

There have been some stunningly good science fiction novels over the years. A lot of science fiction films, though, are more about eye-candy.

Bladerunner did it right. I was a big Philip K. Dick fan, and I went to the original expecting to be disappointed. I wasn't. Bladerunner is still one of my all-time favorite films, in any genre.

Don't get me wrong, I love special effects. I just wish sometimes they'd pick more challenging stories to use them with. I hope all the software advances will make it cheap enough to do some movies that are a bit less mainstream.

RIP Tron

[TaoPhoenix]

This was also a time when micro computing technology itself had no idea of its direction. (I just checked the release dates - it predated the Commodore 64.) It did exactly what it was designed to do - capture young minds.

It used techniques never seen before... and never again (after the aggrivation factor turned out to be immense.)

And ... it had the best closed-process phrase ever. (I have to inquire how much the license rights to that phrase are!)

And the opposing opinion...

[PCM2]

...it's pretty awful. Ford's voice is completely flat and it sounds like he's reading his script from the desk in his hotel room. The voiceovers themselves add nothing to your understanding of the film. They're along the lines of:

DECKARD: (while fiddling with his badge and gun) I'm a cop.

Deckard's flying car cruises through futuristic L.A. until it arrives at a large building, upon which he disembarks and goes to see his boss in the police department.
DECKARD: I was on my way to headquarters to meet with the chief.

(etc.)

Re:And the opposing opinion...

[MsGeek]

There was one good line in that freaking voiceover. Just one. Here it is:

Sushi. That's what my ex-wife called me. Cold fish.

There is another voiceover, however, and you will become acquainted with it in a whole movie's worth of deleted scenes. It's not bad.

Here, let me link you to something on YouTube:
Alternate version of Batty's death scene.

I still am a partisan against voiceovers in Blade Runner. But that's one beautiful rejoinder from Deckard to Batty's classic soliloquy. And dig what Gaff says at the end.

There are going to be some pretty spectacular fan-edits out there once this is out. It might wind up being that people can choose the edit of Blade Runner they prefer.

I am awaiting my 5 disk set breathlessly.

FUCKING P.C.

[Romwell]

I haven't seen it yet, but what's wrong with the director ? Seemingly, he added more gore, but removed the line

"I want more life, FUCKER"

?! For me, it was a significant line, and it was working well in the movie. This was the point in the movie where the roles of master and slave between Tyrell and Roy were reversed. It was Roy now who was in control. If you replace "fucker" with respectful "father", you lose that, you'll get a respectful 'son'.
I've seen both the international/theatrical lasedirsk version and the Director's Cut, and I liked the Director's cut more (no voiceovers, unicorn). But this time I might pass on it. If I get a chance to see it in a theater, I will; but for DVD I'll stick to 1992 version.

Soundtrack Change

[DynaSoar]

Remastering Vangelis's soundtrack is not the half of it. He withdrew his recordings just prior to first release, and the entire soundtrack was rerecorded by a group of musicians Scott hastily put together. Vangelis didn't approve release of his version until 1994. Anyone familiar with Vangelis' work will be confident his recording will be much superior to the impromptu "New American Orchestra". It has been released on CD, but I don't believe it's been included in a version of Blade Runner prior to this.

Completely Awesome

[pi8you]

I'd been waiting for something like this to pop up(though I'm sure there's geekier places with the full and proper rundown elsewhere). I got to go see it last weekend and was hard put to pick out the changes from the Director's Cut aside from an extended shot here and there. I probably would have caught more, but I was far too giddy about a) finally getting to see it on the big screen and b) the fact that Ridley didn't f- things up like a certain other director revisiting his films...

/the only movie I actively rewatch
//still listen to the soundtrack frequently
///never seen the original theatrical release
////my first DVD and will be my first Blu-Ray

Re:It's hard to imagine *SPOILERS*

[fyngyrz]

He's just as entitled to an opinion as you are. Try not to be abusive; there's no point to it. The voice over version had Roy's comments too; but they're about Roy's experience; Deckard's voice-over line was about Deckard's experience. Sometimes changes aren't for the best - even if they are made by the director. A movie, especially one like this, is more than the sum of its parts, more than one person's vision, and more than one character's experience. That's why you can see it one way, and the parent (and myself) can see it another. The real value here is that all three of us found great value in the experience.

Re:It's hard to imagine *SPOILERS*

[Fallen Seraph]

All that proves is that Deckard is a god damned idiot. The reason he saved him was so that he'd REMEMBER HIM. So that he'd remember that there was a man named Roy Baty, who was as much a man as he was, regardless of his origins. By saving him, he guaranteed that he will never be forgotten in Deckard's eyes, and that, in and of itself is as close to immortality as anyone can truly get: to be remembered. Also, Roy's line before his death was far better imo.

And yeah, as was mentioned, Scott and Ford hated the voiceover and intentionally bombed it in the hopes that the studio would leave it out. They didn't.

That being said, I've seen the Final Cut. I live in NYC and had the wonderful opportunity to see it in theaters, and I'll be honest, it's the best, by far. The storyline flows much better than any of the other versions, it's visually spectacular (though a bit overdone with the flare effect on the Spinners), and overall it's so much more watchable and doesn't feel as if it's dragging on as much as the other versions.

I took my girlfriend to see it for the first time, and she freaked out and loved it from the word go. To be honest, I was happy she saw that version first, as she didn't have aspects of it ruined by poor production, or bad editing. So if you've never seen Blade Runner, go see the Final Cut and pretend the others never existed.

More info that isn't in this article...

[The Ultimate Fartkno]

According to an industry mag that I just took a peek at, there were two radical re-stagings of shots from the original production. First was the re-shoot of the "retirement" of Joanna Cassidy where the original shot was so horribly obviously a stunt double. The final moment where she gets hit was reproduced from 25-year-old production design and recreated to make the scene work. Even better was the through-the-window shot of Deckard in the noodle shop. The original cut had horribly de-synched picture and audio, so the restoration team had Harrison Ford's *son* stand in to say the intended lines. The image of his mouth doing the lines was digitally patched over the original footage of his father speaking to repair the scene.

The main question

[UnknowingFool]

All I want to know in this version is if Deckard shoots first? :P

agreed, it is not 'father' and should not be

[_Shorty-dammit]

This actually disappoints me. He says "I want more life, fucker." He's there, pissed off that he's got an expiration date. And he expresses that anger, quite appropriately. Changing this line is quite pointless, and is indeed another Han-shoots-first moment that should never have happened. Why, oh why, do they have to do stupid things like this when restoring/touching-up old movies!?! Blade Runner is a classic, a masterpiece. The Director's Cut is just about perfect as far as I'm concerned. I was hoping it would eventually get the restoration treatment, maybe remove the wires from the vehicles as they floated up, things like that. But changing, what I think is, such an important piece of dialog like that is beyond aggravating.

Rob Zombie's gonna be pissed

[zenmojodaddy]

The song 'More Human Than Human' on 'Astro Creep:2000' features the lines "I am the Nexus one/I want more life fucker I ain't done". Kinda ruins the reference, wouldn't you say?

Lifespans - Nexus 6 vs. Nexus 7

[xenobyte]

Also from TFA: Equally, if Deckard really is a Nexus 7 created to work as an exterminator, why is he lacking the strength of the inferior Nexus 6 models he is chasing? He seems to spend a large part of the film being bashed to a pulp.

Well, the answer to that lies clearly in Tyrells words: "The light that burns twice as bright burns for half as long and you have burned so very, very brightly Roy." - In other words, the superior strength and durability comes at the price of a reduced lifespan.

Narration Version for me

[gadlaw]

That's the first way I saw it, I liked the movie as it was, narration and possible happy ending intact. I'm not an idiot for liking that ending, you're not superior or an idiot for liking whichever of the other endings or versions you like. It's an interesting story how the movie was changed in the first place and it's journey to today but at least Scott didn't go and lock the version he didn't like away like that other clown did. And what the heck, in a couple of years they'll be selling another version with a copy of Final Cut Pro so you can cut it the way you want like a NIN CD.