Blade Runner Final Cut

[Faille]

Originally Posted by Szlia

Talking about different versions of Bladerunner, there is a thing I am pretty sure I saw in one viewing and did not see in a later viewing: Sebastian (the genetician that craft toy robots) has a big closet filled with the same clothes and he says it is to "reduce the psychological constraint of choice". I dreamed this sequence or is it from another movie?

the Abyss maybe?

[Mahes]

I enjoyed Blade Runner very much. The set design was astouding for it's time, and even to this day does not look it's age. The music, which has always been a key element for setting a mood/feeling was top notch. The story, was a story that makes you think.

I also do not have a copy of this, so might look into getting the "Final cut, this time, we mean it, no really, buy this one, and you will never need another" Version(With bonus features that add 15 more minutes to the last version, showing how the director would use the restroom inbetween takes).

[misdirection]

"I want more life, fucker."

[Tavik]

I know this isn't the book forums, but if you like Blade Runner I highly suggest reading Do Andriods Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, which is the pre-movie book version. It has a totally different ending, but it's still awesome.

[fucker]

i just discovered that Admiral Adama from Battlestar Galactica was in blade runner

so, replicants = Cylons' ancestors?

[Kaige]

The reason for the "Final Cut" seems to be related to interviews done by Harrison Ford lately stating that he and Ridley Scott felt there was no need for the narration. Apparently the studio itself believed it needed a narration or no one would understand the movie. Here's an excerpt from wikipedia:

In an interview with Playboy magazine in 2002, Ford was asked (about the voice-over) if he "deliberately read it badly, hoping they'd drop it?". He replied "No. I delivered it to the best of my ability given that I had no input. I never thought they'd use it. But I didn't try and sandbag it. It was simply bad narration." He added, "I was compelled by my contract to do the narration. When I first agreed to do the film, I told Ridley there was too much information given to the audience in narration." Ford had suggested to Ridley Scott that they "take it out and put it into scenes and let the audience acquire this information in a narrative fashion, without being told it." Scott thought this a good idea. "When we got done, the studio said nobody will understand this fucking movie. We have to create a narrative. They had already thrown Ridley off the movie - they were over budget. So I was compelled by my contract to record this narration."[46] Ford is also quoted (in 1999 about the voice-over) saying: "I had no chance to participate in it, so I simply read it. I was very, very unhappy with their choices and with the quality of the material. I contested it mightily at the time. It was not an organic part of the film.'"

[Faille]

The version without narration has been out for quite a while I beleive.

[Khorum]

Yeah the "1992 Director's Cut" had no narration, a slightly longer Zora chase scene and others. It's more haunting and moodier without the narration, but I always thought the narration made the film more noir (in the Marlowe in cyberpunk sense). From what I've read this edition is supposed to be a clean print with a cleaner soundtrack for those modern home theaters and it apparently includes 3 versions... no clue if it's Blueray or HD at all though.

I'd also agree that Blade Runner's sound design was way ahead of its time. Ambient PSA's in mandarin and Farsi and the rest of the soundscape works fits so well to Syd Mead's production design. The Vangelis score holds up decently too. Shame the other Phillip K. Dick film haven't been as good though. In fact, most the other PKD adaptations have been straight up horrid.

[Blank]

Originally Posted by Khorum

Yeah the "1992 Director's Cut" had no narration, a slightly longer Zora chase scene and others. It's more haunting and moodier without the narration, but I always thought the narration made the film more noir (in the Marlowe in cyberpunk sense). From what I've read this edition is supposed to be a clean print with a cleaner soundtrack for those modern home theaters and it apparently includes 3 versions... no clue if it's Blueray or HD at all though.

I'd also agree that Blade Runner's sound design was way ahead of its time. Ambient PSA's in mandarin and Farsi and the rest of the soundscape works fits so well to Syd Mead's production design. The Vangelis score holds up decently too. Shame the other Phillip K. Dick film haven't been as good though. In fact, most the other PKD adaptations have been straight up horrid.

total recall 4tw.

[Khorum]

The chick with 3 tits saved that movie. But it was close.

[grathnar]

It's definitely on HD DVD. Not sure if it's blu-ray or if it is, whether it will offer the same features (due to limited interactive capabilities of blu-ray).

There's an ultimate collector's edition coming out too (in addition to the 5 disc collector's edition)

[Kreugen]

So place your bets - with the Final Cut but the "Deckard is a replicant, duh" version or the ambiguous theatrical version? Ridley says yes, Harrisson says no, and the author that tried to write some sequels says "maybe." At least thats what I gleaned from the wiki.

What was the happy ending from the theater version? I can only remember the non-voiceover one from the DVD, which I believe was just Deckard returning home after not being dropped off the roof.

Bah I'll have to get the Final Cut now.

[Kreugen]

PS: I hate ambiguous endings. Fuck Sopranos. Total Recall, Blade Runner, and Pan's Labyrinth are all up there too. Its fun to be ambiguous during the movie, yes, but should be resolved in the end.

[The Ancient]

I guess I never saw the Director's Cut, but Deckard as a replicant is appalling to me. It guts half of the movie's message, in my opinion.

[Khorum]

Originally Posted by Kreugen

So place your bets - with the Final Cut but the "Deckard is a replicant, duh" version or the ambiguous theatrical version? Ridley says yes, Harrisson says no, and the author that tried to write some sequels says "maybe." At least thats what I gleaned from the wiki.

What was the happy ending from the theater version? I can only remember the non-voiceover one from the DVD, which I believe was just Deckard returning home after not being dropped off the roof.

Bah I'll have to get the Final Cut now.

The theatrical ending was the one where they were driving through some sunny Canadian forest preserve and Deckard was talking about what little time they may have. The good ending is the one where Deckard grabs Sean Young and leaves after hearing Admiral Adama's "It's too bad she won't live, but then again who does" in his head and the movie ends when the elevator closes.

EDIT: As far as Deckard being a replicant that's more speculation about the Voight-Kampff machine test more than deliberate ambiguity. It's cool if you get into it that much but it wasn't a central point of the movie really. There was some flak about Ridley Scott cutting out some scenes that went into that part of the book some more but Scott denied it. Shit, he left in some real oddball scenes that made no sense whatsoever in the theatrical release--like the Unicorn sequence.