Blade Runner remastered

[MrBern]

Ridley Scott wasnt happy w/ his `92 director's cut...now comes the latest , a Final Cut. No wonder he never made a sequel.

Scifi.com article

Review on 5 disc box set

 

[griffer]

Oh, yes. Eagerly awaited, 5 years late.

He even re-shot scenes.

The '92 director's cut was a slapdash affair, one of the first 'director's cuts', and it was a response to an unauthorized studio cut and the limited release of the workprint.

The best thing about this box set is that it brings together ALL the versions of the film in one place, remastered with 5.1 and in both DVD and HD formats.

And you get a spinner.

This allows me to retire my Beta, VHS, Laserdisc and DVD versions of the film.

 

[carter]

Sci-Fi.com states that this package will be offered in September 2007 and only available for 4 months. I'm thinking about a pre-release order on Amazon.

 

[vintage68]

My favorite movie of all time.

I for one thought the original with voiceover to be the best. HATED the "director's" cut without Ford's VO.

 

[vintage68]

Just placed my pre-order on Amazon. It was listed as being released in December of this year. Two versions; The "Ultimate Edition" and the four disc version, both released at the same time. The Ultimate is the same as the four disc, just dressed up with more packaging and twice the price.....

 

[Doh!]

Living in L.A., we'll be fortunate enough to be able to see the newest cut in theaters. That said, I really should like this movie more than I do. Something about it I've always found off-putting. Maybe it was the v.o. Maybe it was the pace.

I'll see the new cut, though, to see if my opinion changes.

 

[griffer]

With access to both Philly and NY, I am hopeful I will get to see it in theaters.

Any leads on where and when?

Have they posted it?

 

[Doh!]

According to my friend the internet, LA and NY get it theatrically on October 5th:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/br2007/announce.html

 

[jake431]

I've also always enjoyed the voice over - I don't like the movie as much without it. Nevertheless I'm curious to see the "final" version.

-Jake

 

[MrBern]

bump, this could merge w/ the other bladerunner thread.

 

[Smyat]

This allows me to retire my Beta, VHS, Laserdisc and DVD versions of the film.

"Guess that means I'll have to buy the White Album again."

 

[TM]

Blade Runner is certainly one of my favorite films. However I really do not understand Ridley Scott’s mania for sequential “director’s cuts” of this film.

I have recently re-read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, the 1946 edition. The original was printed in 1932. In the 1942 preface Huxley addresses the issue of revisionism, which seem apt to the present case:

“To pore over the literary shortcomings of twenty years ago, to attempt to patch a faulty work into the perfection it missed at its first execution, to spend one’s middle age in trying to mend the artistic sins committed and bequeathed by that different person who was oneself in youth—all this is surely vain and futile. And that is why this new Brave New World is the same as the old one. Its defects as a work of art are considerable; but in order to correct them I should have to rewrite the book—and in the process of rewriting, as an older, other person, I should probably get rid not only of some of the faults of the story, but also of such merits as it originally possessed. And so, resisting the temptation to wallow in artistic remorse, I prefer to leave both well and ill alone and to think about something else.”

I would say that Huxley exaggerates the perceived defects in Brave New World. Likewise, there I perceive few defects in Blade Runner. The voice over, although some like it; and the awful tacked-on happy ending. Given that, why spend 20 years fiddling with it?

I am satisfied with the 2006 “Blade Runner - The Director's Cut (Remastered Limited Edition)”. It has the correct ending (elevator door slams shut followed by end titles). And it has the voice over. However, when you watch it with the optional French language, the voice over is gone. I do not understand French, but that’s not be a problem. Any Blade Runner fan knows the dialogue. I also find the French version edgier for some reason.

Tony

 

[MrBern]

Ziegfeld & Landmark theaters

An extensive review on the BR:FinalCut
NYT review


"An earlier director’s cut played in theaters 15 years ago to great fanfare and is still available on DVD. But the new one is something different: darker, bleaker, more beautifully immersive."

"“Here we are 25 years on,” Mr. Scott said, “and we’re seriously discussing the possibility of the end of this world by the end of the century. This is no longer science fiction.”"

"For the new director’s cut, the special-effects footage was digitally scanned at 8,000 lines per frame, four times the resolution of most restorations, and then meticulously retouched. The results look almost 3-D."

AND footage of missing scenes restored.
who wants to check it out at the Ziegfeld??

 

[Photomuse]

me me me

 

[Feraud]

I am in for this. Blade Runner is one of my favorite movies.

 

[griffer]

And so it begins.

I want with all my sould to see this movie, but my in laws are in town.

Sigh.

Its shoing for 2 weeks! YIPPEEE!

 

[MrBern]

I'll do a post in Events to see who else is headed for the screenings.
Maybe we could get a littl group.
Feraud & I went to some Ziegfeld screenings a couple years ago & it was fun. A really grand theater. Awesome screen & sound

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?p=416310#post416310

 

[MrBern]

dangerous days....fatally flawed

look for the clip of the documentary Dangerous Days. Menu/Gallery/Video.

Interviews w/ the actors reflecting on how miserable they were to shoot the film.
Looks intrigueing. Especially the clip of Gaff.

http://bladerunnerthemovie.warnerbros.com/

 

[griffer]

A cross post of my 'review' from the events thread-

I was impressed with the seamless touch up job Scott did.

Make no mistake, it is an enhanced version of his earlier director's cut, not a new film. Don't go there expecting to see something radically different.

No gratuitous 'deleted' scenes, but just some well done corrections and clean up.

The sound was fantastic, and the CGI minimal. Gone are the annoyances like script math errors and guy wires. Audio is synced better and corrected, sloppy stunt doubles have been re-shot, and the continuity problems with the Roy Batty death scene are corrected.

Scott's vision of Deckard as a machine to do the dirty work is reinforced. Gaff is both his handler and denouncer (basically it is through Gaff that his replicant status is confirmed).

The little things make all the difference- the restored print and enhanced special effects are subtle unless you are an ultra geek like me. Not ham handed like the butchery of E.T. and Star Wars.

Scott's ridiculous obsession with detail in the crafting of his 2019 universe is clear.

In the end, this is the definitive director's cut, and it made me cry, as it should.

There is always a place, though, in my heart for the International version- with it's voice over and heavier violence.

My two cents.

On a side note- great theater and great audience! Bravo to seeing a 25 year old film with respectful fans.

On another side note, I saw things and realized things I had never noticed before. So many images from that movie have informed my life- from my favorite look in college (roy batty white spiked hair and a heavy black leather coat); to the women I have dated (Pris look-a-likes, often right down to the outfits); to the woman I married (Rachel's sister she could be, and its a wonder I like her best in a severe suit); to the scotch I drink; my pre-teen love of sushi; the noir style; hats; guns; future tech; even ********* desk and ceiling fans....almost depressing to realize how many themes and images in my life aren't original, they are lifts straight from some ol' flick.

Though I saw that movie in a theater 25 years ago, it was clearly at a very impressionable age.

The beginning panning into the room with the first VK is new right?) And how come I don't remember Roy's howling in the end scene to be so darn echo-namic?

The Leon/Holden VK scene is not new, but the audio sounded remastered. I defintely remember the howl.

I liked some of the small fixes, like when you see Deckard thru the window talkign to the snakedealer, the sound now matches the lips & movements. Not sure if that was CGI or alternate footage.
And chasing Zora thru the city seemed to be a new edit.
I do think they CGI'd her face onto the stuntdouble when she is shot & staggering. Thats a technique seen in Jurassicpark.

Yes, these are the things I was referring to. I think they dug up the original audio for the Abdul bin Hussan/Deckard exchange.

As for Joanna Cassidy/Zhora's death scene in the plate glass, that scene always irked me because they used a man in a crappy wig. Scott and Cassidy's web site both say they reshot with her. I think they used her rather than a double and reshot the scene, CGI to blend in. No way that was a man's body this time around.

 

[MrBern]

I didnt realize it was re-shot w/ Cassidy.
Yes, the previous stuntdouble.. was too obviously a double. Especially as the scene is in slo-mo. But then again, we were less picky 25 years ago.

A shame this film never warranted a sequel. You see it referenced in so many other movies.
And no one ever paired Hauer w/ Hannah again? I recall talk of it, but nothing.

Anyway, I'd guess it was all marketting problems 25 years ago. The film shouldve been played up more for being different. Too many people were disappointed, thinking it woudl be a fast paced sci-fi. This was a moody , existential film.