103 lines
5.1 KiB
Plaintext
103 lines
5.1 KiB
Plaintext
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From dknight@elm.sdd.trw.com Mon May 13 22:36:50 1991
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From: dknight@elm.sdd.trw.com (David B. Knight)
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Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies,alt.cult-movies
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Subject: BLADE RUNNER -- The Director's Cut
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Summary: I saw it!
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Date: 9 May 91 21:22:12 GMT
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Organization: TRW Inc., Redondo Beach, CA
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About 2 weeks ago there was a special screening of 'a' (not 'the') directors
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cut of Blade Runner at the Academy of Motion Pictures in Hollywood. Ridley
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Scott was supposed to be there but was unable to, as he was in France doing
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some last minute work on Thelma & Louise. After the showing there was a
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question and answer session with the films visual futurist, Syd Mead.
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First of all, this was a gorgeous 70mm print, and I was amazed at the quality
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of it. It's a shame that Criterion couldn't locate this print when they first
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released the letterboxed Blade Runner, but it does exist and its in excellent
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shape. The rest of what I have to say probably won't interest you if you're
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not a true Blade Runner fan...
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The opening credits are completely different -- simply "Harrison Ford in
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BLADE RUNNER". The scrolling summary at the beginning is replaced by a
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short dictionary definition of "replicant" from the New American (I believe)
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Dictionary, 2019 edition. A very nice touch.
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The basic film itself is very similar to the release version, but there were
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a considerable number of differences:
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- The music is very different from the release version. It is still
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the Vangelis score, but there are many places where the music is
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different -- too many to remember.
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- There are no voice-overs given by Harrison Ford, except for one at
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the very end while Roy Batty is dying.
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- Many scenes are extended slightly. For example, the scene where
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Leon shoots Holden lasts a few moments longer -- we see Holden bent
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over the table that his chair rams him into for more than a split-
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second.
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- The large blimp-type thing that, in the release version, constantly
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blares things about life in the off-world colonies, is usually
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silent in this version. When it does say something, it is not the
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same as the release version.
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- The initial scene with Deckard and Bryant is quite different. I
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believe that some parts were rearranged slightly. Also, Bryant
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states that 6 replicants escaped and that 2 of them got fried, not
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1 like in the release version. This would explain what happened to
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that mysterious 6th replicant, but it was obviously modified in the
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editing room, since he says it a couple of times but we never see
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his lips when he says it, and his voice sounds a little different.
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- When Deckard gives Rachel the VK test, he actually asks her a
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hypothetical question about the spider outside her room -- I don't
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recall this coming up in the release version until she shows up
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at his apartment.
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- When Deckard is trying to track down the owner of the snake, he is
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directed to Abdul Ben-Hassaan (sp). The dialogue for this scene
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was completely dubbed and changed -- very poorly. It is clear that
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the words do not match the mouth movements.
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- There is a short scene of Zhora doing her snake dance.
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- When Sebastian takes Roy to meet Tyrell in the release version, Roy
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says "I want more life, fucker!" but in this version he says "I
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want more life, FATHER!"
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- When Roy dies at the end, we hear Deckard's only voice-over. It is
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the same as the release speech, except extended slightly. There is
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a wide-shot of the two of them sitting on the top of the building as
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Graff's car slowly rises up along the side of the building, hovers
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there for a moment, and then flies over to where he gets out. His
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additional voice-over says that he stayed there all night and watched
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Roy die (which took all night) -- and he fought till the bitter end.
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- The film ends with the closing of the elevator doors.
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People that have been following this thread over the years will notice that
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there was no unicorn scene in this version. After the showing, the moderator
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stood up and read a letter from Ridley Scott about the original version and
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the unicorn scene that was missing from this print. Apparently when Deckard
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is playing the piano he looks at the picture of Rachel and her mother, which
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seems to come to life. There is then a short scene of a unicorn galloping
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through a field.
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He also goes on to explain that he was really sorry that all of these hints
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about Deckard being a replicant were removed from the release version, but that
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studio executives felt that it would be too "high-brow" for mainstream viewers.
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He felt that Deckard being a replicant was an extremely important part of the
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film. Scott also stated that to this day he still doesn't understand why the
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film did so poorly at the box office during its original release.
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In conclusion, I'd suggest that if you ever have a chance to see this version
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of the film, especially in 70mm, don't let it pass by. It's the first time
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I've ever seen so many people outside the theater begging to buy tickets for
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a film that is 10 years old!
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Dave Knight
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dknight@elm.sdd.trw.com
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