While BR's theatrical release "happy" ending was typical studio butchery (production was late and over budget and the completion guarantors (Bud Yorkin and Jerry Perenchio) pretty much had editorial control by that point), it did feature helicopter footage of majestic Alaskan scenery that went together quite stirringly with Vangelis' end-titles score. I've seen the movie several dozen more times and I prefer the Director's Cut, but the "happy" ending is cinematically effective if a non sequitur.
The aerial footage was actually shot by Stanley Kubrick for "The Shining". Being so late and over budget, Scott asked Kubrick if he could help, so Kubrick sent over something like 200 cans of film with only the proviso that nothing used in "The Shining" be reused in BR.
Continuity errors occur so easily that most filmmakers pay a rather large salary to someone who specializes in preventing them. Nevertheless, there's one in BR so big I can only assume they had no choice but leave it in: the different versions of the Voight-Kampff interview with Leon. The actual scene is one take, and all subsequent references to it are from another take. The first time, Leon says "Lemme tell you about my mother." Every time Deckard later replays the video Leon says, "I'll tell you about my mother." I think that's the only vocabulary change, but intonation and phrasing by both Leon and Holden are quite different. I think that either they had to later reloop the audio of Leon's VK test to use during scenes of Deckard's investigation; or, they shot the later background versions first, and then filmed such a great VK interview scene (and it does rock) that they used it despite the discontinuity. I'd be very interested to hear another explanation.
*ADDENDUM: 6 Feb 2001, this story on BBC website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1154000/1154662.stm
The Blade Runner Director's Cut really... wasn't. The film was butchered to begin with in the original release because the artless souls at the Evil Corporation were worried much more about money than art, so the film was altered from the artist's vision in order to make it more commercially viable... lotta good it did, right?
The BRDC was much better, but it still doesn't fufill the potential. Ridley Scott didn't actually oversee its creation; he was actually in Europe when BRDC was compiled, and he simply communicated the changes he desired to an assistant. Hopefully someday there will be a real directors cut and a decent DVD release.
Blade Runner is also a 1979 novel/screenplay by William S. Burroughs, completely unrelated in plot to the Ridley Scott movie, though it is also set in a dystopian future. The Burroughs novel is about a future of rampant plague where doctors are virtually outlawed and heroic teenagers called "blade runners" smuggle them their medical supplies under the nose of an authoritarian government.
"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" never uses the phrase "blade runner" - Ridley Scott purchased the rights to the name from Burroughs for the movie. It's not hard to see why Scott didn't want to retain the rather cumbersome title of the novella for the movie, particulary given that Deckard's artificial sheep, which figures prominently in the novella, never made it into the movie.
"Most of the music contained in this album originates from the original recordings I made in London in 1982, whilst working on the score for the film Bladerunner. Finding myself unable to release these recordings at the time, it is with great pleasure that I am able to do so now. Some of the pieces contained will be known to you from the Original Soundtrack of the film, whilst others are appearing here for the first time. Looking back at Ridley Scott's powerful and evocative picture left me as stimulated as before, and made the recompiling of this music, today, an enjoyable experience."
Track Listing
On of the main characters in the film, J.F. Sebastian, lives in an apartment complex named "The Bradbury." The name appears over the doorway. It is named after the writer Ray Bradbury. During filming, the set location became known as Ridleyville, after the director.
One of the great questions posed by the film: "Is Deckard a replicant?". In a 2000 interview on a BBC television program, Ridley Scott says unequivocally that Deckard was indeed a replicant. There are so many pointers to this in the film that it makes sense. In the book the issue is a lot less clear.
This film (IMHO) is one of the most influential films of all time, marking every sci-fi film to come after it for a decade. (Think Batman, the Alien series, etc.)
The film was edited by the studio to have a "happy ending" for the protagonists, and a voiceover by Ford was added to help explain some of the action. In the director's cut of the film, the original ending is restored and the voiceover removed.
As said many times before, Blade Runner is one of the most prominent and influential science fiction films of all time. Particularly, its visual design has become one of the references in Cyberpunk. Every little detail in the film fits perfectly, be it thanks to careful choice or pure chance (Ridley Scott said about the presence of fans that they were there because they look cool), and sometimes in detriment of other factors, like for example, the plot.
As much as Blade Runner is a visual feast, it is quite interesting to watch in detail to catch all of its problems. For starters, one of the most striking sequences is totally pointless and out of place (which probably was known to the writers, but thankfully, they left it in and it has become one of the most memorable scenes in modern film).
Deckard comes back to his work as a Blade Runner. Bryant shows him the photographs of the replicants he has to retire. Then he asks him to test the Esper Machine, the device used for performing Voght-Kampff Empathy Test, which decides whether someone is a skin job. The new Nexus 6 replicants are so perfect that the Police is worried about the results of the test, so the Tyrell Corporation provides a test subject to evaluate the machine.
But, why? They have got the photographs of Roy Batty, Pris and company. And when Deckard finds them later on, he doesn't ask them whether they like their chicken roasted, he just tries to retire them.
Of course, Deckard's test on Rachel is one of the staples of sci-fi movies, and it has exceptional moments (the window blinds, Is this testing whether I'm a replicant, or a lesbian, Mr. Deckard?), but it isn't very coherent.
Further fun might be had at the wonderful disappearing replicant. Just try keeping track of the number of replicants left at various parts of the movie. This (and many other factors) has led to the big question: Is Deckard a replicant?. Everyone has a particular answer (I agree with Ridley Scott and disagree with Harrison Ford, btw).
Anyway, with all of its faults (and perhaps, thanks to them), Blade Runner is the must see for cyberpunk fans.
printable version chaos
Everything2 Help
cooled by panamaus
