Blade Runner 2007 Director's Cut

[roo_ster]

I pulled off a coup and got Mrs. jfruser to go see it with me at the theater.

I never saw it in theater, so it was quite a treat to see it on the big screen.  Back in the day, I thought the FX were terrific.  Nowadays...they still look awesome and have aged very well in comparison to other contemporaneous FX-heavy flicks.  The opening shot of the industrial/urban dystopia reminds me of the night shot seen south of El Paso when on one of I-10's overpasses.

The world of BR seemed very real, in that it had the elements we would expect: mass-marketing, gov't propaganda, creeping authoritarianism taken for granted, etc.

The overall mood of the movie is more gloomy than the 1982 theatrical release.  No happy ending with the voice-over claiming she had no termination date.



Some observations:
1. The dystopia seems brighter than what we could expect in LA's future.  BR has the immigrant influx as majority asian, with a Hong-Kong-esque dystopia.  The reality will be a Mexico-City-like dystopia.

2. Has there ever been that much rain, over the course of a week, in LA?

3.
Deckard: [getting up to leave] I was quit when I come in here, Bryant, I'm twice as quit now.
Bryant: Stop right where you are! You know the score, pal. You're not cop, you're little people!
[Deckard stops at the door]
Deckard: No choice, huh?
Bryant: [smiles] No choice, pal.

4. I think the reason Deckard quit the first time was that he was pickling his liver...every scene where Deckard was alone, he seemed to be hitting the sauce.




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        Blade Runner: The Final Cut (R) (11:00am) (1:30) 4:15 7:00 9:30


FWIW, there are the following versions of BR:
US 1982 theater release (voice over)
Europe 1982 theater release (same as US, but a little more gore)
1992 Director's cut (no voice over & minor mods, no happy ending in an auto)
2007 Director's cut (no VO, a few re-shoots of action scenes and some CGI to clean up some of the FX blunders, no happy ending in an auto)

[Manedwolf]

To me, the most believable scene in that movie is the congested street when he's chasing the first replicant, the one from the club. The sound editing is also incredible. The noisy diesel taxis, the bus full of people moving slowly, the droning walk now, walk now, don't walk, don't walk and other noises, and the crowds. There was just so much amazing detail to look at.

Quintessential cyberpunk.

Yeah, it looks like a brighter future than what LA is really going to have, too. It had black-market biotechnology, implying that even the underclass had significant scientific knowledge. The real thing is likely to be more like a third-world slum of the illiterate, with decaying sprawl and drive-bys, taquerias with questionable meat and water you can't drink without montezuma's revenge.

[Brad Johnson]

I've got the new release on my list of "DVDs I gotta have".  Haven't see it, though.

Brad

[Bogie]

Oh, I could see a heavy asian influence, after China conquers the United States of North America...

As for the rain, well, global warming and greenhouse gases...

But I think it's more likely that we see http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/idiocracy/

[AJ Dual]

Quintessential cyberpunk.

Indeed.

I remember reading something by William Gibson who was working on Neuromancer at the time, and nearly *expletive deleted*it a brick when he saw Blade Runner, he didn't calm down until he figured out it was about replicants, and that AI and a pervasive Internet did not figure into the story.

[gunsmith]

what everyone misses is that Deckard is a replicant too, thats why he wasn't killed by the warrior replicant near the end of the movie.

oops was wasn't...gotta pay attention

[DJJ]

Maybe you mean wasn't killed (on account of he wasn't)? As in the #1 FAQ, "Why did Roy Batty save Deckard's life?" It never occurred to me that somehow Roy knew, but maybe he did.

[zahc]

I have an old version of the Directors cut, probably from the 90s or something. What's different about the 2007 one, just remastering or something?

[gunsmith]

I have an old version of the Directors cut, probably from the 90s or something. What's different about the 2007 one, just re mastering or something?

what he said

[Brad Johnson]

I have an old version of the Directors cut, probably from the 90s or something. What's different about the 2007 one, just re mastering or something?

what he said

Go to TheDigitalBits.com and scroll down to Saturday's post.  They have an in-depth review plus an explanation of the Director's Cut business.

Or just C&P this into your browser's URL window.  Remove the spaces in "http" or it won't work.

h t t p://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviewshd/bladerunnerfinalallver01.html

Brad

[Tuco]

HOLY SMOKES- IT'S BACK???

 

I NEED TO DO THIS!!! 

That film's stuck with me over the last 25 years

[Volt]

In 1982 I watched Blade Runner a number of times in almost empty theaters. It was a big flop that then turned around by word of mouth.

The replicant spared him because the replicant felt empathy. Which is what a replicant was not supposed to be able to do.

I hope it is at a theater at or near Kansas City.

[gunsmith]

nooooooooo!

The replicant spared him because the replicant felt empathy. Which is what a replicant was not supposed to be able to do.

The replicant spared him because the replicant didn't want to kill a replicant....
You only think that he wasn't a replicant because those memories were implanted.

[Volt]

            [Start]Game Show Wrong Answer Buzzer noise.[/End]

Ohhh I'm sorry. The right answer was Empathy. Empathy. Now let's move on to our bonus round.


But our judges are checking on this answer...







Wow is this a geek thing or what? You know I dated this girl who, out of reverence to Blade Runner, named her boy Deckard.

Here don't say I don't do nice things for you all:

http://fondecran001.free.fr/cinema/b/blade_runner/?D=A

They make great screen backgrounds. I am using this one as a screen background right now:

http://fondecran001.free.fr/cinema/b/blade_runner/blade_runner_003.jpg

[wooderson]

I avoided this for years - sci-fi, geek icon, etc. - not my bag. Someone should have told me the sci-fi is all flash, it's a good old film noir dystopia - and a fine one at that. Can't wait to get it on Blu-Ray and get a better feel for it on a second viewing.

Sad to say, the two best films I've seen (in the theater) this year are revival showings of two movies almost three decades old - Blade Runner and Charles Burnett's Killer of Sheep.

[gunsmith]

Phillip K Dick is an amazing author, even Hollywood has a hard time destroying his vision.

[AJ Dual]

Phillip K Dick is an amazing author, even Hollywood has a hard time destroying his vision.

Yes, Total Recall, Paycheck, Minority Report, and Impostor all managed to be halfway decent, or at least not completely awful, despite Hollywood's best efforts they be otherwise.

Oh, and I have nothing other to add, then that Syd Mead is a genius as well.

[Manedwolf]

Phillip K Dick is an amazing author, even Hollywood has a hard time destroying his vision.

Yes, Total Recall, Paycheck, Minority Report, and Impostor all managed to be halfway decent, or at least not completely awful, despite Hollywood's best efforts they be otherwise.

Oh, and I have nothing other to add, then that Syd Mead is a genius as well.

Mead had input on the design of Tron, several Vegas casinos, and the Planet Express spaceship in Futurama. Guy keeps busy.

[AJ Dual]

The Planet Express? 

[Manedwolf]

Yup! He did the initial design sketch with the swept-back tailfins and all, Groening added the overbite.