Posted on 06/21/2007 8:43:24 AM PDT by qam1
From the article:
But Hauer said the set will contain at least three versions of the film - theatrical, director’s cut and the newest version - and that more than a year ago he was interviewed for the special features to be included in the package.
I was obsessed with the movie myself. Watched it all the time. I haven’t seen it for a long time though.
The only problem is the majority of the movies made from his stuff become hollow chase films and lose the meat of the story.
I agree, it’s really hard to put into visuals what is related in writing regarding the character’s emotions and thoughts without narration, and that gets stale and doesn’t do it enough either.
Look at the movies made from William Gibson’s stories. Same deal. Probably the best example of this would be evident if you read The Lathe Of Heave and then watched the made for TV movie.
Yet 25 years later "Blade Runner" is on many lists of the top sci-fi movies of all time.It's on my list of top sci-fi disasters of all time. :')
How many for Ian Fleming?
To be fair, though, “Laserblast” did have Eddie Deezen.
Apparently my eyes skipped over that paragraph. I’ve been waiting to replace my VHS copy of “Blade Runner” until a definitive DVD is finally released, so this is great news.
PKD was one of my favorite writers, long ago.
I just wish he had lived to see and enjoy all this.
Here’s a tidbit from my files:
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a39bc228a06d8.htm
The Chromium Fence (Science fiction short story [1954] )
Author: Philip K Dick
Posted on 09/10/2000 17:08:42 PDT by Prism
If that’s true, very cool! Mmmm, I do love me some Rutger Hauer...
I agree it’s great news. I have never seen the directors cut so I wonder what the movie is like without the narration. I liked the narration. It will be nice to have all 3 in one box set. I used to watch that movie all the time. Been awhile now.
You're right. He could have been over the top without too much effort but he played it just about perfect.
I'm also a fan of the late Brion James, who like Slim Pickens showed you don't have to be a pretty boy to make a living in showbiz.
Believe it or not I just watched the “Director’s Cut” the other night. I like the ambiguous ending, even though I remember the original with the voice over and cheesed out happy ending. The film itself is great, a mix of dark creepy “thriller” style tension (like when Roy goes to meet Tyrell, you just KNOW something bad will happen), the gritty cop story (which Ford is fairly wooden in, yet that makes him seem more jaded than giving a “bad” performance). Additionally Sean Young gives one of the best performances of her career, with her mix of innocence and worldliness. The thing I always seem to notice is how both Young and Hannah’s eyes seem to glow in the dark, its both creepy in an inhuman way, but also strangely deep, like there is a different inner glow to the replicants. This is contrasted with Edward James Olmos’ characters eyes (which look to be ultra-blue contacts). Olmos’ character is creepy but mostly repulsive, the reptilian way he watches Ford’s Decker makes you almost feel sorry for the Blade Runner. The scene on the roof at the end is Shakespearian. Roy’s line about seeing things that were unbelievable, and how they “all wash away like tears in the rain”, is sad, poetic and yet affirms the sanctity of life, even though the statement comes from a psychotic inhuman construct. The best part of the movie is the fact that after 25 years, the film still has a fresh feel to it. It doesn’t feel dated, or feel anchored in time, the way that looking at 2001 or 2010 does. I’m glad to see that many of you feel the same way I do about this “cult classic.”
Cheers,
CSG
My fault, mis-remembered the quote. It’s most adapted SF author, which rules out everybody else in your list though Chritchon stradles genres pretty heavily.
I’m not sure it’s the difficulty of putting things into visuals so much as the normal Hollywood laziness. There’s a large crowd of people that are in charge in Hollywood that hear “SF” and think “things blow up”. Plus the usual storm of rewrites, probably nobody after the first or second person to work on a script has even heard of PKD much less actually read the story the movie is nominally based on, then of course the “things blow up” crowd get their hands on it and you wind up with Total Recall, which is an enjoyable movie but I think there’s really only 2 or 3 things that have any relationship to the short story.
I saw it in the theaters and still prefer the voice-over version as well. I know the director didn’t like it, but what would be the harm in having it as an audio option (not unlike running commentary by the production staff in other movies)?
Look forward to the new old version.
film sucked. Saw it originally when I was 16 it sucked. Went back in my 20s saw the directors cut in westwoood.... still sucked.
It is just the kings new clothes, everyone talking about how deep and dark it was....it just sucked. Don’t waste your time.
But wait, it is a reflection of the dispair of man....and ... uh... the androids have more warmth and humanity than the humans don’t you see how insightful.....blah blah blah... snore...
There’s also a couple of scenes removed and added. But yeah over and above all the background information that comes in the narration I think it helps complete the feel. There are certain elements to a film noir detective movie, which is really what Blade Runner is, you’ve got the gorgeous woman perfectly attired, the slovenly man in a trenchcoat that probably smells who smokes too much and gets beat up, it almost all happens at night in the rain, and then there’s the narration from the slovenly man.
Can’t wait to get the original on DVD, and I’d like to see what Scott does in the new edit. He is a very good director and has learned a few things in the intervening time.
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