Xixax Film Forum

Film Discussion => Digital Streams & Criterion Dreams => Topic started by: MacGuffin on January 31, 2006, 05:17:20 PM

Title: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: MacGuffin on January 31, 2006, 05:17:20 PM
Finally, here's a bit of news that's going to get a lot of you excited... Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) is currently on track for release as a multi-disc special edition in time for its 25th anniversary in 2007. The release is far from certain (as usual, there's a lot more that I can't post about this title yet - think of the old saying, "Loose lips sink ships"), but Warner says that work is proceeding, most of the key players are involved and things are "looking good" for release next year. We'll see.
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: grand theft sparrow on January 31, 2006, 08:49:37 PM
Quote from: MacGuffin on January 31, 2006, 05:17:20 PM
as usual, there's a lot more that I can't post about this title yet

Which means that the rumored workprint is being remastered... I hope.

Quote from: MacGuffin on January 31, 2006, 05:17:20 PM
We'll see.



Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: squints on February 01, 2006, 12:36:46 PM
Quote from: MacGuffin on January 31, 2006, 05:17:20 PM
Finally, here's a bit of news that's going to get a lot of you excited... Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) is currently on track for release as a multi-disc special edition in time for its 25th anniversary in 2007. The release is far from certain (as usual, there's a lot more that I can't post about this title yet - think of the old saying, "Loose lips sink ships"), but Warner says that work is proceeding, most of the key players are involved and things are "looking good" for release next year. We'll see.

:bravo:
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: MacGuffin on May 26, 2006, 02:08:56 PM
New world for Scott's 'Runner' DVD
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Warner Home Video has acquired worldwide rights to Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" and is preparing two DVD editions of the landmark 1982 science fiction classic.

In September, Warner will release a restored and remastered version of the film's 1992 director's cut, which debuted on DVD in 1997 as one of the first movies to appear on the format. This version of "Runner" will only be available for four months.

Next year, to celebrate the film's 25th anniversary, Warner will release "Blade Runner: The Final Cut," which it is billing as Scott's "definitive new version" of the film. After a limited theatrical release, the newly spruced-up "Runner" will be released in a multidisc special edition DVD that also will include the original theatrical cut, the expanded international theatrical cut and the 1992 director's cut.

"This is clearly Ridley's signature film, and we are thrilled to have it back," Warner senior vp and general manager of theatrical catalog Jeff Baker said.

He said that while specifics about the two DVD editions will be announced later, Warner wanted to announce its release plans early "to get this great news to the many serious film buffs and ardent 'Blade Runner' fans who have been so patient, despite besieging us with thousands of annual requests in recent years for new 'Blade Runner' DVDs."

" 'Blade Runner: The Director's Cut' was one of the very first titles to be released on DVD, and so it came out before optimal formatting standards had been established," said Doug Pratt, editor of the DVD-LaserDisc Newsletter. "Shortly afterwards, it went into moratorium. The early adopters who bought the title have long since wished to see it upgraded, while other fans, who came into DVDs later on, have been unable to find it at all. It is the only 'big' sci-fi spectacle currently unavailable on DVD."

"Runner" stars Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos and Daryl Hannah and won plaudits -- as well as two Oscar nominations -- for its dark, bleak vision of the future. Ford heads the cast as Rick Deckard, a futuristic cop -- the film is set in 2019 Los Angeles -- who needs to kill four errant human clones who hijack a space ship back to Earth after escaping from exile in an off-world colony.
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: MacGuffin on February 28, 2007, 10:54:35 PM
The following is from an on-line chat with executives from Warner Home Video, held on Monday, February 26th on The Home Theater Forum.


[NickH] Any news on the big Blade Runner SE (i.e. release date, contents, etc)?

[WARNER] The Tyrell Corporation is furiously working away on a release to knock your socks off before the holiday season. The contents are still being formulated. All the different iterations of the film will be available, including the new FINAL CUT. We think you'll be very pleased, and it will have been worth the wait!
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: MacGuffin on April 27, 2007, 12:42:35 AM
Cassidy: Blade Reshoots Done?
Source: SciFi Wire

Joanna Cassidy, one of the original stars of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, posted a cryptic note on her official Web site: She said she has finished reshooting her scenes in the film.

"Joanna has just finished reshooting her scenes from the original Blade Runner," the site reported. "Joanna is wearing her original outfit (which she kept over from the first production). These new scenes will be part of the upcoming special Blade Runner DVD re-release. Check back for more details."

It's not clear whether the new scenes will be incorporated into a new, final cut by director Scott, who has publicly expressed dissatisfaction with the 1992 director's cut of the movie. It's also unclear whether Scott is doing other reshoots.

The film's 1982 theatrical cut was famously carved up by the studio and producers and released with a since-much-reviled voice-over.

For the film's 25th anniversary this year, a special new DVD set of the movie is planned.

Cassidy played Zhora, one of the movie's "replicants," or androids, who meets her demise at the hands of "Blade Runner" Harrison Ford.
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: MacGuffin on May 14, 2007, 07:04:11 PM
From The Digital Bits:

Consider this a rumor, but it's definitely worth mentioning: Those of you interested in a possible sneak peek at some of what's in store for you in Warner's Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection (due later this year on DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-ray) might want to head over to this link (http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/793565) at the Australian DVD retail site, ezydvd.com. There's tentative DVD cover art and a list of some of what the 5-disc set is likely to include. IF it's the real deal, fans of the film can look forward to Ridley Scott's all-new 2007 cut of the film, along with every previous version of the film including the 1982 theatrical and international cuts, the 1992 "director's cut" and the infamous work print version of the film (the "Nuart/Dallas/Denver" cut). There's also the 2000 Channel Four documentary on the making of the film, On the Edge of Blade Runner, as well as an all-new Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner documentary and much more. All of it comes packaged in what looks like a replica of the VK machine case, and comes with mini replicas of the Spinner, Gaff's unicorn origami and more. Warner's mum on all this right now, and we don't expect this page on ezydvd.com to stay up for long, so check it out while you can. Warner will likely announce the title officially sometime in the next couple of months, so if any of this IS real, it's proof that they're cooking up a damn nice package indeed. We'll post more when we can.
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: Pubrick on May 15, 2007, 06:46:47 AM
200 bucks sounds about right.
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: MacGuffin on June 07, 2007, 09:58:41 AM
Edward James Olmos: "Blade Runner Failed Because of Harrison Ford"
Source: Cinematical

I had the lucky fortune to attend a Battlestar Galactica event in Los Angeles tonight, but the one explosive shell to come out of it was Edward James Olmos really putting the screws to Harrison Ford over Blade Runner.

According to Olmos, "Blade Runner was supposed to have sequels." Thankfully he doesn't mean the god-awful "Blade Runner 2" novel (and subsequent series of books) that was written years after the first film, but my geeky brain really wishes we would've seen those sequels. Why didn't we?

Olmos tossed down the gauntlet and then did the fandango on top of it by telling us all, "Blade Runner failed because of Harrison Ford." Whoa! I felt like I'd been slapped across the face when I heard that one, and then I checked to make sure I was awake. He went on to explain that since Harrison's fans had seen him in the Star Wars movies, and as Indiana Jones, they'd come to expect a certain type of performance from him. When they saw him in Blade Runner in a role that "required him to think a lot, his fans threw up all over it."

Wow. Now, it can't be argued that Blade Runner wasn't a box office failure, because it was. However, it's become such a cult classic, and a favorite of both science fiction and Harrison Ford fans, that Olmos' words seem pretty inflammatory. I guess Blade Runner 2 is really off the horizon now. Think this'll be a DVD extra?
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: tpfkabi on June 07, 2007, 11:21:36 AM
Quote from: MacGuffin on May 14, 2007, 07:04:11 PM
we don't expect this page on ezydvd.com to stay up for long, so check it out while you can.

it IS no longer there.........anyone save the pics from the page?
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: MacGuffin on June 07, 2007, 11:58:14 AM
Quote from: bigideas on June 07, 2007, 11:21:36 AM
Quote from: MacGuffin on May 14, 2007, 07:04:11 PM
we don't expect this page on ezydvd.com to stay up for long, so check it out while you can.

it IS no longer there.........anyone save the pics from the page?


(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm1.static.flickr.com%2F197%2F501808568_bf380de18f_o.jpg&hash=06885f564a3368834f631b9b525d146209969e8e)
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: tpfkabi on June 07, 2007, 10:50:36 PM
thanks!

hopefully that is the limited edition and there will be a more normal special edition with fairly normal packaging and a majorly reduced price.
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: The Sheriff on June 08, 2007, 12:27:52 AM
shit man
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: MacGuffin on June 21, 2007, 12:51:17 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vOsSvkbRjA
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: The Sheriff on June 22, 2007, 12:36:42 AM
fuck moi!
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: tpfkabi on July 05, 2007, 10:30:50 PM
Ford: "'Blade Runner' Was a Nightmare"
source: IMDB

Harrison Ford has branded his role playing a futuristic cop in Blade Runner "a f**king nightmare." The actor admits he was initially attracted to the role as Rick Deckard in the 1982 movie, but was not keen on the voiceover narrations. Ford claims director Ridley Scott agreed to remove them for the script - but was disappointed when the spoken words made the film's final cut. He says, "When we started shooting it had been tacitly agreed that the version of the film that we had agreed upon was the version without voiceover narration. It was a f**king nightmare. I thought that the film had worked without the narration. But now I was stuck re-creating that narration. And I was obliged to do the voiceovers for people that did not represent the director's interests."
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: MacGuffin on July 25, 2007, 11:51:11 PM
Blade Runner 'Final Cut' DVD Due
Source: SciFi Wire

Warner Home Video announced that it will release a new cut of Ridley Scott's classic SF movie Blade Runner on DVD on Dec. 18, preceded by a brief theatrical run in Los Angeles and New York on Oct. 5. The announcement came at the beginning of Comic-Con International in San Diego, where Scott and some of the cast were scheduled to appear.

Scott did some post-production on the 1982 movie to create Blade Runner: The Final Cut, which has also been restored and remastered from original elements. The new version will feature never-before-seen added or extended scenes, added lines, new and improved special effects, director and filmmaker commentary, an all-new 5.1 Dolby Digital audio track and more, the studio said.

Blade Runner: The Final Cut will be included in three DVD editions: a two-disc special edition (with a suggested retail price of $20.97), a four-disc collector's edition ($34.99) and a five-disc ultimate collector's edition ($78.92) in a collectible "Deckard Briefcase" package. Simultaneous HD DVD and Blu-Ray versions of the "Deckard Briefcase" will also be released in numbered, limited quantities.

Among the bonus material highlights is Dangerous Days, a new, three-and-a-half-hour documentary by award-winning DVD producer Charles de Lauzirika.
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: MacGuffin on July 27, 2007, 11:01:05 AM
Press Release:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedigitalbits.com%2Farticles%2Fbr2007%2Fbladerunner2discdvd.jpg&hash=98fab732a168aadd85665fc03cc8b7fa50cc681f)
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedigitalbits.com%2Farticles%2Fbr2007%2Fbladerunner4discdvd.jpg&hash=6937f1ea0124b707f34f9c3a7fa66de85916239f)
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedigitalbits.com%2Farticles%2Fbr2007%2Fbladerunner5discultimatedvd.jpg&hash=a637223dd2b29502f2bb807719f41b4440e1d910)



At last! The Definitive Version of Sir Ridley Scott's Sci-Fi Classic starring Harrison Ford

The Film That Started It All

BLADE RUNNER: THE FINAL CUT

Debuts on DVD December 18 with Exclusive New York/LA Theatrical Launch October 5

Three Spectacular Editions of Director's Long-Awaited New Version, Restored and Remastered with 5.1 Audio, New and Deleted Scenes, Special Effects and More

All 4 Previous Cuts, Including the Ultra-Rare 'Workprint' Version, Available Along with Hours of Extra Content Including Over 45 Minutes of Deleted Scenes & "Dangerous Days," the Comprehensive New Feature-Length Doc

Ultimate Collector's Edition, in Unique Limited 'Deckard Briefcase,'
also Available in HD DVD & Blu-ray Disc

San Diego, July 26, 2007 - The one that started it all. Sir Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, starring Harrison Ford, is one of the most important science-fiction movies of the 20th Century -- the film with immeasurable influence on society for its futuristic depiction of a post-apocalyptic, dystopian world, a film perhaps more powerful and relevant today than when it was made. The film, in fact, has appeared on more 'Top Five' sci-fi lists than any other film.

In celebration of its 25th anniversary, director Ridley Scott (Alien, Hannibal and a three-time Oscar® nominee, Best Director, for Gladiator, Thelma & Louise and Black Hawk Down) has gone back into post production to create the long-awaited definitive new version, which Warner Home Video will unveil on DVD December 18th in the U.S. Blade Runner: The Final Cut, spectacularly restored and remastered from original elements and scanned at 4K resolution, will contain never-before-seen added/extended scenes, added lines, new and improved special effects, director and filmmaker commentary, an all-new 5.1 Dolby® Digital audio track and more.

A showcase theatrical run is also being planned for New York and Los Angeles October 5.

Blade Runner: The Final Cut will be included in three stunning DVD editions: a Two-Disc Special Edition (at $20.97 SRP), a Four-Disc Collector's Edition ($34.99 SRP) and the Five-Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition ($78.92 SRP) in Collectible "Deckard Briefcase" packaging.

Simultaneous HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions (each $TBD) of the "Deckard Briefcase" will also be released in numbered, limited quantities. HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc 5-Disc Digi Packs with collectible slipcase (each $TBD) will include all of the UCE content. Order due date for all editions is November 13.

Ford, Rutger Hauer, Edward James Olmos, Joanna Cassidy, Sean Young and Daryl Hannah are among some 80 stars, filmmakers and others who participate in the extensive bonus features. Among the bonus material highlights is Dangerous Days - a brand new, three-and-a-half-hour documentary by award-winning DVD producer Charles de Lauzirika, with an extensive look into every aspect of the film: its literary genesis, its challenging production and its controversial legacy. The definitive documentary to accompany the definitive film version.

Additionally, two of the collections (4- & 5-Disc) will include an entire disc with hours of enhanced content containing featurettes and galleries devoted to over 45 minutes of deleted and alternate scenes recently discovered in deep storage and approved by Ridley Scott, visual effects as well as background on author Philip K. Dick, script development, abandoned sequences, conceptual design, overall impact of the film and how it lead to the birth of cyberpunk. Trailers, TV spots and promotional featurettes will also be included.

Among some of the fascinating factoids talked about in the special features:

- Notable actual locations were used to reflect 2019 Los Angeles, such as Union Station, 2nd Street tunnel and the Bradbury building.

- The top of Police Headquarters is actually part of the Mothership from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

- In the last scene, Rutger Hauer made the jump between buildings himself.

- In the fight scene between Daryl Hannah and Harrison Ford, Hannah pulled Ford's nose so hard that his nose actually bled afterwards.

- Holding a dove, and letting it fly away, in the last scene was never in the script, but rather Rutger Hauer's idea when filming the scene.

- Dangerous Days was originally the name of the script.

Said Sir Ridley Scott: "The Final Cut is the product of a process that began in early 2000 and continued off and on through seven years of intense research and meticulous restoration, technical challenges, amazing discoveries and new possibilities. I can now wholeheartedly say that Blade Runner: The Final Cut is my definitive director's cut of the film."

Jeff Baker, Warner Home Video Senior VP and General Manager, Theatrical Catalog and Domestic Sales, says: "25 years ago the critics said Blade Runner was ahead of its time and today it's still ahead of its time. This is clearly Ridley's signature film and we're delighted to offer these great editions to the Blade Runner fans who've been so patient, despite besieging us with thousands of annual requests in recent years for new DVDs. A number of people have told me that at the start of DVD, Blade Runner was absolutely the first title they wanted -- so much so that they purchased it even before their first DVD player! We think they'll agree that the new cut and the new editions are worth waiting for."


DETAILS OF BLADE RUNNER EDITIONS


BLADE RUNNER: THE FINAL CUT SPECIAL EDITION (2-DISC)

Disc One
RIDLEY SCOTT'S ALL-NEW "FINAL CUT" VERSION OF THE FILM

Restored and remastered with added & extended scenes, added lines, new and cleaner special effects and all new 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio. Also includes:

- Commentary by Ridley Scott

- Commentary by Executive Producer/ Co-Screenwriter Hampton Fancher and Co-Screenwriter David Peoples; Producer Michael Deely and production executive Katherine Haber

- Commentaries by visual futurist Syd Mead; production designer Lawrence G. Paull, art director David L. Snyder and special photographic effects supervisors Douglas Trumbull, Richard Yuricich and David Dryer

Disc Two
DOCUMENTARY - DANGEROUS DAYS: MAKING BLADE RUNNER

A feature-length authoritative documentary revealing all the elements that shaped this hugely influential cinema landmark. Cast, crew, critics and colleagues give a behind-the-scenes, in-depth look at the film -- from its literary roots and inception through casting, production, visuals and special effects to its controversial legacy and place in Hollywood history.

BLADE RUNNER: COLLECTOR'S EDITION (4-DISC)

The Four-Disc Collector's Edition includes everything from the 2-Disc Special Edition plus three additional versions of the film, as well as an "Enhancement Archive" bonus disc of enhanced content that includes 90 minutes of deleted footage and rare or never-before-seen items in featurettes and galleries that cover the film's amazing history, production teams, special effects, impact on society, promotional trailers, TV spots, and much more.

Disc Three
1982 THEATRICAL VERSION

This is the version that introduced U.S. movie-going audiences to a revolutionary film with a new and excitingly provocative vision of the near-future. It contains Deckard/Harrison Ford's character narration and has Deckard and Rachel's (Sean Young) "happy ending" escape scene.

1982 INTERNATIONAL VERSION

Also used on U.S. home video, laserdisc and cable releases up to 1992. This version is not rated, and contains some extended action scenes in contrast to the Theatrical Version.

1992 DIRECTOR'S CUT

The Director's Cut omits Deckard's voiceover narration and removes the "happy ending" finale. It adds the famously-controversial "unicorn" sequence, a vision that Deckard has which suggests that he, too, may be a replicant.

Disc Four
BONUS DISC - "Enhancement Archive"

- Featurette The Electric Dreamer: Remembering Philip K. Dick
- Featurette Sacrificial Sheep: The Novel vs. The Film
- Philip K. Dick: The Blade Runner Interviews (Audio)
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep Cover Gallery (Images)
- The Art of Blade Runner (Image Galleries)
- Featurette Signs of the Times: Graphic Design
- Featurette Fashion Forward: Wardrobe & Styling
- Screen Tests: Rachel & Pris
- Featurette The Light That Burns: Remembering Jordan Cronenweth
- Unit Photography Gallery
- Deleted & Alternate Scenes
- 1982 Promotional Featurettes
- Trailers & TV Spots
- Featurette Promoting Dystopia: Rendering the Poster Art
- Marketing & Merchandise Gallery (Images)
- Featurette Deck-A-Rep: The True Nature of Rick Deckard
- Featurette Nexus Generation: Fans & Filmmakers

BLADE RUNNER: ULTIMATE COLLECTOR'S EDITION (5-DISC)

The 5-Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition includes everything from the previously described 4-Disc Edition, plus the ultra-rare, near-legendary WORKPRINT version of the film, newly remastered. The Ultimate Collector's Edition will be presented in a unique 5-disc digi-package with handle which is a stylish version of Rick Deckard's own briefcase, in addition each briefcase will be individually numbered and in limited supply. Included is a lenticular motion film clip from the original feature, miniature origami unicorn figurine, miniature replica spinner car, collector's photographs as well as a signed personal letter from Sir Ridley Scott.

Disc Five
WORKPRINT VERSION

This rare version of the film is considered by some to be the most radically different of all the Blade Runner cuts. It includes an altered opening scene, no Deckard narration until the final scenes, no "unicorn" sequence, no Deckard/Rachel "happy ending," altered lines between Batty (Rutger Hauer) and his creator Tyrell (Joe Turkell), alternate music and much more.

Also includes:

- Commentary by Paul M. Sammon, author of Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner
- Featurette All Our Variant Futures: From Workprint to Final Cut

About Blade Runner

Blade Runner made its first appearance in U.S. theaters on June 25, 1982, dazzling audiences with its stylish, brooding look into the future. From its intelligent, provocative story line to its stunning camera work and state-of-the art special effects, the film opened the door to a new view of tomorrow in addition to prefiguring important concerns of the 21st century, such as globalization, urban decay, global warming, over-population and genetic engineering.

Set in a multi-ethnic, overcrowded, high-tech city of the future, Blade Runner was also a benchmark in costume and production design and helped spawn a new genre/lifestyle -- neo-noir cyberpunk which has flourished in today's mainstream society and is reflected in all facets of entertainment, design and fashion trends. Most recognizable is the current trend of the Harajuku district in Japan, recently popularized by Gwen Stefani.

In Blade Runner, genetically manufactured beings called "replicants" are built to do dangerous and degrading work on Earth's "Off-World colonies." Physically identical to adult humans, yet much more powerful, a group of replicants hides in Los Angeles after a bloody mutiny.

Heading the all-star cast, many in career-expanding roles, is Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard, a special police "blade runner" assigned to hunt down and kill the escapees. Also starring are Sean Young as Rachel, Deckard's replicant lover; Edward James Olmos as Gaff, a mysterious fellow policeman; Daryl Hannah as Pris and Joanna Cassidy as Zhora, two beautiful yet murderous replicants; and Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty, the replicant leader who challenges Deckard's ideas of what it is to be human.

Blade Runner was adapted from the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by acclaimed science-fiction author Philip K. Dick. Hollywood has since discovered this eclectic author in full force, and some of the films adapted from Dick's works include Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, Next, and Total Recall, among others, grossing millions of dollars worldwide. But it was Blade Runner that started it all. The film was nominated for 2 Academy Awards® -- for Best Art Direction and Best Visual Effects. Oscar®- winning composer Vangelis created the musical score.

The multiple "Top Ten" lists Blade Runner has consistently placed high on are: #1 on Wired Magazine's list, and the English Scientists/Guardian Science List made it the #1 sci-fi film of all time based on surveys with 60 scientists. It is #3 on Entertainment Weekly's "best sci-fi movies and TV shows of the past 25 years," and is also #3 on SFX Magazine's list. Blade Runner makes the top ten on the Internet Movie Database's (IMDB) list, beating out such films as Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, Frankenstein, King Kong, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T.

Marketing Campaign

Blade Runner: The Final Cut Special Editions will be supported by a large-scale national media campaign that will cross over TV, print, online and viral platforms. Promotional tie-ins include a partnership with Random House and a special book version of the film with DVD mentions and artwork; and a promotion with Xbox 360 LIVE available for owners of the HD DVD version of Blade Runner, plus other promotions and partners to be announce soon.

BLADE RUNNER 25th ANNIVERSARY
Street Date: December 18, 2007
Order Due Date: November 13, 2007
Rated "R" - Widescreen 16x9, Color

BLADE RUNNER: THE FINAL CUT SPECIAL EDITION (2-DISC)
$20.97 SRP
Catalog # 114482
Packaging: Double Amaray
Feature Run Time: 157:30

BLADE RUNNER: COLLECTOR'S EDITION (4-DISC)
$34.99 SRP
Catalog # 114483
Packaging: 4-Disc Digi-Pak w/ Custom Slipcase
Feature Run Time: 157:30

BLADE RUNNER: ULTIMATE COLLECTOR'S EDITION (5-DISC)
Limited Numbered Edition in "Deckard Briefcase" w/Collectible Memorabilia
$78.92 SRP
Catalog # 114484
Feature Run Time: 157:30

BLADE RUNNER: COMPLETE COLLECTOR'S EDITION HD (5-DISC)
$TBD
HD Catalog #118573
Packaging: Digi-Pak with Collectible Slipcase

BLADE RUNNER: COMPLETE COLLECTOR'S EDITION BD (5-DISC)
$TBD
BD Catalog #118574
Packaging: Digi-Pak with Collectible Slipcase

BLADE RUNNER: ULTIMATE COLLECTOR'S EDITION HD-DVD (5-DISC)
Limited Numbered Edition in "Deckard Briefcase" w/Collectible Memorabilia
$TBD
HD Catalog #118571

BLADE RUNNER: ULTIMATE COLLECTOR'S EDITION BLU-RAY DISC (5-DISC)
Limited Numbered Edition in "Deckard Briefcase" w/Collectible Memorabilia
$TBD
BD Catalog #118572

Note: All enhanced content, DVD pricing, and marketing plans listed above are subject to change
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: cron on July 27, 2007, 01:57:05 PM
great, i'll FINALLY see this movie
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: tpfkabi on July 27, 2007, 03:16:13 PM
i don't really want the briefcase, but then the workprint sounds interesting.

is there not a way to make dvd's so that you can watch a film - say if two different versions only differ by ten minutes - can you not author the dvd so if you click on something on the menu you will access the same movie but will only differ with the different scenes? clear as mud?
=)
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: edison on July 27, 2007, 03:19:41 PM
Quote from: bigideas on July 27, 2007, 03:16:13 PM
i don't really want the briefcase, but then the workprint sounds interesting.

is there not a way to make dvd's so that you can watch a film - say if two different versions only differ by ten minutes - can you not author the dvd so if you click on something on the menu you will access the same movie but will only differ with the different scenes? clear as mud?
=)

like seamless branching?
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: tpfkabi on July 27, 2007, 07:07:03 PM
Quote from: edison on July 27, 2007, 03:19:41 PM
Quote from: bigideas on July 27, 2007, 03:16:13 PM
i don't really want the briefcase, but then the workprint sounds interesting.

is there not a way to make dvd's so that you can watch a film - say if two different versions only differ by ten minutes - can you not author the dvd so if you click on something on the menu you will access the same movie but will only differ with the different scenes? clear as mud?
=)

like seamless branching?



i don't know dvd authoring terms.
let's say you have a theatrical cut and a director's cut.
let's pretend we have a 90 min movie and the only difference is that the director's cut has 10 mins of deleted scenes spread throughtout the film.
is it not possible to have two options on a dvd menu where you access the 90 mins of the theatrical with one option, and then the second option utilizes those same 90 mins but then knows to go to the extra 10 mins when they come up?
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: MacGuffin on July 27, 2007, 07:18:04 PM
Quote from: bigideas on July 27, 2007, 07:07:03 PM
Quote from: edison on July 27, 2007, 03:19:41 PM
Quote from: bigideas on July 27, 2007, 03:16:13 PM
i don't really want the briefcase, but then the workprint sounds interesting.

is there not a way to make dvd's so that you can watch a film - say if two different versions only differ by ten minutes - can you not author the dvd so if you click on something on the menu you will access the same movie but will only differ with the different scenes? clear as mud?
=)

like seamless branching?



i don't know dvd authoring terms.
let's say you have a theatrical cut and a director's cut.
let's pretend we have a 90 min movie and the only difference is that the director's cut has 10 mins of deleted scenes spread throughtout the film.
is it not possible to have two options on a dvd menu where you access the 90 mins of the theatrical with one option, and then the second option utilizes those same 90 mins but then knows to go to the extra 10 mins when they come up?

Ohhh, you mean seamless branching:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seamless_branching
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: Pubrick on July 28, 2007, 09:46:56 AM
it took 15000 posts, but mac is finally cracking some good jokes.
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: tpfkabi on July 28, 2007, 06:04:03 PM
Quote from: MacGuffin on July 27, 2007, 07:18:04 PM
Quote from: bigideas on July 27, 2007, 07:07:03 PM
Quote from: edison on July 27, 2007, 03:19:41 PM
Quote from: bigideas on July 27, 2007, 03:16:13 PM
i don't really want the briefcase, but then the workprint sounds interesting.

is there not a way to make dvd's so that you can watch a film - say if two different versions only differ by ten minutes - can you not author the dvd so if you click on something on the menu you will access the same movie but will only differ with the different scenes? clear as mud?
=)

like seamless branching?



i don't know dvd authoring terms.
let's say you have a theatrical cut and a director's cut.
let's pretend we have a 90 min movie and the only difference is that the director's cut has 10 mins of deleted scenes spread throughtout the film.
is it not possible to have two options on a dvd menu where you access the 90 mins of the theatrical with one option, and then the second option utilizes those same 90 mins but then knows to go to the extra 10 mins when they come up?

Ohhh, you mean seamless branching:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seamless_branching

ok. so why do they not do this instead of making a totally seperate dvd for different versions? i'm guessing the sound would be mixed different as well - in the case of Blade Runner dialog/narration is in and out on different versions.
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: MacGuffin on July 29, 2007, 10:45:50 AM
Quote from: bigideas on July 28, 2007, 06:04:03 PMok. so why do they not do this instead of making a totally seperate dvd for different versions? i'm guessing the sound would be mixed different as well - in the case of Blade Runner dialog/narration is in and out on different versions.

Quote from: MacGuffin on July 27, 2007, 11:01:05 AMBlade Runner: The Final Cut will be included in three stunning DVD editions: a Two-Disc Special Edition (at $20.97 SRP), a Four-Disc Collector's Edition ($34.99 SRP) and the Five-Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition ($78.92 SRP) in Collectible "Deckard Briefcase" packaging.




Trailer for Dangerous Days:
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1800037822/video/3485021/;_ylt=AqSZwMV9x8UkSVf0o68D94VfVXcA
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: tpfkabi on July 29, 2007, 02:02:41 PM
Quote from: MacGuffin on July 29, 2007, 10:45:50 AM
Quote from: bigideas on July 28, 2007, 06:04:03 PMok. so why do they not do this instead of making a totally seperate dvd for different versions? i'm guessing the sound would be mixed different as well - in the case of Blade Runner dialog/narration is in and out on different versions.

Quote from: MacGuffin on July 27, 2007, 11:01:05 AMBlade Runner: The Final Cut will be included in three stunning DVD editions: a Two-Disc Special Edition (at $20.97 SRP), a Four-Disc Collector's Edition ($34.99 SRP) and the Five-Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition ($78.92 SRP) in Collectible "Deckard Briefcase" packaging.

Trailer for Dangerous Days:
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1800037822/video/3485021/;_ylt=AqSZwMV9x8UkSVf0o68D94VfVXcA

yes, i'm aware of differing versions.
you've lost me with the rest.

i've had the concept of seemless branching in my head a long time with other movies/dvd's, so with so many different cuts of the same film it was an opportune time to see if there was any such thing out there. sorry (genuinely) if you dislike it being brought up concerning Blade Runner, but i didn't know any other context in which to talk about it.
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: MacGuffin on July 29, 2007, 09:02:54 PM
Quote from: bigideas on July 29, 2007, 02:02:41 PMyes, i'm aware of differing versions.
you've lost me with the rest.

Notice how I highlighted the differences in price. That's why they don't make just one edition, when they can price gouge cater to any budget of fan.
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: tpfkabi on July 29, 2007, 09:47:08 PM
Quote from: MacGuffin on July 29, 2007, 09:02:54 PM
Quote from: bigideas on July 29, 2007, 02:02:41 PMyes, i'm aware of differing versions.
you've lost me with the rest.

Notice how I highlighted the differences in price. That's why they don't make just one edition, when they can price gouge cater to any budget of fan.

ah, i see.
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: MacGuffin on July 30, 2007, 12:05:46 AM
Scott Talks Blade Refinements

Ridley Scott, director of the seminal 1982 SF movie Blade Runner, told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming 25th-anniversary "final cut" DVD is a refinement of the current director's cut, with some reshoots to correct a couple of technical errors. Most notably, Scott shot new footage of Joanna Cassidy as the replicant Zhora, in her death scene as she's running through plate glass windows, to replace the existing footage in which the stunt woman is clearly visible. (Cassidy even used the original clear raincoat costume from the original film, which she had kept.)

Scott said he made the refinements, "I think, because the film is damaged." He added that he was perfectly content to leave the movie as it was, but fans and critics kept clamoring for Scott to fix the movie. "They kept coming back to me," he said. "They kept coming to me. I didn't go on the phone, whining [on] the phone, 'Oh, let me.' I get on with life and move on, but the thing kept surfacing and coming up and bumping me in the head."

The main changes to the original theatrical release were the removal of the voice-over and the happy ending, which consisted of aerial mountain shots that were outtakes from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. But the new release will also correct the final scene, in which Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), releases a dove. In the director's cut, the dove flies upward into a blue sky against a metal wall; the correction corrects the scene to take place at night in the rain and removes the metal wall.

Scott also trimmed down scenes that ran long once the voice-over came out. "You suddenly have shots which are too long," he said. "So some slendering." But Deckard's (Harrison Ford) dream of a unicorn remains key. "The unicorn has been in out in out, and it was always essential to me, because it's essential for the audience to understand that Deckard is a replicant," Scott said. Blade Runner: The Final Cut comes out in several editions on Dec. 18.
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: MacGuffin on September 03, 2007, 09:40:11 PM
New "Blade Runner" cut is "how it should have been"

Twenty-five years after "Blade Runner" was panned by critics and pulled from theaters, British director Ridley Scott savors revenge with the final cut of the science-fiction film now considered a cult classic.

Presenting the new version of what he considers his most accomplished movie, Scott recalled the difficulties he had when he first pitched the work to Hollywood.

"I was a new kid on the block in Hollywood, so driving to those studios every day was a magical mystery tour. But it was hard, the whole process of making the movie became quite difficult," he told reporters at the Venice film festival after a press screening.

"I wasn't used at that point in my career to having too many cooks in the kitchen, and I think there were many people who started to get involved.

"So out of it came a hybrid version of what I'd originally intended. Consequently ... we had a bad opening, bad previews, confused previews. I was killed by some critics ... then I thought it would be gone away for ever," Scott said.

The futuristic thriller is set in the year 2019 and follows policeman Deckard (Harrison Ford), a "blade runner" trying to catch and kill four human replicants who have escaped from a space-based colony.

The response at early sample screenings before the official release in June 1982 was so weak that the producers forced Scott to add voice-overs to the film and change the final scene to make it a more "happy ending."

"I thought I'd really nailed it, I really thought I'd nailed it. And the person I used to show it to was my brother (director Tony Scott). And my brother, he loved it so much. Then we preview, and the previews are really, really bad, and my confidence is really dented," said Scott.

The reworking of the film led to "voice overs which started to explain what was about to happen, who the characters were and who was going to do what to who, which is the antithesis of a good movie making process," he said.

CULT MOVIE

Despite the changes and two Oscar nominations, bad reviews and the almost simultaneous release of Steven Spielberg's hugely popular "E.T." ended the theater run of "Blade Runner" prematurely.

Yet the film eventually achieved cult status through re-issue on television and home video.

Scott, 69, said he had almost forgotten about it until he saw clips on music television channel MTV and realized that his film "was having a strong influence on younger generations."

Over the years, five versions of the film have been released, including a director's cut in 1992. But Scott said the "Final Cut" -- which will be issued as a collector's DVD edition later in the winter -- was "really as it was intended to be."

"A good film is like a good book, you might go to the shelf and take it off and revisit it. There are not a lot of films I can do that with from my collection of material," said Scott, whose other titles include international hits such as the first "Alien," "Thelma & Louise" and "Gladiator."

At present, Scott is working on "Body Of Lies," one of several Hollywood movies on the war in Iraq due for release in the next few months. But he said he would like to make another science fiction film.

"I am continuously looking for that so if anyone has got a science fiction script in their briefcase, give it to me."
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: MacGuffin on September 29, 2007, 10:27:15 PM
A Cult Classic Restored, Again
Source: New York Times

IT'S been 25 years since the release of "Blade Runner," Ridley Scott's science fiction cult film turned classic, but only now has his original vision reached the screen.

"Blade Runner: The Final Cut" — as the definitive director's cut is titled — was scheduled to play at the New York Film Festival Saturday night, opens at the Ziegfeld in New York and the Landmark in Los Angeles on Friday, and comes out in December in a five-disc set with scads of extra features.

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.

The film, based on Philip K. Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?," takes place in Los Angeles in 2019. It follows a cop named Deckard (played by Harrison Ford) who hunts down androids — or, in the film's jargon, replicants— that have escaped from their slave cells on outer-space colonies and are trying to blend in back on Earth.

What's hypnotic about the film is its seamless portrait of the future, a sleek retro Deco glossed on neon-laced decay: overcrowded cities roamed by hustlers, strugglers and street gangs mumbling a multicultural argot, the sky lit by giant corporate logos and video billboards hyping exotic getaways on other planets, where most English-speaking white people seem to have fled.

Mr. Scott designed this world in minute detail and shot it at night, from oblique angles, mainly on Warner Brothers' back lot in Burbank, Calif., pumping in smoke and drizzling in rain.

"I've never paid quite so much attention to a movie, ever," Mr. Scott said in a telephone interview from Washington, where he's shooting a spy thriller. "But we had to create a world that supported the story's premise, made it believable. Why do you watch a film seven times? Because somebody's done it right and transported you to its world."

He created this world from what he saw around him. "I was spending a lot of time in New York," he said. "The city back then seemed to be dismantling itself. It was marginally out of control. I'd also shot some commercials in Hong Kong. This was before the skyscrapers. The streets seemed medieval. There were 4,000 junks in the harbor, and the harbor was filthy. You wouldn't want to fall in; you'd never get out alive. I wanted to film 'Blade Runner' in Hong Kong, but couldn't afford to.

When "Blade Runner" came out in June 1982 it received mixed reviews and lost money. The summer's big hit was "E. T.," Steven Spielberg's tale of a cute alien phoning home from the tidy suburbs. Few wanted to watch a movie that implied the world was about to go drastically downhill.

"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."

The special effects that produced this vision were amazing for their day. Created with miniature models, optics and double exposures, they seemed less artificial than many computer effects of a decade later. But like film stock, they faded with time.

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.

The film's theme of dehumanization has also been sharpened. What has been a matter of speculation and debate is now a certainty: Deckard, the replicant-hunting cop, is himself a replicant. Mr. Scott confirmed this: "Yes, he's a replicant. He was always a replicant."

This may disappoint some viewers. Deckard is the film's one person with a conscience. If he's a replicant, it means that there are no more decent human beings.

"It's a pretty dark world," Mr. Scott acknowledged. "How many decent human beings do you meet these days?"

The clue to Deckard's true nature comes in a scene that was cut from the original release and only recently unearthed by Charles de Lauzirika, Mr. Scott's assistant and the restoration's producer, In the film, Deckard falls in love with Rachael (played by Sean Young), a secretary at the Tyrell Corporation, the conglomerate that makes replicants. She discovers that she's a replicant too. Her memories of childhood were implanted by Tyrell to make her think she's human.

In the last scene of Mr. Scott's version, Deckard leads Rachael out of his apartment. He notices an origami figure of a unicorn on the floor. A fellow cop has often left such figures outside replicants' rooms. In an earlier scene, Deckard was thinking about a unicorn. Looking at the cutout now, he realizes that the authorities know what's in his mind, that the unicorn is a planted memory, that he's a replicant and that he and Rachael are both now on the run. They get into the elevator. The door slams. The end.

Neither this scene nor any unicorn appeared in the 1982 release. That version ended with Deckard and Rachael escaping, driving through green countryside, Deckard telling us in his Philip Marlowe voice-over — which ran throughout the movie — that he had learned Rachael is a new type of replicant, built to live as long as humans. They smile. The end.

How to explain such a drastic change? The veteran television producers Bud Yorkin and Jerry Perenchio put up one third of the film's $22 million budget and the completion bond, which stipulated that if the film went over budget they had to pay the overrun but would also take ownership of the movie. The film went $7 million over budget.

Preview screenings were disastrous. Crowds went to see the new Harrison Ford movie, thinking it would be like "Raiders of the Lost Ark," and they were befuddled. Mr. Yorkin and Mr. Perenchio, whose relations with Mr. Scott were always tense, took over.

In some accounts, Mr. Scott was kicked off the picture and had nothing to do with the voice-over or the happy ending. This isn't quite accurate.

"I was in a minor argument over it for about six hours," Mr. Scott recalled. "Then I was fully on board." He had contemplated a voice-over early on, inspired by Martin Sheen's in "Apocalypse Now." When the previews bombed, he revived the idea and had his screenwriters, Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, work on it. The new owners discarded that draft and hired Roland Kibbee, a frequent writer for the detective show "Colombo," to do a rewrite.

Mr. Scott didn't like the revision, but he edited it into the movie anyway. He also asked Stanley Kubrick for outtakes of rolling countryside that were shot for "The Shining," and used them as backdrop for the desired happy ending.

"I went along with the idea that we had to do certain things to get audiences interested," Mr. Scott recalled. "I later realized that once I adopted that line, I was selling my soul to the devil, inch by inch drifting from my original conception."

"My original concept," he said, "was almost operatic: the cadences, the deliberate pacing. I mean that in the sense of the best comic strips, the ones that adults read, which are very operatic. 'Batman' — you can't get more operatic than that."

Afterward, Mr. Scott moved on to other films. In 1989 a Warner Brothers executive, going through the vaults, came across a 70-millimeter print of Mr. Scott's original cut. In May 1990 the print was lent to a Los Angeles theater showing a festival of 70-millimeter films. Fans lined up around the block. The same thing happened when two art houses screened it in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Sensing a windfall, Warner Brothers announced the release of a director's cut and brought in Mr. Scott. It was a rush job — much of the deleted footage couldn't be found — but it was closer to what he had intended.

In 2000 Mr. Scott announced that he was working on a multidisc set that would include a polished director's cut. But the project collapsed when the Mr. Yorkin and Mr. Perenchio wouldn't transfer the rights.

This refusal was widely attributed to lingering bitterness. Mr. Yorkin, speaking by telephone from Los Angeles, denied that. "It's just there was no reason for another release," he said. "We needed an idea that would make it an event."

Last year they realized the film's 25th anniversary was coming up. "That was an idea we could hook it on," Mr. Yorkin said. A deal was struck with Warner Brothers. The project was revived.

Mr. de Lauzirika plowed through 977 boxes and cans of film, stored mainly in a Burbank warehouse, and found the missing pieces — including the complete unicorn scene — along with several discs' worth of material for DVD special features. And the technical experts restored the picture to a level of detail that would have been impossible a few years earlier.

"In many ways," Mr. de Lauzirika said, "the delay actually helped. So all headaches aside, it's hard to be bitter. I'm actually quite grateful."
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: MacGuffin on September 30, 2007, 11:44:22 AM
'Blade Runner,' Take 3
It was coolly received in 1982, but Ridley Scott's bleak science fiction film has undergone revisions, and this time he thinks they got it right.
Source: Los Angels Times

RIDLEY SCOTT was living in London in 1980 but looking for a leading man for his first Hollywood movie. The script was a strange one -- it was a surreal tale adapted from a 1968 novel about murderous artificial people in futuristic Los Angeles -- and Scott didn't have a certain title since he couldn't use the more-than-a-mouthful name of the book: "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" Scott did have a star in mind, though: He had seen "Star Wars" and decided that he wanted his star to be the actor who had played that charming scoundrel Han Solo.

"The reaction of one of the producers was: 'Who the hell is Harrison Ford?' One of the reasons I went for Harrison was the fact that I knew that Steven [Spielberg] and George [Lucas] were doing this thing called ["Raiders of the Lost Ark"]. It smelled good to me. I simply called up Harrison's agent and said, 'I want to meet Harrison as soon as possible.' Like two days later we met and he turned up with the stubble and the hat and the leather jacket on because he had been shooting. It was like 10 o'clock at night. So my meeting for 'Blade Runner' was with Indiana Jones."
 
Scott chuckled at the memory, then groaned, reached for a bag of ice and propped his leg up on a chair. The 69-year-old British filmmaker was fresh from knee surgery -- "Too much tennis," he said with a sad shrug -- and at the time was still working on his 19th film, "American Gangster," due in theaters in November. But he was eager to talk about "Blade Runner" and the past because he's getting a rare chance to revisit and reengage both. Scott oversaw a new remastered version of the film that enhances its Vangelis score, adds snap to its visual effects and even includes a bit of new footage, all for the 25th anniversary of the dystopian epic. "Blade Runner: The Final Cut" will be shown for a month at the Landmark Theatre in West L.A. and then will go on sale as a DVD in November.

The tale of "Blade Runner" is not a sunny one. The version of the film that reached theaters in 1982 (it opened against "E.T.") was weighted down with a somnambulant voice-over narrative and a tacked-on ending that Scott loathed; the set too had been a contentious one, with Ford and Scott locked in a surly struggle. Also, Philip K. Dick, the author of "Do Androids Dream," died just four months before the film reached the screen.

Then, famously, the history of the film took a sharp turn away from ignominy. First, the advent of the home-video era brought the movie to a wider audience, one that was increasingly attuned to the film's cyberpunk visions and its technological concepts.

Then, close to the film's 10th anniversary, a so-called director's cut was given a theatrical run in Los Angeles and broke revival-house records. That version was actually a preview print, as Scott refers to it, which might have been missing the monkey-wrench additions (like that clunky Ford voice-over) but also was missing large chunks of music and a key dream sequence.

This current "Final Cut" version, Scott said, comes closest to what the film could have been and, in his mind, should have been.

"It's quite a thing to come back to this film now, after all this time, after a quarter of a century," said Scott, whose résumé includes "Thelma & Louise," "Gladiator" and "Black Hawk Down."

"This is a film that, in many ways, has echoed throughout popular culture in a very special way."

The film also seems to have been a career landmark for just about everyone involved.

"I was never on another movie set quite like that one," said Daryl Hannah, who portrayed the sexualized android called Pris. "I was very young, and every day it felt the way you fantasize that making a movie would be -- like you're stepping into another world."

Rutger Hauer, the Dutch actor who played the menacing but poetic killer android called Roy Batty, talks about how the movie "captured a vision of the future that to this day holds up. That's quite an achievement. It was a film all of us knew was going to be special. A lot of that is because of Ridley."

Although in hindsight everyone seems to laud Scott's bold film, at the time there was considerable debate on the quality of his anachronistic noir vision. There were critics who were divided on the film, but, before that, there was also the crowd of financial backers and studio executives who felt it was too convoluted and complicated and needed to be dumbed down for audiences.

"I learned a lesson from all of that," Scott said, leaning over again to rub his rebuilt knee. "I learned to stand my ground. I was stubborn, but I learned I should have been more stubborn."

Future vision

WATCHING "Blade Runner: The Final Cut," anyone who lives in Los Angeles today would be struck by how prescient the film was about the direction of society and culture. To Edward James Olmos, the film, set in 2019, amounted to a crystal ball in many of its details.

"What you see now is how unique this image of Los Angeles is and, in hindsight, how correctly it predicted so much, such as the mix of urban Latino and Asian cultural influences in the city," said Olmos, who portrayed a taciturn cop in the movie. "About the only thing in the film we haven't gotten yet is those flying cars."

L.A. today perhaps isn't quite the blow-torch skyline and acid-rain megalopolis of "Blade Runner," but the film certainly created standard images and codified themes for several generations of science fiction films. It's hard to watch such movies as "The Matrix," "The Terminator," "The Fifth Element" or "Minority Report" (which was also based on Dick's writing) and not see links to "Blade Runner." MTV, cyber-punk fashion, graphic novels and even some architecture have pulled elements from the visual accomplishments of "Blade Runner."

From the novel by Dick, the film took its core plot of a bounty hunter on grim, dying Earth chasing down androids who have a pre-set "death date." For the film, these hunters were called "blade runners" (a name that came from an unrelated William S. Burroughs novel; producer Michael Deeley and Scott just liked the sound of it) and the androids were called "replicants." That term came from screenwriter David Peoples' daughter, who was studying biology at the time and offered the term. "We were going to call them humanoids," Scott said, "but that sounded pretty good, so we used it instead."

What may be most unusual about the film is how many of the key components came from the actors involved. One example: Hauer, concerned that his death scene was too protracted, jotted down a few lines about the nature of death, and that became his soliloquy during the powerful rooftop scene in which his character dies in a downpour.

"He wrote these lines, they were like Shelley," Scott said with a measure of awe. "He wrote it in his trailer and, like 45 minutes later, we just did it up there on the roof. I always have cast actors who are not afraid to speak up. On 'Blade Runner,' there were some significant contributions."

Maybe none were more significant than the contributions by Olmos. It was his idea that his character talk in "Cityspeak," the hybrid of four languages that shows the polyglot nature of L.A., and it was also his notion to fiddle with a piece of paper and create origami while in the background of one scene.

"I really was trying to find a way to blend into the background and not do anything but also not look like I wasn't doing anything; it's difficult to do that, you don't want to distract from the action in the scene, but you also don't want to look artificially still," Olmos said. "You need to be like a tree in the wind."

The casual creation of fidgeting became a key part of the film; the origami, linchpin symbols in the film. The paper unicorn shaped by Olmos' character, for instance, telegraphs to the audience a huge plot point: that Ford's character, Deckard, is himself an android.

"It all fit together perfectly, but that shows how confident Ridley is on the set and how he is constantly working toward the place the story should go and how open he is even while filming," Olmos said. "It's a true talent, and he has that confidence to embrace the art around him."

Still, the embraces during the making of "Blade Runner" were sometimes more like a wrestling match than a hug-fest. "Yes, there was a lot of passion and conflict, it's true," said Sean Young, who portrayed Rachael. "But I think that's because there were things worth fighting for."

Scott, who had already directed "Alien," had come to the project after a stellar career making television commercials (a few years later, he would make the celebrated "1984" ad for Macintosh) and right after walking away from an aborted attempt to bring the Frank Herbert novel "Dune" to the screen. Scott's older brother had just died unexpectedly, and the director hoped that in making his first film in America he might distract himself from the grief. "I wanted to make a movie," Scott said, "where I walked through the gates at Warner Bros., the ones I had only seen in Cary Grant movies and old horror movies."

That sort of carefree daydream soon gave way to sour complications. There were several versions of the script, and the first writer, Hampton Fancher, quit after Peoples was brought in to rework the story. Much has been made too of the squabbles between Scott and Ford.

"No, we're fine," Scott said. "Actually, I got on all right with him at the time, but it was such a difficult film to convey that I got tired of explaining it . . . and Harrison tends to be a person who keeps himself to himself, particularly in those days, and if that happens with an actor, then so do I."

Scott paused and then grinned mischievously. "And generally speaking, I actually think the movie was one of the better things he's done. Hee hee."

Even with Ford as reluctant star (he was the lone notable absence when "Blade Runner: The Final Cut" made its premiere at the Venice Film Festival a few weeks ago), the resonance of "Blade Runner" is unmistakable now. For one thing, it propelled the late Dick to the status of Hollywood concept machine; there have been eight other films based on his writings and three more are in the hopper. None of them, though, has matched "Blade Runner" and its mix of Philip Marlowe and fire-pit future tech.

Scott, meanwhile, has not revisited science fiction. "I suppose I haven't found a future that is as interesting as that future."
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: MacGuffin on October 02, 2007, 01:59:00 PM
Exclusive: The Real Deal
Digital film restoration and a final cut reveal the true Blade Runner.
Source: Digital Content
           
Those who have faithfully followed every version of Blade Runner will be heartened to know that through the magic of digital film restoration, it has now received Ridley Scott's definitive cut. Blade Runner: The Final Cut airs in theaters in early October. And on Dec. 18, three different assemblies of the five different cuts of the film and its components (plus extra content and a three-hour-plus making-of documentary) become available on DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray.

The multiple-cut Blade Runner mystique was touched off in the early '90s when a workprint of the film leaked out for a Los Angeles film festival, according to Charles de Lauzirika, restoration producer for the new cut and DVD producer for all the extras.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, here's a rundown of the various versions of this inestimable sci-fi classic. The original film was released in 1982. At the same time, an international version went out. "It might just have been an alternate cut that Ridley and [supervising editor] Terry Rawlings prepared. It might have been done before the MPA rating," de Lauzirika says of the cut, which contains some additional violence. But he's not sure.

Then there's the workprint, sometimes called the "New Art," for which there is no negative. This version surprised fans when it was shown at what de Lauzirika remembers as the Cineplex Odeon Fairfax 70mm Film Festival. He ascribes the cut to Scott and Rawlings, and he says it just happened to be the 70mm version that Warner's archivist Michael Eric pulled out of the vaults for the festival. The entire fifth and sixth reels of the film have temp music (from The Planet of the Apes, Humanoids from the Deep, The Hand, and others) because it was the test-screening cut, and they didn't have all of Vangelis' score in yet, de Lauzirika says. There's no voiceover except at the very end.

Then, in 1992, came the Director's Cut, known for, among other things, having cut Deckard's (Harrison Ford) narration. However, according to de Lauzirika, this didn't turn out to be Scott's definitive version, and was rather done internally at Warner Bros. while Scott was busy finishing up Thelma and Louise and prepping 1492.

All four of these versions were deemed worthwhile to bump up to HD for release, according to Kurt Galvao, director of feature postproduction assets and technology at Warner Bros. The team checked the tracks, did color correction, created 3D masters of the three negatives — for the 1982 original and international and the 1992 director's cut. "Then we had the New Art [or workprint] version. That one's a 70mm print, and it's the only print in the world that exists, and there's no negative behind it. We scanned that — knowing that it's a print and it's fading, but being that it's one of a kind, we thought we would do as best we could with that and create it in HD as well," Galvao says.

All of this was occurring as the fifth version — Scott's final cut — was painstakingly assembled from original elements, including the original 65mm negative. De Lauzirika has been working on it over a seven-year period. "And this time, Ridley approved every single thing that went into it — every single cut, every single effect," he says.

"We're right back to square one," Galvao says of The Final Cut elements. "We scanned the cut negative, plus the negatives we dug out of vaults in England, here at Warner Bros., and [co-executive producer] Jerry Perenchio's vault as well. We went through and viewed every frame of every roll that we could find."

"Honestly, I got to go through 977 boxes and cans of mag, IP, INs, 65mm visual effects comps, 35mm original dailies ... everything ever printed," de Lauzirika says. "I saw amazing, amazing material — much of which we've been able to pull and put on the DVD in some form, even if it didn't make it into The Final Cut.

"I think The Final Cut is the best version of them all. The picture and sound on it are just astounding. We really put a lot of work into the restoration, and we transferred the actual original neg at 4K, and it just looks stunning. Even more stunning are the visual effects, which were originally 65mm elements, then scanned at 8K. It looks like 3D. It's so sharp, with all these details that I'd never seen before."

According to Galvao, the assembly and restoration for The Final Cut included some reworking of the original effects — tightening some mattes, doing some wire removal, etc.

De Lauzirika and his team worked with a variety of original elements. "It was either optical or mag or whatever they had in the vaults," he says. "We also had on mag original ADR sessions and various visual effects, and very interesting audio enhancements that we were able to pull."

De Lauzirika was never able to find the original production sound or any of the audio. Fortunately, there were still archival 6-tracks, from which raw material could be used to fill in the gaps that had been caused by edits, trims, or moved voiceovers. "Per Hallberg and Karen Baker and the Warner sound team did a really great job in piecing it together," de Lauzirika says. "Now we have a coherent, full-blown, 6-track, 5.1 mix for the DVD and for the theatrical release."

Technicolor handled much of the new restoration of Blade Runner. Working from 4K scans from the studio, Technicolor provided a new DI color-grade performed between its new Stage 6, Culver City, Calif., facility on the Sony lot while the render and other restoration services were performed at TDI in Burbank, Calif. Jill Bogdanowicz was the lead digital colorist, with some support from Stephen Nakamura. Thom Polizzi led the Technicolor team, while Tom Burton handled extensive restoration services such as dust busting and scratch removal, as well as a few visual effects shots. The Stage 6 facility conformed the definitive cut with the new VFX provided by Imageworks, etc. Scott oversaw the color-grading sessions at the Stage 6 facility. The color-grading was performed on one of the company's Da Vinci Resolves. Film-out was carried out at TDI on the Arrilasers.

De Lauzirika's team included four special effects houses: Sony Pictures Imageworks, Illusion Arts, Lola Visual Effects, and The Orphanage. Imageworks did quite a bit of work, primarily the Zhora sequence, including fixing the shot in which an obvious stunt double runs through glass in a bad wig (a greenscreen shoot with the original actor Joanna Cassidy allowed Sony to seamlessly weave her in to every shot). "[Sony] also did little tweaks, like the first time we see Batty in the film," de Lauzirika says. "Originally, it was two stolen shots from later in the film, which made no sense."

Illusion Arts handled a lot of the matte painting work and a lot of the landscapes and cityscapes. "There's a shot at the end of the film where Batty dies and Deckard releases a dove up into the sky," de Lauzirika says. "It always went from this dark, gritty, rainy Blade Runner to clear blue sky, with aluminum, corrugated buildings and silver sci-fi tubes, which look nothing like Blade Runner — but that's because they were rushed, out of money. They shot it during postproduction at the last minute. We've now gone in with Ridley and replaced that original dove into a much more appropriately dystopian Blade Runner background."

Lola Visual Effects did a lot of little tweaks, finesses, and wire removals. "They've been kind of our safety net throughout," de Lauzirika says. "They picked up a lot of things that just weren't getting covered in some of the other assignments. And then there was The Orphanage, which started the project doing wire removals and little continuity tweaks as well."

Remember, in 1981 there was no CGI, and all the special effects of the flying vehicles over the apocalyptic wilderness of Los Angeles were done in-camera. "There was some optical printing, obviously, but there were a lot of multiple passes on visual effects shots," de Lauzirika says. In the opening shots, the famous Hades landscape with the fireballs on the refinery towers took 17 in-camera passes. "They'd push in, rewind it, pull back, to do each fireball element, each interactive glow of the fireball, each spinner that was flying over, each lens flare," de Lauzirika says.

"There's actually a funny story about that," he continues, recalling the frequent earthquakes of 1981 Los Angeles. "They would set up a seismograph to the camera, then they would run the shot overnight, and if they came in the next morning and saw a spike on the seismograph, they'd kill the shot because they'd know there'd be a bump in it and the whole shot would be ruined. Back then, the slightest little thing was like a bunch of dominoes falling."

"The Final Cut is sort of like the best of all previous cuts, with quite a bit of new material in it," de Lauzirika sums up. "No voiceover at all, no happy ending at all. It has a true unicorn dream of Deckard's that was not seen in the '92 cut. The '92 cut was an outtake from the unicorn scene shot for Blade Runner but edited differently, because they just didn't have the materials back then. We have them now. During our restoration project, we tracked down the original cut of the unicorn scene. We went to the original negative and restored it, so now it appears as it was always intended to appear."

The DVD releases will also contain de Lauzirika's documentary Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner, featuring 80 in-depth interviews with cast, crew, filmmakers, and critics, as well as archival footage. De Lauzirika claims the documentary could have run longer than its three-and-a-half hours, and for Blade Runner fans, it's a must. "Even if you read something like Future Noir: the Making of Blade Runner, which is considered the definitive making-of book, there are still things you have no idea existed before now," he says.
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: grand theft sparrow on October 07, 2007, 04:05:19 PM
I saw this at the Ziegfeld Friday night.  I've seen the theatrical cut a bunch of times and the 92 "director's cut" a few times as well, including once on the big screen.  The Final Cut is THE definitive version of Blade Runner.  If you're a fan of the movie and you're in NYC or LA, go see it on the big screen. 

This isn't a Star Wars situation in which the new effects take you out of the movie because you know that A) they weren't there before; and B) they were made to stand out and distract you.  This is exactly what a restoration/FX enhancement is supposed to do, restore and enhance and that's it.  They took great care to not only make the film look as sharp and clean as possible (without losing its dirty, grimy feel) but they also made the effects look as close to the original images as possible.  This is still the Blade Runner we know and love; the only real difference, besides a few added shots here and there, is that it makes you feel like you were watching the older versions through a slightly frosted window.
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: MacGuffin on October 24, 2007, 08:23:04 PM
A limited theatrical release of Blade Runner: The Final Cut is expanding to select markets around the country, and some of the screenings are expected to be in 2K resolution digital projection where available. Here's a list of dates and locations (look for more updates on the film's official website):

10/26 - Seattle (Cinerama, Seattle - 35mm), Washington D.C. (Uptown, D.C. - 35mm), Portland (Cinema 21, Portland - 35mm), Salt Lake (Gateway Megaplex, SLC - Digital)

11/2 - Chicago (Music Box, Chicago - 35mm), Santa Barbara (Arlington, Santa Barbara - Digital), Baltimore (Landmark Harbor East, Baltimore - Digital)

11/9 - Boston (Coolidge Corner, Brookline - 35mm)

11/16 - Detroit (Main Art, Detroit - 35mm)

11/18 - Austin (Paramount, Austin - 35mm)

11/30 - San Francisco (Embarcadero, San Francisco - 35mm), Dallas (The Inwood, Dallas - 35mm), San Diego (Ken, San Diego - 35mm), Minneapolis (Uptown, Minneapolis - 35mm)

12/7 - Denver (The Landmark @ Greenwood Village - Digital), Philadelphia (The Ritz 5, Philadelphia - 35mm)

12/25 - Boston (The Brattle, Cambridge - 35mm)

1/2/08 - Austin (The Paramount, Austin - 35mm)

1/4/08 - Nashville (The Belcourt, Nashville - 35mm)

1/18/08 - Durham (Carolina, Durham - 35mm)

2/1/08 - Columbus (Drexel Gateway, Columbus - 35mm)

2/15/08 - San Francisco (Castro, San Francisco - 35mm)

2/29/08 - Sacramento (Crest, Sacramento - 35mm)

Yes, we know... Austin is listed twice. Not sure why - this is what Warner gave us. If you're a fan of Blade Runner, we definitely recommend seeing The Final Cut on the big screen before it arrives on disc on 12/18.
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: edison on October 24, 2007, 09:05:13 PM
Damnit, no love for Houston. Hopefully it gets added later.
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: MacGuffin on December 07, 2007, 03:36:15 PM
Sound and Vision magazine has a cool new feature story up on the restoration work involved in creating Blade Runner: The Final Cut, which streets on all three formats on 12/18:

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/features/2624/blade-runner-how-great-hd-is-made.html
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: last days of gerry the elephant on December 07, 2007, 03:56:57 PM
Good read! Anticipating December 18th :)
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: edison on December 08, 2007, 06:28:57 PM
Sweet set pics (http://www.zonadvd.com/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=780)
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: last days of gerry the elephant on December 09, 2007, 05:59:14 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51caN1PVuVL._SS500_.jpg&hash=0cd920ac6a928210edf90ed1fd646abae25401c3)

Damn, amazon.co.uk is giving out the soundtrack with the film.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blade-Runner-soundtrack-Exclusive-Amazon-co-uk/dp/B000WCJC1E
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: MacGuffin on December 10, 2007, 06:58:01 PM
Digital Bits review (all versions):

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviewshd/bladerunnerfinalallver01.html
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: last days of gerry the elephant on December 12, 2007, 08:32:26 AM
Quote...on which is printed a signed letter from Ridley Scott (explaining how and why The Final Cut was created)

I hope someone posts a scan of this letter (since I'll be going for the 5-disc BR).
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: tpfkabi on December 22, 2007, 11:05:14 PM
I got the 5 disc set as an early Christmas gift.
It's really great.
I think I had only seen the Director's Cut because I cringed when I heard the dull Ford narration in the Theatrical Cut.

One frustrating thing - though there is a good amount of deleted/alternate scenes, you still see more shots in the documentary that are not included with said delete/alternate scenes.
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: MacGuffin on December 24, 2007, 02:55:13 PM
Got it today. Already got my vote for Xixax Best DVD Award.

When you open it, it looks like this:

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.filmsink.com%2Fimages%2Fs-jules-pulp-fiction.jpg&hash=4cda774083b823165623a55c46a24bfa52c13aca)
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: tpfkabi on February 28, 2008, 10:55:00 AM
Has anyone been able to go through every doc, commentary, extra yet?
I wish there was some scenario where I could watch the 5 versions in 5 consecutive days so I could really remember everything long enough to really notice even the subtle differences.
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: ElPandaRoyal on October 01, 2008, 05:40:06 AM
Quote from: MacGuffin on September 29, 2008, 03:13:55 PMWhile at UCLA, Wright won the Jack Nicholson prize in screenwriting

What? Is this good?
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: tpfkabi on October 01, 2008, 08:16:28 AM
Quote from: ElPandaRoyal on October 01, 2008, 05:40:06 AM
Quote from: MacGuffin on September 29, 2008, 03:13:55 PMWhile at UCLA, Wright won the Jack Nicholson prize in screenwriting

What? Is this good?

ha.
the only thing i know that he wrote was Head (for The Monkees).
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: SiliasRuby on October 31, 2008, 03:46:33 AM
Quote from: bigideas on October 01, 2008, 08:16:28 AM
Quote from: ElPandaRoyal on October 01, 2008, 05:40:06 AM
Quote from: MacGuffin on September 29, 2008, 03:13:55 PMWhile at UCLA, Wright won the Jack Nicholson prize in screenwriting

What? Is this good?

ha.
the only thing i know that he wrote was Head (for The Monkees).
Also, he wrote "The Trip" dir. by Roger Corman
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: modage on January 06, 2010, 10:10:26 AM
ATTN: NYC

Vice & Syfy are screening Blade Runner for free on Thursday at PS 122.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.viceland.com%2Fcaprica%2Fcaprica_new-dec.jpg&hash=ad1b3e245433ba06614df7dd57ce54790303e768)

http://www.viceland.com/caprica/
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: wilder on March 14, 2013, 01:50:36 AM
The long out-of-print Blade Runner Sketchbook (http://issuu.com/futurenoir/docs/bladerunner_sketchbook) is available to view online in its entirety. Fullscreen that motherfucker.

Also, the July 1982 Cinefex (http://issuu.com/futurenoir/docs/cinefex09) issue on the film.
Title: Re: Blade Runner: Ultimate Collection
Post by: Reel on March 14, 2013, 09:04:47 PM
you never cease to be the fucking man  :yabbse-thumbup: