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The Penultimate Ultimate Blade Runner

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By: DThompson | in: Movies |

Blade Runner

In the late seventies and early eighties three films appeared that influenced the look of science fiction for the next twenty years, The Road Warrior (or Mad Max 2 for you Aussies), Alien and Blade Runner. Espescially Blade Runner which influenced the look of every city you see in every fantasy or sci-fi film to this day. Dark City, Judge Dredd, and even Batman, all owe their look to Ridley Scott’s unique vision of a dystopian Los Angeles where it never stops raining.

You’d think only a mostrous hit could exert that kind of sway but the fact is Blade Runner was something of a flop. Oh, not a Heaven’s Gate style disaster, but surely a disappointment. The on-going interest in the film coupled with its poor initial showing has led to tinkering beyond the pale of civilized behavior. Through the years there have been a minimum of five separate versions of Blade Runner and now, theaters are seeing yet another iteration, this time dubbed the “Final Version”. That should easily hold fans of the movie until the “Absolutely Final And I Mean It Version”. I tell you, Philip K. Dick would be proud.

Blade Runner

Not that he liked this movie. It is, without a doubt, one of the worst adaptations of a source novel in the history of cinema. Central to the novel Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? Is the idea that everyone is under great pressure to own some sort of strikingly novel “pet” due to the collapse of the ecology. Those who cannot afford such an animal are driven to buy a replicant creature. There is an amusingly satirical “keeping up with the Jonses” aspect, as people attempt to out-exotic each other with their pets. The hunt for the escaped human replicants is secondary to Deckard’s search for spiritual fulfilment, his “battle” with Roy Batty lasts a short paragraph. Heck, even the title of the movie comes from William S. Burroughs.

That Blade Runner sucks as a recreation of Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? hasn’t stopped the never-ending interest in it. To begin with, there was the 1982 Theatrical Version, with narration by Harrison Ford from start to finish, also an International Version from the same year which was used for the U.S. Domestic Video release. The main difference between these two versions is the ammount of blood that wells up around Rutger Hauer’s thumbs when he sticks them into Joe Turkell’s eyes. The original theatrical release had next to none, the international release had quite a bit. Dissatisfaction with the narration reigned supreme until the discovery in 1990 of a workprint and its showing as “The Director’s Cut”, which it actually wasn’t. But, it was missing most of the narration and it didn’t have the extra “happy ending” footage from The Shining tacked on at the end. So, even though this director’s cut wasn’t actually a director’s cut it was close enough for government work, as they say. Most importantly, it offered a chance to see Blade Runner in its big screen glory one more time. This proved so popular that Warner Brothers decided to re-release the film in 1991 in an actual Director’s Cut. Ridley Scott was all for it, except he was making Thelma And Louise and instead of making the changes himself he just sent notes along. All of which resulted in basically the same film, minus the narration and the extra blood around Rutger’s thumbs, and adding a thoroughly confusing shot of a unicorn.

Blade Runner

Jump forward fifteen years or so and we find that times may move on but Blade Runner’s star has yet to dim. Seeing it on the big screen is still a real treat. The new print looks great, some effects have a tarted up look about them, but, once more, little has changed. The whole oppressively dystopian mis-en-scene remains blissfully intact save six changes.

1) Ford’s unicorn “dream” was originally bracketed by shots of him asleep at the piano and waking up at the piano. Now the shot is bracketed by shots of Ford fully awake and playing the piano, changing the dream to a daydream.
2) In the scene where Deckard shakes down Egyptian snake manufacturer Abdul Ben Hassan the lips never matched the dialogue. Now they do.
3) Rutger Hauer used to say “I want more life…Fucker!” as he approached Tyrell, now he says, “I want more life…Father.”
4) The blood has been put back around Rutger’s thumbs.
5) As Hauer approaches J.F. Sebastian after killing Tyrell he now says, at least twice “I’m sorry, Sebastian.”
6) At the end of the film when Hauer’s character dies he releases a dove which flies off into the only blue sky you see in the entire movie. This blue sky has been digitally replaced by a cloudy sky.

It was great to see the old Blade Runner magic on the big screen again, and to marvel at an impossibly young Harrison Ford successfully shattering his Han Solo / Indiana Jones stereotype. It’s also reasonably good, if expensive, news that a DVD release is coming that fits all the versions together into one mamouth set, espescially since this time Scott has consented to provide commentary and can finally explain just what made him think that Deckard day dreaming of a unicorn would indicate that the man’s a replicant.

VERDICT: If only you could see what I’ve seen with your eyes


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Posted on November 19, 2007

Comments

2 Responses to “The Penultimate Ultimate Blade Runner”

  1. Itax on November 19th, 2007 8:28 pm

    “Tell me about your mother.”

    “My mother?”

    *sounds of a gun emptying*


  2. deadlock on December 19th, 2007 3:20 am

    “just what made him think that Deckard day dreaming of a unicorn would indicate that the man’s a replicant.”

    I’m guessing that it’s the origami unicorn that Edward James Olmos leaves behind towards the end of the film.


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