If there's one thing on my must-buy list this holiday season, it's the mega-multi disc version of Ridley Scott's classic Blade Runner. They've crammed everything except for an actual Replicant into this set, and with any luck it'll be sitting on my shelf soon. That is until they release the Ultra 3D High-Def Download Only Version, Complete With Harrison Ford Commentary. Until then, I can dream.
Ridley's vision, complete with the legendary work of Syd Mead, helped turn this science fiction classic into a look at a dystopian future that still influences the look and feel of science fiction films to this day. As far as my lack-of-sleep-addled brain (Comic-Con really saps your strength, like Kryptonite) can tell, this is the first time Ridley has ever been to a Comic-Con. We were lucky to talk to him about Blade Runner, and the massive amount that's gone into this edition.
While he's calling it more "correcting" than "revising" the film, he does make a few key changes like making Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) tell Tyrell (Joe Turkel) "I want more life, father" rather than the burned into your brain "I want more life, f**ker." Sure, it's a minor change, but it really changes Batty's tone in that scene. Thankfully they didn't mess with the "tears in the rain" speech, or there would have been a massive fan uprising, the likes of which haven't been seen since the whole "Han shot first" incident.
We got just over 30 minutes with the legendary director, although our camera wasn't quite ready when he started. The first question he begins answers is "So how do you feel?" At least he gives an honest answer to that one. Some of the highlights include:
- How he feels about revisiting this film after all these years.
- Would he have called this version the official director's cut, back in 1992?
- Why has Blade Runner had such a long-lasting impact?
- Was he surprised at the massive amount of archival material that exists for a 25 year old film?
- What sort of changes or tweaks did they make to the film?
- Was there ever meant to be a Blade Runner 2?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-31-2007 @ 10:36AM
Antonio said...
Changing the "I want more life f--ker!" to "I want more life Father" IS like changing the scene where Han shot first. It totally changes the character and feeling of the scene. Batty is no longer angry and dangerous, he's just pathetic. That's a BIG CHANGE. It ties in with the way he violently kills Tyrell. Changing it to "father" really emasculates the Batty character and the whole scene.
Boy, I'm glad they're going to include the unaltered version in the DVD set.
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7-31-2007 @ 2:29PM
Akbar Fazil said...
The "Final Cut" with have Father instead of Fucker?
Travesty.
And here I was excited for this new version.
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7-31-2007 @ 2:32PM
Akbar Fazil said...
"with" should have been "will"
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7-31-2007 @ 2:47PM
Kevin Kelly said...
Akbar, the Final Cut version will, but you have four other cuts of the film in this set, so you'll still have the original.
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7-31-2007 @ 6:18PM
Sy said...
Father is better. Batty already shown enough of his violent deposition basically throughout the whole movie. It also serves as a bridge to the epiphanic ending.
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8-01-2007 @ 5:18AM
Uatu theWatcher said...
If you want to see the Iron Man Comic Con video check it out here.
http://www.makeminemarvel.com/2007/07/iron-man-comic-con-footage.html
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10-01-2007 @ 10:14PM
Richard Starkings said...
Great video. Thanks for sharing this. Next time I see Joel Meadows I'll slap him for getting into the shot so often.
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