Preferred version of Bladerunner?

[AE35Unit]

I'm about to watch the directors cut for the first time.(in widescreen yay!) The blurb says A great movie made better. Agree?

 

[ktabic]

Yes, I did think the directors cut was better than the original, but there was some years between me watching them.
However, I think the Final Cut (Ridley Scott wasn't involved in the directors cut, iirc, which means the name is a lie. The final cut is the real directors cut) is even better.

 

[AE35Unit]

Yes, I did think the directors cut was better than the original, but there was some years between me watching them.
However, I think the Final Cut (Ridley Scott wasn't involved in the directors cut, iirc, which means the name is a lie. The final cut is the real directors cut) is even better.

How strange! So there's 3 versions of the film! This one says at the end This version 1991 etc etc.
Either way my verdict is in agreement with yours. Its been a long time since I watched it too and seeing this quite different version is couple with the gaps in my memory makes it like watching it for the first time! And I loved it! Epic,11/10 and its not often you get to say that about a film! For me this is up there with 2001 now as the best films ever made,certainly best SF film since that one!

 

[ktabic]

Yeah, three versions. The most recent one (the Ridley Scott, Final Cut) is really recent, 2007. Hmm, all this Bladerunner talk means now I'm going to have to watch it again.

 

[AE35Unit]

Yeah, three versions. The most recent one (the Ridley Scott, Final Cut) is really recent, 2007. Hmm, all this Bladerunner talk means now I'm going to have to watch it again.

Hehe
So how different is this new version? I mean I like the lack of narration and the unicorn touches(Deckard dreams of a unicorn but it being a mythical beast means its an implanted memory which means of course that he too is a replicant.

 

[Connavar]

There is a Bladerunner forum you know.

I thought there was new activity about PKD stories for a sec there.....

 

[AE35Unit]

There is a Bladerunner forum you know.

I thought there was new activity about PKD stories for a sec there.....

Is there? Ah,oh well. You know as this is the fiction area we're in I have to say that upon watching the film again this thought came into my head-I wish PKD books were like this! Weird huh,how a film can be better than a book!

 

[Connavar]

Is there? Ah,oh well. You know as this is the fiction area we're in I have to say that upon watching the film again this thought came into my head-I wish PKD books were like this! Weird huh,how a film can be better than a book!

The book is good but its not near being one of PKD best. It just the one with most broad mainstream appeal. Even before the movie,the themes makes it more mainstream,easy to like.

 

[AE35Unit]

The book is good but its not near being one of PKD best. It just the one with most broad mainstream appeal. Even before the movie,the themes makes it more mainstream,easy to like.

Yea thats the thing isn't it. Before Ridley Scott came along I'm guessing that Do Androids was a minor novel,not one that fans would rate at the top. And yet its the one that got made into a blockbuster! It seems to happen a lot! Question is what PKD book IS the one that fans rate highly?

 

[Connavar]

Yea thats the thing isn't it. Before Ridley Scott came along I'm guessing that Do Androids was a minor novel,not one that fans would rate at the top. And yet its the one that got made into a blockbuster! It seems to happen a lot! Question is what PKD book IS the one that fans rate highly?

I dont think there is one PKD book the fans agree is the best one. His rep is built on many books,ideas in those books and not a single uber famous book.

Its just looking for yourself which sounds most interesting by the synopsis.
A 60's PKD book is a good bet since many of his better books are from that decade.

 

[AE35Unit]

I dont think there is one PKD book the fans agree is the best one. His rep is built on many books,ideas in those books and not a single uber famous book.

Its just looking for yourself which sounds most interesting by the synopsis.
A 60's PKD book is a good bet since many of his better books are from that decade.

I thought about this after i posted and then a title band into my head. Man in the High Castle. Suprised,suprised you didn't mention it. Never read it myself,probably wouldn't appeal as i imagine it to be very inward looking.

 

[Connavar]

I thought about this after i posted and then a title band into my head. Man in the High Castle. Suprised,suprised you didn't mention it. Never read it myself,probably wouldn't appeal as i imagine it to be very inward looking.

I didnt mention it because i havent read it and because it has won Hugo or something doesnt mean its his best. Awards wise they didnt get PKD in his time.

It does sound interesting though with the hole alternate history world.

 

[MontyCircus]

Well, I've seen...what I guess is the original release version...with the voice-over. And last night I saw what I thought was the final cut...but turns out it was the working print or something. Regardless, I'm done with trying to like this flick. It's really slow and dull. And no cut will ever change that.

 

[Interference]

Some weak books make excellent films, I think, because there's so much scope for improvement. A lot of top-ranking novels overshadow the necessarily contracted form of the movie.

 

[AE35Unit]

Well, I've seen...what I guess is the original release version...with the voice-over. And last night I saw what I thought was the final cut...but turns out it was the working print or something. Regardless, I'm done with trying to like this flick. It's really slow and dull. And no cut will ever change that.

You must be one of the few members on here to feel that way about BR.
I know my other half feels the same way about it as you, she watched it half way through with me last time I had it on but then decided she's had enough. Its not for everyone but neither is sushi or suduko, two very popular things I never want to indulge in!

 

[J-Sun]

Yeah, three versions. The most recent one (the Ridley Scott, Final Cut) is really recent, 2007. Hmm, all this Bladerunner talk means now I'm going to have to watch it again.

Actually, there's four versions.

1982 U.S.
1982 International
1992 "Director's" Cut
2007 Final Cut

However, IIRC, the only difference in the U.S. and international versions are the number of seconds some violent scenes are held. Again, IIRC, with the final cut, the director's cut is pretty much unnecessary. But either the first or the last versions are the "best" in their ways. Unlike some, I don't have a huge problem with the voiceover - if you take it as insulting explanation to a presumably stupid audience, then it's natural to dislike it but, if you take it as in keeping with the noir hardboiled detective movie, then it actually suits. It also, perhaps ironically, gives the movie a faster feel. The silence of the slow camera pans make them even slower. So the DC is probably better for the cinemaphile to luxuriate in the visuals and the OC is probably better for the storyphile to enjoy the characters/plot/pace.

If I had to choose one, I might just choose the OC because it's what I originally saw and what had the initial social impact and made all the other stuff possible and so on. But probably in pure aesthetics, the FC is the best. Especially because of the dropped ending. I have more of a problem with that than any amount of voiceover, though it was nicely shot and arguments could be made for it.

I just wonder how many people get the idea Blade Runner sucked and needed all this "fixing" because of these multiple versions. Any version is pretty good.

As far as the book, perhaps it's not among his very best, but it's certainly a very good one. And, while the book and movie superficially have very little to do with each other, I think the movie translates some of the core themes into comparable cinematic representations. I always cite this when discussions like this come up to give credit: Norman Spinrad wrote a very insightful article about why the Dune adaptation was a failure and the Blade Runner adaptation was a success. Speaking as a writer, he still held that misguided attempted fidelity to the particular novelistic furniture of Dune made for a plodding, confused, and ineffective Dune despite Dune's ultimately simple messianic story, while chucking all but the spiritual core (so to speak) of Androids and recasting it in completely cinematic terms made a great movie. Anyway - so going back the other way, the book and movie are very different but the book is very good on its book terms, as the movie is in movie terms.

 

[chopper]

heh. there's five versions of the film on the boxset that came out here a couple of years back. the fifth is the "workprint" that i think was used at test screenings before the '82 releases.
i saw the Original cut on tv many years ago, and i've probably seen the "director's cut" too. the final cut is wonderful, especially after so many years.
watching all five in a row is probably out of the question as Mrs Chopper would probably kill me....

 

[AE35Unit]

Hmmm thats funny J-sun because I like the movie of Dune and hope to get it on DVD,but i found the book almost unreadable and boring!

 

[J-Sun]

heh. there's five versions of the film on the boxset that came out here a couple of years back. the fifth is the "workprint" that i think was used at test screenings before the '82 releases.

Oh, so that's what MontyCircus meant. I didn't realize it had been officially released for repeat viewings. So, yep, five versions. I haven't seen that one. That would be interesting. I wouldn't be at all surprised if that were my favorite but I've never seen it.

i saw the Original cut on tv many years ago, and i've probably seen the "director's cut" too. the final cut is wonderful, especially after so many years.
watching all five in a row is probably out of the question as Mrs Chopper would probably kill me....

I dunno, maybe if you explained in great detail... nah, never mind.

Hmmm thats funny J-sun because I like the movie of Dune and hope to get it on DVD,but i found the book almost unreadable and boring!

Yep - variety is the spice!

 

[AE35Unit]

Yep - variety is the spice!

Oh i thought it was called something else•••