What's up with "Blade Runner"

First off, yay! TheBoost is back!

@Chewtobacco, so what is the fifth audio option? Both you and the fanedit.org page seem to be extremely secretive of what it is.

TheBoost said:

-The chief drops the line "There are five skinjobs" when there are only four, leading to both the craptastic novel-sequals, and theories about Deckard is the replicant he meant. I know there was a deleted scene of another replicant dying, and they just didn't bother to dub that one word to fix the problem.

All I can say is Whassupwitdat!?

Actually, the slip up was the chief saying that there were "six skinjobs", they did bother to dub that line to fix the problem, which is why the he says "five skinjobs" in whatever version it is you watched. Early in the film he clearly tells Deckard that one of the five replicants that escaped was killed before they reached Earth. The craptastic sequel novel (not written by P.K.D.) was about the sixth replicant, .

Chewtobacca said:

Indeed it is good to have TheBoost back.

Very much so.

I agree that the color timing takes some getting used to on the Final Cut. It plays much better on 35mm. In fact, I loved it in the theater but nowhere near as much on the video release. God, how the LFE channel shook the walls...

Still undecided on whether I like "father" or "fucker". Father fits better in the overall context of the scene and why Roy is there, but the other is just too good.

All of the flubs etc. in my mind stem from the intensely troubled production and all of the woes that happened in post. I actually kinda like BR this way in that it is a flawed production just as flawed as the universe it presents.

Big question: Who here actually likes the narration and/or "happy ending"? (I won't ask the obvious is Deckard a replicant?)

I have never liked the happy ending.

Kind of funny, I bought the DVD box set when it was first released, but I had never actually watched the Final Cut on it until about a month ago. When I first got it I excitedly watched the international cut and all the special features, and I guess I got Blade Runnered out and never got around to sitting down and watching the FC.

Anyway, Blade Runner is a movie I have introduced to a small handful of my braver and more versatile friends, and usually by the time the film was over, they would look at me as if to say, "Why the hell did you just make us watch that!" One of my friends who is big into artsy foreign films exclaimed, "Why did we just watch that?" as the credits were rolling (Brazil has had much the same effect on them, obviously I have some really lame friends). This has pretty much discouraged me from recommending the film to people beyond saying, "Ah yes, I really love that movie. You should see it sometime." Well, recently one of my less brave and not so versatile friends saw it in my collection and asked if we could watch it. I warned him he probably wouldn't like it, but he still really wanted to see it. So we watched the Final Cut together, and he absolutely loved it. Perhaps I had been sharing it with the wrong sort of friends all these years.

ChainsawAsh said:

I agree with you about the colors in 35mm vs. DVD/Blu-Ray - I got to see the Final Cut at the Music Box in Chicago, and it was bloody amazing.  I didn't even realize that the colors had been so dramatically altered.  (Unfortunately, I didn't get to experience it with the greatest sound - I'm not even sure if it was in stereo ... )

Then I bought the 5-disc Blu-Ray, and was thoroughly disappointed at the change.  But as I said, it's only one of 3 rather little things that bug me about the Final Cut.  Overall, it's my preferred version to watch.

Maybe one of these days I'll make my own, 100% perfect-to-me version.  But that would involve me learning a LOT more about color correction than I currently do.

I saw at the Belcourt in Nashville and I think that they finally sprang for a newer sound setup around that time. Before it was good but not great. Then I saw BR, Solaris, and 2001 (only in 35mm) which all knocked my socks off. But the Final Cut has a really active LFE that really only comes to life in the theater or somewhat with a good home theater setup.

I agree completely. I usually watch the Final Cut, but I'm not too excited about the color change. At least it works and doesn't seem too invasive.

C3PX said:

Kind of funny, I bought the DVD box set when it was first released, but I had never actually watched the Final Cut on it until about a month ago. When I first got it I excitedly watched the international cut and all the special features, and I guess I got Blade Runnered out and never got around to sitting down and watching the FC.

Anyway, Blade Runner is a movie I have introduced to a small handful of my braver and more versatile friends, and usually by the time the film was over, they would look at me as if to say, "Why the hell did you just make us watch that!" One of my friends who is big into artsy foreign films exclaimed, "Why did we just watch that?" as the credits were rolling (Brazil has had much the same effect on them, obviously I have some really lame friends). This has pretty much discouraged me from recommending the film to people beyond saying, "Ah yes, I really love that movie. You should see it sometime." Well, recently one of my less brave and not so versatile friends saw it in my collection and asked if we could watch it. I warned him he probably wouldn't like it, but he still really wanted to see it. So we watched the Final Cut together, and he absolutely loved it. Perhaps I had been sharing it with the wrong sort of friends all these years.

I bought the set and overloaded on Dangerous Days and the Deleted Scenes. I then found out that i could see it in 35mm so i waited to watch the DVD. I've showed it to friends and others and it always gets this blank reaction. They either don't know what to think, hate it, are indifferent-but I have yet to find someone that actually loves it.

Chewtobacca said:

I initially disliked it, but I have warmed to it.  It is better on some of the deleted scenes, especially the deleted scene where Batty dies. 

The happy ending really does not fit, so I would have to say no, but I like the "I think we were made for each other" line and Ford's reaction, as it can be read in two ways.

I hated it in Roy's death scene. It felt so intrusive and unnecessary. That is true about the ending. What really kills it is the fact that they are in a lush forest, driving off into the sunset, basically telling us that the entire plot setup doesn't matter-and that cheesy closing line. The elevator door is perfect.