The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.) - Page 85

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

I was also blown away by the audio -- I was expecting the wonderful BD image, but didn't realize how great the (DD) soundtrack would be.

Only had time to watch about 20 minutes though. Gotta finish the Final Cut so I can decide which version to show my wife (who's never seen it) first.

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

Thanks for your reply, Josh, you've been quite eloquent. I didn't mean to take your comments too literally; I just meant to say that I feel the package as a whole is geared towards a certain approach to the film that is more fan-based than critically-based, but I think the film's true legacy should include both realms. BR went from being largely critically dismissed to being internationally voted as one of the best films ever made in Sight & Sound's 2002 world poll, for example. I mean, Jovanka Vuckovic seems like a perfectly charming person to interview, but the fact that she has BR tattoos on her arms and considers herself the ultimate fan doesn't deepen my appreciation of the film in any way.

I don't have one particular special edition, but it would probably be something by Criterion, for their engagement of critical perspectives as well as technical polish and bountiful extras. As a film buff, that's a crucial part of my enjoyment of film.

And I love art galleries! (But maybe that's because I'm an artist.) I have spent many enjoyable hours devouring, say, the "Alien" DVD with its copious galleries. And since BR has several long-OOP books devoted to its storyboards and production design, it would have been nice if that content could have been presented.

But again--it's a beautiful release in many ways, a present to fans, and a miracle of existence given its very tenuous prospects over the past few years. This is somewhat quibbling!

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

I just got my 5-disc standard DVD suitcase from Amazon... only to discover that the heat their shipping department applies to seal the shrinkwrapping has melted and deformed the outer transparent plastic cover on the case.

I have asked for a replacement already, but I am pretty worried all shipments will turn out the same...

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

I'm getting really tired of that reckless packaging garbage. I've had the same happen on a ton of CDs that come with slip covers for digipaks with similar problems. Warped, deformed and otherwise damaging. I got my briefcase today and had a rattler in there. It only gave it a minor scuff so I think the disc will be fine - incredibly irritating though.

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

No merchant is perfect. But Amazon can do the best job of packing and shipping but that doesn't mean that the box doesn't get tossed about on delivery. Or that the rattler occurred inbound to them. Even at the store it is hard to determine if the DVD has a rattler or just has some loose flyers in it.

Studios are also trying to save money on packaging, if everyone used the DVD case that Criterion USED to use, there would be far fewer loose discs. But that cost more than other solutions and took more space ...

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

Charlie IS Santa Claus. This set is superb. You can really appreciate all the hard work that was put into it. Thanks for making my Christmas Charlie !!!

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

i can't for the life of me think of any OTHER DVD packaging/special uber duper editions that rivals this.

can you? if so, name some =). even LOTR:EE trilogy with all king statues, minas tirith and gollum replica doesn't hold a candle to this.

PS those of you that want printed material, you can buy the book. i suppose they could've packaged that together... but not everyone wants the printed material cause it'll add even more cost and even SKU on the floor.

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

Charlie, in the words of a certain Battlestar commander: "You've done a man's job sir!"

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

I just finished watching the deleted scenes and alternate takes. This film is important to a lot of people, so it may not mean much when I say that they've really impacted me in a difficult to articulate way. They're revealing, thought provoking and fascinating. I won't give away what's in there to those who have not watched it yet because it really is something to sit there and take it all in. I will say this though, some of the scenes almost flat out state Deckard is a replicant. No doubt in my mind there was a very strong desire to make him one rather than some sort of afterthought. Also, I thought some of the scenes might have worked well in the Final Cut - but of course it's not my movie. Some snippets of dialogue really expand the narrative and give more depth to the characters. Also, I can definitively say that I am glad all the narration is gone. A lot of the deleted material has narration which was not particularly good, to put it mildly.

One thing that's not plot revealing: anyone looking to see Rachel (Sean Young) nudity is in luck.

I look forward to ensuing discussions on what the film could have been (not in a better way, but in a 'what if' sense) with the aforementioned material.

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

Has anyone watched the Workprint version yet?
I've read where this is the most different of all the versions.

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

Blu, you should read Bill Hunt's review on The Digital Bits. The workprint isn't substantially different from the Director's Cut or Final Cut, but represents a marked departure from the Original Theatrical Cut and the International version. Bill's review is worth a look.

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

I watched only bits of the HD and SD versions. But what I have seen of the Final Cut is that the image quality is wonderfully improved and the sound perhaps even more of a revelation.

I also watched All Our Variant Futures. That plus a five disc HD release make a 28 dollar purchase a no brainer and I haven't even gotten to the extended documentary.

I was concerned about Ridley Scott messing around with the color palette particularly when reports came in that the established versions of the film may have been altered.

I took a look at the famous scene at Tyrell Corporation where Deckard meets Rachael.

Here are screen captures from a ported laserdisc with voiceover (at least I think it's a laserdisc source), 97 Director's Cut and Final Cut.

laserdisc (cropped to remove black top and bottom)


1997 Director's Cut


2007 Final Cut (btw, beautiful shot where you can now see crafts flying by in the background as the owl flies by)


Clearly the Final Cut is definitely much greener than the Director's Cut but interestingly while the image quality of the laserdisc port is poor, there was a lot of green in that version. This is only slightly helpful as a video release does not necessarily reflect any reality of a theatrical release. In my view though, there is no case to be made challenging the color palette. Now, would I have made it a little less green so that the bronze/copper tones along with facial tones are a little more warm? Yep, but it ain't my film.

One thing I wanted to check out was where the sun is shown as a fairly defined round object in the long shots but in the shot in between these two long shots is everything from fairly round to just a more diffused light.

Laserdisc


1997 Director's Cut


2006 Director's Cut


2007 Theatrical Cut (note: which is the exactly the same as the '07 DC and the '07 International Cut)


2007 Final Cut


It would seem that they made a change last year when they resumed work on this project.

The question is ... why? It's one thing to keep a continuity error because:

1. The director wants it there
2. It's not that big a deal
3. The filmmakers/fans are use to it and would be more concerned about the change then leaving it in.

But to add a continuity error i.e. sun goes from round to diffused light to round again seems rather odd.

Charlie,

Can you help with an explanation?

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

I didnt watch the entire workprint, but breezed through it.

I really liked a few of the scenes in the deleted scenes visually, but I agree the narration is blah.

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

I just got the 4 disc version at Best Buy. They had about 4 of the 5 disc cases and plenty of the other versions. I'm about to watch the doc on the making. Can't wait! Well my question to all is this: WAS IT WORTH THE WAIT?

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

Of course!

Monday felt like Christmas Eve. Got my set at 9:45 am Tuesday at BB (where they had a bunch of the briefcases, was worried walking in and there was no display).

I've finished the Final Cut (it just feels like a different film now) and am about 2/3 through Dangerous Days.

All I can say is thanks, Charlie.

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

"Well my question to all is this: WAS IT WORTH THE WAIT?"

One of the greatest DVD sets ever.

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

Does anyone have any pics of their briefcase? i've seen shots on amazon, but they aren't very close up.

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

Good points. I also found the deleted scenes interesting. Some of the narration is awful and some of it falls into the category of 'truly unnecessary.' I think a good case could be made that Harrison Ford might not have been opposed to the narration if it wasn't so dreadfully written.

I like the narration ... that survived. To me it is a nice hommage to noir films and the Raymond Chandler detective films.

It was also interesting to see Charles Knapp with a speaking role as a bartender. IMDB does list him as a bartender but I don't see any evidence that he is in any of the five versions of the film.

Filmmakers like using actors in their films that reference other films. Charles Knapp played the mortician in Chinatown, another noir film set in L.A. It would seem likely that the scenes set in Chinatown in Blade Runner also (at least partially) reference the film, Chinatown.

These however are not the only references that Ridley Scott gives Chinatown. During the love scene between Deckard and Rachael, Deckard grabbing the Venetian Blinds, a clear reference to Chinatown.

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

I have been meaning to write this post for sometime. I have a few things for feedback. As someone mentioned a few threads ago - I am also relatively new to the "Blade Runner". I got from the US a year or two ago, the "Director's Cut" and only recently looked at the film. When I received the DVD from the US. When I get a new DVD, I check that the DVD could play by skipping thru the Chapters. At the time, I had heard or read about the film. I have many DVD's not really played - not for lack of interest but TIME!

May I also note in one of the proceeding posts , there was talk about having or not having "Chapters". I am one that wants them. Quite often I don't have time to play the whole DVD and I can use the chapter feature to restart the film. I am also an opera/classical music fan and the chapter feature is VERY useful. I also skip thru the DVDs via the chapters to make sure that the disk is readable.

I ordered from Amazon-UK the BR in the 5 disk box which for me is much more practical and cheaper than getting the Briefcase plus toys. I bet that the standard 5 DVD box will eventually be available in the US. I recommend getting all 5 disks. I believe that the "Briefcase" with 5 disks was available for a very short time by Amazon-de.

I am very impressed with the 5 DVDs . Charles de Lauzirka did a superb job in getting this package together.I am sure that all the longtime fans who have waited and waited will be very very happy.

I have a few minor points that could be better. I think that the booklet could have listed the principal artists and their roll-names plus the principal producers,camera men etc with their names listed. On the back of the box in microprint list some of the names. In the booklet are various pictures and they should have also names there. For fans they know who is in the picture. For completeness, there should have been information about the differences between the 4 films in sort of a similar manner as the recently released "Close Encounters" which perhaps was a bit too flashy. I've have seen in various reviews some of the differences listed. In the "final cut" I gather there are many, many small changes but I would have been happy for general comments on those.

My only problem with the disks is the "Play all" feature on disk 4 "Enhancement Archives". This disk states "play all Featurettes". At the end I was not sure what had or had not been played. Either on the disk or the booklet there should have been a list what was played (or not played). Not played was Dick's audio interviews; The deleted and alternate scenes; the 3 1982 Promotional Featurettes; and the trailers.

Superb on disk 2 was "Dangerous Days" and the featurette on Disk 5 "All Our Variant Futures". In an earlier post someone was try to decide what to look at and ended the post with "maybe the featurette on Disk 5". That featurette is one of the many highlights of the 5 disks and should not be skipped!

In one post, someone wrote that they should look at first "Dangerous Days". I disagree. One should look at one of the 4 versions (excluding the work print) and then "Dangerous Days" if one is not familiar with BR. As I had alot to do on my PC and could not spend 100% of my time on the film at first. I plan to look at many of the earlier posts for background which I would understand better now such as the "Unicorn"scene. In the "Deck-a-Rap" featurette there are a variety of opinions.

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

Sumner - Thanks

All Our Variant Futures looked interesting in the reviews.
Think I'll put that 3rd on my play list, after the FC and DDays/disk 2

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

Ahh, that may have been me, but I knew that the person I was recomending Dangerous Days to had already seen BR.

Personally - If I was to recommend a version of BR to someone who had never seen it I would be hard pressed between the International theatrical cut and the Final Print. I do think the narration is helpfull for a 1st time viewing, but clearly with the missing unicorn sequence the theatrical cuts have vastly differnet meanings when compared to the DC/FC.

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

The Bits have been getting reports of people buying the five discer and getting two disc ones and no disc five. Has that happened to anyone here?

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

I actually want to have sex with this 5-disc set...it's that amazing.

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

I actually DID have sex with the 5-disc set. And it WAS amazing.

(Don't get me wrong: I'm not perverted or anything; I was just hoping to generate a 6th disc in the process. :-)

(With the above said, let me offer a special word of thanks to Charlie for not packaging this thing in a snapper. ;-)

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

From what I've seen, I wouldn't rate the BR toys ahead of the statue bookends or Minas Tirith box that came in LOTR sets (that goofy Gollum statue, on the other hand. . .).

Those are nice things that my wife doesn't mind having on display in the house.

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

Over at High-Def Digest, they're reporting that this manufacturing snafu only affects the Blu-ray edition.

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

Whew, close shave there then.

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

And I imagine that someone's going to chalk this up to an anti-Blu-Ray conspiracy on the part of WB.

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

Oh crap! If the fifth BluRay disc is mislabeled, as the reports say, there'll be no way for me to know if I have a bad disc since I don't yet have a BluRay player! I was buying this in high-def on the expectation that within a couple years I'll have one...

I guess I'll just return the fifth disc in whatever exchange program Warner comes up with, to be on the safe side.

Re: The official BLADE RUNNER SE thread. (Check out page 8 and #790.)

I just picked up the Ultimate SD addition. I purchased the four disc Tuesday but I'll give that version away to a friend of mine.

I have to agree that there are no peers to this set. You can mention LOTR:EE, Alien, Matrix, all of those sets but they are for a series of movies.

There is no set in existence like this for a single movie that is this comprehensive. None.

This should easily be the DVD of the year.