Why is the voiceover on Blade Runner better than P&S? (1 Viewer)

[Charles M Berry]

So when exactly, are we getting a new DVD release of any or all of the versions of blade runner? I hear a lot of rumors, and some of these dates have even come and gone. Is there any official word? I keep coming as close as to wait in line to purchase the existing BR DVD, only to put it back in hopes that a new DVD release is just around the corner.

I need this DVD! I am hoping for a new mix with clearly defined and appropriately used surround channels. A cleaned up print, and the special features necessary to explain all the mess with the different versions, and such.
Kinda like the Brazil Criterion helped explain the directors struggle with the studio.

There is such confusion on what some directors want/wanted, it seems we get what one of my famous professor's call "paralysis by analysis". Who exactly is holding this DVD up? Why are they holding it back when it is well documented on forums like HTF, that there is such a strong demand?

If it is only the matter of taking time to make a kick ass Blade Runner DVD extravaganza, then I am all for waiting. I jsut wish there was some strait talk from the studio, or a press release that could put an end to so much of the frustrating speculation.

 

[Charles de Lauzirika]

Ridley Scott's revisionist comments about and actions regarding this film frustrate the hell out of me.

What revisionist comments and actions?

 

[David_Caldwell]

Revisionist? It is my perception that the Special Edition cut is actually taking the film back closer to the Workprint - i.e. returning it to what it was always meant to be and removing the revisions made for the Original Theatrical Release.

So, yes that does mean no voiceover. I am no big fan of the voiceover (though still hear it when I watch the DC as I saw the film so many times in the '80s). But let me clear up one slight misperception. Although it was forced on for the theatrical release, it wasn't a completely out-of-the-blue idea - there was a voiceover written in an early version of the script. Presumably during the creation process, they decided it wouldn't work and dropped it. Certain producers decided the film needed explanation though (they never did understand BR, it seems). So, the fact is the film was released with a VO and was out there for 10 years with the Noirish VO (and despite Ford's not wanting to do it, the VO is at least spoken by the main character).

This means that there are considerable numbers of people who really want their old version on DVD. So, let us be happy that the proposed plan (assuming legal issues are resolved) is that the Original Theatrical release with voiceover will be included in the DVD set.

And given that the "Director's Cut" wasn't really, I am very happy to have Scott's definitive version. I don't know if I'll enjoy it more or less than other versions, but I really do want it. (In reality, I can't believe I will like it less than the faux DC.)

Finally, let us not forget the other major reason for wanting this release - a cleaned up transfer with great picture and sound! Blade Runner was literally one of the first movies ever released on DVD and this is the same version still on sale today - not surprising it isn't the best DVD you've seen, even if it may be one of the best films.

 

[David_Caldwell]

Quote:

And I agree with you there! I've been lurking around here for a while, reading old threads, etc. before daring to actually join and say something. It seems there is still a perception amongst many that Blade Runner is a cult film or that it has a strong but small fanbase. And yet the evidence is in public votes of favourite films all around the world. While I acknowledge that to some extent these are often weighted towards fans of film and of course they don't necessarily indicate "good" films, fact is that many surveys have Blade Runner in the Top 100. In the UK, it often appears in the Top 10. And I don't mean just Science Fiction surveys, I mean favourite film *ever* surveys. So let us get away from this old idea that Blade Runner isn't hugely popular or only appeals to a small minority.

 

[JosephMoore]

I am no big fan of the voiceover (though still hear it when I watch the DC as I saw the film so many times in the '80s).

I suspect that a lot of people that now treat the VO like a pariah are actually benefiting from having heard it in the past. There are some really important nuggets that are revealed nowhere in the film except for the VO.

If for some reason the set doesn't have both versions I'll be very dissappointed.

 

[David_Caldwell]

I suspect that a lot of people that now treat the VO like a pariah are actually benefiting from having heard it in the past. There are some really important nuggets that are revealed nowhere in the film except for the VO.
If for some reason the set doesn't have both versions I'll be very dissappointed.

Scott is quite happy for the Original Tehatrical Release to be on the DVD set, but unfortunately, as Charlie has pointed out, Scott doesn't own it. If he did, it would no doubt be released this month as was intended!
There are good and bad points about the voiceover. Some do like the film noir effect. Others simply prefer it because that is the version of the film they fell in love with. I am one of those people that still has the original video that I bought at least 15 years ago (albeit worn out!). One big problem with the writing of the VO and why some really can't stand the style, is that it was written by somebody else - a guy who apparently knew nothing of SF and was about to retire. The two proper scriptwriters were so appalled at the VO when they heard it, and thinking the other had written it, they idn't mention it to each other for ages!
In my humble little opinion, the little piece on the rooftop is the only worthy bit and the rest is completely unnecessary. (And some of it is really not good.) However, I also appreciate the fact as I mentioned, that I still hear it even when it isn't there, so cannot judge objectively what it would be like to see it for the first time without, (though have spoken to many who have never heard it at all, who seem to get on just fine).
The problem with the "revealed nuggets" is that some of them are an additional interpretation. This is the only place for instance where it is suggested that Rachael may not have a four year limitation. Thus it is extra material added by somebody who was only involved after the film was already finished.
It is certainly hoped that both versions will be on the new set, but I am quite happy with one having the VO and the other not!

 

[Jack Briggs]

Welcome aboard, David, and I loved your posts. Well-reasoned.



Of course. But that assumes the space effort continuing at its frenzied Project Apollo rate, before the mission cuts and general slowdown of the early '70s. However, the film was made long after the massive scaleback in the American space effort. In the 1982 edition of Arthur Clarke's 2001 novel, for example, the author even then acknowledged that 2001 would not arrive by the year 2001.

Still, though, the "offworld colonies" references in Blade Runner seem to suggest interstellar travel being in existence. Specifically, note Roy's final and deeply touching speech to Deckard at the end ("shores of Orion").

Scott has committed this sort of stuff elsewhere. In Alien, we are transported to an interstellar spacecraft in the, presumably, far future. Yet the characters are still interfacing with computers ("Mother") via old-style keyboards and curved CRT screens.

Alas, we cannot have perfection.

 

[RobertR]

the author even then acknowledged that 2001 would not arrive by the year 2001.

An example of a situation that can be summed up by the rather sad phrase "the future isn't what it used to be".

 

[David_Caldwell]

Or "The future isn't what it used to be an neither is the past..."
And thanks for the welcome Jack. Of course you're right about the space program where the political motivation and thus the money was gone. If the money were put in place now, it would take just six years to set up a first base on Mars. There is actually a project under way to fly off to another star system, but it is a 100 year project, so isn't going to finish by 2019...
I am not sure that BR actually was necessarily implying interstellar travel, but I'm with you in believing it was. And for that to happen in a commonplace way, we need to invent an FTL drive. Nobody is close - as far as we know. It is one of those things that may result from a simple discovery and happen remarkably quickly. Or it may never happen.
But then BR isn't about space travel and even our Moon is technically "Off-World". But using the computer graphics borrowed from Alien where they were already nothing special was a little jarring (after all Tron was out the same year, so there was plenty of computer graphics imagination in Syd Mead that could be tapped).
But then, would you want them CGI'd now to look more like Star Trek? A lot of people quite like the clunky old graphics on the clunky old screens. Perhaps in this decrepit world of 2019, LCD and plasma screens are only available to Corps like Tyrell and those going Off-World...

 

[Charles de Lauzirika]

No response, Jack?

 

[Zen Butler]

So, the fact is the film was released with a VO and was out there for 10 years with the Noirish VO (and despite Ford's not wanting to do it, the VO is at least spoken by the main character).

I will come clean and say, I didn't notice Ford's lack of enthusiasm at the tender age of 16 (although I thought it, the VO, intrusive). It has only become more noticeable, and now almost unbearable. A result of a 20 year obsession with the film. For me to say, knowing what I know now hasn't altered my interpretation of the film, would be simply dishonest.

 

[David_Caldwell]

Just in case there should be any doubt about Ford's attitude to the voiceover, here is what he said in an interview published yesterday, Ford said, "Sometimes I'll just accidentally catch something on TV and I'll feel pleased that it's there. Just recently I saw a few moments of Blade Runner, which I'd never liked in its first version because I hated the voice-over narration. But with this director's cut, I feel a lot better about it than I once did."

So for those who want the OV intact, lets hope you do get it on the DVD set, but let us have no doubt that many do not like the voiceover, including Ford and Scott and Fancher and Peoples....

 

[Zen Butler]

But with this director's cut, I feel a lot better about it than I once did."

With what Director's Cut? What does he feel better about? The Director's Cut does not have a VO.

 

[JosephMoore]

He's not referring to BR in that first sentence. h's talking about anything he's worked-on.

BTW, I think that his less than enthusiastic performance on the VO fits the hard-boiled character well.

 

[David_Caldwell]

David, could you expand on the context of this quote.

Sure. Like any Blade Runner news, the link is listed at BRmovie.com - it is from The Age where he is talking about his latest film and Indian Jones, etc.
He is pleased to see any of his movies actually being shown on TV even though he doesn't tend to watch them (or so he says!) He really didn't like the voiceover in the original, but when it was removed for the Director's Cut, he liked Blade Runner a little better.
I saw Samuel L Jackson in an interview making the more refreshing statement that of course he watches his own movies! He watches them any time he can! (Just like everybody else, whatever they say...)

 

[Zen Butler]

Thanks, much clearer now

 

[Charles M Berry]

Is there still NO word on this film being re-released in the much talked about super-dooper set?

 

[Dave F]

Who was it that said, "Films are never finished, they are merely abandoned."

Dunno, but my art professor taught me that the toughest thing in creating a work of art is to realize when you should stop.
-Dave