Blade Runner: Final Cut

[Duke Togo]

Ridley spends half the time on his commentary track fellating himself, the other half of the time he's talking about other movies. Certainly his worst track on any of his DVDs.

[Duke Togo]

One more thing to add about his track, the Unicorn/Replicant plot that he insists on pushing comes off as very "Greedo shoots first". One minute he's talking about how Deckard had lost his sense of himself, his humanity; he had become just another cog in the big machine by doing his job, and it took his experiences with Roy and Rachel to regain it. Then he's going on about how maybe their Nexus 8, and will live out a normal lifespan. Then soon after, he talks about how the little origami Unicorn means that Gaff is letting Deckard know that he's been there, and he's let her live; essentially letting them both go. Then a minute later he's correcting himself (I won't say expanding upon it) by saying he left it so Deckard knows he knows his inner most secrets, that's he's really a Replicant. It just starts to come off as nonsense.

Edited December 21, 2007 by Dangard Ace
Dammit Togo that's a spoiler.

[Alpha OTS]

One more thing to add about his track, the Unicorn/Replicant plot that he insists on pushing comes off as very "Greedo shoots first". One minute he's talking about how Deckard had lost his sense of himself, his humanity; he had become just another cog in the big machine by doing his job, and it took his experiences with Roy and Rachel to regain it. Then he's going on about how maybe their Nexus 8, and will live out a normal lifespan. Then soon after, he talks about how the little origami Unicorn means that Gaff is letting Deckard know that he's been there, and he's let her live; essentially letting them both go. Then a minute later he's correcting himself (I won't say expanding upon it) by saying he left it so Deckard knows he knows his inner most secrets, that's he's really a Replicant. It just starts to come off as nonsense.

I wish I hadn't read this.

[Hikuro]

Still didn't get it really XD

Sadly, I can't get the 5 disc version ANYWHERE in retail......they all sold out so damn quickly that I'm mad. I wish I hadn't bought xmas presents for everyone at home and just gotten that collectors set gah...but that'd be pretty selfish of me for the holiday.

[EXO]

I dont know if it's mentioned but I hate the change from 'I want more life, frakker!' to 'father'.

[yellowlightman]

I dont know if it's mentioned but I hate the change from 'I want more life, farter!' to 'father'.

Not sure if that really counts as a spoiler.

But according to Future Noir, Hauer purposely said it in such a way that it was hard to tell whether he was saying 'father' or 'farter.'

[Keith]

I dont know if it's mentioned but I hate the change from 'I want more life, farter!' to 'father'.

It's a bit jarring at first, but more than livable. Far more acceptable than the "accidental" dialogue changes in Empire & Jedi.

[Duke Togo]

Oh wow, I guess we have spoilers on a movie that is 25 years old... Hey, guess what, Darth Vader is Luke's father! w00t!

The Workprint is nice, some of the cuts aren't great and there is temp music towards the end (Workprint, DUH!), but it doesn't have the "vision" and it sticks with the intended ending. I'm sure some of you have seen this in bootleg before (I had only ever read about it), and while the picture isn't always great and the sound suffers from time to time, its worth watching. The commentary track is, well, meh. I won't be listening to it again, I got out of it whatever there was to have.

I'm onto the writers'/producers' commentary track now. Better than Ridley's, but unfortunately they were not all in the same room together when this one done. Its a writers' track mixed with a producers' track, so you really miss out on half the commentary from each.

Edited December 21, 2007 by Duke Togo

[electric indigo]

Are there additional street scenes in the workprint that didn't make it into the Final Cut?

[Duke Togo]

Are there additional street scenes in the workprint that didn't make it into the Final Cut?

There are some alternate/extended shots, but the only thing that really stands out are the two dancers in hockey masks, and they made the Final Cut.

[Vermillion21]

There are some alternate/extended shots, but the only thing that really stands out are the two dancers in hockey masks, and they made the Final Cut.

Thanks for the info Duke Togo ... hmm, I may just pass on the 5 disc set then and get the 4-disc version ....

[Duke Togo]

I got the special set just to have it. I honestly would have been totally satisfied with Final Cut and Dangerous Days. Original theatrical is nice to have, too.

[Duke Togo]

Something I should point out, the 5th disc with the Workprint on it also has the restoration documentary on it. I had missed that my first time through the set. If you are interested in such things, then I'd go for the 5 disc.

They do take a subtle shot as Lucas in it, without naming him or Star Wars, but you clearly get their meaning. They were there to restore and preserve, not recreate.

[Vermillion21]

How's that spinner toy in the 5-disc set?

After seeing numerous pics of it ... I am mildly interested in it for the novelty value.

[Duke Togo]

Its a piece of plastic junk, just like the unicorn that comes with.

Edited December 21, 2007 by Duke Togo

[Vermillion21]

Really? It looks niftly to me .... but I appreciate the honest feedback.

[electric indigo]

If you're not afraid of paint, go for the Medicom toy

I still have hope for a proper toy/kit.

[promethuem5]

It seems like somewhere along the line, someone must have made a resin kit of it... weird.

I must admit, after all the good things I've been hearing about the different new versions of BR, I'm a little curious again... maybe I'll try and find the new 'Final Cut' somewhere, and I'm also curious to see the Workprint version, and the accompanying documentary.

[bsu legato]

It seems like somewhere along the line, someone must have made a resin kit of it... weird.

Monsters in Motion used to have several Spinner kits in their catalog, but they all seem to be long OOP. The Medicom toy is the same. For a trinket included in the ultimate box set, the spinner toy is good enough. Probably as detailed as most licensed toys that scale would be, if such a thing were available.

As for the rest of the set, all I have left to view is the workprint. Dangerous Days is the best documentary I've seen since Empire of Dreams on the SW dvds. The other featurettes are good too, but the real gem is the unused & alternate footage that's included as sort of a readers digest version of the film. It includes an earlier VO track by Ford and has some really eye-opening scenes.

I dont know if it's mentioned but I hate the change from 'I want more life, farter!' to 'father'.

This was done for TV coverage, but I guess Scott decided it was better than the R-rated version. But what's really neat is the unused scene of Batty stumbling into the elevator after murdering Tyrell & Sebastian, and calling the Nostromo-esque computer "mother."

Then there's Deckards ex-wife. Not only does she appear in a photograph with Rick on the exact same porch that Rachel's "childhood" photograph shows, but in an alternate Happy Ending Rachel asks Deckard just how long he'd known his ex. Then, Rachel ominously supposes that the two of them (Deckard & Rachel) were "made for each other."

[Vermillion21]

@electric indigo - Cool spinner!!!

[eugimon]

I gotta agree on "dangerous days" it's a great look at the inner workings of the movie and I got to say I'm pretty impressed at how the key players werent afraid to pull any punches during their interviews.

I also find it fascinating that the debate over the voice over and the happy ending still continues to this day and that the parties involved really thought/think that they did what they had to make the show better.

[Keith]

Not too dissapointed in not picking up the 5 disc then. And to be honest, the 4 disc's packaging is what won me over, I love that cover, and probably would have gone with the 5 disc if they didn't use the bland logo on the box in the case.

[Duke Togo]

One thing that I picked up watching these discs, they all but totally avoid any mention of the rights dispute that went on for many years that held up the release of this set.

[Vermillion21]

... And to be honest, the 4 disc's packaging is what won me over, I love that cover ...

Yeah, I love that cover art too ....

[Alpha OTS]

My brother surprised the hell out of me by getting this for me for Christmas. I had no idea he'd know to get me this type of movie and on HD no less. "You did good, brother. You did real good.", I said after taking off the wrapping paper. Opening it today, I had a small scare. Two of the discs were loose, but fortunately not scratched.

Just finished watching the Final Cut before heading off for Christmas dinner. It's been a year or so since I last saw Blade Runner, so I haven't noticed anything new from the Director's Cut I had seen before. It does look fantastic in HD though. Just seeing the flying car moving towards Tyrell Corp put a huge smile on my face.

Ridley almost directed Dune? I would have liked to have seen that version!

[Duke Togo]

If Ridley had done Dune, Lynch would have done Jedi. How different things would be.

[Fort Max]

I almost got the 5 disc tin set the other day as it's much cheaper then I thought it would be over here in the UK. Just £20 for the full five disc set with the workprint but wthout the spinner or Unicorn, which look pretty decent to me but there you go.

Thought I'd better wait till after Christmas though, y'know, just in case.

But I will be getting it, love this movie and can't wait to see the new cuts etc.

[Ginrai]

Just listen to the "I want more life" line in the international cut it clearly says "f-er" and it's clearly father in the director's cut/final cut. Maybe Hauer was making it a little ambiguous, but come on, it's a very obvious difference.

[Duke Togo]

It was recorded both ways. Its explained in Dangerous Days, I'm pretty sure. Or maybe Ridley's commentary track.

[Hoptimus]

Got this for Christmas. Enjoyed it very much. The sound and picture are amazing! Damn I cant get over the sound. That almost made it an entirely new movie to me.

[Mr March]

I got the set for Christmas. This morning I watched, in fast forward, all the disks to make sure they worked. Going through the second disk I started watching Dangerous days and didn't stop. Slowly my whole family stopped by the television and sat down to watch. We finished the whole thing, all 3 1/2 hours It was fantastic!

[eugimon]

I got the set for Christmas. This morning I watched, in fast forward, all the disks to make sure they worked. Going through the second disk I started watching Dangerous days and didn't stop. Slowly my whole family stopped by the television and sat down to watch. We finished the whole thing, all 3 1/2 hours It was fantastic!

yeah, that was a great documentary on blade runner, my wife (who is completely ambivalent about sci-fi) sat down and watched it with me and even started asking me about the movie.

[Vermillion21]

I soooo need to pick-up this DVD .....

[Mr March]

yeah, that was a great documentary on blade runner, my wife (who is completely ambivalent about sci-fi) sat down and watched it with me and even started asking me about the movie.

Well, we watched the film last night. My family, none of whom have seen Blade Runner before, were so interested by the Dangerous Days feature that they wanted to see the film. I admittedly gave them a bit of a warning, since it's not really their kind of film. But they insisted and watched the FInal Cut with me. The result? My mother liked it, my sister did not and my dad was neutral. Pretty much what one would expect

[Hikuro]

Well after 4 hours of searching while I was doing stuff with my friend we came across the 4 Disc....swear sometimes she's a lucky charm. Though I really wanted the 5...4 was good enough for me to be happy!