Comments for What's new in Blade Runner: The Final Cut? at http://sffmedia.com , comment 1 to 66 out of 20 comments http://sffmedia.com Sat, 22 Nov 2008 10:32:34 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/156-whats-new-in-blade-runner-the-final-cut.html#comment-315 As to whether Deckard actually is a replicant or not, Ridley Scott has gone on record to say he is. There is also a deleted line from the film- after Gaff says "You've done a man's job sir!" He goes on to add, "But are you sure you are a man?" Personally I like to believe he IS human- the film doesn't really have the same impact if he wasn't (a human cop falling in love with a replicant, a replicant saving the life of a human who is trying to kill him). - SSgt Burton Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:15:18 +0100 http://sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/156-whats-new-in-blade-runner-the-final-cut.html#comment-298 Also in my opinion, the best SciFi movie ever: best story, best actors, best everything. The Final Cut, I mean. And finally, yes, the androids do dream of electric sheeps. I do know. - Vincenzo Romano Wed, 15 Oct 2008 22:21:29 +0100 http://sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/156-whats-new-in-blade-runner-the-final-cut.html#comment-290 Who cares, it's the best sci-fi movie on the planet. - Gas Fri, 03 Oct 2008 03:26:04 +0100 http://sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/156-whats-new-in-blade-runner-the-final-cut.html#comment-173 It could just be because I have seen it in various incarnations about 10 times now but I thought this version was much more coherent. The first time I saw it I was in awe of the graphic design but it seemed more like random scenes fused together. I happen to prefer the 'father' line instead of 'fucker' mainly because I never was quite sure if he was saying 'fucker' or not, the dialog was just a bit mangled before. I'm also for the 'deckard was not a replicant' theory. He wasn't a replicant in the book but the idea was tossed around, I think that's about as far as it goes here as well. The visuals of this movie have never looked better. For the most part it holds up with modern movies still. The audio seems mixed much better too, soundtrack sounds better than ever, and dialog is easier to understand and overall has a much more modern sound to it's mix. - cdl Sun, 04 May 2008 06:15:23 +0100 http://sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/156-whats-new-in-blade-runner-the-final-cut.html#comment-159 no one has thought of the possibility that deckard has less strength because nexus 6's were hard to control if they escaped which obviously happened alot needing blade runners, they perhaps were too strong so the 7's are weaker and perhaps more human.(not that im saying he is definitely a replicant). And i wish people wouldn't keep stating that they know all the answers because the book says this or that e.g. "deckard is a replicant because it said so in book or books", people have to underatand that books and films are completely seperate written or made by different people who in many cases have nothing to do with each other. if you tried to link them it would not make any sense at all so you cant use it as an argument for or against anything. - jaymz Wed, 16 Apr 2008 09:37:06 +0100 http://sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/156-whats-new-in-blade-runner-the-final-cut.html#comment-126 I disagree with this not being a money grabbing idea. It's so expensive and the changes are so slight, or for the worse. Why do we need to see exotic dancers, blood squirting from Tyrell's eyes, and Roy being submissive to the man he's about to kill? This tells us nothing of Deckard's path to enlightenment. And as for the unicorn, as my good friens "Harrison Ford Cluelessness Key for Decka" pointed out, there were many clues in the original. Plus, it took me several watches to really realise...and it was just as great before knowing that. All in all I'm glad they made it, cos it made me watch it again and notice new depths and details...just like every time I watch it... - Englyptian Fri, 22 Feb 2008 04:23:14 +0100 http://sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/156-whats-new-in-blade-runner-the-final-cut.html#comment-115 Deckard's a replicant: Harrison Ford gets used as an actor because he's good at not catching on to the Big Picture and this makes for a believable character who's not good at catching on to the Big Picture. Check his other films. More evidence for D's being a replicant: (1) the replicant owl's eyes glow red, so do Rachel & Deckard's (scene where he tells her "but someone would"), a nice trick that gives anyone redeye but Scott used it to good effect; (2) scene where Roy teases Deckard "aren't you the Good *Man,* Deckard?" making fun of his friend's inability to remember what he is; (3) the stripper *doesn't immediately recognize Deckard, but she can't break her story unless she knows what D's story really is (she tries to tease it out of him, e.g., "are you for real?" after which she sees he's not in the know, but on The Man's leash, and so is a danger, and so tries to off him); (4) continuing on, Roy is trying in his own way to get Deckard to "wake up," by making him FEEL in as many ways as he can (he could have killed Deckard half a dozen times, but instead he coaches him"you'd better get it up!" or "that's the spirit!!") - Roy's bond with Deckard is one of the most poetic ever rendered to film, witness the mirroring of their hands (R's nail, D's re-locating), etc. It doesn't matter if/whether Deckard was Roy's friend or rival before, it doesn't matter whether Deckard was a Nexus 6, 7, or 70, it doesn't matter if Deckard was minted on Earth and given fake memories and a "used" apartment to go after "skin jobs" : Roy, at the end, has transcended the issue of his own proximal nature and has reached his ultimate state: to see another, even one's clueless "enemy," as a true brother-in-arms against the system that's pitting them against each other. Having lost his 'family,' he hopes to get Deckard to break the bonds of his training/implants (a big theme for PKD) and transcend the system. Roy hopes more than hates. More human than human. PKD constantly intones the idea that one cannot truly know what is real, whether you are yourself human. Memory is faulty. Scott plays on this all through the film, to get you, the viewer, to feel that somehow 'this all seems familiar' - Scott is putting'implants' in our brains to echo later! To do this, Scott inserted shots, images, sound, and dialogue from late in the film, earlier in the film: (1) the early shot of Roy looking over his should 'at' Leon near a phone booth is actually just a left-right switch of the shot of Roy looking over his shoulder at Tyrell just before the final exchange (check out the thumb on the shoulder); (2) when Deckard is VK-ing Rachel, we faintly hear Deckard say (during the long shot) the bit about the spider that actually comes from when he later tells her about her implanted memories; (3) some of the shots on the photos in the drawer in Leon's apartment are dead ringers of steps in the sequence from Deckard's later search through the enhanced single photo; (4) the 'new' newspaper that Deckard is reading when we first see him turns up again as an old, yellowed, dirty version as a drawer liner in Leon's apartment The Same Day (this also throws doubt on Deckard's being what he appears to be...maybe he was newly implanted with memories has just begun his first day - we cannot know if he actually has a real history or not - and the VO doesn't help, cause Deckard's recollections cannot be trusted); there are many more examples throughout the film. Did anyone catch on that any beautiful person in the film is an illegal replicant? Witness the whores in the bars - of course there will be a thriving black market and criminal underground - those guys won't be hoping for grizzled, weathered partners - the rich bad dudes will buy the hottest 'basic pleasure model' that can be smuggled in. Any 'human' who could pass the physical leaves Earth (J.F. could not, and is stuck behind; Deckard's boss is no looker...same for Gaff). And Deckard, and the *other* good-looking guy he replaced? Would they be working the streets as cops if they could pass their physicals and skip planet? No way... Did anyone catch on that Deckard's boss has a lamp depicting hunting scenes, which is a crime in the PDK novel? Can't wait to see the new Final Cut this week. - Swell Pell-Mell Sun, 13 Jan 2008 19:32:06 +0100 http://sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/156-whats-new-in-blade-runner-the-final-cut.html#comment-117 I\'m glad they\'ve left in the _third_ unicorn that appears among the toys in J.R.Sebastian\'s pad. This tells us where Deckard\'s childhood memory comes from. I didn\'t spot this until I saw the film on IMax. - Steve Thu, 10 Jan 2008 14:04:50 +0100 http://sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/156-whats-new-in-blade-runner-the-final-cut.html#comment-114 All these years I thought it was just me who preferred the v/o... The main things about this cut are (the desperately needed) removal of the dove flying off into the sky above an industrial estate in Swindon, England (finally transforming it into an OK LA 2019 scene) and the change to 2 getting fried rather than 1. What surprised me is I think that they still have the Pris and Zhora characters the wrong way round in Bryant\\\'s explanation. So Pris is the described as the pleasure model and Zhora is part of a kick death squad. Or did I get that wrong as I\\\'m so used to it? Definitely worth forking out for the boxed set once I\\\'ve got an HD player... - Johnny Mackintosh Sun, 06 Jan 2008 18:36:30 +0100 http://sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/156-whats-new-in-blade-runner-the-final-cut.html#comment-112 I admit that I really fell for a lot of the extra footage that was shown in dangerous days and really wish that a lot more of it made it into the movie after it was edited. I think the final cut really could\'ve been something different and should of resurrected a lot more of the archive footage rather then just a few extra shots. Its funny but one of my favorite bits from the archive footage is just a building shot of a empty cross section street with some rubble in it, for some reason it just gives the movie more of a decayed and dark feel to it. And this will sound corny but I honestly felt the Deckard, Rachel love scene needed a fresh take and extension on it so that it wouldn\\\'t feel so harsh and unnecessary like it does. I\\\'ve never liked the idea of voice over\\\'s in the movie, it just seems kinda ancient and dumb to me, after all its suppose to be future noir not a 1940s detective film. Overall Blade Runner still feels a little short for something so beautiful, mysterious and inventive. - Jeffrey Thomas Sun, 06 Jan 2008 09:46:59 +0100 http://sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/156-whats-new-in-blade-runner-the-final-cut.html#comment-108 The four disk edition includes the final cut and all previous releases 82 US theatrical (w/o unicorn, w/voiceover and happy endint), US international (same as US but with the extra gore (i.e. Roy\'s nail through hand, Tyrell\'s eyes gouge, etc), and the 92 Directors cut. The 5 disk version adds in the Workprint, which gives you some nice \"source\" for where some of the tweaks in the Final Cut originated. With all that variety pick the version you prefer. I prefer the Final Cut minus the unicorn scene. I think that Deckard as a Replicant loses some of the emotional impact. Specifically the ending where Roy Batty shows more humanity in his saving of Deckard, than Deckard has shown throughout the movie. It is this point that the Nexus series does indeed become \"more human than human\". The whole point of the Blade Runner experience is how technology dehumanizes us, and the irony on how an artificial intelligence or replicant can show more humanity than the real humans that created/hunt them. In any case, The whole human/replicant argument was meant to be ambigous which is why we still discuss the film 25 years later. The unicorn scene is not only out of place, but tips the scales too far to one side. There were already enough clues, (Deckards own fondness of photo graphs, The \"glowing\" eyes during his explanation that he wouldn\'t hunt down Rachel, the \"You\'ve done a Man\'s job\".) The clues were there but nothing definitive. The unicorn dream sequence tips the scales too much to one side. I prefer the ambiguity. Either way, the fact that this film is still actively discussed and debated is testament to it\'s lasting power and it\'s powerful subtext on what it means to be human. - William Thomas Wed, 02 Jan 2008 14:57:58 +0100 http://sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/156-whats-new-in-blade-runner-the-final-cut.html#comment-101 I know i\'m in the minority here but I can\'t stand the lack of voice over. Visually stunning and interesting as it is that VO really tied it up. I think the voice was more in line with the book. I didn\'t really care about the character in the movie. People I know who saw only the DC have never watched it more then once. I have to admit I\'ve never managed to stay concious through the whole DC version. I\'m wondering does the latest and greatest have the option to hear VO or should I save my cash? - Baash05 Sat, 29 Dec 2007 22:01:44 +0100 http://sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/156-whats-new-in-blade-runner-the-final-cut.html#comment-99 I realize there were some problems...but changing roy's extremely powerful "fucker" to "father" was a mistake worthy of a 10th grader. When we say the work "father" our tongue sitcks out between our teeth on the "th". When we say the word "fucker" we look like Roy did in that scene. Bad form, Ridley. Very bad. Booo. - whatthefather? Thu, 27 Dec 2007 10:02:49 +0100 http://sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/156-whats-new-in-blade-runner-the-final-cut.html#comment-19 Nexus 8, what if the Deckard we see received memory implants from the human one? Maybe the original ex-cop, divorced, hard-drinking Deckard died and they needed a replacement. He would have pretty much the same mannerisms and motivations I\'d imagine. And by the way, Gaff pretty much lets Rachel and Deckard live. If he knew they were replicants, then why didn\'t he retire them, or at least her? It always seemed to me like this was actually a decent (human) thing to do, and one spark of goodness of a human in the film. It doesn\'t really matter. It\'s a brilliant film in any case. I grew up with the director\'s cut version so the unicorn, Deckard is a replicant, thing is old hat to me. You get all the other films in the box set anyway so, take your pick. - bearseatbeats Tue, 25 Dec 2007 18:26:45 +0100 http://sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/156-whats-new-in-blade-runner-the-final-cut.html#comment-20 Nexus 8, what if the Deckard we see received memory implants from the human one? Maybe the original ex-cop, divorced, hard-drinking Deckard died and they needed a replacement. He would have pretty much the same mannerisms and motivations I\'d imagine. And by the way, Gaff pretty much lets Rachel and Deckard live. If he knew they were replicants, then why didn\'t he retire them, or at least her? It always seemed to me like this was actually a decent (human) thing to do, and one spark of goodness of a human in the film. It doesn\'t really matter. It\'s a brilliant film in any case. I grew up with the director\'s cut version so the unicorn, Deckard is a replicant, thing is old hat to me. You get all the other films in the box set anyway so, take your pick. - bearseatbeats Tue, 25 Dec 2007 18:26:32 +0100 http://sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/156-whats-new-in-blade-runner-the-final-cut.html#comment-24 Just wanted to point out that Deckard not being as strong as the other replicant\'s doesn\'t mean anything. Did anyone expect Sean Young\'s character to pull out a can of whoop ass? Each generation becomes more human than humans, right? I always thought that Gaff was a replicant. Maybe that\'s why he doesn\'t like Deckard. Maybe they should come out with a sixth cut that makes it a bit more clear. hehe. - Human Sun, 23 Dec 2007 13:32:53 +0100 http://sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/156-whats-new-in-blade-runner-the-final-cut.html#comment-23 I like the voice over better. Just my personal preference. JFTR, My director\'s cut isn\'t wide screen, lacks narration, and includes the unicorn insert. My international \"bootlegged\" version IS wide screen, and includes narration, and even though it\'s a bit grainy, I still prefer it. I really doubt Deckard is or was intended to be a replicant, only because replicants were illegal on Earth, he obviously was not part of the original 6 (he didn\'t slash down just yesterday), he was physically weaker than replicants (not stronger as a replicant hunter should be) he was an ex cop, had a drinking problem, divorced, etc, etc. Not that it really matters anyway if he was or wasn\'t. Just seems like some doth protest too much about nothing. I\'d be willing to believe it if Dick or Scott say so unequivocally \"in writing\". Otherwise, - who cares. - Nexus 8 Sun, 23 Dec 2007 03:31:52 +0100 http://sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/156-whats-new-in-blade-runner-the-final-cut.html#comment-25 In response to The All-seeing I who said: \" This \"error\" was COMPLETELY integral to the storyline. Deckard was the sixth replicant, captured, and reprogrammed to think he is a \'blade runner\' to find the other replicants. This was all explained in the sesond book. This change is wrongness on the level with \"Han shot first.\" \" First off sir, it was a script error, it was actually recorded correctly in the workprint as \"two got fried\". This excerpt from the Blade Runner FAQ explains the error and why Deckard is NOT the sixth: \"Bryant tells Deckard that there were six replicants, three male, three female. Obviously, Roy and Leon are two of the males, and Pris and Zhora are two of the females. Bryant also says that \"one of them got fried trying to get into the Tyrell building\", but doesn\'t specify the sex. That leaves one replicant, either male or female. It has been hypothesized that Deckard was the sixth replicant, but there is ample evidence that this is not the case. In an earlier version of the script \"Mary\" was the fifth replicant, and \"Hodge\" was the sixth. Bryant\'s line in that script got past the screenwriter unnoticed. It was recorded correctly in the Workprint as \"two got fried\" but botched again on the release print.\" See? It\'s not Deckard. Third, nobody cares about what a novelization \"sequel\" to Blade Runner says. It\'s obviously not written by the original director or anyone who worked on the film, so it\'s not canonical. The author cleverly took an error in the films and tried to make it into a backstory for his book. If he was a bit more clever he would have done research and not used that bit from the movie. So yes, this is not wrongness on the level of \"han shot first\". The final cut of Blade Runner changes so little that it\'s not worth getting worked up about. I\'d rather watch this version, as it\'s cleaner than the director\'s cut. - ChairoNoMe Thu, 20 Dec 2007 12:46:12 +0100 http://sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/156-whats-new-in-blade-runner-the-final-cut.html#comment-26 Something I never understood... For what purpose was Zhora working as a dancer??? - Camila Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:58:48 +0100 http://sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/156-whats-new-in-blade-runner-the-final-cut.html#comment-28 \"Not revisionism Written by ulric Personally, I loved the voice over and happy ending.. it\'s too bad Riddley doesn\'t like them..\" They are crap tacked by producers meddling with the artists vision because the producers themselves were too stupid to understand the story. Good riddance. - His Shadow Fri, 14 Dec 2007 12:36:48 +0100