The long overdue _Blade Runner_ thread

Who prefers the Director's Cut ending up in this area? I used to but now I'm unsure what ending is best.

Surely there is no finer science fiction film than this one. Surely.

Tyrell: 66 thousand Prosser and Ankovich. Hmm.. Trade. Trade at--
Computer: New entry. A Mr. J. F. Sebastian. 1-6-4-1-7.
Tyrell: At this hour? What can I do for you Sebastian.
Sebastian:Queen to Bishop 6. Check.
Tyrell: Nonsense. Just a moment. Mmm. Queen to Bishop 6. Ridiculous. Queen to Bishop 6. Hmm... Knight takes Queen. -- What's on your mind Sebastian? What are you thinking about.
Roy:(whispered) Bishop to King 7. Checkmate.
Sebastian:Bishop to King 7. Checkmate, I think.
Tyrell: Got a brainstorm, huh, Sebastian? Milk and cookies kept you awake, huh? Lets discuss this. You better come up, Sebastian.
Sebastian:Mr. Tyrell. I-- I brought a friend.

Harlan Ellison tells the story that at a meeting with him when Scott was considering Dune with Giger on for design (woulda been great), Scott told Ellison that he wanted to be the John Ford of sf. Imagine if?

1) The visuals. God, what visuals. They do not age, which is point of discussion in itself. This movie should look dated, but it doesn't. Why?

2) The tone. It's pitch-perfect crime drama all the way through, without a wink.

3) The themes. In effect: it has some, whereas most movies do not have the balls to have themes. Even the scenes that should be over the top somehow aren't. If the scene where the creation crushes the creator's skull in anger isn't an obvious metaphor, I don't know what is, but it works. See #2.

I didn't know that! It's SO perfect.

-- Ned Raggett (ne...), April 17th, 2006.

thats a great book! truly a labor of love. its so jam-packed with info. its really a treasure trove for anyone who loves the film.

xpost - don't say "quite" anymore.

also: weird '80s references to race and stuff, à la "goonies" and "gremlins." you don't see that anymore for some reason.

the unexpected thing about this film is that the scenes of violence are the worst in the film, and the climax isn't as exciting as you'd hope. it breaks the mood of frustrated desire and apprehension that the film works so hard to build.

has anyone evaluated scott as an action director? i mean, the "action" scenes of this film really let it down, as much for narrative as visual reasons. and IIRC the action scenes of "gladiator" left a lot to be desired as well.

sometimes i feel similarly about david lynch, although he has been known to make really interesting things out of pretty violent scenes.

also i've been told the ending of the director's cut is TOO SUBTLE but

***SPOILERS***

it's hard to imagine how they could have telegraphed the message "DECKERT IS A REPLICANT" any clearer than the edward james olmos character placing the unicorn origami figure outside his apartment. i am impressed by the *economy* of this motif though--they don't overdo it.

okay, I like the Director's Cut way more.

i was 12 or 13, just old enough for my dad to take me (he wanted to see it, so i think taking me became kind of a way for him to justify an evening away from home). completely blew my mind.

i think it makes most sense in the context of the urban dystopia films of the time. it's the ultimate urban dytopia, even more than taxi driver or the warriors or escape from new york or whatever. and more prescient by a long shot, because those movies were all predicated on urban desolation, whereas in blade runner the wealth hasn't abandoned the city, it's just moved even farther up above it than before. in a lot of those other movies, you're meant to assume that there's wealth somewhere, but it's certainly not in the city, it's fled somewhere far away. in blade runner, it's right there in your face, looming up above in the penthouses (and selling things to you from giant billboards, recruiting you to go work shit jobs in outer space for megacorporations).

i still love it. but just for fun, here's a little of pauline kael's review (from july 7, 1982):

Blade Runner is a suspenseless thriller; it appears to be a victim of its own imaginative use of hardware and miniatures and mattes. At some point, Scott and the others must have decided that the story was unimportant; maybe the booming, lewd and sultry score by Chariots-for-Hire Vangelis that seems to come out of the smoke convinced them that the audience would be moved even if the vital parts of the story were trimmed.

...Blade Runner doesn't engage you directly; it forces passivity on you. It sets you down in this lopsided maze of a city, with its post-human feeling, and keeps you persuaded that something bad is about to happen. Some of the scenes seem to have six subtexts but no text, and no context either.

...[T]his movie loses track of the few expectations it sets up, and the formlessness adds to a viewer's demoralization -- the film itself seems part of the atmosphere of decay. Blade Runner has nothing to give the audience -- not even a second of sorrow for Sebastian. It hasn't been thought out in human terms. If anybody comes around with a test to detect humanoids, maybe Ridley Scott and his associates should hide. With all the smoke in this movie, you feel as if everyone connected with it needs to have his flue cleaned.

Scott is not a consistent director in any genre, but dude, watch one Alien.

what a bad joke

not that she's entirely wrong, but it's 95% opinion, 5% description, and a few too many puns

also kenan you sound like an ass

Well, Alien is a horror film, not an action film, so maybe you're onto something. But you sound like an ass most of the time, too.

Try it out, it's UNCANNY.

also a lot of her reasons for disliking the movie were part of its strength! it really is a visual movie, despite the powerful score and quotable dialogue. 'the design is the statement", etc. IIRC she didnt like 2001 either.

Yes! I always thought this was clear too, yet have heard a lot of people argue against it, though with no footing, mostly "He can't be!" Get one ability to follow metaphor? I don't know.

-- gypsy mothra (meetm...), April 17th, 2006.

otm!

(altho if she hadn't retired she might've raved up mission to mars).

oh man that movie

*begin digression*

mission to mars is soooo bad. we saw on it on my brother's b-day and he was so exasperated at the movie and its retardedness that when the alien hologram thingie shed a tear he burst out laughing in the crowded theater, making a bunch of others laugh with him. god bless my brother.

and goddamn the amount of eye shadow gary sinise wears in this movie.

*end digression*

Ebert!

Ebert gave this movie three stars. He did not understand it at all.

i think in one of his reviews he admitted he prolly would have rated it higher if he was reviewing it nowadays.

Before the shooting began, Christopher Nolan invited the whole film crew to a private screening of Blade Runner (1982). After the film he said to the whole crew, "This is how we're going to make Batman."

Though they do both have Rutger Hauer. ;-)

very true, but the scene seemed so close

um... you think we just figured this out right now?

i was criticizing her writing, smuggo

http://www.itsvery.net/BladeRunner/Tyrell%20Office02.jpg

-- kingfish ubermensch dishwasher sundae (jdsalmo...), April 17th, 2006.

otfm! like 2001 and the first two Alien movies, it really holds up amazingly compared to other movies in the genre, then and now.

I didn't care for Black Hawk Down that much, but it wasn't because of Scott - if anything his work was the one thing I liked about it.

xpost

sorry, Ned, others brought it up

As I said upthread: "The visuals. God, what visuals. They do not age, which is point of discussion in itself. This movie should look dated, but it doesn't. Why?"

Maybe because, apart from the special effects it employs, it borrows so much from noir that it doesn't age? And that the city shots are so borrowed from every other futurescape ever (Metropolis especially) that they're more like amalgams of futurity than original visions?

what would this movie have been like if tony had directed it?

I don't know what you mean. Please explain why talking about this movie is academic.

http://www.soniguales.com/fotos/LeonKowalski.jpg

i mean, i know, comic exaggeration and all, but it's still comes from a pretty ass-y place.

(in no particular order)

1. alien
2. john carpenter's "the thing"
3. la jetee
4. videodrome
5. the old "war of the worlds"
6. back to the future
7. terminator
8. close encounters of the third kind
9. total recall
10. clockwork orange
11. 2001
12. solaris

I think you just insulted eveyone who likes almost every movie ever, and also told them that they have small penises.

gear - yes!!

doogie probes the brain beast ... *YAY*

no thats contact

-- vahid (vfoz...), April 17th, 2006.

no no!

1. romanticizing stupidity
2. trivializing history
3. too much bullshit

-- vahid (vfoz...)

dude, blade runner isn't "feel bad schtick"! that would be Alien 3 or Seven or anything Fincher's done.

I think you're seeing the movie through its importance to you as an adolescent and not how it actually is.

I kind of agree and ALL OF SCIENCE FICTION MOVIEMAKING TO THREAD EXCEPT FOR BLADERUNNER BECAUSE IT'S REALLY GREAT AND BRILLIANT.

See, you're trying to apply the rule to the exception. No sir.

-- vahid (vfoz...)

haha i think you're talking about the Matrix, not Blade Runner.

"everything is there to make a point"

!?

i dont really think so, plotwise the film isn't as that concious of its intent, in fact it's rather all over the place (in that sense it is kind of shallow). reading the making of book shows you how much was come up with at the last minute or improvised by the actors. the main thing the movie is fully concious of is the look, the music, the atmosphere, the mise-en-scene. sure its pretentious, but it's beautiful.

I will not accept shitting on ideas just because they're ideas. It's just anti-intellectualism in its purest form. You can throw a lot of stupid stereotypical labels as anything, but that doesn't make it a valid or smart thing to do.

yeah, exactly! its all kind of nonsensical but it sounds profound! in the best possible way.

that actually is the weakest part of the film: the characters are mostly undersketched and the love story is somewhat forced and unconvincing. i think the replicants and the JR Sebastian character are the most 'human' and sympasthetic elements in the film. i think Roy is kinda supposed to be a creepy/ambiguous character while the other replicants are more childlike and innocent. (even Brion James as Leon is more like an angry toddler in a man's body than anything else)

No, it's all shallow, to the core. What... being dumb is good? Stumbling cluelessly through life is a great and noble thing to do? Explain to me how this message is not particularly shallow.

see, kenan, even noted misanthrope philip k dick cared about caring. enough to work the theme into the title of the book!

idiot.

idiot.

-- vahid (vfoz...), April 17th, 2006.

well, Blade Runner. but i love grand, impersonal sci-fi visions.

i like ET a lot though, it's the best kind of "saccharine", because it earns the tears and it comes from a genuine emotional place and understanding of being a kid.

People think I'm a creep because I'm socially inept, not because I'm stupid.

yeah, latebloomer, see where i'm coming from, we get to see the man-child get shot but we don't get to see deckard crying over his dead electric sheep? weak priorities, dude.

did spielberg have anything to do w/ gump?

I really want to watch this now but I don't own it. Like a fool I'm forever waiting for the never-come 2/3 disc spesh edish. But even then I'd miss the voiceover.

"Gaff had been there and let her live. Fours years he figured; he was wrong. I don't know how long we'll have together - who does?"
*Music swells*

I hear you there. (I do own the current DVD, at least.)

u know we had to wait years in the uk for a proper cd release of the soundtrack. was it the same everywhere else too? over here there was only some silly ass orchstral version availabale instead, up until 1994 when the proper thing came out. easily my favourite soundtrack disc ever.

truly a crime that there isn't some triple dvd thing going on. a *crime*.

Know what a turtle is Leon? Same Thing.

I think what I loved most was the "near-reality" of it. Sure, it was way in the future, there were flying cars, etc, but it somehow looked plausible and real - rain, crowded streets packed with advertising messages, etc. Which reminds me - why has no-one made umbrellas with the neon shaft? I'd totally use one of those. Sometimes I walk through Chinatown in Toronto and get a very BR vibe...

Biggest thing that used to baffle me was the replicant count conversation at the police station, the cop saying six "skin jobs" escaped, and then later there was a disrepancy between his and Deckard's 'count'... I'm having trouble remembering it all now (been a while), but I never really straightened that out in my head, since it didn't seem to add up (is that more "Deckard is a replicant" stuff?).

There are some pretty OTT cheesy lines in the script, mainly the police/crime story element - "You're not cop you're little people", etc. But there is just soooo much else to love about this film.

Live... in the offworld colonies!

vahid, I can see your point about the nerdy focus on certain elements in this film or Dick's relatively unrelated work, but I really don't think absence of empathy with women is evidence of misogyny.

Yup.

Biggest thing that used to baffle me was the replicant count conversation at the police station, the cop saying six "skin jobs" escaped, and then later there was a disrepancy between his and Deckard's 'count'... I'm having trouble remembering it all now (been a while), but I never really straightened that out in my head, since it didn't seem to add up (is that more "Deckard is a replicant" stuff?).

You really need to read the Sammon book, m'friend. ;-) (In brief -- originally there were a total of sex replicants; the first to die, Mary, was to have died 'naturally' in the company of the rest as an introduction to the film. The second died in the attack on Tyrell Corporation, and the rest are in the film. They recorded a loop at the time to fix it, but the results didn't look good on-screen in terms of lip-movement and synchronization.)

Anyway, Vahid's got a lot of good points. In flipping through the Sammon book again last night I remembered how Scott and company's areas of critique-as-such re: society, sexism, etc. were so encoded into the film or presented so flatly/subtly that whatever meaning was intended was by and large lost -- no matter what Scott implies or has said, I don't think it's strictly the audience's fault for missing much of it, narration or no narration. The film's not unsuccessful for all that, I feel.

(I like Blade Runner a lot but I haven't really thought about it in years.)

Yeah, I was gonna say -- blast from the past!

xp: nice pic, Ned.

I remembered one other thing from the book just now -- Hauer apparently was the one with the idea for the dove as well.

I like Blade Runner a lot better than quite a few of the films on vahid's list, but that's because I don't like sci fi.

The winner would be The Thing... Funny thing is that all three movies were released within a couple weeks of each other in 1982.

The replicants, future noir, and story elements of Blade Runner are mostly irrelevant and exist mainly to give us a tour of the future-possible city of Los Angeles. Blade Runner's real success and endurance is as a urban theory/sociology touchstone - fast forwarding through 50 years of suburban paranoia, white flight, and displaced racial anger. Which is what the best science fiction does anyway...

I saw BR the day it opened in Newport Beach - LA's own "off world colony" and it really fucked with people's heads with maximum disorientation. The California Republican fear of Japanese investment, Mexican immigration, and civic squalor was right out in front. It's impossible to write anything about the future of Los Angeles without namechecking BR.

And people were surprised that E.T. was the more successful movie that year?

everything else was done later on or before, but not better. the city comes down from lang, sure, but is anyone seriously going to argue that metropolis is a better movie?

Rob, looks like you're onto something:

31st January 2006

The Digital Bits has reported on an official Warner's press conference:

"And finally, here's a bit of news that's going to get a lot of you excited (and I made a point to specifically ask about this title, believe me)... Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) is currently on track for release as a multi-disc special edition in time for its 25th anniversary in 2007. The release is far from certain (as usual, there's a lot more that I can't post about this title yet - think of the old saying, "Loose lips sink ships"), but Warner says that work is proceeding, most of the key players are involved and things are "looking good" for release next year. We'll see."

2nd February 2006

As the century has progressed I got a bit tired of saying there is no BR:SE news, but as BR DVD restocking has gradually been diminishing in various regions and I have heard the usual odd rumours, I've been preparing a proper update of this page this week to go along with the sitewide update I'm doing. Then the above announcement was made. But let us put it in context - it came at the end of a press conference where many definite Warner releases for 2006/7 were being announced. This comment about Blade Runner is almost an afterthought - sort of an, "I can't say anything definite, but we're still trying and keeping the hope alive". In other words, not much more than the comment made below almost two years ago. So don't get too excited. 2007 is the 25th aniversary of the release of Blade Runner of course, which is added incentive, but we thought it would be released for the 20th anniversary, so it is still wait and see what happens at the moment.

I hate that stupid unicorn scene.

you both need to pay attention... i said close encounters of the third kind was the forrest gump of sci-fi. close encounters was directed by spielberg.

this didn't mean anything until the movie was recut to have the unicorn dream in it though.

f.h., hence my reading comprehension comment! Go back and read what vahid was replying to when he started on his "SO AND SO CAN DO THIS BUT SPIELBERG CAN'T?" thing (hint: "2. trivializing history"). C'mon guys.

RJG I kiss u still.

Back to the Future...huh.

"Sushi...raw fish."

it's so amazing to me that ridley scott made these two movies that just totally changed cinema sci-fi

I guess I missed a whole lot of post-Alien boring haunted-house movies set in spaceships.

event horizon! (sooooooooooo bad.)

i'll grant that lang vs. scott is no kind of comparison at all. but i think metropolis is a weak movie, plotwise, with convoluted -- nay, incoherent -- politics and characters who could be generously described as two-dimensional. what it's (rightly, justly) famous for is its design and vision of da future. but that's what blade runner is rightly, justly admired for too, and i think blade runner's story and characters are more coherent, and the cast is a lot better. so i think it's a better movie, lang's general genius notwithstanding.

BECAUSE HE WANTS MORE LIFE FUCKER

anyway, which mad max are you checking there in yr list vahid? speaking of adolescent film experiences, the 2nd one blew my leetle mind, age 15 or so. the simplicity of the plot and the agorophobic blankness of the setting really got to me, and i was like, "this is like a greek myth or something dood."

yeah, there's the whole "expanding the general vocabulary of film" thing that you can't get around w/ lang.

the crowd scenes in metropolis were the first of their kind, right?

I'm still not really clear on why this is such a terrible thing to say. Breaking up with someone because you don't think they're very smart is a great reason to break up with someone -- one of the best reasons there is, I think. Just about everyone on this thread with any kind of dating history has probably done it (or, um, had it done to them).

Breaking up with someone because they don't like the film/music/whatever you like...well, maybe that's a little more questionable, but still, especially with film, who wants to spend your life fighting with someone, or slowly losing respect for them, because you're just not on the same wavelength?

(And would anyone really argue that strongly differing tastes in art can mean -- doesn't always mean, but can mean -- that there's an underlying personality difference that may prove to be a problem? Or that it can be just a wee bit alienating?)

So given all that: are people coming down on Kenan just because they don't think much of him, and so they're inclined to take the most negative interpretation of what he says...even if it's something that, if phrased a little more carefully (I'd leave out the "as smart as I am" bit, for starters) and posted by someone else, would get a free pass?

Ah seen things you people wouldn' buhlieve.

It is suggestive of something that I've seen Poltergeist and Blade Runner any number of times but I only ever saw E. T. once in the theaters during its original run. And even then I missed the middle section cause I was bored and went to play video games in the theater lobby.

Krull...er, wait.

Ha! I wish I could have that movie permanently removed from my memory

1981, I think.

She won't live, but then again who does?

i like lots of movies from 1982.

Jenny Curran: Have you ever been with a girl, Forrest?
Forrest Gump: I sit next to them in my Home Economics class all the time.

ROYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! ROYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

Grudge Match - Deckard vs Richard Kimble:
http://www.grudge-match.com/History/deckard-kimble.shtml

I suppose Robert Urich *did* keep acting.

DAMMIT, Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, was from 1983! Off by only one year!

It had Peter Strauss! Molly Ringwald! Ernie Hudson! Michael Ironside!

Was in 3D!

(ice pirates was from 1984, btw)

METALSTORM: THE DESTRUCTION OF JARED-SYN

Etc.

http://www.estragand.com/media/dumbpics/megaforce.jpg

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6300247538.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Directed by "Cannonball Run"/"Smokey & the Bandit" auteur and official Burt Reynolds stuntman, Hal Needham!

starring your new god:

http://www.starbase21ok.com/MarcSinger2.jpg

Best movie ever, 11 February 2005

Author: gjpizzo04 from United States

This has to be the best movie of all time. Any future in which the properties of water change to become flammable is a future i can look forward too. Special visual and sound effects which compare to the likes of Space Invaders from Atari. However, I think the best was costume design of the monsters. It brings back memories of childhood from when my parents took me to see Dinosaurs Alive at the zoo. Reb Brown should win an academy award for his role as YOR. Only he can pull of such a great screenplay with classic lines like "Damn Talking Box". I can only hope that one day they make a sequel to this movie. I believe that it will be directed by this new and up coming star Ed V.

especially if you had HBO and got to watch all these flicks like six times a day growing up.

http://www.dva.com/muze_images/vhs/04/101404.JPG

LET THE D&D PARANOIA BEGIN!

The B-52 appears to be disappointingly blast-free...

douchebag says what?

also: just watched first 5 minutes of blade runner. shivers. (but now listening to friend on radio trying to pronounce name of an avarus song. brilliant.)

Vahid, I love you.

also, as some of you may know, the blown-dried hero up there is also "Brad" from Rocky Horror Picture Show

and thank god we're not talking about 1986, when we'd have to deal with this horror

Funny you should mention that... The "Megaforce" golden dune buggy has been parked in front of a Newport Beach surplus store on PCH. I used to drive past it every morning on my way to work. It's directly in the center of this Googlemap

:D :D

douchebag says what?

-- nervous.gif (ï¿...), April 18th, 2006 12:45 AM. (eman) (later)

If Kenan does it, you call him a douchebag, but if Seinfeld did it, it would be a "classic episode."

yeah cos this is the shit that matters, it's not about good films, it's about whether this or that director is or is not a 'hack'.

Haha, I heard Stanley Kubrick made his crew watch Eraserhead before they started filming The Shining. As far as I can tell this made no difference whatsoever to the finished film.

This does leads to a weird connection now I think of it, because all the helicopter shots in the "happy ending" version of BR were outtakes from...The Shining. Not to mention that Lloyd the Barman and Eldon Tyrell = THE SAME GUY.

http://www.mitherme.co.uk/images/shining2.jpg
http://www.briandonovan.info/self-assembly-images/200501/20050120/blade_runner/dr_eldon_tyrell_200x150h.jpg

"Is this to be an empathy test? Capillary dilation of the so-called blush response? Fluctuation of theee...pupil?"

http://www.fantasfilm.com/image/Scan10970.jpg

http://www.impawards.com/1983/posters/krull_ver2.jpg

-- rrrobyn (apoemabouteverythin...) (webmail), April 17th, 2006 10:19 PM. (rrrobyn) (later) (link)

Are you taking the piss dude?

You know it's ILE, right?

Obviously the movie is flawed, but I have a feeling in theatres >>>>>>>>>>>>>> on DVD in this case.

speaking of which, I thought A Scanner Darkly was supposed to be out by now, but i guess they pushed it back to summer.

The restored "Director's Cut" will debut on homevid in September, and remain on sale for four months only, after which time it will be placed on moratorium. "Blade Runner: Final Cut" will arrive in 2007 for a limited 25th anniversary theatrical run, followed by a special edition DVD with the three previous versions offered as alternate viewing: Besides the original theatrical version and director's cut, the expanded international theatrical cut will be included. The set will also contain additional bonus materials."

Hmm, no Workprint?

I think that horror and sci-fi are (sometimes) so interconnected, the line gets blurry. I never really saw Alien as a Sci Fi movie. Sure it was set in the future, but that was (a little bit) apropos of nothing. It was about the horror. Just like The Thing.

I absolutely love Blade Runner. I think mostly because it can be enjoyed/analyzed on so many levels. Every time I watch it, I seem to gain something more from it. spoiler I strictly remember not realizing that he was a Replicant. Now it just seems to obvious as it ties in with the whole theme of the movie and how else could you explain the Unicorn and Origami scenes? It completely shakes up your whole experience of the film: you identify yourself with the character only to realize he's also a Replicant (non-human).
It's from the opening shot that I am completely in awe of the film. The eye which reflects the city makes you aware you are watching. And the rest of the film is just so sublime. I think part of what makes it not seem outdated is also the random historical elements, references to for example Film Noir. There's very modern (at the time) elements but also old things. I also like the Woman aspect in the film (striptease, the snake, the gaze,..)
I also like the Oedipal element in the film: the confrontation of Tyrell with his *son*.

I could go on and on about this film. I'm not a big fan of Sci-Fi on the whole - I mean, sure, I like Sci Fi but it'snot something I actively seek out. Blade Runner just is just *it*. I think what intensefied is when I went to Tokyo for the first time; it was just completely like a scene out of Blade Runner. My mom and I looked at eachother and said:"Blade Runner!"

See, no.

so this is where they stab the blade runner franchise in the back, twist the knife a few times, remove the knife, and fuck the wound until it's dead, and then fuck it some more

fuck you capitalism

Well, at least there is this small glimmer of hope:

Purists can rest assured, though, as Alcon says its deal, with producer-director Bud Yorkin -- who currently holds the rights to "Blade Runner" -- would exclude permission to remake the original.

"We have long-term goals for the franchise, and are exploring multiplatform concepts, not just limiting ourselves to one medium.”

I'm struggling to think what this means. Computer games obviously but what other "concepts"? A musical?

In any case c'mon this is awesome news. If it's bad you don't have to see it and it might even be good!

Blade Runner: Turn Off The Skin Job

^^^ Composed and arranged for Penfield Mood Organ

tbf the 1997 game was effing brilliant

triple CD reissue of the soundtrack is amazing innit?

nothing good will come of this

I will hunt down and "retire" all associated if a sequel gets made

Did everyone forget these sequels?

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31GNOj2CJAL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

well Jeter was a buddy/protege of PKD's at least (and at least a couple of his books are flat-out great)

I've never read the sequels themselves

is shia labeouf in this

http://io9.com/#!5775760/what-can-we-expect-from-the-new-blade-runner-movie-we-asked-the-producers

jesus christ io9 get a fucking copy editor

http://io9.com/5832216/ridley-scott-to-direct-and-write-the-new-blade-runner-movie

I wish there was a "My Blood is Boiling" gif.

Can't wait for his reimagining of Legend with Shia the Beef, Kristen Stewart and John Barrowman.

crossing my fingers for Whiter Squall

And Blacker Rain.

Can't wait for his reimagining of Legend with Shia the Beef, Kristen Stewart and John Barrowman.

This horrible vision is going to haunt my dreams now.

youth rioting in london, thousands dying in somalia, bears committing suicide in china, ridley scott remaking blade runner.
the world has been slipping down the crazy slide for a while now, but i think it's finally hit the waters of the deep end.

Bladerunnerer

vahid OTM way upthread about all the SF movies better than this one.

i dont even care for blade runner that much, but no, vahid is not OTM about tron being better than blade runner

ok, not all of them i guess

you know, the only feeling i can muster is utter indifference.

it's ridley scott doing a sequel to his own movie...could be interesting, could be terrible. who knows?

a year ago if you had told me that a planet of the apes rebootquel was gonna be pretty good i wouldn't have believed it

vahid OTM way upthread about all the SF movies better than this one.

― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Thursday, August 18, 2011 9:04 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

someone needs to be "retired"

I will hunt down and "retire" all associated if a sequel gets made

― ☠-post (latebloomer), Thursday, March 3, 2011 7:10 PM (5 months ago) Bookmark

i've been replaced by a replicant

it's ridley scott doing a sequel to his own movie...could be interesting, could be terrible. who knows?

― thick-necked and hateful (latebloomer), Thursday, August 18, 2011 6:54 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah, agreed. i'll wait and see, whatever.

do you know what? i recently went through the process of rewatching blade runner with my gf - it was her first time! - and i found i really liked it again. i think maybe having entered a different phase in my life i can feel more empathy for harrison ford's evident self-loathing, and so the cruelty of the movie makes more sense to me. i also spent a lot of time over the last few years digging deep into heavy metal (the comic magazine) and i really, really appreciate the set design during the different "blade runner blues" montages.

man, that guy is obnoxious upthread

there is sort of a relaxing, warm fuzzy sweater, big cup of hot chocolate quality to turning the lights way down and watching blade runner. and that is pretty hard to find in good science fiction movies.

i think, though, that the following sci fi movies might be better than blade runner

-- sun ra's "space is the place"
-- a clockwork orange
-- fantastic planet
-- forbidden planet
-- holy mountain
-- thx 1138
-- videodrome
-- war of the worlds w/ tom cruise
-- zardoz

One of the best things about Blade Runner, and the first 2 Alien movies, which almost no other sci-fi movies manage, is a sense of the reality and solidity of the rest of the world beyond the bit you're looking at. They feel like real (fucked up) societies, not just sets for adventures to happen in.

that is a much more agreeable list

One of the best things about Blade Runner, and the first 2 Alien movies, which almost no other sci-fi movies manage, is a sense of the reality and solidity of the rest of the world beyond the bit you're looking at. They feel like real (fucked up) societies, not just sets for adventures to happen in.

― not bulimic, just a cat (James Morrison), Friday, August 19, 2011 4:57 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark

so OTM. I feel like SF stuff often uses that clunky 'quick explain the backstory and get it over with' thing. Alien and Blade runner do it on the fly and it works.

-- war of the worlds w/ tom cruise

u mad

yeah, i was gonna say

I re-watched BR recently, after re-reading Do Androids Dream etc.. First time round (a long time ago) I saw the film (with voiceover) and then read the book.

One thing I was struck by in the film this time was how the androids have funny reflecting eyes when you shine lights on them - so why do the cops bother with all that Voigt-Kampf test shite?

I was also struck, again, by how the film leaves out what is perhaps the most headfucky scene in the book - the one where Deckard finds himself in the other police HQ that he has never heard of and is told that the one he is based in shut down years ago.

Anyway, this time round I found the film mildly disappointing. It looks great and has a nicely tight narrative, but it seems to lack the depth of the book. Taken independently of its source material, though, it is an impressive piece of work.

Ridley is *73*! jesus h..

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/aug/19/new-blade-runner-ridley-scott

he still looks spritely

http://io9.com/5836049/beautiful-behind+the+scenes-blade-runner-video-will-change-how-you-think-about-movies

and from the comments

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sbwoodside/sets/72157621762437297/

vahid now going straight into self-parody

This thread is so good. "sex replicants!"

-- sun ra's "space is the place" - few things are better than this movie
-- a clockwork orange - sure
-- fantastic planet - eh maybe
-- forbidden planet - sure
-- holy mountain - sure
-- thx 1138 - gtfo
-- videodrome - def. on the level of bladerunner
-- war of the worlds w/ tom cruise - GTFO x 1000000
-- zardoz - this is a silly, fun movie but come on now

I feel like SF stuff often uses that clunky 'quick explain the backstory and get it over with' thing

I can pretty much tell you whether or not I will like a sci-fi work based on how much explication is in it. (the main reason I thought Inception was so terrible, for ex)

i LOVE fantastic planet

whoa!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crc5Ldkv4VU

i also really like THX-1138 a lot, though i don't watch it in the same way i watch blade runner

when blade runner is on i can do nothing else but look at blade runner. there are def parts of THX-1138 that i get up and wander out during. i also really like some parts of the remaster - like the new robot factory FX - and really don't like some parts of the remaster - the car chase additions.

zardoz is sort of like blade runner, can't do anything else but watch zardoz when it's on. you're right though, it wears thin. i just put it there because i put barbarella on the list first, decided that was too obvious.

i would put up a barbarella poster in my house before a blade runner poster

zardoz is cool for the first half while it's total WTF, sags during the big reveal, and the violence at the end is just yawnsome. it is sort of like dawn of teh dead in reverse.

i would put up a poster of this though

http://cdn.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/blade-runner-city-01.jpg

war of the worlds i just put on there because a) it's a really good movie and b) i want to be open to new mainstream sci-fi not sucking, even remakes. i thought even "day the earth stood still" had some worthwhile moments.

though i've stayed far away from the new planet of the apes stuff

i wonder what the blade runner reboot will be like

gaspar noe's "through a scanner darkly"

dude, the new apes movie rules.

apart from one neat ideas (the nanobot thing) the day the earth stood still remake was probably the worst movie i've ever seen. yeah, i'm being hyperbolic.

idea, singular. uuuurrrrghhhhhhh

agree that war of the worlds was pretty good though. except for the ending with the totally dead son being alive, that was soooo heinous.

So, in re Blade Runner 2:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/05/17/ridley-scott-opens-up-about-prometheus-kick-ass-women-and-blade-runner-2.html

What about the rumored Blade Runner sequel?

Funny enough, I started my first meetings on the Blade Runner sequel last week. We have a very good take on it. And we’ll definitely be featuring a female protagonist.

Oi, Scott, No!

Bladerunner 2: Bladerunnerer

This scares me

Blade Runner 2: Replicant Boogaloo

Bladerunner 2: The Things He's Seen

(about the Tannhäuser Gate c-beams and the burning attack ships off Orion's shoulder and stuff - maybe the fires of Orc too)

surely it will be blade runner: the bladerunniest

Bladerunner 2: Rise of the Ganymedean Slime Molds

Bla2erunner: Follow That Unicorn!

Bladerunner 2: Dark of the Smog

Bladerunner 2: Cherished Memories of Sean Young In Furs

Blade Runnerer
2 Blade 2 Runner

Blades Runner

Episode V: The Replicant Strikes Back

stopmenow

Blade Ran

The Loneliness of the Long-Blade Runner

Cool Blade Runnings, about a Jamaican replicant bobsledder.

Blade Runner Alexanderplatz

lol

actually, i always think the original is funny too, cuz it sounds like berlin alexanderpants

Leon (The Unprofessional)

i hear scott wants to shake it up a bit and have it take place in a post-civilization post-apocalypse landscape à la the road. glade runner.

Rick and Rachels' Bogus Journey

Let's Run It Again

(labored sequel joke)

Hasbro Presents: Blade Runner Candy Land

Mr. Deckard Goes to Washington

For a Few Runners More

The Good, The Bad, and The Replicant

i keep trying to find one that i can cram "skinjobs" into, but you know, that's about the only fake slur i can think of that seems legitimately offensive. everything i try comes off more gross than funny.

Replicant on a Hot Tin Roof

okay, now that i've thought about it bunch, it sounds funny after all

The Once and Future Skinjob
Skinjob Cowboy
Weekend at Skinjobs

etc.

My tie-in product idea already exists :-(

http://www.mowersdirect.com/Ariens-911156-Lawn-Mower/p3306.html

Debbie Does Tyrell Corporation

i think you're just making these up

Wet Blade American Runner

Run! or my mom will shoot!

Carry On Blade Running

Cannonblade Run

Would watch

http://i.imgur.com/fdMBR.png

WINNER

when the sequel gets made that has to be thread title pleeeeeze

Since it has a female protagonist, obviously the title will be:

Blade Runneress

Or:

BLadee Runner

was trying to think of a decent sequel to a classic, that came a decade or so after. there's not many is there?

texasville?

mm haven't seen that, i think it went straight-to-video over here iirc.

romero's day of the dead i guess. but that's more of a series than a one-off sequel of course.

Freddy Vs. Jason came out 13 years after the previous Nightmare on Elm Street movie (though only 2 years after the previous Friday the 13th one), and it's better than almost any other NoES or Ft13th movie.

Some people seem to think Before Sunset is even better than Before Sunrise, I'd say they're equally good. It's also one of the few movies where the long cap between the original and the sequel is succesfully incorporated in the plot. (It would've been a totally different movie if it was made only 3 or 4 years after the original.)

Oh, and I also remember liking The Color of Money, though admittedly I haven't seen The Hustler (which came out 25 years before the sequel).

Anyway, if this new Blade Runner will be a proper sequel and not a remake, I wonder if it'll be the longest pause ever between a movie and its sequel? By the time it hits the screens, there'll be something like 35 years between the two movies.

Haha, apparently not! Internet tells me the longest sequel gap is 64 years, between Bambi (1942) and Bambi II (2006). Though admittedly with animated movies it's much easier to make sequels decades after the original.

Oh, and speaking of: Toy Story 3 came out 11 years after Toy Story 2, and it's the best movie of the three.

And with live-action movies the longest gap appears to be between The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York, which is 34 years. (John Hurt plays the lead in both.)

was gonna say Psycho 2 but turns out that was only 23 years after the first one! #mindmash.

there's also that manoel de oliveira belle de jour psuedo-sequel, belle toujours, which came about around 2009, 32 year after buñuel's film.

55 years between Gone With The Wind and the Scarlett TV mini-series.

(thought "decent sequel" is questionable)

lol @ Bladeerunner I am using that one Tuomas thx

You guys all remember this series right?

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51mH1qrF9dL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

I think Jeter wrote two more after that one.

he was authorized by he dick estate to write those as well. I assume they are awful. I know he has a cult following but the one book of his I read (wolf flow) sucked balls.

Jeter's Dr. Adder was pretty good, I seem to remember.

Jeter alternates between hackery and genius. I don't know anybody that's read Dr. Adder or Glass Hammer and not been impressed.

He Said You Blade Runner, She Said You Blade Runner, a mixed-up romantic comedy from Ridley Scott.

Naked co-ed Beach Blade Runner

or perhaps the video-game-inspired Blade Gunner?

Who Is Harry Bryant and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?

5 Now Runner 5

He's Just Not That Into Retiring You

Let Me Tell You All About My Mother

Tyrell Perry Corporation's Diary of a Mad White Unicorn

Let Me Tell You All About My Mother

nice

Bladerunner 2: The Things He's Seen

(about the Tannhäuser Gate c-beams and the burning attack ships off Orion's shoulder and stuff - maybe the fires of Orc too)

― StanM, Thursday, May 17, 2012 4:56 PM (4 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is basically what prometheus is, good call

i like that those lines are evocative of stuff we haven't actually seen, that's kind of the point.

oh well.

that's what I'm saying

the faltermeyer gate is blade runner's "space jockey"

"life is like a box of chocolates. time to die."
― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Monday, April 17, 2006 4:27 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwSylz8C0YM

But anyway, Sebastian's little people really freaked my shit.

We watched this last night -- I'd never seen the Final Version, and my girlfriend had never seen it at all. Enjoyed it as always, and the Final Version probably actually is the best cut -- though tbh pretty much everything I love about Blade Runner was right there in the original theatrical version. All the tweaks have made it a better movie, but even in its compromised form it was a classic. The thing I tend to forget between viewings is how slow and quiet so much of it is. And also how far it goes into bonkers dream logic during the final chase.

Something about PKD in general, probably having to do with the way he writes (not that i've ever though about it in depth) is that at a certain point you're willing to follow the story where it goes without a thought to rationality. the surreal/fantastic in his work often has a very cumulative effect -- you start off with something that seems to follow the natural laws of physics/space/time and end up somewhere very distant through that. it's a good technique, i think. little things that seem weird at first make it easier to handle the REAL WEIRD stuff that comes later on.

probably how utterly normal his characters react to utterly abnormal events?

^^^ his characters are always archetypes that are working through really relatable emotional states - the alpha male is a blinkered asshole, the protagonist is a neurotic mass of resentments/self loathing, the femme fatale with the heart of ice, the naif innocent that's wise beyond his/her years etc. these figures are constants throughout his books, it's the bizarre scenery surrounding them that changes.

the protagonist is a neurotic mass of resentments/self loathing

why PKD's books are relatable in a nutshell

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BFPT8nKCMAAWmz3.jpg

this movie gets worse with every screening

we must use Vangelis

Vangelis and tits = box office gold

it's amazing how every single producer has the exact same vocabulary when giving notes

I would love to write a massive alternate history of 'what if the producers had final say on the movies that they DIDN'T get final say over that turned out awesome'

my title needs work obv

they have put back more tits

There is no motion picture that cannot be improved by asking, WHERE THE TITTAYS AT?

more vangelis, less voice-over, can't really complain

"The synagogue music is awful on the street. We must use Vangelis."

Is he referring to this piece of music, which is by Demis Roussos and Vangelis?

http://youtu.be/rkfnEWvJX1I

What I like in particular are the little pockets of the familiar that persist in the monolithic city, like: a 30s/40s detective character, a china-town, a toymaker.

Oh christ almighty

http://www.slashfilm.com/green-lantern-screenwriter-to-rewrite-blade-runner-sequel/

LEAVE BLADERUNNER ALONE

http://jamiedubs.com/fuckflickr/data/meme-prints/leave-britney-alone-02.jpg

perfect

the only part of that article that is acceptable is that there is maybe a Flash film in the works

http://www.patfullerton.com/flash/pix/flash1991.jpg

they have put back more tits

― j., Wednesday, March 13, 2013 5:59 PM (4 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this has changed the way i see everything

lol

This is EXACTLY what the sequel plans needed!

http://io9.com/the-blade-runner-sequel-will-not-include-sean-young-at-1066353459

if you read her entire quote in rachel's voice it sounds kinda awesome imo

Can we get them to get rid of Ridley Scott now, too?

At this point I'm actually hoping they bring in Lindelof, because the only reason I'd see a sequel would be for the LOLs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXFqPzAFv8o