The long overdue _Blade Runner_ thread

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Thank ya.

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

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 17 April 2006 13:45 (eighteen years ago) link

THANK YOU RJG FOR CALLING THE SPIELBERG/FORREST GUMP THING. I thought I was fucking eating crazy pills or something that ppl were letting that slide. Are you all so terrible at reading comprehension?? ;_;

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.

Allyzay Rofflesbot (allyzay), Monday, 17 April 2006 13:51 (eighteen years ago) link

hmmm ... i wonder if we had a t/s: ET vs bladerunner which would win??

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?

LOL Thomas (Chris Barrus), Monday, 17 April 2006 13:51 (eighteen years ago) link

what's good here is not much at all except atmospherics - everything else wasx done much better later on or before

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?

gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Monday, 17 April 2006 13:53 (eighteen years ago) link

blade runner rips off metropolis in the best way. it is a good rip off.

s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 17 April 2006 13:55 (eighteen years ago) link

Besides, not like they were hiding it. And it's not like anyone ripped off Blade Runner in turn or anything. ;-)

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 17 April 2006 13:56 (eighteen years ago) link

you can't make up an idea

RJG (RJG), Monday, 17 April 2006 13:57 (eighteen years ago) link

it's a pretty braindead criticism.

s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 17 April 2006 13:57 (eighteen years ago) link

When I saw the workprint of BR on the first release in 1993, I flipped out when I recognized a track from My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts playing during the bar scene. I always wish they had kept it in the final release.

LOL Thomas (Chris Barrus), Monday, 17 April 2006 14:01 (eighteen years ago) link

1993? Couple of years earlier, surely -- I remember the stories about the Nuart screenings when I was at UCLA.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 17 April 2006 14:02 (eighteen years ago) link

You're right.. It was 1991... (I was still at UCI)

LOL Thomas (Chris Barrus), Monday, 17 April 2006 14:05 (eighteen years ago) link

i assume they will release it next year so they can do all sorts of fancy marketing around it being the "25th anniversary" and all...

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.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 17 April 2006 14:07 (eighteen years ago) link

That "workprint" version (which apparently was the same as the 1982 "sneak preview" cut which confused all the audiences) is still my favorite cut.

I hate that stupid unicorn scene.

LOL Thomas (Chris Barrus), Monday, 17 April 2006 14:08 (eighteen years ago) link

The "On The Edge Of Blade Runner" BBC documentary is worth the download too... The torrent of it is floating around out there.

LOL Thomas (Chris Barrus), Monday, 17 April 2006 14:10 (eighteen years ago) link

Scott's indicated that the Workprint would be in any final release of the DVD, so that's good -- it's actually the one version I haven't seen, to my memory. That link I just put in indicates the BBC doc would be as well.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 17 April 2006 14:11 (eighteen years ago) link

THANK YOU RJG FOR CALLING THE SPIELBERG/FORREST GUMP THING.

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.

fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Monday, 17 April 2006 19:39 (eighteen years ago) link

as opposed to zemekis, who directed gump and also back to the future, which somehow beats blade runner for some people.

mike h. (mike h.), Monday, 17 April 2006 19:50 (eighteen years ago) link

SORRY ALLY

RJG (RJG), Monday, 17 April 2006 20:03 (eighteen years ago) link

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.

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

kyle (akmonday), Monday, 17 April 2006 20:13 (eighteen years ago) link

AND THE VOICEOVER ARGH

Fight the Real Enemy -- Tasti D-Lite (ex machina), Monday, 17 April 2006 20:22 (eighteen years ago) link

RJG don't be sorry.

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.

Allyzay Rofflesbot (allyzay), Monday, 17 April 2006 20:25 (eighteen years ago) link

I mean, I did read that you made a terrible and inept comparison, don't worry.

Allyzay Rofflesbot (allyzay), Monday, 17 April 2006 20:25 (eighteen years ago) link

Thankfully I only ever saw a voiceover version once.

"Sushi...raw fish."

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 17 April 2006 20:25 (eighteen years ago) link

all this time i thought forrest gump was spielberg! oh well, i think the point still stands.

vahid (vahid), Monday, 17 April 2006 20:32 (eighteen years ago) link

phew : )

RJG (RJG), Monday, 17 April 2006 20:34 (eighteen years ago) link

Like it fine, at least the last time I saw the restored version, but sure Metropolis is a better film. Lang is a master; did Scott ever direct anything else good? (I've seen exactly four of his, nothing since Thelma & Louise, and only sorta liked The Duellists. I suspect it was a serendipitous event, with expert use of tech artists and a literate script, in the career of a hack.)

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.

Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 17 April 2006 20:36 (eighteen years ago) link

HUR HUR HUR

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 17 April 2006 20:37 (eighteen years ago) link

there have been an awful lot, you know. (tho sometimes they were set underwater, or underground, etc.)

Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 17 April 2006 20:38 (eighteen years ago) link

OR WITH DINOSAURS
i don't think morbius is a real doctor
regardless of who directed them, forrest gump and close encounters are the same kind of shit movie.

fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Monday, 17 April 2006 21:10 (eighteen years ago) link

romanticizing stupidity, trivializing history, too much bullshit.

fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Monday, 17 April 2006 21:11 (eighteen years ago) link

trivializing history of UFOs???

Washable School Paste (sexyDancer), Monday, 17 April 2006 21:17 (eighteen years ago) link

"einstein was right!"
"einstein was probably one of them!"

fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Monday, 17 April 2006 21:18 (eighteen years ago) link

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.

gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Monday, 17 April 2006 21:20 (eighteen years ago) link

i just never really understood where i'm supposed to go from thinking roy was creepy to sympathy for roy, except there was a beautifully shot scene of roy releasing birds into sunlight with nice vangelis music.

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."

geoff (gcannon), Monday, 17 April 2006 21:21 (eighteen years ago) link

lang's general genius notwithstanding

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?

vahid (vahid), Monday, 17 April 2006 21:22 (eighteen years ago) link

well, sure roy wants more life. who doesn't? forrest gump wants more life, too.

vahid (vahid), Monday, 17 April 2006 21:23 (eighteen years ago) link

more life, less history.

vahid (vahid), Monday, 17 April 2006 21:23 (eighteen years ago) link

I don't think Werner Herzog wants more life.

Washable School Paste (sexyDancer), Monday, 17 April 2006 21:26 (eighteen years ago) link

"life is like a box of chocolates. time to die."

fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Monday, 17 April 2006 21:27 (eighteen years ago) link

OTM

Washable School Paste (sexyDancer), Monday, 17 April 2006 21:28 (eighteen years ago) link

Ok, how about this -- I once broke up with a girl when I was 20 years old because we had a two-hour conversation about Blade Runner during which she made it abundantly clear to me that she was not as smart as I am, or indeed most people I knew at the time. This was not a long or significant relationship. Better?

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?

lurker #2421, Monday, 17 April 2006 21:41 (eighteen years ago) link

i think it's the forrest gump of breakups.

fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Monday, 17 April 2006 21:48 (eighteen years ago) link

sounds like the girl had a close encounter of the turd kind

RJG (RJG), Monday, 17 April 2006 21:50 (eighteen years ago) link

i dumped a girl cuz she praised sally fields a little too highly once

j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 17 April 2006 21:57 (eighteen years ago) link

Less Gump, more Blade Runner please.

LOL Thomas (Chris Barrus), Monday, 17 April 2006 22:38 (eighteen years ago) link

http://www.dobhran.com/images/forrestgump3.jpg

Ah seen things you people wouldn' buhlieve.

gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Monday, 17 April 2006 22:53 (eighteen years ago) link

Actually, there is another Spielberg movie that fits in here... Poltergeist, ostensibly directed by Tobe Hooper but as most reports have it, it's pretty much a Spielberg operation all the way through. Again, ignoring the delivery method (souped-up version of a Night Gallery horror episode) Poltergeist hits the markers of 1982 American cultural paranoia that Blade Runner does - only with suburban unease (instead of urban dystopia). Instead of man-made machines slipping away and coming back to haunt, the villian is the earth itself. OK, so it's personified by an old native american graveyard, but it's basically the same thing.

LOL Thomas (Chris Barrus), Monday, 17 April 2006 22:54 (eighteen years ago) link

Wow, that's actually a pretty great call, now that I think of it.

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.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 17 April 2006 22:59 (eighteen years ago) link


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