Cool News
Live in L.A.' Wanna See A Print of BLADE RUNNER you've never seen before'
If I were in L.A. I'd be all over this so fast you'd have to drag me away kicking and screaming with some sort of major hauling device with six axles! If you live in L.A., live close, have a private jet.... get ye to this theater.... just listen to this...
I've never posted before, but I felt this to be important enough to speak out. The Cinerama
Dome in Hollywood, California is (through this Tuesday, at least) playing a revival screening of
Blade Runner. Now this isn't too unusual, save for two unique exceptions:
The copy of Blade Runner being screened is neither the original theatrical release nor is it the
Director's Cut. Instead, it is the original 70mm workprint used to test screen the film in Denver
and Dallas during the first week of March,1982. While not vastly different that either of the other
two cuts, what unique differences there are warrant any true fan of this SF classic (and I know
there are at least one or two who frequent this website) to trek out to the Hollywood area and
check this out while it's still possible. It is a rare opportunity to see this film in its primordial
form, with different cuts, alternate shots, and a temp score. This particular version has not been
seen (in California at least) since 1991 where it played to sellout audiences at L.A.'s Nuart and
San Francisco's Castro art-house theatres, (and subsequently made these the top-grossing
theatres in America for that period). Also, it's important to note that seeing this version again in
1991 inspired Ridley Scott to make his definitive Director's Cut.
The second exception? The Historic Cinerama Dome, built in 1963, as may or may not be
known is in certain danger of being, if not demolished, at the very least remodeled and altered
beyond recognition, its beautiful enormous screen being diced up into so many tiny
multiplex-sized boxes. What finer venue to see this film in than the last of the great post-modern
movie houses? This is undoubtedly the last time Blade Runner will ever play at the Cinerama in
its current pristine state. Run, don't walk, to Sunset and Ivar NOW!
Sorry, Harry, for my impassioned hyperbole, but as a true fan of both Blade Runner and the
Cinerama, I hope I'll be forgiven...
Yours,
Mr. Baby Man
-
+ Expand All
-
How about running through the ways in which this 'primordial' cut differs from the other two?
-
There's this great book by Paul Sammon titled "Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner". It lists all the differences between the workprint, the domestic theatrical release, the European theatrical release, and the director's cut. Some notable differences include the absence of Deckard's deadpan narration, and Ridley Scott's prefered ending with the elevator doors closing shut on Deckard and Rachael (not the crappy driving through the the country ending). There's an establishing shot outside the Snake Pit club showing two almost-naked geisha girls wearing hockey masks bumping- and-grinding in a big plastic tube-thingy. When Batty and Tyrell first meet and Tyrell asks him what he wants, Batty says "More life, Father" instead of the "More life, fucker" in the theatrical release. There are many more differences having to do with editing and dubbing. The sound of the rain is more prevelant, and Pris' dying screams are a lot louder and, as a result, a lot more disturbing.
-
Damn it, Baby Man, WHEN will this film be playing? When?
Robert K S -
I was lucky enough to see the 1991 screening of this print. As mentioned already, it's not vastly different from the Director's Cut. It is excellent, though! It's a must see for any real fan of BR and it's an ought-to-see for any fan of Sci-Fi movies. Do you what you can to get there and see it!
-
I remember a couple weeks back that this version (probably the same print, even) accidently got shipped to a theatre in Seattle (if I remember correctly) that had ordered a copy of the director's cut. Some geeks got wind of it and did get to see it. I wasn't one of them, but it sounded cool. This story is irrelevent, but cool. Think of all the possible cool things a theatre might be "accidently" shipped. If I was one Mr. Lucas, I don't know if I could resist the urge to "play god." Just a thought.
-
and greatly enjoyed it. Wasn't aware at the time of it being a workprint, though, and was confused (as were many audience members) that there were no end credits. Thought it was going to be the Director's Cut. Anyway. This was my first time in the famed dome, but certainly not the last... Columbia is having a twelve film festival for 75 anniversary Feb 12-25, screening Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Strangelove, Easy Rider, It Happened One Night, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Bridge on the River Kwai (catching that, for sure), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Tootsie, Close Encounters (Definitive Director's Cut--the new one?), On the Waterfront, From Here to Eternity, and Taxi Driver. Very nice.
-
If Harry had bothered to read FUTURE NOIR, he'd know that. Still, it's nice to know that some of us have a chance to see it again.
-
I only read the header on the opening page and the first paragraph. Still, he shouldn't say that it's a print that "no one" has seen if over fifty thousand people got to see it those showings at the Nuart and Castro
-
Last I heard, the Dome was no longer in danger of being torn down or altered because of all the negative publicity the idea attracted. Thank God!
-
Back around the 2nd or 3rd weekend of january, I was in Seattle visiting family. While there, I stopped at the egyptian theatre to see a screening of what was billed as the director's cut of Blade Runner. However, as the audience was told that it was actually a screening copy on 70mm print. The same one as the Cinerama got? The guy describing it did mention that no one knew that they had it... Out of curiosity, anybody have some solid info on how they got there hands on it? And if it was the same copy as the cinerama's, how they got it back?
By the way, I'm a young'un whose never seen Blade Runner on the big screen before. Never before had I realised what a travesty it was to compress those stunning panaoramas down to a television screen. Here's to hoping that DVD and HDTV make the term 'home theatre' a reality. -
I have also read Paul Sammons (sp?) book , It's fab. But I thought ridley scott didn't cut the directors cut it was some guy who found the working print, the one in question, and got scott's permission to cut the film into something resembling this. So the director's cut that isn't. My memory on the differences isn't that good but doesn't this version
have a different title sequence. A line comes across the screen and then to the sound of blades the words come out from it saying 'Bladerunner' (Isn't this like the logo for buena vista international?. Paul Sammon's book charts the differences between the 6-7 different versions of Bladerunner. I just wish I didn't live in the uk so I could see it.
One more thing I am sure that I have seen a version of Bladerunner where the words 'more life father' are used because I was really shocked when I heard 'fucker' since it wasn't what I remembered. Yet I haven't seen BR in the cinema only on TV and video can someone help me, where coulds I have heard it? -
HEY all BR fans......where is the justice? I love BR to death, and have devoted my life to it!....
http://www.wantree.com.au/~perplex
is my homepage with all things BR. I have seen all versions (including the Eurpoean ed) but the workprint still eludes me. there is talk on the BR newsgroup about a pirate copy...
hopefully this version willmake it to a DVD - mind you BR has not been released here (in DVD form!).
Anyone got a spare airline ticke i can have???
-perplex -
Or this! I've been dreaming of this version since I read Sammon's superlative book! Get this thing to Chicago as fast as possible!!! People in L.A. owe us for all that ER shit! Damn it!
-
This print of the film was screened up in Seattle about three weeks ago. What happen was the theater ordered a 70mm print of the Original theatrical cut of Blade Runner. They ended up with the 70mm workprint. Word speard through the Blade Runner newsgroup about this over the weekend. I live in Portland, Oregon about 200 miles south of Seattle and I drove up for the day to see the beautiful workprint. All of the changes listed in Paul Sammon's Future Noir are there. When I heard about it I thought it was a joke but it turned out to be true. Overall I liked the workprint more than the Director's Cut. Of course for those of you that have read Future Noir know that there are many things different throughout but some of these changes I think improve the picture. Deckard's final narration at the end of the film really fits in nicely. He sounds like he should after nearly dying, beat up and tired. Seeing it in 70mm was truely amazing for me. This is one of my favorite films and seeing it on the big screen is a must for anyone. The detail of everything that can only be seen on the big screen. A few days after I saw this I emailed Glen about it figuring Harry would not post about it since it was somewhat of a mistake on WB's part. My post to Glen was mainly as a plea to get the people at WB to notice and release it as a supplement to a special edition DVD of the Director's Cut. Since they would probably not want to release yet another version of BR, it could be added on the other side of the disc. One side the DC, the other side, the work print and supplements about the film. It could be like the Criterion edition of Brazil which contains both cuts of the film. For anyone that is thinking about seeing the workprint, see it. Drive a few hours it is worth it if you are a fan, hell fly to LA. OR you could try and persuade a local theater to show a 70mm version of the film in hopes of another slip up on the WB's part. For those in LA, is it being advertised as the workprint?
-
personally I'd much rather see Ridley Scott's other masterpiece, Legend, shown in it's entirity, I heard that it was cut by 20 minutes! That I would travel the globe to see.
-
Does anyone know if this is what Philip K. Dick saw before he died? I've heard he saw at least some of it and said he liked it even better than his "Do Andoroids Dream..."
Jest wondrin'. -
CHEESE --Basically I'm not sure WHICH version I have. I KNOW IT isnt the Directors cut because I saw that version and I didn't like it (because the ending was shorter and it had that unicorn dream sequence thing). My version HAS the Harrison Ford narrative and the "escape to canada" ending. I think the only difference between mine and the original version is that there is an EXTREME CLOSEUP of Rutger Hauer sticking his thumbs into the eyes of the chinese man in the deep freeze... I didnt know this version was such a pain to find...I got it for Christmas a few years back...
-
I saw this rough print at the Academy in LA in '91. It was really interesting to see it for the first time with no v.o, with those extra shots, and the missing happy ending. There seemed to be temp Jerry Goldsmith music from Alien or Freud inserted into the Batty chase scene. The opening titles had the logo treatment from the trailer, and a definition of "replicant" from a 21st century Webster's dictionary.
I must go on record here with an unpopular opinion. The last couple of nights, I watched the DVD of the director's cut and the laser of the Criterion "theatrical" release, and I have to say I prefer the original. I actually like the voice over! Imagine that! It is in the swpirit of an olod detective movie, it drops hints of Dekker's empathy with the reps, and it serves to push forward what is by most accounts a pretty obtuse plot. I think most people who prefer the director's cut have already seen the original so they already know what happens. It would I imagine be pretty confusing watching the director's cut. As far as the "happy" ending, I actually remember getting a rush seeing that pristine landscape at the end of all the rain and filth, as if they had escaped. -
My wife and I are huge Blade Runner fans, and she actually saw the March 1982 preview screening in Dallas as a teenager. We went to see the workprint when it came to Seattle last month. We were expecting the original International cut, which is our favorite, but we were pleased to see the unadvertised substitution. (We have the Int'l cut on laser anyway...) For those who want to check it out, we documented some of the more substantial changes on our Web site (can't resist the plug) at FromScript2Screen.com:
http://fromscript2screen.com/vault/bladerunner_1982.html
Also, we've been trying to start a debate about which version is best on our Movie Talk discussion board. So far, we've had only a few takers. Feel free to chime in!
Dave Kramer
fromscript2screen.com
-
Hello, this is the first time I've ever written to Ain't It Cool, but after reading the above article, I felt I should comment.
I live in Los Angeles, just a 5 minute drive away from the Cinerama Dome as a matter of fact. When I spotted the add for the Directors Cut of Blade Runner at that glorious theater, I immediately schemed a way to skip work that day in order to make it to the first showing. Needless to say I was incredibly excited.
Now I saw the orginal Blade Runner back in 1982 when I was but a wee 12 years old (my father had to take me because I was underage. We both loved the movie so much we decided to go see it again the next night). Ever since that initial viewing and even at my semi young age, I knew that movie was something special, despite the fact that many critics panned it on it's initial release. Today of course, it's considered a classic by many of those same critics. Hell, I guess film critics are allowed to change their minds too. Anyway, I digress. When the directors cut came out in the early 90's I drove to St. Louis (as I was attending school at the University of Missouri at the time), just to see the masterpiece as Ridley Scott really wanted it to be done. I was so surprised that there were so few, and subtle changes, that I was equally surprised to discover that those minor alterations improved upon the original in a multitude of ways, creating a great film even more magnificent. The love story seemed much more intense, the symbolism was not quite as cryptic, yet it still caused your mind to buzz (especially with the inclusion of the "unicorn scene" making one question the humanity of Deckard), and the absence of the narration kept the film from feeling dumbed down, and much more artistic (am I being too pretentious?).
Anyway, working at a prevalent entertainment network here in L.A., I figured that skipping work for such an event would be understandable, even if I still decided to keep it a secret from them. I got to the theater, paid for my ticket, tried to get some candy and a drink (damn, they don't take ATM cards), stepped into the theater, grabbed a primo center seat, and settled back for what would surely be something to remember for years to come: Seeing Blade Runner on the gimongous screen of the Cinerama Dome. The theater went dark (no trailers, oh well), and the Ladd Company logo formed on screen into the now very familiar giant shade tree. A smile spread across my face in anticipation of the opening cityscape shot of Los Angeles.
But wait! The familiar opeing Blade Runner titles were gone. I loved those titles, dammit. They were simple but sleek. And with Vangelis' score underneath, they prepared you for the journey you were about to take. Instead, these ugly, giant red letters slammed onto the screen: "Harrison Ford Blade Runner"
I was agast. They were so... so... tacky. I didn't know what was going on. I was confused. My mind began to race. But as soon as the city scape appeared, I began to relax. The koto of Vangelis floated in the air, and the dark city, with it's thousands of pinpoint lights faded onto the screen. Ahhhh... I was in heaven. I watched. But it was cut short! The familiar cityscaped mirrored across Holden's glassy eye was gone. We were instantly thrust into the Tyrell Corp. office where Leon was taking the Voigt-Kampff test. I was upset. Very upset (okay, I'm a geek).
Alright, instead of going through the entire movie and nitpicking every little bit and piece that made this version seem like an Alan Smithee film, I'll just jump to the end. In the original version and the directors cut, there was no music during most of the entire last 20 minutes of the film, mainly the confrontation between Deckard and Roy Batty. I always considered the lack of a film score at that point was a stroke of genius. But this version had an aweful temp score that beat and thrumped throughout the entire last part of the film. I was enraged, embarassed, depressed. I could barely watch it as I was squirming in my seat so much. All I could think about was all the people who were there watching this movie, perhaps for the first time, and they were being subjected to this far inferior version of an incrdible piece of filmaking. The last straw occurred when [spoiler] Roy saved Deckard. Deckard began to NARRARATE! I was so appalled, I actually left the theater. I was going to go home, but instead, I took a restroom break, went back in and stood at the back of the theater until the movie finished. When it did, I was greeted with another slight attrocity: big letters exclaiming "THE END". Yikes!
Okay, okay. If you're a fan of Blade Runner, and you want to see it on the big screen again, and you live in the L.A. area, sure, go see it at a great theater. If you've never seen the movie, and you would like to view a masterpiece, buy or rent the directors cut letterboxed laserdisc preferably (a stinking video if that's all that's available), and watch it on the biggest television screen you can find with an awesome surround sound stereo system. Other than that, I just can't recommend going to see this version of Blade Runner. I'm sorry. I know I'll make enemies because of that statement, but I feel that the version now playing at the Cinerama Dome is one to be avoided. But decide for yourself. -
Its playing Tues through Thursday
Call 323-466-3401
or voice
(323-466-3347) -
The directors cut was pretty half assed. They had like one month to prepair it. There is still some stuff that needs to be re-instated and cleaned up, especially some of the looping. Maybe the 20th anniversary. Notice on the directors cut video how you can spot the red spices during many of the cuts. Lame. What about Batty's fingers going into Tyrell's eyes. Lame. I would love to see the left seen of Deckard visiting holden in the hospital. Dang.
-
I went to the 10:00 show last night, and all in all I liked it better than the original and better than the "Director's Cut" - In terms of story and exposition.
Things like the opening credits and that bizarre Jerry Goldsmith music in the final chase through the Bradbury building I can live with, because what they're showing at the Cinerama Dome obviously wasn't intended as a final, theatrical release; there were a few shots in which the color timing was way off, and some awkward sound edits here and there.
I never liked the narration from the original release; it always felt like hand-holding for people who weren't bright enough to figure out things like the fact that "Skin job" meant "Replicant". I really liked the single bit of narration at the end of this version, though... I thought it was much more eloquent than what was used in the theatrical release, and it wasn't as clumsy, somehow.
I also enjoyed all of the radio chatter in scenes where the spinners were taking off and landing... it added another realistic touch.
I tried to like the unicorn scene in the "Director's Cut", but the lousy prosthetic horn bobbing up and down in slow motion always ruins it for me... I was glad not to see it in this cut.
The one scene that really jumped out for me was what takes place after Deckard kills Zhora and learns from Bryant that Rachel is missing - Rachel is in the crowd and he *sees her*. There are several shots of Deckard starting to pursue Rachel, and it's not quite clear whether he's planning to kill her or get her into hiding. It's at that point that Leon grabs him and tries to kill him, and the film continues as usual. I thought it added a lot more internal conflict to Deckard's character.
I could have done without the big "THE END" after the elevator door closes, but at least in this cut the music that played was (I think) taken from the opening theme instead of that godawful piece that sounds like music from a video game accompanied by timpani... it was a much more graceful way to end the film. I was able to sit and absorb what I'd just watched instead of wanting to get away from that pounding, adrenal Nintendo-style music.
This is all just my $0.02... I'm hardly the world's biggest Blade Runner fan and I'm certainly not a film critic, but I'd say this is definitely worth seeing if you live in SoCal! I think it's going to be there through Thursday night - don't quote me on that, though.
I'd never seen Blade Runner in any incarnation on the big screen, and the only thing that was really hard to watch was that lousy wig on Zhora's stunt double going through the glass windows - if you think it looks fake on a TV screen, wait'll you see it 20' high! :{/> -
i have the flyer for Columbia's 75th Anniversary Film Fest that starts Friday (2/12). Lawrence of Arabia kicks things off in a biiiig way...SUPER PANAVISION 70 big! i'll be the one in the center seat peeing on my popcorn when that screen opens up. I CAN'T WAIT!!!
-
i have the flyer for Columbia's 75th Anniversary Film Fest that starts Friday (2/12). Lawrence of Arabia kicks things off in a biiiig way...SUPER PANAVISION 70 big! i'll be the one in the center seat peeing on my popcorn when that screen opens up. I CAN'T WAIT!!!
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- Whitney Houston 1963 - 2012 -- 209 total posts 207 posts
- AVENGERS enemy revealed as pink boardgame pieces... You might suffer some form of elation... SPOILERS!!! -- 160 total posts 97 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 144 total posts 77 posts
- Here's The Red Band Trailer For Drafthouse Films' THE FP! -- 68 total posts 68 posts
- New JUDGE DREDD post production footage pops up -- 67 total posts 67 posts
- Does ‘SNL’ Rhyme With ‘Deschanel’?? Learn Which SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Vet Hosts After Sexy Zooey!! -- 64 total posts 60 posts
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 480 total posts 55 posts
- HANNA's Saoirse Ronan to boss around seven little people -- 53 total posts 50 posts
- Friday Brings SWEEPS DAY NINE!! Gab Here About Tonight’s FRINGE!! Plus Einstein on TIM, Wiig On PORTLANDIA, MAHER, CLONE, GIFTED, GRIMM, SPARTACUS, SUPERNATURAL, GOLD RUSH And More!! -- 118 total posts 32 posts
- SPACE 2099!! -- 182 total posts 27 posts