Blade Runner... for real this time?

sounds too good to be true. I'll wate until i see it to reall go
bonker, but... wow.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents

So... you remember how we said that for every piece of good DVD news
this week, there was a piece of bad news? Well... how 'bout we end the
week on a REALLY great note, sans the dark could? You may have heard
the word from Daily Variety this morning. Yes... Ridley Scott's Blade
Runner is FINALLY, officially, coming to DVD. It's going to be coming
to HD-DVD. And it's going to be coming to Blu-ray Disc as well. This is
real... it's happening... and it's going to be very, very cool.

First a bit of background on the reason for the title's delay. Warner
had been planning a 2-disc special edition of the film early last
year... but suddenly realized that their rights to the title were about
to lapse. However, the studio ponied up the big bucks to get back what
is arguably one of their primo Cadillac catalog titles (dare you to say
that three times fast). The ownership situation now resolved, Warner
has set in motion plans to really do something special with the film.
You might recall back in January when I asked them about the film at
their 2006 catalog press event, they hinted that things were looking
good for a 2007 release. Privately, we were told that there were BIG
things in the works, but were also told that if we leaked too much
about the project, we might end up like Fredo Corleone (or WORSE, that
the project itself could be complicated). Needless to say, though we've
been dying to talk about this for months now (and we get about two
e-mails a day asking about the title), we've kept largely silent on the
subject. Now that the project is finally out in the open, however, we
can finally say a few things. Keep in mind that the major portion of
the release is still over a year away. But here's the basic plan...

This coming September, there will be a new limited DVD release (HD-DVD
& Blu-ray Disc are also planned) of the restored 1992 Director's Cut
(you know... the one that isn't really a director's cut). This will be
available for just four months. We believe this is basically the 2-disc
release that Warner had originally planned to bow LAST year.

Then next year, just in time for the film's 25th anniversary, Ridley
Scott's ultimate Blade Runner: The Final Cut will hit theaters for a
limited run. This will be a REAL director's cut, with restored scenes
and more - all the stuff that Ridley's always wanted to do with the
film but hasn't really been given the chance to do before. That will be
followed later in the year by an Ultimate Blade Runner DVD release. You
can expect a multi-disc box set (again, likely with a simultaneous
HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc release) that will contain at least four
different versions of the film... ALL in full anamorphic widescreen, we
might add. You'll get the film's original U.S. theatrical cut, you'll
get the expanded international theatrical cut, you'll get the 1992
Director's Cut and you'll get the new Final Cut as well. Now... we
realize at this point, you may have questions. Keep in mind, there's a
TON of additional material that's going to be included in this set that
hasn't been announced and can't be talked about yet - all-new material
that you've never seen before. The set is pretty early in the planning
and production stage, so it's way too early to talk details, but trust
us... some very cool stuff is in the works. These extras will likely be
different from the September '06 release, so if you buy both you'll at
least be getting your money's worth.

Imagine that... anamorphic widescreen AND real value in a DVD release!
Hey... are we being punked?

You veteran Bits readers will also be thrilled to learn that longtime
Ridley Scott DVD producer Charles de Lauzirika and his team are
involved in project, and have already been working on the set for a
while now. Lauzirika, as you may know, was the producer responsible for
Fox's 9-disc, massively comprehensive Alien Quadrilogy box set, as well
as the multi-disc special editions of Scott's Gladiator (from
DreamWorks), Black Hawk Down (from Sony) and Kingdom of Heaven
(recently available from Fox), among others. You should also know that
Lauzirika and his team are big fans of Blade Runner themselves. Rest
assured that they know what you guys all want to see on this release,
and they're working very hard to make it as good as it can be. Trust us
when we say that this project is in EXACTLY the right hands.

Alright, Replicants... here's a little eye candy from artist Drew
Struzan to salve yer synthetic souls in the meantime...

Goro

While I'm glad their coming out, loaned my old copy out yrs ago and never
got it back hehe, but I don't exactly "get it". Sounds like he's doing the
same thing that was done to SWars that so many got upset about. Adding
sceens and such is fine by me but so many were angry & I'm curious why is
this movie is any different

Bratboy

On Sat, 27 May 2006 06:14:16 -0600, "Bratboy"
<> wrote:

>While I'm glad their coming out, loaned my old copy out yrs ago and never
>got it back hehe, but I don't exactly "get it". Sounds like he's doing the
>same thing that was done to SWars that so many got upset about. Adding
>sceens and such is fine by me but so many were angry & I'm curious why is
>this movie is any different

This may have to do with the controversy Scott started when he claimed
in an interview that Deckard was a replicant. Supposedly there are
scenes in the latest version which support that claim which were cut
from the original film.

Then there was the matter of the missing replicant. Five escaped but
only four were accounted for - Roy, Rachael, Pris and Leon. The fifth
was rumored to have committed suicide but that could have been a
coverup for Deckard.


--

"First and last, it's a question of money. Those men who own the
earth make the laws to protect what they have. They fix up a sort
of fence or pen around what they have, and they fix the law so the
fellow on the outside cannot get in. The laws are really organized
for the protection of the men who rule the world. They were never
organized or enforced to do justice. We have no system for doing
justice, not the slightest in the world."
--Clarence Darrow

Bob

"Bratboy" <> wrote in message
news:44784176$0$8616$ om...
> While I'm glad their coming out, loaned my old copy out yrs ago and
> never got it back hehe, but I don't exactly "get it". Sounds like he's
> doing the same thing that was done to SWars that so many got upset
> about. Adding sceens and such is fine by me but so many were angry &
> I'm curious why is this movie is any different

The difference is that Ridley Scott doesn't disown the original
theatrical cuts of his movie.

Joshua Zyber

Exactly, he's giving you every version of Blade Runner that was ever
made, so you can pick your favourite, all in anamorphic widescreen.
Which SWars STILL isn't doing even with the recent news.

macross3@excite.com

"Bratboy" <> wrote:

> While I'm glad their coming out, loaned my old copy out yrs ago and
> never got it back hehe, but I don't exactly "get it". Sounds like he's
> doing the same thing that was done to SWars that so many got upset
> about. Adding sceens and such is fine by me but so many were angry &
> I'm curious why is this movie is any different

The difference is that when Lucas added the imrovements, he removed
the original versions completely from circulation in every and all
forms. That isn't happening with BLADE RUNNER. If you read the article,
they quite specifically state that the mega-set will contain all four
versions of the film, allowing the consumer to choose which one(s)
to watch, instead of completely removing that choice from the viewer.

Now granted, this *had* been done, in a sense, with BLADE RUNNER
back in 1993, when Warner released the Not Really Director's Cut,
and yanked the original version out of circulation. But they are
"fixing" that now.

-- jayembee

jayembee

jayembee wrote:
> "Bratboy" <> wrote:
>
> > While I'm glad their coming out, loaned my old copy out yrs ago and
> > never got it back hehe, but I don't exactly "get it". Sounds like he's
> > doing the same thing that was done to SWars that so many got upset
> > about. Adding sceens and such is fine by me but so many were angry &
> > I'm curious why is this movie is any different
>
> The difference is that when Lucas added the imrovements, he removed
> the original versions completely from circulation in every and all
> forms. That isn't happening with BLADE RUNNER. If you read the article,
> they quite specifically state that the mega-set will contain all four
> versions of the film, allowing the consumer to choose which one(s)
> to watch, instead of completely removing that choice from the viewer.
>
> Now granted, this *had* been done, in a sense, with BLADE RUNNER
> back in 1993, when Warner released the Not Really Director's Cut,
> and yanked the original version out of circulation. But they are
> "fixing" that now.
>
> -- jayembee

i think THIS is the key point right here. Unlike the STAR WARS SEs,
the split b/w the BLADE RUNNER Theatrical v BR DirCut is split with a
substantial percentage on both sides. Up til now, the Theatrical has
been Lucas'd (unavailable on dvd) but now that's about to change.
THAT'S the big deal, that both the previouis versions in pristine forms
with booKoo extras is going to be released. The new uber-Dir Edit may
end up a debacle, but has been something that fans have been interested
in since news of it leaked a while back.

This set GIVES THE FANS WHAT THEY WANT.

-goro-

Goro

"Goro" <> wrote in message
news: ups.com...
> i think THIS is the key point right here. Unlike the STAR WARS SEs,
> the split b/w the BLADE RUNNER Theatrical v BR DirCut is split with a
> substantial percentage on both sides. Up til now, the Theatrical has
> been Lucas'd (unavailable on dvd) but now that's about to change.
> THAT'S the big deal, that both the previouis versions in pristine
> forms
> with booKoo extras is going to be released. The new uber-Dir Edit may
> end up a debacle, but has been something that fans have been
> interested
> in since news of it leaked a while back.
>
> This set GIVES THE FANS WHAT THEY WANT.

Also worth noting is that Blade Runner has always been slightly flawed
and in need of just a little bit of tweaking. The 1982 theatrical cuts
had the bad voiceover and Stupid Happy Ending. The 1992 "Director's Cut"
fixed those things but lost little pieces of violent footage that had
been in the old European theatrical cut. There's never really been a
"perfect" version of Blade Runner, and so fans have been willing to give
Ridley Scott another chance to get it right.

Star Wars, on the other hand, was essentially perfect right out of the
gate. Then in 1997 George Lucas decided to **** it over with idiotic
changes that made it a lesser film, and to disown the original version
in the process. That rubs a lot of people the wrong way.

Joshua Zyber

In article <JO-dnR1L_cEQCuTZRVn->, Joshua Zyber
<> wrote:

> "Goro" <> wrote in message
> news: ups.com...
> > i think THIS is the key point right here. Unlike the STAR WARS SEs,
> > the split b/w the BLADE RUNNER Theatrical v BR DirCut is split with a
> > substantial percentage on both sides. Up til now, the Theatrical has
> > been Lucas'd (unavailable on dvd) but now that's about to change.
> > THAT'S the big deal, that both the previouis versions in pristine
> > forms
> > with booKoo extras is going to be released. The new uber-Dir Edit may
> > end up a debacle, but has been something that fans have been
> > interested
> > in since news of it leaked a while back.
> >
> > This set GIVES THE FANS WHAT THEY WANT.
>
> Also worth noting is that Blade Runner has always been slightly flawed
> and in need of just a little bit of tweaking. The 1982 theatrical cuts
> had the bad voiceover and Stupid Happy Ending. The 1992 "Director's Cut"
> fixed those things but lost little pieces of violent footage that had
> been in the old European theatrical cut. There's never really been a
> "perfect" version of Blade Runner, and so fans have been willing to give
> Ridley Scott another chance to get it right.
>
His version won't have that "violent footage", most likely.

--
Chris Mack "Refugee, total ****. That's how I've always seen us.
'Invid Fan' Not a help, you'll admit, to agreement between us."
-'Deal/No Deal', CHESS

Invid Fan

Invid Fan wrote:
> His version won't have that "violent footage", most likely.

Why not? He shot it. HTH.

-Junior

unclejr