The long overdue _Blade Runner

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

I am seriously shocked at discovering that apparently no Blade Runner thread existed until now. (If there is and all my searching was in vain, please to say.)

Post everything and anything here. For now, I got a further shock earlier today when I read in Paul Sammon's book on the movie a bit saying that there's a headline on a newspaper Deckard is reading that contains the phrase 'The Moon and Antarctica.' Fuckin' Modest Mouse.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 17 April 2006 03:26 (7 years ago) Permalink

ATARI AND PAN-AM STILL EXIST IN 2019

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

― Rabbi Esteban Buttez (ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!!), Monday, 17 April 2006 03:40 (7 years ago) Permalink

yeah i think it's about time for a re-visit.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 17 April 2006 03:43 (7 years ago) Permalink

Lemme tell you about my mother.

― Gilbert O'Sullivan (kenan), Monday, 17 April 2006 03:45 (7 years ago) Permalink

for god's sake kenan, take it to another thread.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 17 April 2006 03:46 (7 years ago) Permalink

― kephm (kephm), Monday, 17 April 2006 03:48 (7 years ago) Permalink

haha

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

― Gilbert O'Sullivan (kenan), Monday, 17 April 2006 03:48 (7 years ago) Permalink

Oh, and greatest score ever. Perhaps.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 17 April 2006 03:52 (7 years ago) Permalink

Seeing this film for the first time, even in the most compromised form ever done of it -- on CBS in 1986, four years after eleven-year-old me saw all the ads for its theatrical run and couldn't understand why my parents weren't going to take me to see Han Solo/Indiana Jones in his new film -- was kinda like lightning out of a clear blue sky.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 17 April 2006 03:54 (7 years ago) Permalink

it's so amazing to me that ridley scott made these two movies that just totally changed cinema sci-fi, or if not changed, then at least became the big movies to rip off for like 20 years, and then never really returned to the genre again.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 17 April 2006 03:57 (7 years ago) Permalink

And never really excelled at anything else.

― Gilbert O'Sullivan (kenan), Monday, 17 April 2006 03:59 (7 years ago) Permalink

uh gi jane?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:03 (7 years ago) Permalink

of course. how could I forget that one.

― Gilbert O'Sullivan (kenan), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:05 (7 years ago) Permalink

Deckard:Shakes? Me too.
Rachael:What?
Deckard:I get 'em bad. It's part of the business.
Rachael:I'm not in the business. -- I am the business.

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.

― kephm (kephm), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:07 (7 years ago) Permalink

y'know, I think I just love both versions in dif ways, but I mean, if this is on late at night, chopped up and interrupted by (painful) ads for life-saving bracelets and suburban sex shops, I will stay up and watch it. A true test of awesome movie power.

― rrrobyn (rrrobyn), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:09 (7 years ago) Permalink

seduction, the mega love boutique. 5220 metropolitan east.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:10 (7 years ago) Permalink

hahahahaha.
yes!

― rrrobyn (rrrobyn), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:13 (7 years ago) Permalink

"Have a better one."

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:14 (7 years ago) Permalink

OMG the commercial came on RIGHT NOW. shockah...

― rrrobyn (rrrobyn), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:16 (7 years ago) Permalink

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?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:16 (7 years ago) Permalink

man i'd love to see that alternate reality

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:17 (7 years ago) Permalink

This movie has three big things going for it (in no special order):

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.

― Gilbert O'Sullivan (kenan), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:17 (7 years ago) Permalink

every movie has THEMES.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:18 (7 years ago) Permalink

Not like this.

― Gilbert O'Sullivan (kenan), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:19 (7 years ago) Permalink

Ok, you're right, literally speaking, every movie has themes. But not many movies play as opera.

― Gilbert O'Sullivan (kenan), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:20 (7 years ago) Permalink

and even fewer play as "popera."

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:21 (7 years ago) Permalink

If only you could see what I've seen with your eyes.

― Gilbert O'Sullivan (kenan), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:26 (7 years ago) Permalink

one of the most quotable movies ever

― latebloomer: Ambassador With Training In Righteousness (latebloomer), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:30 (7 years ago) Permalink

"i say, blade runner!"

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:32 (7 years ago) Permalink

The obvious: "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain."

― Gilbert O'Sullivan (kenan), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:32 (7 years ago) Permalink

Great example of a collaborative screenplay as well. Fancher and Peoples never directly worked together but Peoples modified and reworked Fancher's original screenplay just so, both of course running off the ideas of Dick's novel. Then to top it off the 'tears in rain' line was created by Hauer himself!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:32 (7 years ago) Permalink

he say you brade runner mr decker!

― latebloomer: Ambassador With Training In Righteousness (latebloomer), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:33 (7 years ago) Permalink

Then to top it off the 'tears in rain' line was created by Hauer himself!

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

― Gilbert O'Sullivan (kenan), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:35 (7 years ago) Permalink

For now, I got a further shock earlier today when I read in Paul Sammon's book on the movie a bit saying that there's a headline on a newspaper Deckard is reading that contains the phrase 'The Moon and Antarctica.' Fuckin' Modest Mouse.

-- 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.

― latebloomer: Ambassador With Training In Righteousness (latebloomer), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:36 (7 years ago) Permalink

iy was also Hauers idea to release the dove into the sky too

― latebloomer: Ambassador With Training In Righteousness (latebloomer), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:37 (7 years ago) Permalink

I once broke up with a girl because she didn't understand the dove.

― Gilbert O'Sullivan (kenan), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:38 (7 years ago) Permalink

you sure YOU broke up with HER?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:39 (7 years ago) Permalink

Quite. I mean, she didn't understand the movie at all. She was a silly little thing.

― Gilbert O'Sullivan (kenan), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:40 (7 years ago) Permalink

holy shit i love this movie.

xpost - don't say "quite" anymore.

― gbx (skowly), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:41 (7 years ago) Permalink

It's a word, innit? And also, holy shit I love this movie too.

― Gilbert O'Sullivan (kenan), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:42 (7 years ago) Permalink

was kinda like lightning out of a clear blue sky

― Gilbert O'Sullivan (kenan), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:44 (7 years ago) Permalink

the score is brilliant and it's strangely inseparable from the foley track, which is also brilliant.

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.

― amateurist0, Monday, 17 April 2006 04:46 (7 years ago) Permalink

I had to try to explain the unicorn to stoners once. While stoned. It kind of hurt.

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

― rrrobyn (rrrobyn), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:48 (7 years ago) Permalink

eleven-year-old me...couldn't understand why my parents weren't going to take me to see Han Solo/Indiana Jones in his new film

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.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:48 (7 years ago) Permalink

i kind of (read: VERY MUCH) want to watch this immediately. it's been at least 6 years.

― gbx (skowly), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:49 (7 years ago) Permalink

has anyone evaluated scott as an action director?

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

― Gilbert O'Sullivan (kenan), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:49 (7 years ago) Permalink

haha, ALL I want to do right now is watch this!
xpost

― rrrobyn (rrrobyn), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:50 (7 years ago) Permalink

also kenan you sound like an ass

― amateurist0, Monday, 17 April 2006 04:51 (7 years ago) Permalink

"chariots-for-hire"

what a bad joke

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 17 April 2006 04:53 (7 years ago) Permalink

god i can just imagine pauline kael congratulating herself after every line of that review

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

― amateurist0, Monday, 17 April 2006 04:54 (7 years ago) Permalink

Skipping 406 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

Or:

BLadee Runner

― Tuomas, Monday, 21 May 2012 07:35 (1 year ago) Permalink

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

― piscesx, Monday, 21 May 2012 08:14 (1 year ago) Permalink

texasville?

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Monday, 21 May 2012 08:24 (1 year ago) Permalink

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

― piscesx, Monday, 21 May 2012 08:47 (1 year ago) Permalink

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

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Monday, 21 May 2012 08:53 (1 year ago) Permalink

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.)

― Tuomas, Monday, 21 May 2012 11:01 (1 year ago) Permalink

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.

― Tuomas, Monday, 21 May 2012 11:07 (1 year ago) Permalink

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.

― Tuomas, Monday, 21 May 2012 11:11 (1 year ago) Permalink

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.)

― Tuomas, Monday, 21 May 2012 11:15 (1 year ago) Permalink

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

― piscesx, Monday, 21 May 2012 11:47 (1 year ago) Permalink

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.

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Monday, 21 May 2012 13:20 (1 year ago) Permalink

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

― Vini Reilly Invasion (Elvis Telecom), Monday, 21 May 2012 16:30 (1 year ago) Permalink

(thought "decent sequel" is questionable)

― Vini Reilly Invasion (Elvis Telecom), Monday, 21 May 2012 16:31 (1 year ago) Permalink

lol @ Bladeerunner I am using that one Tuomas thx

― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 21 May 2012 16:32 (1 year ago) Permalink

You guys all remember this series right?

I think Jeter wrote two more after that one.

― Vini Reilly Invasion (Elvis Telecom), Monday, 21 May 2012 16:33 (1 year ago) Permalink

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.

― akm, Monday, 21 May 2012 16:45 (1 year ago) Permalink

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

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 21 May 2012 16:45 (1 year ago) Permalink

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

― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 21 May 2012 16:46 (1 year ago) Permalink

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

― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Monday, 21 May 2012 18:49 (1 year ago) Permalink

Naked co-ed Beach Blade Runner

― Mad God 40/40 (Z S), Monday, 21 May 2012 18:52 (1 year ago) Permalink

or perhaps the video-game-inspired Blade Gunner?

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Monday, 21 May 2012 18:55 (1 year ago) Permalink

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

― Trey Imaginary Songz (WmC), Monday, 21 May 2012 18:58 (1 year ago) Permalink

5 Now Runner 5

― sleepingbag, Monday, 21 May 2012 18:59 (1 year ago) Permalink

He's Just Not That Into Retiring You

― Vini Reilly Invasion (Elvis Telecom), Monday, 21 May 2012 19:02 (1 year ago) Permalink

Let Me Tell You All About My Mother

― i love the large auns pictures! (Phil D.), Monday, 21 May 2012 19:04 (1 year ago) Permalink

Tyrell Perry Corporation's Diary of a Mad White Unicorn

― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Monday, 21 May 2012 19:30 (1 year ago) Permalink

Let Me Tell You All About My Mother

nice

― spextor vs bextor (contenderizer), Monday, 21 May 2012 19:43 (1 year ago) Permalink

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

― A Little Princess btw (s1ocki), Monday, 21 May 2012 20:07 (1 year ago) Permalink

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

oh well.

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Tuesday, 22 May 2012 02:18 (11 months ago) Permalink

that's what I'm saying

― A Little Princess btw (s1ocki), Tuesday, 22 May 2012 02:25 (11 months ago) Permalink

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

― A Little Princess btw (s1ocki), Tuesday, 22 May 2012 02:26 (11 months ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

"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

― pplains, Wednesday, 6 June 2012 04:54 (11 months ago) Permalink

― pplains, Wednesday, 6 June 2012 05:03 (11 months ago) Permalink

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

― pplains, Wednesday, 6 June 2012 05:03 (11 months ago) Permalink

9 months pass...

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 of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Sunday, 10 March 2013 14:21 (2 months ago) Permalink

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.

― i guess i'd just rather listen to canned heat? (ian), Monday, 11 March 2013 07:26 (2 months ago) Permalink

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

― 乒乓, Monday, 11 March 2013 11:44 (2 months ago) Permalink

^^^ 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.

― Donkamole Marvin (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 11 March 2013 15:57 (2 months ago) Permalink

the protagonist is a neurotic mass of resentments/self loathing

why PKD's books are relatable in a nutshell

― ☠ ☃ ☠ (mh), Monday, 11 March 2013 16:00 (2 months ago) Permalink

― nate woolls, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 21:44 (2 months ago) Permalink

this movie gets worse with every screening

― his girlfriend was all 'ugh and he wears a solar backpack' (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 13 March 2013 21:51 (2 months ago) Permalink

we must use Vangelis

― wmlynch, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 21:58 (2 months ago) Permalink

Vangelis and tits = box office gold

― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Wednesday, 13 March 2013 22:10 (2 months ago) Permalink

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

― christmas candy bar (al leong), Wednesday, 13 March 2013 22:10 (2 months ago) Permalink

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

― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 13 March 2013 22:26 (2 months ago) Permalink

they have put back more tits

― j., Wednesday, 13 March 2013 22:59 (2 months ago) Permalink

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

― ARE YOU HIRING A NANNY OR A SHAMAN (Phil D.), Wednesday, 13 March 2013 23:01 (2 months ago) Permalink

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

― zero dark (s1ocki), Wednesday, 13 March 2013 23:03 (2 months ago) Permalink

"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

― DavidM, Thursday, 14 March 2013 10:40 (2 months ago) Permalink

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.

― cardamon, Thursday, 14 March 2013 19:30 (2 months ago) Permalink

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.

The long overdue _Blade Runner_ thread