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Blade Runner Returns To Theaters, DVD
By Rich Drees
May 26, 2006- Seminal
science-fiction classic Blade Runner (1982) will return to
DVD later this year in a special two-disc edition. It will be
followed by a theatrical release of a newly edited version of the
film supervised by director Ridley Scott in early 2007 and a release
of a special multi-disc Ultimate Blade Runner DVD set to
celebrate the film’s 25th anniversary later in the year.
According to a
report this morning in Daily Variety, a new limited-edition
home video release of the film’s 1992 Director’s Cut will be
released in DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-ray formats this coming September.
This version will be available for four months before being
withdrawn.
In 2007,
Blade Runner: The Final Cut will be released into theaters to
celebrate the film’s 25th anniversary. This new version
has been personally supervised by Scott and will contain previously
unseen scenes.
The Final
Cut version of the film will be just one of the four different
edits of the film to be included in the Ultimate Blade Runner
package planned for later in 2007 for DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-Ray
formats. The set will also contain numerous extra features which
have not yet been announced. The DVD sets are currently being
overseen by producer Charles de Lauzirika, who worked with Scott on
the special-edition DVD releases of the director’s Gladiator,
Blackhawk Down and Kingdom Of Heaven as well as the
9-disc Alien Quadrilogy set.
Although a box
office disappointment upon its initial release, Scott’s futuristic
noir film of retired police officer Deckard (Harrison Ford) hunting
down rogue androids in a dystopian future has earned itself an
ever-growing fan base. Although the 1992 Director’s Cut
version has been released on both VHS and DVD, much has been written
about the film’s various edits – including a workprint used at a
small amount of audience test screenings, the film’s original
theatrical release and an international theatrical release version –
sparking interest for a home video release which would encompass
these various edits.
Previously, two
different versions of Scott’s Legend (1986) had been released
on DVD, allowing fans of the director to compare its European
release with the studio mandated edits made to the picture for its
States-side release.
Warner
Brothers, who holds the distribution rights to the movie, has
acknowledged that they have been interested in assembling a
comprehensive DVD release of Blade Runner, but have been
prevented from doing so due to ongoing legal complications. These
complications stem back to the film’s original production. By
contract when the Scott and the production went over-budget, the
film’s bond-completion guarantors, Jerry Perenchio and television
producer Bud Yorkin, assumed ownership of the film. In the
intervening years, they have proven reluctant to co-operate on
Blade Runner related projects.
According to
Paul Sammon, author of the comprehensive book Future Noir: The
Making Of Blade Runner, Perenchio and Yorkin disliked the
film and often clashed with Scott. Although the director won most of
these creative battles, the guarantors still forced him to remove a
scene in which Deckard dreams of a unicorn and to include a
voice-over narration by Ford and a final scene to give the film a
happier ending than what Scott had envisioned. Ironically, when
initially released, these two additions were the target of much
criticism from film critics and audiences.
The 1992
Director’s Cut version of Blade Runner was created after
a 70mm blowup of the film’s workprint, which had been used at test
screenings in Dallas and Denver, was discovered by archivist Michael
Arick. After select Los Angeles screenings of the print, now billed
as a “Director’s Cut,” sold out, Warner Brothers announced plans for
a national art house release. Scott, however, expressed concerns
over the workprint’s temporary music, incomplete color correction
and other technical inadequacies. The studio and director reached an
agreement to use the workprint to create a version that Scott felt
he could, in good conscious, call a Director’s Cut.
Amongst the
many changes Scott requested be made to the film include the removal
of Ford’s voice-over narration and the more upbeat ending that had
been mandated by the film’s guarantors Perenchio and Yorkin as well
as the re-insertion of Deckard’s unicorn dream sequence. However,
due to the press of deadlines to have the Director’s Cut
version made available for its limited theatrical release and
Scott’s attention focused on the production of his film 1492:
Conquest Of Paradise, this edition of the film did not quite
meet his expectations and in later interviews expressed an interest
in going back to create what he hoped would be his definitive vision
for the film. |
