Hilarious Studio Notes on Blade Runner

[Vivek]

Read These Hilarious Studio Notes on 'Blade Runner': "This Movie Gets Worse Every Screening" | Movie News | Movies.com

Ugly side of studio interference. Though sometimes good changes might come out of it, can't imagine how many more such notes and revisions a movie will go through before the final cut happens.

 

[jcoffman99]

Well I'll agree about the falling asleep part. Happens to me every time I try and watch it.

 

[Borjis]

lol, this is exactly why I get annoyed when I'm in an edit session with a "committee"
behind me calling the shots.

 

[Jet Beetle]

Not surprisingly this happens with almost every movie. I do remember the year Blade Runner came out - I was 11 or 12 the summer before and my best friend and I attended the "Ultimate Fantasy" convention in Houston (which went down as the worst convention ever) and we watched a slew of trailers in a screening room - One was Tron which we were jazzed to see - Time Bandits - again, jazzed - third Wrath of Khan, I wasn't a trekiee at the time so I didn't really care - then they showed Blade Runner and we both thought it looked boring - and it was to a 12yr old.

 

[Jeyl]

1. "Where's the Vengelis music?"

I know, right? I own both the original CD, the Trilogy CD release AND the remix just a few months back yet I still cling to hope that the complete score as heard in the film will one day see an official release.

2. Opening too choppy. Voice over dry and monotone.

3. "This Voice over is terrible, the audience will fall asleep."

8. Why is this voice over track so terrible, hopefully this is not being dubbed in.

Don't you mean ADR? Dubbing is usually something you do when you change the language. I mean, how do you do a voice over on set when the actor is supposed to not move his mouth? And wasn't Deckard's voice over a studio insistence?

4. "We need the line about the 100 questions" (Rachael Interrogation)

I'd much rather know why there's still a sunset outside the window after Deckard gave Rachael the 100 questions.

5. Leon flashback dialogue confusing. "Is he listening to a tape?"

Ok, those two instances still confuse me even today. We've already seen the scene take place, we already saw Deckard watching it with the chief, so why does he think back on it again? I don't get it.

6. "I thought we decided to lose the stick figures."

But than we'd lose the "unplug" line. I can kind of see the point in some cases. When a cop is searching a mass murder's den, why would they want to leave something like a very erect stick figure that could possibly let the murderer know that someone very strange was there?

 

[Solo4114]

Not surprisingly this happens with almost every movie. I do remember the year Blade Runner came out - I was 11 or 12 the summer before and my best friend and I attended the "Ultimate Fantasy" convention in Houston (which went down as the worst convention ever) and we watched a slew of trailers in a screening room - One was Tron which we were jazzed to see - Time Bandits - again, jazzed - third Wrath of Khan, I wasn't a trekiee at the time so I didn't really care - then they showed Blade Runner and we both thought it looked boring - and it was to a 12yr old.

Also, I will say that I kinda agree about the voice-over. It's interesting to have in, but my preference is for the versions where it isn't in.

 

[Raza Crew]

I literally spit out my coffee at #14

 

[rodneyfaile]

#21. "Pris' tongue is sticking out!"

Lol!

 

[Birdie]

And wasn't Deckard's voice over a studio insistence?

The voice over in the theatrical release was recorded and added after the movie was taken out of Scott's hands. Ridley had previously attempted multiple versions of the voice over by various writers.

The workprint (one of Ridley's cuts) has only two or three lines of voice-over, but the deleted scenes on the boxset have a lot of voice over stuff that didn't make the cut.

It was scripted from the early Hampton Fancher scripts, so it wasn't the studio's idea, Ridley just couldn't get it to work.

No way of knowing which version is being commented on in these notes, except that it wasn't the final one.

 

[Zombie_61]

...Also, I will say that I kinda agree about the voice-over. It's interesting to have in, but my preference is for the versions where it isn't in.

I concur; it's a better movie without the voice-over.

 

[robn1]

I literally spit out my coffee at #14

I've only ever noticed two. How many were there?

 

[Laspector]

I actually like it better with the voice over.

 

[Jeyl]

I actually like it better with the voice over.

I would argue that the reason the voice over doesn't work is because Harrison Ford's voice isn't one that's suited for voice over. I find that he just cannot convey emotion without him acting out those lines on screen.

 

[MooCriket]

I literally spit out my coffee at #14

When has that ever been a problem?!


Lol

 

[Zombie_61]

I would argue that the reason the voice over doesn't work is because Harrison Ford's voice isn't one that's suited for voice over. I find that he just cannot convey emotion without him acting out those lines on screen.

For me, I don't have an issue with the way Ford did the voiceover (though, admittedly, I've heard better), I simply think it's unnecessary.

 

[Laspector]

I saw this originally in the theaters. I thought the voice over fit perfectly. I thought the movie itself was a throw back to those old detective films that always had the voice over. It's one of the things I like best about the movie. I had already seen the movie probably over a hundred times by the time the first "non voice over" came out. So to me the lack of it just makes the movie feel empty.

 

[Solo4114]

Well, this, in my opinion, is the beauty of the boxed sets that are out there for this film. They include multiple versions and allow the viewer to make their own choice as to which one they want to watch.

 

[Laspector]

Agreed.