This "Blade Runner" fan edit is a labor of love

Originally published at: This "Blade Runner" fan edit is a labor of love - Boing Boing

4 Likes

This looks pretty rad. I would have preferred the colour mix to be more dramatic and purposeful, like the Syd Mead concept work; though I can see that would have been a pain to integrate with the existing footage.

I like the detail of the Spinners touching down with their front wheels first.

4 Likes

You can’t really change the pace of a film, unless you have a lot more footage than running time. Inevitably, things will get cut.

The rerelease of Caligula is composed entirely from footage that wasn’t used in the 1979 film.

3 Likes

I think a lot of people don’t fully appreciate how much leaving unnecessary scenes on the cutting room floor can improve the final product.

Jaws would have been a cheesy B-movie if Spielberg’s editor had let him keep all the ridiculous-looking shark footage he shot.

11 Likes

Ditto Star Wars and the Tosche Station scene with Luke hanging out with his buddies. Athough it was sad that due to the scene getting cut Camie and Fixer were apparently still waiting for him to show up many years later.

(And I won’t even mention some of the terrible stuff that Lucas did with re-releases of that movie adding back in scenes that definitely should have stayed on the cutting room floor.)

9 Likes

Going through footage that was left out of a well-made movie is kind of like going through the waste bin in a fancy restaurant’s kitchen.

You might be surprised by the quality of some of the discarded ingredients you find there, even saddened by all the waste, but you’re still unlikely to find anything better than the stuff that actually went into the meal.

14 Likes

… article posted by Gail Sherman

Blade Runner / fan edit / movies / scifi

9 Likes

Why “White Dragon,” specifically?

I’d assume the Amazon miniseries was named after the same thing, whatever it is, but perhaps it’s a coincidence :thinking:

1 Like

The dragon on the fast food stall Deckard eats at has a neon white dragon on it.

I’m assuming that’s the reason.

13 Likes

Blade Runner is my all time favorite film. I have, I think, three versions of it. It’s been a while since I watched it. I’m looking forward to this! Thanks!

blade runner GIF

4 Likes

Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now Redux” . . . I get what he was going for in those two overly-long scenes with the Playboy Bunnies and the French plantation, but they just drag the movie down.

Yeah. I’ll watch it too. I’ve already seen some of the deleted parts, and they haven’t ruined the movie for me.

4 Likes

As a concept, it’s neat to see someone try and make Syd Mead’s LA look like it belongs with Blade Runner footage. But having looked at the trailer, this seems more about one filmmaker taking a bunch of stuff and throwing it all on screen, regardless of whether it makes sense. Leon hiding in the ceiling? Why? A detailed shot of a frozen Hannibal Chew? Why? Several minutes dedicated to a woman dancing with a snake? Why? Perhaps the most “why” thing is the VO. It has always been awful, and hearing Harrison Ford’s hilariously bored voice soured me immediately. The Final Cut is almost too much, and I consider it to be damn near perfect. This just looks like excess for excess’s sake.

3 Likes

Whether the end result is a gem or a disaster, anyone who loves the movie enough to dedicate a decade of their life to creating a love letter to it of this magnitude has my respect. I’ll happily give them a couple of hours of my time to appreciate what they’ve created.

At this point, I’ve watched the Theatrical Cut, the Director’s Cut, the International Cut, the Workprint Cut, and the Final Cut, several times each. Add in all its spin-offs, the sequel, the source material, the making-of documentaries and books (Future Noir is excellent), as well as all of the films that were inspired by it, and it’s less of a film than a cultural and artistic watershed. Bringing another interpretation of it into the world, especially one that gives more insight into the original shooting script, is okay by me.

7 Likes

They’ve posted a few of the shots they’ve “rescued” or “reimagined” on their YouTube channel. I love this movie, and I applaud the effort, but it just doesn’t look like it’s gonna pay off.

3 Likes

Weirdly, I found that Redux seemed to zip along for me.

1 Like

Here’s to kazu releasing a version sans the narration.

1 Like

… there will be fan-edits of the fan-edit :face_with_spiral_eyes:

5 Likes

I agree with that to a point: Elaine May’s A New Leaf, one of my favorite comedies, one read by Hollywood as being too dark (along with being too long).

Hollywood did a chop job on it then released it that way (in violation of May’s contract), butchering it and changing the ending to a family-friendly happy one. Elaine is still with us, and I sometimes fantasize that her garage or attic houses her entire film, ready to be restored and made whole.

3 Likes

I made myself an edit of the shining, which is essentialy the us version, but cutted out the ridiculous cheesy skeletons-scene near the end like the european cut does. the hard cut works well enough and I doubt even registers if you dont know the deleted scene;

(edited scene. slight jack-nicholson-is-nuts warning)

and the scene where jack “makes out” with the woman from room 237 is cut right after he kisses her (before her “transfirmation” to evil hack-lady and he screaming in horror, running away) and hardcuts to wendy, pacing in their appartement and waiting for jack. this cut works reasonable well, even with the score. I always had a hard time with this scene, cause its the only time jack sees the evil of the place not just in his dreams (besides being a pretty hammy, almost shlocky scene, badly undercutting the style and slow, creepy mood beforehand). his calm after this experience talking with wendy never made sense to me. he was horriefied and told her after his dream in the lounge half an hour before! now it just looks as if he had -well- intercourse with the ghost, which makes sense, as every ghost he encounters is playing nice with him and trying to gain his trust in one way or another. and his reaction to wendy also makes sense now.

(edited scene. slight nudity warning);

these two cuts make the film perfect in my opinion. please dont be mad, stanley.

2 Likes

unfortunately it seems they left the extremly uncomfortable deckard-half-rapes-rachel-scene in the film. it seems modified, though. and hopefuly they scratched the unbelivable cheesy saxophone-score in that scene. always forget it exists til it comes and cringes the f out of me.

especially the plantation-scenes. its drawn out waaaay to much.

4 Likes