Here at Comic Con I had a great chance to chat it up in a lengthy roundtable session promoting the new Blade Runner: The Final Cut DVD which is due to come out on December 18, 2007. Three different versions of the DVD will be released: a two-disc set, a four-disc Collector’s Edition set and five-disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition set in collectible “Deckard Briefcase” packaging. Rest assured this is definitely, without a doubt, the final version. Details of each edition can be found by clicking on any of those links and it will also be available on HD DVD and Blu-ray disc. Meanwhile, I’m going to give you a taste of some of the highlights of the session.

DVD Producer Charles De Lazrika

This guy has worked on a ton of other Ridley Scott DVD editions including the fantastic Kingdom of Heaven Director’s Cut. He began talking about what sets this “Final Cut” apart from the other versions. “If you’re a fan of the film, it’s just chock-full of new little details and moments … Obviously there’s the big reshoot we did with Joanna Cassidy to fix that obvious stunt double (when her character gets shot) and that came out beautifully, you can’t even tell Joanna wasn’t originally in those shots.”

Charles mentioned that some of the deleted scenes that appear on the disc or scenes that were recut for the film were done with long-lost footage found in studio archives. “When they did the test screens (during the film’s original release) and they turned out so negatively, they had to go back and dumb it down to the point that that’s what you hear in the original cut … so it’s about 47 minutes of alternate cut Blade Runner.”

Charles De Lazrika on Ridley Scott and when the idea for this definitive edition came about: “That’s my favorite film, that’s why I wanted to work with him. I had been working for him and then started producing his DVDs in 1999. We had our first meeting with Warner Bros. in 2000 for Blade Runner and it was on and off, on and off, you know, for seven years.”

I asked Mr. De Lazrika what was it about the process that took so long for this version to come about. “It was a lot of things. Mostly, it was the legal issues. You know, because as you know, Warner Bros. doesn’t actually own Blade Runner, it’s owned by Jerry Perrenchio and Bud Yorkin. It’s a similar situation with George Lucas and Star Wars. They own it, 20th Century Fox distributes it and it was a similar situation here. So it was kind of about the deal-making and the deal that was in place when we started is not the deal that took place now.”

De Lazrika on the film’s initial theatrical failure and lasting success: “I’m glad everyone’s embracing the film after 25 years of controversy and everyone really getting it now … at the time it came out it really was too bold and it came out in that amazing year of 1982 where there were these incredible genre films that came out that summer and Blade Runner was just the dark, evil one that came out.”

Charles De Lazrika, I decided, was good people. I thanked him personally for that Kingdom of Heaven - Director’s Cut he produced and moved on to the next table.

Production Designer Larry Paul, Visual Futurist Syd Mead, Special Effects Artist Mark Stetson and Isa Dick Hackett, daughter to Blade Runner author Phillip K. Dick

There weren’t many bombshells here. Larry Paul might be the nicest guy in the world and he had tons of detailed stories but so much of it is already covered in so many Blade Runner books it would really be pointless to recount them here. I was curious to ask Isa - who was otherwise being ignored (and who, by the way, is a real knockout) - what adaptation of her father’s books she preferred after Ridley Scott’s film. Without missing a beat she said, “A Scanner Darkly. Because it’s a small film but they really stayed true to the book. The director did everything he promised. I really couldn’t be happier about it.”

I also asked her which adaptation she’d like to see next. “Ubik.” she told me, Ubik would be my first choice. You know what would be cool, though it’s a tricky one is The Three Stigmata.” At that point, special effects artist Mark Stetson inserted, “I’d like to see Total Recall made again for the first time” which got a laugh around the horn. And with that I was on to Ridley Scott.

Director Ridley Scott

When finally sitting down to do a true director’s cut of the film, Ridley admitted he hadn’t seen the movie in twelve years and wasn’t looking forward to watching it again. “I asked to see a print and I actually brought a pad and a light pencil, you know, to take some notes in the dark as to how we’re going to fix it. And actually, there was nothing on the pad at the end of the screening.”

When asked about his feelings of someone tinkering with a movie years after people are used to things being a certain way, he responded, “I think you do what you want. I’m a painter so I will paint something and I’ll leave it. I think it’s finished. I’ll put it aside where I can’t see it. I’ll go back suddenly and look at it and then I’ll say, ‘Uh, I’m not sure now’ or ‘It’s done’. But you always go back and look.” Though he later warned, “There’s always a danger of … overdoing something.”

As many of you know, Blade Runner tested horribly with audiences because it confused everyone. After the test-screening, the film was slapped with a happy ending and a running voice over by Harrison Ford. “They’re [all versions of the film] all interesting. The idea I was completely for was the voice over. There’s all this bullshit of how they took the movie away from me … Absolute twaddle. I was there and Harrison and I talked about this thing and asked me, ‘Do you like this?’ and I said, ‘If they are confused … we may have to explain a couple of things. If we can get the right words then it could work … but we couldn’t crack it. And Harrison really tried and I really tried. But the voice-over was becoming over-explanatory … ”

But the MTV generation, Ridley credits, found the film. It was the proper time and suddenly college students and young sci-fi and noir fans thought the film was - in Ridley’s words - “cool”

Will Ridley Scott ever return to sci-fi? “Sure, ask me when I get the script. The only reason I haven’t done it is I haven’t gotten a script … the idea of science fiction today I think is almost … done it, seen it so many times … there’s very few originals.” He mentioned some original classics of different genres citing 2001, The French Connection, Star Wars and “Stephen Spielberg’s gentle, optimistic look at outer space with Close Encounters. And I then did the opposite with Alien and scared the shit out of you and then you have The Exorcist. These are all one-offs. I mean, repossession of the body … you can’t do that, I can’t do that. Billy Friedkin’s already done it. I couldn’t possibly even entertain it.”

Scott immediately shift gears then and said, “You guys should see American Gangster, that’s great.” The group of journos around the table laughed and Ridley gave us a smirk. It was a nice non-segue for Scott who seemed really excited about his latest film. “I’m really happy with it and I haven’t been as happy as [with a film] in a long time.”

He told us the American Gangster shoot was a breeze. “Two takes. Bang! Onto the next. That’s it. Speed. Speed. Speed. Speed. We actually did 180 locations in Manhattan. That’s a lot and you can’t hang about.” The enormity of the number drew looks around the room. Did he say 180 in Manhattan?

When asked if he felt the shadow of The Godfather over his newest film, “Yeah. Of course. What I’ve learned, though … what you have to do is you get the right person for the script. I can write … but I can’t write like Steve Zaillian. I can’t write like Eric Roth. I can’t write like Richard Price. I can’t write like Bill Monahan. But I can afford to pay him.” Chuckles erupted around the room. It was impossible not to love this guy.

Not that this is news, but Scott confirmed (again) that yes, Harrison Ford’s character is indeed an android. “I think at the time Harrison thought it was too neat … but I still felt the irony made sense.”

Someone asked if he would ever consider doing a sequel to Blade Runner to which Ridley replied, “I don’t do sequels. I do one-offs.” I followed by asking whether or not he thought a big-budget film with Hampton Francher and David Webb Peoples’ script would get green-lit today. “Um, good question. You know, I don’t know. I mean, there’s not enough action in it. There’s a lot of talking and there’s a lot of good actors. The Wachowski Brothers, I read, were asked several times, ‘Were you influenced by Blade Runner?’ and the reply was, ‘Of course we fucking were. But we were the only ones who liked it. So I don’t know. I really don’t know … on American Gangster, we tested at 92. No one moved. No one left. 450 people … that’s a range of 18 to 60 so they asked ‘Do you want to touch it?’ and I said, ‘No, leave it alone’.

Finally, I asked Ridley about his relationship with Russell Crowe because he’s had few - if any - relationships with another actor quite like this one. “That all just fell into place, it’s weird. It’s fun. After Gladiator I just kept touch with him. Yeah, it’s true … when you work with an actor again it’s great because you get all the crap out of the way, you know? You’ve done the waltz, had the angst … he’s truly one of the best actors [working] today”.

Couldn’t agree more Sir Ridley. Well, that about wraps this baby up. Keep an eye out for Blade Runner: The Final Cut in December and continue to check RopeofSilcon for continual updates

Related post categories: Comic-Con, Features : Blade Runner

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