En Whatever

Bladerunner: the Final Word

Slashdot just mentioned a clip that was in the New York Times at the end of last month. Yet another version of Bladerunner is coming out, this time digitized and enhanced (read that as restoring lost color and clarity from the original film). Apparently, director Ridley Scott came out and said definitely that the lead character, Deckard, the cop that hunts replicants, is artificial himself. It's disappointing that the most human character is manufactured:

How to explain such a drastic change? The veteran television producers Bud Yorkin and Jerry Perenchio put up one third of the film’s $22 million budget and the completion bond, which stipulated that if the film went over budget they had to pay the overrun but would also take ownership of the movie. The film went $7 million over budget.

Preview screenings were disastrous. Crowds went to see the new Harrison Ford movie, thinking it would be like “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” and they were befuddled. Mr. Yorkin and Mr. Perenchio, whose relations with Mr. Scott were always tense, took over.

Hence, a happy ending instead of two androids going off into the night to run for the rest of their lives - or existences, or whatever the proper term would be.

It is interesting, and sad, to see how much more success that author Philip K. Dick, on whose work Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, saw after death than during his time here. Unfortunately, such is often the world of authorship.

Labels: Bladerunner, Philip K. Dick, Ridley Scott

posted by Erik Sherman @ 5:54 AM