Being a film fan I’ve come to realise that there are certain scene in movies that stand out in one’s mind as being representative of what the film stands for. Many times that picture is imprinted in your mind long after you’ve forgotten the film’s name. With this in mind I though I’d list a few of the scenes that stand out in my mind with a short description of each.
Blade Runner LA cityscape
When you first enter the world of Blade Runner you’re greeted with a site that looks anything but futuristic. The Los Angeles cityscape is polluted and drenched in rain and manages to convey the idea that Earth is a desolate place with blimps floating overhead proclaiming that a better life awaits people off world. It’s no wonder that Rick Deckard is determined to quit the police force.
Blade Runner city scape
Up close the city in Blade Runner looks even worse and seems to look strikingly like modern-day Tokyo with gigantic neon advertising boards and crowded sidewalks all winding their way through the film’s future version of Los Angeles. It’s unlike any other film noir setting out there but it manages to fit the characters and plot as perfect as a glove.Futurist Syd Mead’s vision of a futuristic LA has to be applauded and many modern-day director’s have paid homage to it from music videos through to animé.
The Battle of the Pelennor Fields
Most of the scenes and settings from the Lord of the Rings movies are superlative to say the least but it was really the Battle of Pelennor Fields that stands out in my mind as the defining scene from the film. Bringing to a head all the film’s separate plots and characters to battle it out in one huge battle between the forces of good and evil is always enough to get the adrenaline flowing but it is especially great when the special effects and computer generated wizardry all combine to create one of the most memorable big screen battles in recent memory.
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Mexican standoff
At the end of The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Sergio Leone makes use of a widescreen shot to capture all three the film’s protagonists as the face off in a duel to see who walks away with the treasure they have hunted for the whole film. Where this scene excels is that it lingers over the fighters and carries on for several minutes intercut with extreme close-ups of the characters’ eyes as they look at each other to see who will draw firs, all the time upping the anxiety levels of both viewer and character. Add in a track from Ennio Morricone that perfectly matches the tempo and feel of the scene and this is one of the best 5 minutes in cinema.
Blade Runner Final Cut
As a huge Blade Runner fan you can imagine my joy when I found the following link posted to a letter written by Phillip K. Dick to the Ladd Company after he had seen a short clip of Blade Runner. It’s interesting to read as it gives a unique insight into Dick’s views on the film’s impact of sci fi as a genre and it also shows that he’s views on the film would pan out in the long run. So if you’re a fan of sci fi or Blade Runner then be sure to read the full letter here:
http://www.philipkdick.com/new_letters-laddcompany.html
So finally I’ve gotten around to several viewings of the eagerly awaited Blade Runner Final Cut that Ridley Scott released last year. As a die hard Blade Runner fan I’ve been chomping at the bit to grab hold of a DVD copy of Blade Runner that does this monumental film justice and the Final Cut is just that. The film has been carefully restored with the soundtrack and visuals receiving a spruce up that manages to move the film into the new millennium and seem even more remarkable for a 25 year old movie. There has been work done on several errors that were obvious to see in the first film such as stunt actors that looked out of place, unsynched dialogue and ropes holding up the spinners in several shots.
While the movie has been restored to its former glory its also rewarding to see that there is a wealth of extras present in this boxset. The jewel in the crown is the 4 hour documenting Dangerous Days that chronicles the movie’s troubled filming process and includes interviews with many of the films actors and participants that are candid and sheds a new light on how hard it was to make this movie. There are also numerous vignettes and featurettes that focus on specific aspects of production as well as some interesting documentaries on the life and writing of Phillip K. Dick, the author of Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep on which Blade Runner was based.
As a treat for die hard fans of the movie such as myself there are multiple versions of the film included consisting of the following:
- The rare original workprint version used in preview screenings.
- The original theatrical release version.
- The re-released Director’s Cut version of Blade Runner
- The newly remastered and restored Final Cut version of Blade Runner.
Each of these versions has received as much restoration work as was possible without altering the underlying core of each movie. There are differences between all the versions leading to some interesting conflicts between certain plot points as well as showing how much the initial version of the movie differed from the Final Cut.
Its still remarkable how much this film has managed to influence most of modern cinema today with films such as the Matrix owing a huge debt of thanks to Ridley Scott for the bleak vision of the future that Blade Runner pioneered all that long ago. Its desire to investigate the meaning and nature of humanity was both erefreshing and original in its time and on each viewing it still raises issues that we can use today to look at ourselves and question precisely what it is that makes us human. While the film might not contain the amount of action and excitement that today’s less patient viewers might demand, it deserves at least to be watched once by everyone. So Craig, give it a try again. Even Newlande managed to watch it without falling asleep (even though it was a close run thing!) 
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