Director's Cut

            I found it surprising how the Director’s cut of Blade Runner, and the original were so different. I was astonished by how different the two endings of the movie were. The ending of the original movie really changed the ending effect that the movie had on the viewers. Ridley Scott, the director, was bound to his contract in 1982, when directing this movie, so the final movie wasn’t how he imagined. In 2007, he decided to reproduce the movie, but this time as he imagined it.

            To Ridley Scott, another version of the movie HAD to be created. The original movie wasn’t what Scott wanted, and thus the aura of the movie had changed. The movie ended with a happy scene with them driving into the sunset, there was no unicorn dream, and there were Harrison Ford voiceovers. These key differences in the original film, to the director’s cut change the aura of the movie. The final cut of the movie has such a strong aura because it’s exactly how Scott envisioned. He was able to put all of himself into he film, rather than just pieces of himself like in the theatrical release.

            The happy ending was severely insignificant to the movie, and taking it out of the film changed the feelings and emotions viewers were supposed to take away from the film. The happy ending completely changed the aura of the movie and this made Scott uncomfortable. Therefore, he had to recreate the film. Harrison Ford’s voiceovers also changed the aura of the movie. They gave more insight into his characters thoughts and revealed more to the viewers. This made the movie easier to watch, but still took away some of the critical thinking the viewer is supposed to do. The voiceovers interrupt your train of thoughts, and put different thoughts into your head.

            This also brings the question, “Is the theatrical release of Blade Runner the original?” Some, including Scott, would say no. Scott had his vision for Blade Runner before the film was released. Since his visions were different from the resulting film, he would say his visions were the original Blade Runner, even though his version came out 25 years later. So does that mean the theatrical release was a remake? How can it be a remake if it was the first physically made?

            Others would say that the 2007 version is the remake and the 1982 version is the original. These people make up the majority, because the 1982 version did come out first, automatically making it the original. Since the director’s cut is literally the directors recreating the film to further fit their visions, it is considered the remake.

            The last group of people who have an opinion say neither are the original. There was a 1982 work print version that included no happy ending, no voiceovers, and no unicorn dream. This version failed audience tests, and thus it was never released. This version is technically the original. It was the first of it’s kind, but that still doesn’t make it the original in other people’s eyes. Barely anyone knows about this version, so it’s hard to call it the original.