Holee Shit, Blade Runner

[featherynscale]

I just saw the director's cut re-release of Blade Runner. I had not seen the film before (although I did read the story last year...) and every time I say that to somebody, they go, "WTF? You haven't seen Blade Runner? How could that be true? It's so very you!"

And, now that I've seen it, I had to ask myself "Holy shit! How could I have not seen this movie?". I mean, really, I've spent 25 years of my life having not seen Blade Runner, and it is so very very fucking me. It expresses practically the whole of my aesthetic preferences. It asks Probing Questions About What It Means To Be Human. It is chock full of moral ambiguity. You don't really know what happens to the hero and the heroine at the end. And, a guy fucks a robot(!!).

Anyway, I feel enriched by the experience.

Comments

[greektoomey.livejournal.com]

I am duly astonished that you have lived so long without this cultural cornerstone. Blade Runner has, for 23 or 24 years, been my all-time favorite movie ever. And I've watched a lot of movies.

I've seen three of the five versions included in the "ultimate collector's edition" -- the original 1982 US theatrical release, the 1992 director's cut, and the 2006 director's re-cut.

Which of the two director's cuts did you see? Finish this quote from Roy Batty, addressing Tyrell near the end of the film: "I want more life, _______."

[malvito.livejournal.com]

Actually, I should not fail to point out that a fellow copulates with a robot in Westworld, as well.

I very much plan to get teh Director's Cut of Blade Runner, but, being the uber-geek completist, I want the 5-disc Whoa Mama Edition that comes in teh metal briefcase.

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Father. It was marked at the end as a 2007 film.

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Shit. I haven't seen Westworld either.
I'm a bad sci-fi fan. :(

[greektoomey.livejournal.com]

Right, I meant "2007 director's re-cut."

Anyway, that line of dialogue was the one thing about the 2007 release that bugged the hell out of me. The original and preferred line, as quoted by White Zombie in "More Human Than Human," is "I want more life, fucker!"

I encourage you to watch the original 1982 release, with the voiceover, at least once.

Are you sure a guy fucks a robot? You said you read the book, right?

I've watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.

[greektoomey.livejournal.com]

It's actually a gun-metal grey plastic briefcase, sadly. However, it does include a metallic origami unicorn, and a hot-wheel-sized replica of Gaff's police cruiser.

My sister gave me a HD-DVD player for xmas, and I immediately ordered the HD-DVD version of the Ultimate Collector's Whoa Mama Edition. I am a happy geek.

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

I intend to watch the original cut, too, but couldn't pass up the opportunity to see it for the first time on the big screen.

And of course, no, I'm not certain that she's a robot, but if she is, it's a story that I like a lot better, so I have chosen to believe that it went down like that.

[greektoomey.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, I didn't phrase that very well. Allow me to ask the question again.

Are you sure a guy fucks a robot?

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

No, I'm not sure about that either. :)

[greektoomey.livejournal.com]

Remember how Deckard convinced Rachel she was a replicant? The story of the spider outside her window?

Okay, now remember Gaff's line, "Too bad she won't live. Then again, who does?" What do you suppose that means? And do you suppose the origami unicorn that Deckard found as he and Rachel were leaving his apartment was in some way related to Deckard's unicorn dream?

[greektoomey.livejournal.com]

Unrelatedly, did you notice that the shadows moved in the photo of "young Rachel" and her mom when Deckard looked at it closely?

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

I think that the thing that makes it most ambiguous is the bit where Rachel asks him if he's ever had the test and he doesn't answer. I think the unicorn was for the viewer, not for the character, though. I think it just happened to be that. Her presence at his apartment is more than enough to justify Gaff having been there to poke about, though he could also have been casing Deckard.

The thing about "Then again, who does?" I took to be commentary on mortality generally, but again, could imply that Gaff knows something Deckard doesn't.

Could go either way. I've just got this thing about people fucking robots...

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

It seemed to me that that happened at several points when he was looking at photos, but I could never tell if that was actually happening, or if my brain was moving things randomly.

[greektoomey.livejournal.com]

Deckard's Unicorn Dream was not included in the 1982 release. Its addition to the 1992 re-release was most significant because prior to that, Gaff's origami unicorn did not import anything, it was just random. However, if Gaff left a unicorn because he somehow knew about Deckard's dream...

Remember Leon's "precious photos"? Notice how Rachel also carried around at least one photo? Did you give any thought to Deckard's collection atop his piano?

Finally, do you remember the police precinct Deckard worked at in the novel?

Not that I'm trying to rain on your cyberfetish parade. Are you familiar with Hajime Sorayama?

[greektoomey.livejournal.com]

Ridley Scott is crafty devil.

[greektoomey.livejournal.com]

Are you familiar with the White Zombie song I mentioned above?

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I'm perversely fond of it, actually.

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

I think the photo thing is pretty thin... The unicorn thing, I will admit to not really getting, so I'm willing to be wrong about that.

I actually don't recall the precinct off the top of my head, but could go dig it back up.

Also, no, I am not knowing Hajime Sorayama. Should I be?

[greektoomey.livejournal.com]

Have you listened to it since being exposed to the film, or did you already know that it was a Blade Runner reference?

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

I already knew that it referred to the film. I have known what the film was about for many years, just hadn't actually got around to watching it. Watching movies seems to be something I'm not very good at. :)

[greektoomey.livejournal.com]

Sorayama is an explicit pin-up artist, his specialties are bondage and robots. If you're to have any kind of proper cyber fetish, you should definitely check his shit out.

Regarding the Nature of Deckard, I strongly recommend that you read the book again, then watch the movie again. There is much less ambiguity in the book, if I recall correctly. It's been many years since I read it.

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Now that I've looked him up, yeah, I have seen some of his stuff before, just didn't attach the name to it. I actually like his bondage stuff better than his robot stuff. (Though recommendations of robot pinups are always welcome...)

I try to consider the book version of anything and its film version to be sort of similar stories that happen in parallel universes. I remember coming away from the book with a sense that Deckard was a replicant, certainly. The film-Deckard is iffier, I think.

[greektoomey.livejournal.com]

It's true that the addition of ambiguity is one of Ridley Scott's greatest contributions to the story, and establishes DADoES? as one of very few P.K. Dick stories that gained something significant in the translation to film.

[leiandra.livejournal.com]

Don't feel bad, K. I *still* haven't seen it nor have I read the book nor did I know "More Human Than Human" was a direct reference. I don't even really know what it's about.

I've been further under that rock than you ever were.

[malvito.livejournal.com]

Classic 70s dystopian tech-gone-awry flick. (And I have it.)