The Scandinavian Sci-Fi, Game & Toy Convention 2002
I visited the “Scandinavian Sci-Fi, Game & Toy Convention” at Sollentuna Mässan in Stockholm, The convention was open for two days (26’th & 27’th of October) and it was the first time the convention was held in Stockholm (The convention has been held in Malmö before).
A friend of mine and me went there on Saturday the 26’th, We where there pretty early but even thou the convention had only been open for nearly one hour there was alot of people and it was very crowded.
The exhibition that was 
a part of the whole thing was not as big as I thought it would be. Among the exibition objects where a alien head from one of the Alien movies, A gun used in Terminator 2 and there where also some items from “Lord of the rings” but I did seem to find them (as I said, there was alot of people there). I did see the license plate from Deckard’s groundspinner which was pretty nice and in very good shape.
There where a huge amount of “Star Wars” items being sold, everything you can think of including new and old action figures. There where also alot of Star Trek objects and stuff from “Lord of the rings”. Sadly the only Blade Runner stuff I could find where the movie poster.
Two of the actors from “Star Wars”, Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett) & Kenny Baker (R2-D2) where there signing
photographs along with Mr. Hauer whom raised money to “Rutger Hauer’s Starfish Foundation”.
Meeting Mr. Hauer
So, after have been looking at all the different merchandise that was being sold, I headed over to the section where Mr. Hauer and the other actors where.. Do I have to mention that my heart rate was about 300 beats per minute as I was getting closer 😉
I got a ticket to the table where Mr. Hauer where and I headed over to the cafeteria to wait and I where lucky and found a free table and after a some refreshments and rest they called out numbers 70 to 80, so we headed back and got in line..
After 30 minutes or so it was my turn and I must say that Mr. Hauer is quite an big guy, I was nervous (It’s not everyday you’ll get to meet the man whom is Roy Batty !!), I shook hands with Mr. Hauer I said that it was an honor to meet him, I tried to do some small talk (I think they could tell that I was a whee bit nervous), I told them whom I was and that I have a Blade Runner website.
I
noticed that even thou there was a lot of people waiting Mr. Hauer took time to talk with each and everyone. Mr. Hauer asked if I where going to the special screening of Blade Runner later the same evening. I told him that I had a ticket to the screening and that I had a million of questions, I asked Mr. Hauer if he where up for it, He smiled and said “Sure”. I started to feel more comfortable after a while and I got the impression that Mr. Hauer is a pretty warm, open and also quite funny guy.
I got a signed copy of the Blade Runner script, a signed photography of Mr. Hauer as Roy Batty and then I also had a picture taken with Me and Mr. Hauer.
The Special Screening of Blade Runner
The special screening of Blade Runner with Rutger Hauer as special guest took place in the pretty small “Focus” cinema in Hagsätra. Jesper Isberg whom is the man behind the Convention starts asking everyone to turn off their cellular telephones and he also says that the Q&A is being recorded and that it will be released on DVD in the future.
Before Blade Runner and the Q&A we where shown the short film “The Room” (2000) which was both directed (together with Erik Lieshout) and stars Rutger Hauer. “The Room” is a very beautiful black/white short film based upon the first book from famous dutch writer Harry Mulisch. Mr. Hauer talked about this short movie and he said that he had plans to do more short movies and that he also wanted to do some more directing. If I understood things correctly, “The Room” would be on the upcoming “Troslösa” DVD by Liv Ulmann and Ingmar Bergman (I’m not 100% sure of this).
Then he asked if we wanted to hear his thoughts on Blade Runner, He crossed over the fact that Ridley has said that Deckard is an replicant. Mr. Hauer said that he thinks that this is just one of the little things that Ridley Scott does to play with us, just to put another log on the fire (so to say..), He said (as a joke) that the next time he would meet Ridley he would push him towards the wall and ask why the heck he is messing with our brains (By now the audience where laughing pretty wild).
I asked Mr. Hauer what feeling he had when he came to the set (Since Darryl Hannah in the “On the Edge of Blade Runner” documentary says that she felt like it was going to another world). He said that it was an amazing set, Ridley’s eye for details and that sometimes it could take a couple of hours just to set the light for a scene, This was something that Ridley did even when all of the crew began to complain, Ridley had gone 8 million over budget and had the “money men” hanging over him like dark clouds, but he continued to do things his way.
I also asked him if he knew anything about the upcoming “Special Edition” but I got nothing out of him on this question. He said that he knew nothing about this.
There was also a question about sequels for Blade Runner, Mr. Hauer said that he won’t do sequel and that there chances for a sequel are about as slim as they can be.
I think that the Q&A session lasted for almost two and a half hours, Mr. Hauer answered a lot of questions and He said that he’s very proud of Blade Runner. After the Q&A we got to watch Blade Runner “Directors Cut”, the copy we saw was in very poor condition and had no subtitles, I can live without the subtitles but the picture quality was horrible.
The Q&A session was the highlight of the evening and we got to know a lot of interesting stuff.. He spoke very openly about everything and he made us laugh at some points.. It was an evening to remember.
Pictures
Here are some pictures that I took during the convention and the special 20’th anniversary screening of Blade Runner. Sadly, when I scanned the photos I could not get the quality I wanted. Click on images to see one with higher resolution.
