Tag: Final Cut

UK Total Film interviewed Sir Ridley Scott in their latest edition, here are the Blade Runner bits..

TF : What’s the latest with the Blade Runner Special Edition
RS : It’s finished. a five disc set in a Deckard briefcase comes out in the autumn. We’ve got a reconformed, state of the art digital print, which we haven’t really had for about 15 years. It’ll probably be shown at the Venice Film Festival.

TF : Have any new sequences been shot ?
RS : Not really: we’ve gone back into the original negative, taken some stuff out and popped stuff back in. There’s a littlle bit that’s new, but generally it pretty much stands up.

TF : We hear you’ve touched up the scene where Joanna Cassidy gets retitred …
RS : Originally it was a stunt girl because they didn’t want Joanna running through fake plate glass. I didn’t want her to get hurt so I got a stunt person to do it. We figured today you could remove that stunt gal’s face easy and replace it with Joanna’s, so they did it against a greenscreen. We’ve just improved that little bit.

TF : Has Harrison Ford contributed anything ?
RS : Harrison’s fully onboard; he’s already done his interviews. Everyone’s been interviewed, which is nice. It’s nice that everyone’s still alive!

Sounds very good, right ?.. Still no official news from Warner Bros. on any special package thou but it seems like the now removed ezydvd packaging is what we will get and what we are waiting for.. More about that can be found in last months news in the archive
Source: oscar_merkx at hometheaterforum.com

Highdefdigest.com reports that a promotional flyer for “Blade Runner – The Essential 25’th Anniversary Edition” on HDDVD with October 2007 as release date can be found in Warner Bros. upcoming HDDVD release of “Ultimate Matrix Collection” which is soon to be released.

Inside copies of the ‘Ultimate Matrix Collection’ (arriving this Tuesday, May 22), Warner has included the following advert that gives the first official confirmation of an arrival window for ‘Blade Runner’ (which is now being dubbed ‘The Essential 25th Anniversary Edition’)
Source: Highdefdigest.com
My personal guess is that the correct & official title of the release will be “Blade Runner – The Essential 25’th Anniversary Edition” and that it will be released on all formats this October 2007
This could be the best news on the upcoming release that we have been waiting for so long..

Source: The Home Theater Forum

Okey, Im late reporting this but it’s still interesting news and maybe a special collectors item packaging kind of release. If it will be released outside Australia is unknown at this moment.

The Australian Online DVD store ezydvd.com published an upcomming “Blade Runner – Ultimate Collection” which according to their website cost $199.83 (Australian Dollars). The information at their website is now removed but someone has saved the information in PDF format. For those of you whom want to download the information should click here. This edition comes in a “Blade Runner Brief Case Packaging with handle” and includes

Blade Runner Brief Case packaging with handle
Digi-Package with Foil Enhanced and Embossed Slipcase (5 Discs)
Lenticular motion image from the original feature
Collectible Model Spinner
Collectible Origami Unicorn
Collection of photographs from film
Letter from Ridley Scott

Disc 1: The Final Cut (2007)

Ridley Scott’s definitive new version of his science-fiction masterpiece includes added & extended scenes, added lines and new and cleaner special effects.

Disc 2: Other cuts of Blade Runner

82 U.S. Theatrical version

82 International Theatrical Version

92 Director’s Cut

Disc 3 – “Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner” Documentary

Newly created documentary: Through interviews with the cast and crew, critics and colleagues, this feature-length documentary provides a mainstream-friendly yet meaningful in-depth look at Blade Runner’s literary genesis, its challenging production and controversial legacy. When all is said and done, this will be the definitive documentary on the film.

Disc 4: Enhanced Content Bonus (TBC)

INCEPTION – Featurettes and galleries devoted to Philip K. Dick, the birth of Cyberpunk and adapting the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

PRE-PRODUCTION – Featurettes and galleries devoted to script development, conceptual design and abandoned sequences.

PRODUCTION – Featurettes and galleries devoted to principal photography and locations.

POST-PRODUCTION – Featurettes and galleries devoted to deleted scenes, music and visual effects.

RELEASE – Featurettes and galleries devoted to marketing and reaction including Trailers, TV Spots and Promotional Featurettes

LEGACY – Featurettes and galleries devoted to the film’s resurrection and impact.

Disc 5: Work Print Version & Enhanced Content

Including the rarely seen Work Print version and potentially the 52 min. Channel Four (UK) documentary which was the first serious documentary created for the film.

Why the information has been taken down from the ezydvd website can be found in the alt.fan.blade-runner newsgroup. It seems that the reason to why the product have been taken out is that they did not have accurate stock numbers for a product that will be in demand, and could have lead to customer disappointment if not managed correctly. (Thanks goes to Lukas Mariman for posting the information)

One imporatant thing to remember is that there is no official word from Warner if any of this is true, people have reported that ezydvd should be considered trustworthy.

Source: The alt.fan.blade-runner newsgroup & The Home Theater Forum

It seems like they have been re-shooting scenes with Joanna Cassidy (Zhora) for the upcomming DVD release of Blade Runner.. Cool news indeed, I wonder what purpose the scenes have, will they be fitted in the movie ?. Whom knows, check out Joanna Cassidy Official Website for upcomming news and details.
From Joanna Cassidy Official Website

Joanna has just finished re-shooting her scenes from the original BLADE RUNNER movie. Joanna is wearing her original outfit (which she kept over from the first production). These new scenes will be part
of the upcoming special BLADE RUNNER DVD re-release. Check back for more details.

Source: The alt.fan.blade-runner newsgroup & Joanna Cassidy Official Website

The Executives at Warner Home Video participated in a on-line chat over at The Home Theater Forum and some of the questions where about the upcomming Blade Runner: Special Edition release that will be out sometime 2007 on DVD, Blue-Ray and HD-DVD..
Here are the Blade Runner hi-lights of the chat, the full transcript can be found here.
[NickH] Any news on the big Blade Runner SE (i.e. release date, contents, etc)?
[WARNER] The Tyrell Corporation is furiously working away on a release to knock your socks off before the holiday season. The contents are still being formulated. All the different iterations of the film will be available, including the new FINAL CUT.
We think you’ll be very pleased, and it will have been worth the wait!

[Chris_Stevens] Any plans to revisit some of your Harrison Ford titles? Fingers crossed for The Mosquito Coast. Thanks!
[WARNER] Given all our activity around BLADE RUNNER, which is one of our biggest, if not the biggest event of this year for our group, we have discussed various ideas to maximize the large catalog of Mr. Ford’s films which we control. We’ll let you know soon.

[JeremyG] Thank you for the chat. Will there be a multi-disc HD set for Blade Runner? Or will HD buyers get only one version, like the Superman: The Movie HD edition? Looking forward to more HD titles this year…any hints as to titles to be announced soon (Harry Potter perhaps…)?
[WARNER] There will be a lot more HD product announced (HD-DVD and Blu Ray Disc) by us in the next few weeks. We hope you’ll be pleased. It is our intention to have the BLADE RUNNER releases all contain the same content, regardless of format.

So, we will hopefully see the new Blade Runner: Special Edition this year before the holiday season and it will contain the same extras on all the releases.

Source: The Home Theater Forum

Finally.. and let me repeat it again.. Finally we know what’s comming and it’s not one Blade Runner DVD that’s going to be released. It’s atleast going to be two different DVD’s that’s comming our way and not only on DVD but also on HD-DVD and Blue-Ray.. Great huh ??
The Digital Bits which is a great source for DVD news has this to say..

First a bit of background on the reason for the title’s delay. Warner had been planning a 2-disc special edition of the film early last year… but suddenly realized that their rights to the title were about to lapse. However, the studio ponied up the big bucks to get back what is arguably one of their primo Cadillac catalog titles (dare you to say that three times fast). The ownership situation now resolved, Warner has set in motion plans to really do something special with the film. You might recall back in January when I asked them about the film at their 2006 catalog press event, they hinted that things were looking good for a 2007 release. Privately, we were told that there were BIG things in the works, but were also told that if we leaked too much about the project, we might end up like Fredo Corleone (or WORSE, that the project itself could be complicated). Needless to say, though we’ve been dying to talk about this for months now (and we get about two e-mails a day asking about the title), we’ve kept largely silent on the subject. Now that the project is finally out in the open, however, we can finally say a few things. Keep in mind that the major portion of the release is still over a year away. But here’s the basic plan…
This coming September, there will be a new limited DVD release (HD-DVD & Blu-ray Disc are also planned) of the restored 1992 Director’s Cut (you know… the one that isn’t really a director’s cut). This will be available for just four months. We believe this is basically the 2-disc release that Warner had originally planned to bow LAST year.
Then next year, just in time for the film’s 25th anniversary, Ridley Scott’s ultimate Blade Runner: The Final Cut will hit theaters for a limited run. This will be a REAL director’s cut, with restored scenes and more – all the stuff that Ridley’s always wanted to do with the film but hasn’t really been given the chance to do before. That will be followed later in the year by an Ultimate Blade Runner DVD release. You can expect a multi-disc box set (again, likely with a simultaneous HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc release) that will contain at least four different versions of the film… ALL in full anamorphic widescreen, we might add. You’ll get the film’s original U.S. theatrical cut, you’ll get the expanded international theatrical cut, you’ll get the 1992 Director’s Cut and you’ll get the new Final Cut as well. Now… we realize at this point, you may have questions. Keep in mind, there’s a TON of additional material that’s going to be included in this set that hasn’t been announced and can’t be talked about yet – all-new material that you’ve never seen before. The set is pretty early in the planning and production stage, so it’s way too early to talk details, but trust us… some very cool stuff is in the works. These extras will likely be different from the September ’06 release, so if you buy both you’ll at least be getting your money’s worth.
Imagine that… anamorphic widescreen AND real value in a DVD release! Hey… are we being punked?
You veteran Bits readers will also be thrilled to learn that longtime Ridley Scott DVD producer Charles de Lauzirika and his team are involved in project, and have already been working on the set for a while now. Lauzirika, as you may know, was the producer responsible for Fox’s 9-disc, massively comprehensive Alien Quadrilogy box set, as well as the multi-disc special editions of Scott’s Gladiator (from DreamWorks), Black Hawk Down (from Sony) and Kingdom of Heaven (recently available from Fox), among others. You should also know that Lauzirika and his team are big fans of Blade Runner themselves. Rest assured that they know what you guys all want to see on this release, and they’re working very hard to make it as good as it can be. Trust us when we say that this project is in EXACTLY the right hands.
Source: The Digital Bits

Wow.. I guess that good things comes to those whom waits and I think that I will get both the Limited 2-Disc DVD release and the ultimate Blade Runner: The Final Cut. Who knows with a bit of luck I also get to see it on the big screen (read: cinema) again..
Was that the coolest kind of news ever or what ??..

Source: The Digital Bits & Variety

The Digital Bits has some information concerning the so called “Special Edition” DVD that we still are waiting for. Warner’s got a big list of good things comming both on DVD & HD-DVD and at the press event where they made their release list public they also let us know that “the death of the DVD format is exaggerated” and that they sit on a film vault with over 6,000 theatrical titles and only 1,200 have been released on DVD so far. So we have over 5,400 titles for the studio to choose from when it comes to catalog DVD releases.
There’s a large list of titles comming both on DVD and HD-DVD over at this page over at thedigitalbits.com and since they too are waiting for new Blade Runner release they asked about this title specifically and this is what they (and we) got to know.

Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982) is currently on track for release as a multi-disc special edition in time for its 25th anniversary in 2007. The release is far from certain (as usual, there’s a lot more that I can’t post about this title yet – think of the old saying, “Loose lips sink ships”), but Warner says that work is proceeding, most of the key players are involved and things are “looking good” for release next year. We’ll see.

Well, if everything goes smoothly then next year we will finally get to see a version of Blade Runner with decent picture & hopefully 5.1 surround sound (and with a bit of luck maybe even some neat extra material). Again everything is far from certain but we know that Warner’s are still working on getting the title re-released, we can only hope that “most of the key players” now means that the “pesky legall problems” might be solved..
I’ll personally will hold my breath until I’ll have the new disc in my hands, we all know for how long we’ve been waiting for this release..

Source: thedigitalbits.com

The rumor mill over at The Digital Bits has some good and some bad news on what’s happening to the Blade Runner : Special Edition. Here’s the latest..
“Here’s some good news and bad news all at once. Sources are telling us that Warner is FINALLY at work once again on a Blade Runner: Special Edition. That’s the good news. The bad news is that instead of the 3 or 4-disc ultimate edition we all hoped for (featuring all the different versions of the film), the title is now likely to be one of the studio’s 2-disc editions, featuring only the recent “director’s cut” version of the film (remastered from a new HD transfer), the Channel 4 On the Edge of Blade Runner documentary and perhaps a few other odds and ends. Look for it sometime in the first half of 2005″
So, atleast after years of waiting Warner seems to go their own way in the battle with rumoured battle with Jerry “Pennochio” Perenchio and finally release a decent and spiced up version of Blade Runner: Directors Cut.
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Source: The Digital Bits Rumor Mill
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