Final Cut (and final viewing)

Two posts in one night! Don't say I'm not good to you.

I went to see BLADE RUNNER: THE FINAL CUT at the weekend. If you're not familiar with it, it's Ridley Scott's final, final, final version (honest) of his iconic science-fiction movie. It's been given a clean-up, had a few things added or removed and this is now the alleged final version.

I should stress that it's a subtle effort. It's not like when George Lucas revisited the original STAR WARS trilogy, dug out the original negatives and then took a great big digitised dump over the whole lot of it, smearing his excrement in the faces of fans and kicking to death the childhood memories of a generation. There are no computer generated aliens suddenly appearing at inappropriate moments or anything like that.

Now I should also stress something else. I don't like BLADE RUNNER.

It's hailed as a classic, I know. And I'm a science fiction geek too. But I just don't like BLADE RUNNER. There's something I can't quite put my finger on. Perhaps its because everyone in the film is so emotionally distant. Yes, I know most of them are supposed to be replicants or whatever you want to call them, but it's like the film is going out of its way to be as unemotional as possible and I just don't like it. I don't mind people acting like gits for an entire film, but this is just dull.

There, I've said it. Let me say it again. I don't like BLADE RUNNER.

Worse still, I've given it a few chances. Because it is such an iconic and well respected film, and because I'm a big fan of science fiction movies, I keep thinking that maybe I've been too harsh. Every so often, I'll think "well, it's been a few years, maybe I'll appreciate it more now."

It never happens. Before the weekend, I'd watched it three times. The first time, I didn't like it. The second and third times, I thought I'd give it another go, watched it, thought it was rubbish, and then decided I'd been right all along and that I shouldn't bother watching it again.

I don't like BLADE RUNNER. Now that we're totally clear where I'm coming from, I should probably explain why I actually went to see it again.

There are some aspects of BLADE RUNNER that I like. Well, two.

First of all, the look of the film. It is an incredibly well realised vision of the future and for as much as I dislike the film, the opening vista is breathtaking.

Secondly, I love the music. Vangelis created a truly futuristic sound for this movie that has never dated.

Both of the above I decided were enough to merit seeing it again in the cinema. Add to this the fact that (a) it's the alleged "final cut"; (b) there was the novelty of it being shown for one week only at, as far as I know, only one cinema in Scotland (the Cameo - see link on the front page of this blog); and (c) the fact that not only was it cleaned up and enhanced, it was being digitally projected.

That last reason was important. Ever since I first saw a film digitally projected (see one of my earliest Freakpit entries) I've loved the format. Sure enough, it benefited this screening no end.

The opening scene as we see Los Angeles in the year 2019 was more breathtaking than ever and stands up as one of the most stunning things I've seen in a cinema. The detail on screen, the visual effects, the music - it was all incredible, and it's all thanks to a marvellous restoration job and the joys of digital projection. If you get the chance to see this on the big screen, I seriously urge you to take it. It will leave you absolutely speechless.

I still don't like the movie though.