Special Editions, Ultimate Editions, etc, etc.,

I was just reading some of the replies in the latest Blade Runner posting on AICN, but I wanted to get the opinions of the fine, intelligent people on this forum without a bunch of crap replies. <BR> <BR>How do you feel about this practice of directors going back to their old films and 'touching them up' with previously cut footage, new CGI effects and such? We've had the Star Wars Special Editions, Star Trek: The Motion Picture DVD, Close Encounters of a million versions, a 'new' E.T. coming to theaters, etc. Where does it end? <BR> <BR>For instance, Star Wars . . . The Phantom Menace DVD had 7 deleted scenes, and the original trilogy Special Editions had some old scenes added back in with some new stuff thrown in as well. We all know damn well that Lucas is going to put even more stuff into these movies when he puts them all out on DVD after the prequel trilogy is done. What are they going to call that one? "The Star Wars Saga Last-Release-Before-I-Die Edition"? <BR> <BR>Gee, I can't wait to see Lucas's "Howard The Duck" Special Edition with all new CGI duck footage! <BR> <BR>In E.T. they replaced the agents guns with walkie-talkies. In Star Wars, Greedo now shoots first. Hell, Lucas even went back to American Graffitti and used CGI to make the sky look prettier in some scenes. WHY?!? <BR> <BR>Pardon my cynicism and my rather long post, but this trend is getting ridiculous. <BR> <BR>Your thoughts? <BR> <BR>
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I was recently talking with a friend who is involved with sound editing for trailers. He and I were discussing this same topic, and we both came to the conclusion that directors and producers seem to be more interested in making a quick buck, but not really concerned about enhancing the artistic vision of the piece. In essence, the majority of this tinkering with the original is uncalled for, or unnecessary. Granted, I think the digital revisionism can be successfully used to eliminate continuity errors, or to remove visible wires in an otherwise flawless scene, but, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"<BR><BR><font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: DetDeck on 2002-01-12 02:44 ]</font>

I think as far as Blade Runner is concerned my 'problem' is that the world presented is so fantastic and believable that I want to see more of it. I want to see the scenes that were filmed but not included in either versions.

With the DVD it is possible to allow the viewer the option of watching several different versions of the same film and I personally would like to see this. If this is not possible due to continuity issues then I would like to see the scenes included in a 'deleted scenes' section on the DVD.

The 'extra' scenes that I have read about include the following:

The Deckard/Holden hospital scene.
Deckard/Gaff spinner conversation.
Roy's original phone booth sequence.
The original Deckard/Abdul Hassan dialogue.
The exterior shots of the Snake Pit.
Zhora's dance sequence (not sure if they shot that scene).
The longer version of Deckard retiring Pris.
The uncut version of Roy killing Tyrell.
The Deckard ambulance scene after Roy's death (not sure if they shot that either).

Does anyone know if all of the above scenes were shot and are there any scenes that were shot that I haven't listed?

The voice-over issue is interesting - I'm glad I had the voice-over the first time I saw the film, but prefer not to have it now. So make it optional on the DVD.

Digital 'corrections' to existing scenes is fine by me as long as they're invisible. If they can make the Zhora death sequence more believable then great. The issue about the dove and blue sky is only an issue because there is no indication of the length time Roy and Deckard spent on the roof - in at least one of the original movie scripts it states that Deckard and Roy spent several hours on the roof before Roy actually expired. So the light blue dawn sky would have fitted that - so something needs to be done there.

Extra CGI effects is also fine as long as they aren't obviously CGI. I saw the 'enhanced' Star Wars IV and did not return to see V or VI because the added effects were so obviously 'tacked on' and didn't improve the film at all.

Finally E.T. - does Harrison Ford make an uncredited cameo appearance in the new E.T. or is that just a figment of my imagination?

I may be right about the E.T.:
IMDB E.T. Trivia

Just a quick comment to DVD producers regarding deleted scenes as DVD extras . . . I just got a DVD player and haven't seen too many movies on it yet, but please, PLEASE don't include a 'deleted' scene if it doesn't have the SFX finished! Thank you to Lucas for finishing the FX before adding the deleted scenes to the DVD. Anyone remember the VHS release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture? "With 12 minutes of bonus scenes!" Yeah, with unfinished FX and full of continuity errors. If it's not a finished deleted scene, don't bother including it. <BR> <BR>Whew! I'm fine now. Really. <BR>
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It can be annoying. Star Wars for example seemed like a huge waste of money for most of what was done. But then he did say years ago that he wanted to revisit them all at 20 year intervals. Oh well. <BR> <BR>As for Blade Runner, firstly ignore the stupid AICN report which is mostly speculative nonsense. Yes, Ridley is going to make some changes, such as removing the voiceover and shortening some scenes (read this in his <!-- BBCode u2 Start --><A HREF="http://www.brmovie.com/Articles/Empire_RS_2002_Feb.htm" TARGET="_blank">latest intereview</A><!-- BBCode u2 End -->). We hope to see some of the errors, such as spinner wires, etc. fixed, but as for putting scenes back in? Well, some would work - original dialogue for Abdul for instance, but the hospital scene? He took it out for artistic reasons in the first place - why would he put it back in? Sure have it available on the DVD to be viewed by fans though. <BR>
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