Deleted Scenes- Reservations
You see, I was there back in 1982, and loved the film from the start. I loved the music, the Hades landscape, Harrison's acting, Sean's beauty... even with the voice-over and 'happy' ending, I loved it. For all its flaws, I have always loved BR.
Even the 'Directors Cut' was flawed, and although I preferred it to the 1982 version, I always felt ambivalent to the Unicorn sequence. Sure, maybe Deckard could be a Rep, switched on and left on the street at the noodle bar with false memories, ready to be picked up by Gaff and set on his mission, but that all feels like a different movie. Deckard is a man who has lost his humanity, who only 'connects' with a 'false' woman, Batty is a Replicant that gains its humanity in its final moments... isn't that what the film is really about?
But whatever its flaws, I've always thought we got the best BLADE RUNNER, all things considered, and the Final Cut looks to be a completion of that.
But what if I watch the deleted scenes version and keep thinking, 'Damn it, I wish they'd kept that in!' what if I see editorial decisions that just seem plain wrong? What if I finally decide the best version of BR hit the cutting-room floor? Will BR, whatever of the versions I watch from the box-set, become a 'What-if?' movie?
The weird thing about many DVD releases is that thanks to deleted scenes we see glimpses of films that almost were but didn't quite make it. There are some beautiful deleted scenes on the ALIEN DVD, nice character moments that would have been nice to see back in the film. Some of those scenes I had never even known existed.
That clip of from the deleted version of BR, of Rachel pacing nervously in Deckards apartment, well, its beautiful. Funnily enough, I'd never noticed in the BR I've always known that in the kitchen she has her heavy coat on, but has taken it off and lit a cigarette by the time she walks over to where Deckard is cleaning himself up. But regardless of continuity issues, its a nice scene, and even the voice-over is okay... maybe the delivery needed work but the lines were fine. Likewise the sexual undertones as Deckard eyes her legs... it's disturbing, but spot-on. He's seeing Rachel as an object, a thing, not a person. He's conflicted.
I've seen just one scene, less than 2 mins, and look at this post. What on earth are 47-mins going to do to me?