dmohrUSC wrote:Ahhh...the Final Cut is such a thing of beauty. Just had to give my weekend's bit of thanks I'm really getting into the bluish-green direction that Scott & Co. took the coloring process for the FC; makes for such a gorgeous viewing.
I'm guessing that mythrenegade prefers the theatrical edit of BR's violent scenes from a less-is-more standpoint. I'm not a huge fan of movie gore in general, and am one the fence about this issue as it relates to BR's various versions. Still, noticing the differences in the 1982 Theatrical and International Cuts was one of the key elements of the legacy of BR pre-1992, and those differences mainly had to do with the different amounts of onscreen violence.
As for the "extended Deckard walks around rooftop" bit, I think mythrenegade is referring to the 5 or 10 seconds that were in previous versions but cut out for the FC, just before Deckard first runs into Batty on the rooftop. Check your earlier versions (Theatrical thru DC), there's an extra several seconds of Deckard walking in between the huge spinning windmills on the roof of the Bradbury bldg. Again, on the fence personally about this one - I love the longer shot, but as it is in the FC, it supports what Ridley Scott said in 'On the Edge of BR' about wanting to trim a bit from the end of the movie to "raise the blood" of the audience. (Not that I'm arguing for cutting any more out of BR, but I'm a little suprised that if Scott was going for "raising the blood" at the end of the FC, that he didn't also trim a few seconds out of Deckard's coming home to Rachel at the end; that scene has always had a very stately pace to me.)
He nailed it on both counts. With the "theatrical" release violence, the focus is more on the reaction of batty, and less on the blood pouring out of the eyes etc. I'm not afraid of gore, but I actually think the movie is stronger with the theatrical version there due to the focus (Batty's reaction is really the point, not the blood out of tyrell's head). As for the nail through the hand (just the one shot cut from the theatrical release), the effect looks a little dated, and doesn't really add anything. You know exactly what happened either way, so I'd leave it out.
The rooftop was explained above.
One of the key differences between older films and newer films is pacing. Watch Dr. No and then watch xXx and you will see exactly what I mean. Dr. No is a fantastic film, but it moves very slowly and deliberately. It's like eight minutes into the film before we ever see Sean Connery! I think the slower pacing of the ending was a good thing. I don't need to see everything happen RIGHT NOW I want to be able to live the moment. The extra length lets me take in the surroundings and realize "there is no where to go" before Batty shows up. In the FC Batty shows up so quickly that you don't get any sense of anxiety that there is no way off this roof...
Joel