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Report from West LA Sector, Los Angeles, 2019 (BR:FC Review)

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msgeek

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Post Fri Oct 05, 2007 7:59 pm

Report from West LA Sector, Los Angeles, 2019 (BR:FC Review)

OK, now I know why The Landmark was chosen. 4 Megapixel projection system, from Sony. This has got to be the best picture and sound I have ever seen, IMAX included. I don't know who did the audio system but it was definitely the best 5.1 sound I've heard.

There were no changes in the opening title sequence. Still very minimalist, still the same crawl from everything but the Workprint. But when that first shot of the infernal landscape near Tyrell Industries cut loose...WOW!!! E-Ticket flight...you could almost feel the heat.

The color balance issue that people have been writing about...I have to say that every choice, every tweak, is the correct one when watching the movie in a theatre. It might look different on a TV, LCD, Plasma, Home Projector etc. but it is dead solid perfect straight through.

I could swear there was a lot of ADR work done on the movie. Some of the additional audio information perhaps could be credited to a better mix. But it seems to me that there was more cityspeak audible, mostly in the back and side channels. The sweetening sort of stopped with the subwoofer track...no real added sub-audio pyrotechnics. There were places where it would have helped...gunshots, particularly Leon's Black Hole Gun, could have used a little subwoofer rumble behind it.

At once, it is fitting to see Joanna Cassidy's face on the dying Zhora, and sad too. This way, Zhora's death scene is more realistic, and I can't help but think about how nice Cassidy was at Comic-Con and how it sucked to see her get it in the back. Wonder if "Darling" is still among the living. He's probably huge if he is...Burmese Pythons get pretty damn colossal.

More life, father....yeah, I can live with that. However, you don't see Sebastian's jacket in Batty's hands when he's in the elevator on the way down. The way the scene is framed this time it doesn't show on the big screen.

Yes, you see that unearthly shine in Deckard's eyes, giving away that he is, indeed, a Replicant. In fact, I could swear you see that glint in Gaff's eyes as well once, as well as that odd dead fish look from the blue contacts which was already present. Deck-a-rep, meet Gaff-a-rep.

I was crying during some of this, because it was so vivid, so amazing, so freaking overwhelming. No, I never saw this on the big screen, as I have mentioned before. Now I have. You have not seen it until you've seen it on the big screen. Period. End of story.

Charles, you have done a man's job with this. If they gave Oscars for restoration jobs, this would be a shoo-in.

Back in the day, there was such a thing as "road show" showings of movies. A big blockbuster picture would play the biggest movie palace in a given town for a day or two. Blade Runner: The Final Cut deserves this kind of treatment. In this day and age of digital projection and satellite distribution, this can be done. I strongly urge Warner Bros. to consider giving more people in more cities the opportunity to see this on the big screen. I suspect that even the 1 Megapixel version on HD-DVD and BluRay will be only an hors d'oevre for those wanting to have the ultimate BR:FC experience.

I need to grow some more arms so I can give this more than two thumbs up. 8)
Yes, I really live in Los Angeles. Srsly. And yeah, life really does imitate art here. Especially now we've got those video billboards. No spinners yet. But I suppose that's next.
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eccentricbeing

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Post Fri Oct 05, 2007 10:07 pm

Great review. Just curious, how many showed up?
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THX1138

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Post Fri Oct 05, 2007 10:08 pm

What were the biggest changes to scenes? Any major CGI work done?
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msgeek

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Post Fri Oct 05, 2007 10:31 pm

eccentricbeing wrote:Great review. Just curious, how many showed up?


There weren't many at this particular showing. Then again, it was 11am on a Friday.

My guess is things will likely pick way up tonight and during the weekend.
Yes, I really live in Los Angeles. Srsly. And yeah, life really does imitate art here. Especially now we've got those video billboards. No spinners yet. But I suppose that's next.
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msgeek

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Post Fri Oct 05, 2007 10:39 pm

THX1138 wrote:What were the biggest changes to scenes? Any major CGI work done?


Not really any CGI that was noticeable...and IMHO that's a good thing. It's not a Special Edition hack job with tons of new CGI stuff everywhere. You don't see Banthas fighting during the Deckard/Leon fight sequence, for instance. :wink: What was done was things like digitally erase the cables holding the spinner up, and put Joanna Cassidy's face on the stunt double during Zhora's death scene.

What was most noticeable was the refreshing done on the sound. Some of it seems like a remix job, but some actually sounds like new stuff. Like lots more cityspeak, coming at you from the sides and back during scenes out in Ridleyville.

Something I didn't mention...the old footage of the models of LA and the area around the Tyrell Corporation just looked HAWESOME. The models looked better and more real. I'm thinking digital cleanup and enhancement. You will believe the Tyrell Pyramids are real buildings now.
Yes, I really live in Los Angeles. Srsly. And yeah, life really does imitate art here. Especially now we've got those video billboards. No spinners yet. But I suppose that's next.
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Post Sat Oct 06, 2007 2:49 am

THX1138 wrote:What were the biggest changes to scenes? Any major CGI work done?

Everything I've read points to "no", including msgeek's statement.
[In reference to A Good Year] "So anyway, fuck 'em. It was a good film."
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dmohrUSC

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Post Sat Oct 06, 2007 3:48 am

Terrific write up, msgeek! Congrats to you on being the very first person to submit a BR-FC review to BladeZone on opening day :)

I've seen BR many times on the big screen - the 1982 voiceover version a few times in college, the 1992 director's cut during its premiere run and at retrospectives over the years, and the 1981 workprint 3 or 4 times, including (woo-hoo) at the Cinerama Dome in L.A. So I absolutely vouch for msgeek's passionately stating that there's no better way to experience BR than projected in a theater...but (with sincere respect & affection) it's especially touching to hear it being expressed by a "first-timer" ;)

As I'm currently an official resident of Flyover-Land, USA (aka Madison, Wisconsin), there's a little crimp in my throat when I accept that, unless by the merciful fate of the gods the FC makes it to a theatre in Chicago, I probably won't be seeing the ultimate version of BR on a big screen this time around...might have to wait a year or two (sigh) until it rolls around to a local college campus or retrospective movie house to finally see the FC as it truly deserves. In the meantime, posts like msgeek's are sweet, sweet music. Keep it coming, folks!!
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deepysea

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Post Sat Oct 06, 2007 1:06 pm

THX1138 wrote:Any major CGI work done?


Thankfully, no--the biggest change is probably the new dove shot, which I was worried about, but it is wonderfully done, fitting in perfectly not only with BR architecture, but also the passing storm and hint of dawn that the original shot conveyed.

In addition to changes already widely reported, I noticed there are new titles and end titles (same font and design, just digitally recreated and rock solid); Bryant now says "two of them got fried," and he provides a brief voiceover for Leon's video profile; Batty's first shot is cropped to remove the thumb, and it also includes a booth background rather than the obvious Tyrell location as before; the shot of Deckard leaving the snake scale ID lady is a bit longer, tilting up to show a little more of the street as he walks away; all the matte shots seem better fused with the live action--if there were any real changes to them, I didn't notice them. In short, there are many minute tweaks that few people will ever recognize. I've seen BR at least a dozen times over the years, and I only noticed some of the changes purely because I'd read about them or were specificlly looking for them. Thank God this wasn't a Lucas revisionist travesty.

But the digital print is stunning--not a flaw anywhere--and as mentioned above, the sound is fabulous. I'm not sure there were any new sound effects added, but the original mix seems to have been sweetened to a modern clarity. (Although Gaff's radio dialogue in the Spinner seems louder.) No new Vangelis music, as far as I could tell.

Ran into Lauzirika before the 7:50 show and as you might expect, he was remarkably friendly and unpretentious. He introduced the screening (and David Dryer, Alan Ladd, Jr, and Production Executive Katherine Haber). The audience was thankfully excited and serious about the film without overdoing the fanboy element or acting as if this was the Second Coming. All in all, a very enjoyable, rewarding screening that makes me all the more excited to see the DVD release!
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Caru

Post Sat Oct 06, 2007 1:59 pm

Great to read this stuff. Makes me more and more excited. Can't wait. Just can't wait to see it on the big screen.
It sounds as if it meets all expectations. I am praying that it will hit some big theaters over here.
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THX1138

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Post Sat Oct 06, 2007 7:33 pm

So from the second report it seems like they kept some animoid row shows from the workprint. Anything else from the workprint included? I was told there was more scenes from the workprint in the final cut, like the dancing booth babes and the cop in the booth.
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deepysea

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Post Sat Oct 06, 2007 8:52 pm

No, I think that's about it, given that you've seen the clip on Yahoo.

One more thing, I think this was already mentioned somewhere, but Deckard's cheek bruise after his fight with Zhora is gone (although this does make Bryant's comment about Deckard looking "as bad as that skinjob..." sound a bit overstated).

And something I'm surprised that wasn't fixed--all the different times we hear Holden's interrogation, it's still clearly different takes!
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Post Sat Oct 06, 2007 9:04 pm

deepysea wrote:No, I think that's about it, given that you've seen the clip on Yahoo.

One more thing, I think this was already mentioned somewhere, but Deckard's cheek bruise after his fight with Zhora is gone (although this does make Bryant's comment about Deckard looking "as bad as that skinjob..." sound a bit overstated).

And something I'm surprised that wasn't fixed--all the different times we hear Holden's interrogation, it's still clearly different takes!

Even if it is a mistake, it still plays nicely with the memory theme.

THX1138, yeah, the cop thing, the babes thing, the dissolve shot thing...someone needs to keep a comprehensive list.
[In reference to A Good Year] "So anyway, fuck 'em. It was a good film."
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THX1138

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Post Sat Oct 06, 2007 10:27 pm

sounds like a nice cut.

I like what Lucas did for the star wars special edition. He got to go back and redo what he wanted with the new computer technology. He didn't butcher his old movies, he just improved them. I know a lot of people hate him for that. But as always, less is more. I like the sounds of what Ridley Scott has done in this case.

And I must apologize again to Mr. Lauzirika again. You pulled through and proved me wrong. And I'm happy and grateful for that. Thanks!
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Charles de Lauzirika

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Post Sat Oct 06, 2007 11:14 pm

deepysea wrote:One more thing, I think this was already mentioned somewhere, but Deckard's cheek bruise after his fight with Zhora is gone (although this does make Bryant's comment about Deckard looking "as bad as that skinjob..." sound a bit overstated).


See...that's the slippery slope. You fix one thing, it creates a new problem. It's so easy to undo a tapestry by pulling on one thread. But Zhora did wail on Deckard herself, so it still makes sense since he was tending to his bloody mouth in front of Bryant.

And something I'm surprised that wasn't fixed--all the different times we hear Holden's interrogation, it's still clearly different takes!


I experimented with making the lines consistent, but it didn't sound right. If you take "I'll tell you about my mother!" and use it in the first VK scene, it kind of gives away the surprise of Leon shooting Holden. If you take "Lemme tell you about my mother..." and use it in Deckard's sedan when he's listening to the playback, it weakens the impact of the gunshot echoing through the tunnel.

But ultimately, it wasn't a change Ridley wanted to make. So there's that little point to consider.
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msgeek

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Post Sun Oct 07, 2007 12:19 am

I've said it before, I'll say it again...could someone give Charles a special "Blade Runner Uber Master" (or whatever) tag? Certainly after accomplishing what he has accomplished, he deserves it. Having him show up as being a mere "Rookie Rep Detect" is so wrong.
Yes, I really live in Los Angeles. Srsly. And yeah, life really does imitate art here. Especially now we've got those video billboards. No spinners yet. But I suppose that's next.
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