Hilarious Studio Notes on Blade Runner

[Vivek]

Read These Hilarious Studio Notes on 'Blade Runner': "This Movie Gets Worse Every Screening" | Movie News | Movies.com

Ugly side of studio interference. Though sometimes good changes might come out of it, can't imagine how many more such notes and revisions a movie will go through before the final cut happens.

 

[karamazov80]

Yeah, such a dull movie with boring *** voice over. If only Michael Bay was around circa 1981/82, the producers could have just taken it away from that hack Scott and given it to Bay to fix and make less boring.

 

[Adolfo]

Yeah, such a dull movie with boring *** voice over. If only Michael Bay was around circa 1981/82, the producers could have just taken it away from that hack Scott and given it to Bay to fix and make less boring.

Boring is a state of mind...if you say it was boring then your mind made it boring...many people even myself thought it was going to be a future Indiana Jones/Star Wars/Alien paced action film...The first time I saw it i was perplexed...liked it but........then the next showings just wowed me...I woke up....In my top ten list...life changing film for some guys including some young filmakers that arose afterwards...I could watch this a hundred times just for it's vision...you could do a college course on this one film ...not many films can fit into that category

 

[a-dev]

I don't think you have to know Karamazov to know that he was joking.....

 

[Vivek]

Boring is a state of mind...if you say it was boring then your mind made it boring...

I am guessing karamazov80 was being sarcastic. But I agree the movie was definitely remarkable with its vision and storytelling including its production design which has inspired artists in various fields for years now.

 

[a-dev]

I happen to think BladeRunner is boring. However when saying so I clarify with an acknowledgment that its a controversial, minority view. That Kara didn't do that was a dead give-away that he was joking.

 

[Adolfo]

I personally know some folks that do think it was boring, hell some dont like it...If I didnt catch the sarcasm then oh well...I just love the film...music was outstanding as well as visuals

 

[a-dev]

I do love the music and the visuals I have to say. Vangelis is great, love his score for Alexander aswell. Best thing about that film.

 

[rushmore223]

I can understand how some might feel that way, it is a slow paced film, but that isnt necessarilly a bad thing. I actually enjoy movies with slower paces, provided what is going on is interesting. I'll take a well developed, well written slow film over a mindless action film any day. Sometimes when Directors go overboard with the action scenes, it all becomes muddled. I actually find alot of "action" films to be quite boring. The action movie that probably got it the most right is still (IMO) Raiders of the Lost Ark, and they still managed to fit in a great story and had great characters as well.

Going back to Blade Runner, it is a sci fi Noir, and that noir genre always had very deliberate pacing. I'm glad the studio exec's didnt manage to hack it up too bad (unlike Brazil) as the original release is still great in my book.

Blade Runner inspired generations of filmmakers, i think it may be one of the most copied films of the last 50 years, at least when it comes to inspiring a certain look.

 

[karamazov80]

Sorry, yeah. . .I wasn't being serious here. Just shows you some of the lowest common denominator-type thinking that studio execs get into. And they should. That's where the money is.

 

[SwedishHeat]

If the studio hated the voice over, why was it left in?? I thought the voice over was universally hated. I was under the impression that the studio wanted it in because they thought the audience needed the VO.

And from the sound of the notes, this movie had a fever, and the only prescription, was MORE VANGELIS!!!

 

[TheObsoleteMan]

A lot of those notes sound like the complaints I've heard from people that hate the film, and it was a bomb, so I guess they're not so absurd.

I think if Blade Runner came out today, it would still do just as poorly. I happen to think it's a masterpiece, right up there with 2001 as some of the greatest sci fi of all time, but it's definitely a love it or hate it kind of movie.

 

[Valfar]

I would say this is definitely up there as one of my favorite sci-fi films..

Zhora's death/retirement sequence seems to slightly give me this real butterfly feeling in my stomach(very nostaligic feel) every time i watch this sequence, so much suspense that is slowed down and grounded by Vangelis's calming score that almost leaves you caught in a trance.

[ame="https://youtu.be/4lj2ISTrfnE"]https://youtu.be/4lj2ISTrfnE[/ame]

 

[Batty]

I recommend reading Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner for a detailed account of everything Scott had to do to get BR made. It's really interesting reading...Or you could just watch all the hours of documentaries on the Blu-ray.

 

[Gully Foyle]

Paul Sammon's book is a classic in itself.

The fact that Do Androids? ---> Dangerous Days ----> Blade Runner even got made at all is a small miracle.

And it only took another 25 years for Scott to finally get his "Final Cut."

 

[DiFabio]

I happen to think BladeRunner is boring.

Same.


I never liked Blade Runner. I loved the atmosphere, the effects, the noir style, Batty and the tears in the rain scene but that's about it. Overall it never appealed to me. Just never felt right no matter how many times I watched it. I never realized it was such a classic and favorite until I got onto message boards and the internet. When I first saw it waaaay back, all I remember was people ripping it, so I was a bit perplexed when I found I was in the minority.


The visuals really resonated with me, the story, pacing and plot? Not so much. Some of that stuff like the screaming, funky looking Daryl Hannah is downright weird. It felt 70s/80s hokey, and it feels like that now. I also prefer Harrison Ford as Han Solo or Indiana Jones, never really cared for good old Deckard.

 

[a-dev]

Pretty much. Though it does interest me that it might be the same universe as Alien.

 

[Gully Foyle]

I never liked Blade Runner.

Hey, someone's gotta be left to love McG, Bay, and Boll.

 

[karamazov80]

Hey, someone's gotta be left to love McG, Bay, and Boll.

Yeah, like I said, the studio execs were definitely on the right track in the sense that they wanted to make a movie that succeeded at the box office. You can't have moody, slowly paced, and genuinely gritty films with philosophical discussions, nuance, and ambiguity if you want to sell tickets. Blow **** up instead. Throw in some good old fashioned juvenile stereotype humor. Make a curvy chick wash a car in slow motion. Or turn what would otherwise be a brutal, emotionless killer into a funny, lovable body guard

 

[Mad Old Lu]

Hillarious and sad all at the same time. Why are idiots in charge in Hollywood? And they all complain about the voice over! Didn't the studio insist they add it in?

Edit: I see SwedishHeat asked the same voice over question!