Hoo: Director's Cut

There is a very noticeable difference between the two versions of the Blade Runner films. In my humble opinion the later version, Ridley Scott’s Director’s Cut is far superior to the original film released in 1982. The two versions can almost be seen as different films. It is interesting to note that Ridely Scott did not personally create the Director’s Cut. He actually provided extensive notes and consulted with Warner Bros. Film preservationist/restorer Michael Arick was then put in charge of creating the Director's Cut. Scott cites his time obligation to the film Thelma and Louise and money constrains as the reasons why he was not entirely able to rework the Director’s Cut to his full satisfaction. This being said, the most noticeable difference between the 1982 and Director’s Cut versions is the removal of the voiceovers in the Director’s Cut. I find that this difference definitely makes this version an overall better film. I found that the voiceover really served to insult the intelligence of the audience. Granted, the test audiences for the first version of the film were confused without the voiceovers. However, Ridley Scott has stated that the confusion form the lack of information was the effect he was looking for in the film. I believe that the audience should not be simply handed the background information, but rather they should be left thinking a bit. This is the role the removal of the voiceovers in the Director’s Cut serves. In addition to removing the voiceovers from the original version of the film, there is a dream sequence added. “Scott…insisted that the unicorn dream sequence be inserted into the film. Although the studio had originally vetoed the inclusion of the unicorn, this time Warner Bros. agreed” (Pfeiffer 127). In this sequence, the audience observes a dream of Deckard’s. In this scene there is a tracking shot of a unicorn running. The inclusion of this sequence implies a lot about Deckard and allows for the audience to speculate. The dream could imply that Deckard is actually a replicant. In connecting Gaff’s origami unicorn to the dream, Scott may be getting at the possibility that Deckard’s dreams are already known to him (his memories are artificial and therefore so is he). Another major difference between the original film and the Director’s Cut is the exclusion of the studio imposed happy ending. In the Director’s Cut the film simply ends with the closing of the elevator doors. I enjoyed the ambiguity of this ending far more than the original. The original ending was far too cheesy and removed any sense of mystery, as did the voiceovers. All in all, the Director’s Cut was a far better version of Blade Runner. The added uncertainty allowed for some mystery and the speculation of the audience.