CINEMA

A Dark New (Old) Version of Blade Runner
by G. Arnold

Twenty-five years have passed since the debut of director Ridley Scott’s visually stunning Blade Runner, the futuristic sci-fi tale adapted from a story by Philip K. Dick. To mark that milestone, a new version has been released. More than the usual “director’s cut,” however, the latest incarnation, Blade Runner:The Final Cut, offers a decidedly different take on the original movie.

Most of the story hasn’t changed. It still focuses on the fate of artificial humans (called replicants in the movie) that want to continue their existence beyond the arbitrary expiration dates they’ve been given by their human creators. Unfortunately for the replicants, the humans in Blade Runner don’t want the replicants to take charge of their own lives. In fact, to insure that no replicant outlives the time allotted to it by its human creators, enforcer Rick Deckard (played by Harrison Ford) is dispatched to take care of any replicants who try to avoid termination. With this set-up, there’s plenty of conflict to make an exciting story.

Blade Runner is a familiar piece of pop culture, probably more fondly regarded now than when it was new. (Many viewers in 1982 preferred Steven Spielberg’s family-friendly E.T.) The convincing visual depiction of an imagined future world, awash with castaway humans and perpetual gloom, is perhaps Scott’s biggest and most enduring achievement with the film. Whatever else they thought about the movie, many people in the original audiences realized they were seeing a visionary (if nightmarish) cinematic creation.

The story is another matter. Back in 1982, people behind the scenes were nervous about whether audiences would warm up to Scott’s tale. What the director planned was not exactly uplifting. Therefore, prior its first wide release, Blade Runner was touched up, with the story altered in an effort to give it a better chance at the box office. In a word, it was made a bit more optimistic.

One major change, which the original audience probably didn’t realize, was made to the way the story ended. As it appeared in theaters, the admittedly bleak story was capped with an ending that was not as bleak. The final scene, in particular, seemed to offer some sense of optimism. It implied that some sort of human redemption might be found.

As we now know, this was not the ending that Scott originally had in mind. Although a previous re-release made some changes in returning the film to Scott’s original vision, it is only with the newest release that the director’s original intent is fully resuscitated. Indeed, after careful restoration and re-editing, Blade Runner:The Final Cut is even darker, if not downright depressing. And yes, the biggest change is to the ending, which, after the restoration of key scenes missing in the original release, now seems decidedly downbeat. I won’t give away the details, but it’s the kind of ending studio executives feared would alienate audiences in 1982 when Scott first tried to use it.

Undoubtedly, audiences today are more tolerant of bleak stories with dismal outcomes. Still, the darker ending may seem jarring to some. I’m not sure how many people will prefer Blade Runner’s restored, more depressing ending (which is actually the old ending) to the version that they already know. Viewers will have to decide for themselves, of course.

Blade Runner: The Final Cut has appeared in limited release in several cities. The DVD version has a December release date.

Above: Promotional trailer posted on YouTube by Warner Brothers Online to commemorate the December 2007 DVD release of Blade Runner: The Final Cut Special Edition.  See more Warner Brothers material at the WarnerBrosOnline Channel on YouTube.

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G. Arnold is an editor of Bread and Circus. He is the author of The Afterlife of America’s War in Vietnam: Changing Visions in Politics and On Screen.