But There Is Good News…
By PaulAfter all the Star Wars-related doom and gloom, I’m happy to report there is also good news on the DVD horizon.
The 1982 Ridley Scott cult classic, Blade Runner, was one of the first films released on DVD in 1997. The presentation was, to put it mildly, not up to current standards. Shockingly, there has not been an updated DVD release since, so the only version available had, quite frankly, a very sub-standard picture. Also, the only version of the film available was 1992 so-called “director’s cut,” which really wasn’t a director’s cut at all. There was supposed to be an ultimate, true director’s cut several years ago, but that managed to get held up in legal limbo due to the fact that the legal owner of the film, producer Jerry Perenchio, and director Ridley Scott hated each other’s guts.
Happily, Warner Brothers has managed to cut through the ill-will and legal bullshit and get the ball rolling.
Later this fall, there will be a new release of the 1992 director’s cut, re-mastered with an improved picture. More important, a new, genuine Ridley Scott-approved director’s cut will be released in the theaters sometime next year.
After there will be an uber-deluxe DVD edition later in 2007. This will include all four (yes, four!) officially released versions of the film, including two never before released on DVD (the 1982 theatrical version and the international theatrical version) as well as the 1992 pseudo-director’s cut and the 2007 “Final Cut.”
Needless to say, a large number of Blade Runner have been wetting their pants over this news. After all the legal wrangling, this is some of the best DVD news of the past couple of years. Even better, there should also be a high-definition release, either on HD DVD, Blu-Ray or both.
This is almost enough to compel me to take the high-definition plunge next year. “Sorry about the college fund, Junior. Don’t worry, there are many fine community colleges in the Orange County area that we can still afford.”
About the author:
Paul's cat has violent mood swings between ennui and apathy.
My huband and I have been mired in the HD/Widescreen TV debacle for almost a year. I can’t tell you enough how disappointed I was with the mismatch in technology with TV’s, DVD’s and their players. I naively thought that the DVD would play full-screen and I would be in DVD heaven. Not so. I’ve been plagued with junk-in-the-trunk starlets and fullback-shouldered leading men. We zoom and stretch, and suffer the black bars. I wish the electronics industry could get their shit together enough to put out a product that plays the DVD with the quality we need in the correct format. It’s very frustrating!