Movies

Here's something I posted Fri, 24 Jun 2005 to the Home Theater list on the proposed future DVD set:

Well, it turns out that as far back as August, 2002 Ridley Scott planned to create a Special Edition DVD set, with better sound cuts, and possibly the inclusion of the version with the narration (even though he
hated the narration -- it was put in at the insistence of the then-producers of Blade Runner) but that there was no confirmation of that.

Then, I stumbled on this interesting take from a NY Times story from one of the DVD forums. It would appear that Mr. Scott doesn't even own the complete rights to the picture, at least as far as production and
distribution are concerned:

The NY Times (13 DEC 2003) has named names on why the Blade Runner Special Edition 3-DVD set is on hold. It is their report, not mine.

They say, "The avidly awaited, definitive version of Ridley Scott's science-fiction classic, Blade Runner, won't be out on DVD anytime
soon for stranger reasons.

When Blade Runner was being shot in the early 1980's, Bud Yorkin, a veteran television comedy producer, and Jerry Perenchio, now the C.E.O. of Univision, were the film's bond-completion guarantors. When the film went over budget, by contract they assumed ownership of the film. Paul Sammon wrote in his book Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner that they hated the film, had bitter disputes with Mr. Scott and tried to take it away from him altogether.

The studio release, in 1982, contained superfluous narration and a tacked-on rosy ending. Mr. Scott removed both when he was allowed to make a "director's cut" in 1992, but it was, by his own account, a
rush job.

Three years ago, Mr. Scott announced that he was working on a three-disc box set, which would offer all the versions of the film, including a new and polished director's cut with previously unseen footage and scads of bonus features. Then, at the end of 2001, Warner
Brothers, which was planning to distribute the discs, pulled the plug.

It did so, according to a producer who worked on the project, because Mr. Perenchio gave no sign that he would let them be released. Mr. Perenchio, speaking through an assistant, had no comment on the
situation. (Warner Brothers still sells the 1992 "director's cut," though the picture quality is mediocre.)"