Which Cut Made the Cut?
When you found out that we were going to be showing Blade Runner, you probably wondered which cut of the movie we would be showing. Heck, you may have even gotten into a lively debate with your friend about it, and that debate may have turned into a test of physical prowess to determine which cut is ultimately superior. Don’t worry, you are not alone. This sort of thing happens all the time. The important thing is that you go visit your friend when you get out of the hospital and make amends, because you were both probably wrong.
If you don’t quite know what I am talking about, then please allow me to enlighten you. The film Blade Runner has three different versions that you can obtain a copy of relatively easily, and at least 2 other versions that you can find with some digging. Glob knows there are probably a few more versions of it floating around, but they are hard to find and I am not nerd enough about Blade Runner to go down that rabbit hole. So, let's simplify this: There are 3 versions of Blade Runner that could be shown at the Michigan Theater, but we had to choose one… Only ONE. Which one did we choose?
Now, my first instinct was to show the original theatrical cut. My reasoning behind this was that if you saw Blade Runner in a theater in 1982, this would be the version you saw. However, when I started doing some digging into why there are so many different cuts of Blade Runner, I learned that Ridley Scott (the director) was pressured into making that original cut the way it was, and that it did not really fit what his vision was. Later on Ridley was given a chance to make a director’s cut for an anniversary release of the film. This new cut was much closer to what he thought the film should have been. But alas, the director’s cut was still not EXACTLY what Ridley had wanted. Closer, yes, but not quite it. Thankfully Ridley was given another chance for a later anniversary release. Some might call this his final chance, heh heh. This latest and greatest version of the film is known as the Final Cut, and it is as close as Ridley is likely to get to the perfection of his vision (as far as I know). And, because of this, we chose to show the final cut of Blade Runner. Buuuuutttttttt, we aren't…
When I booked Blade Runner, I thought we would just get to show whichever cut of the film we chose to….I was wrong…. Turns out you have to book each cut separately, and whoops, I booked the original theatrical cut without realizing it. So that is what we are showing.
If you think this is bogus, then I invite you to please start a petition. If you guys can get at least 27 signatures, we will book the final cut to show at the Michigan Theater at a later date. If you had no idea about this debate before reading this, then now you have some random trivia that you will probably never need. But you have it. You’re welcome.