'Blade Runner' gets DVD makeover
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – How does Harrison Ford remember the making of Blade Runner?
“It was a bitch.”
That’s one of the observations fans can expect when Blade Runner: The Final Cut – including an exhaustive three-hour-plus documentary - arrives in December on DVD. Details of the project were revealed at this weekend’s Comic-Con entertainment expo.
Although it was a flop upon its release in 1982, the thriller, starring Ford as an executioner of next-gen androids called replicants, is now regarded as a pre-cyberpunk classic.
It’s also been revisited before.
In 1991, Scott issued a director’s cut that dropped the tacked-on voiceover narration and added a dream sequence that implies Ford’s hunter is himself a replicant.
By comparison, The Final Cut’s most significant changes are minor touch-ups – such as Joanna Cassidy re-shooting a few seconds of her death sequence because Scott felt it was too obviously a stunt double in the original version.
Did Scott ever consider going further, refurbishing his science-fiction masterpiece – much as George Lucas did with Star Wars - with digital effects?
“I don’t have that much money,” he laughs.
“But I wouldn’t dream of that.”
In geekspeak that means, yes, Deckard still shoots first.
The Final Cut will be available in three editions, including a five-disc set that comes in a futuristic briefcase and includes five different cuts of the movie (including a “work print” that’s become an online favourite of fans). There is also, as mentioned above, the documentary Dangerous Days, which recalls the film’s notoriously tumultuous production.
Given Blade Runner’s enduring popularity, though – and the fact Scott’s seemingly definitive cut is receiving a brief theatrical run in October in New York and Los Angeles - one assumes someone, somewhere, might be interested in revisiting the realm of the replicants.
Scott, surprisingly, says he’s not opposed to a Blade Runner 2, although he stresses nothing is planned.
“There could be a sequel, but I’m not going to say I’d do it.”
But if he did, how would it begin? Scott references one of the final lines in the movie, uttered by Edward James Olmos about the beautiful replicant (Sean Young) Ford has fallen for: “She won’t live, but who does?”
Furthermore, there is Scott’s conviction – although it’s not one shared by Ford – that Deckard is a replicant.
“So that’s a good place to start.”
New CD Releases, July 31: Korn, Common, Kidz Bop Kids
Korn "Untitled"
Having just launched the latest edition of the Family Values Tour, headliners Korn are now set to drop their eighth studio album, which they won't bother to name.
"We didn't want to label this album," Korn frontman Jonathan Davis said in a statement. "It has no boundaries; it has no limits and why not just let our fans call it whatever they wanna call it?"
Fans can do just that when Korn plays "Evolution" (the new album's first single) and other new tracks on the Family Values Tour. The tour, which was created by Korn and its management firm in 1998, returned to the stage last summer following a five-year hiatus. With a second stage added and more than 400,000 tickets sold, the tour's 2006 comeback marked its most successful run.
Besides Korn, this year's trek also features Evanescence, Atreyu, Flyleaf, Trivium and Hell Yeah, the new band comprising Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott and members of Mudvayne and Nothingface. Newcomers Nuerosonic and Droid will round out the bill. The tour kicked off last week in Maryland Heights, MO, and is currently set to conclude on Sept. 2 in Irvine, CA.
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Common "Finding Forever"
The rap star, who is known for staying on the "positive tip" in his hip-hop music, returns with his seventh album. The multi-Grammy-nominated artist's last album was 2005's "Be," a Kanye West-produced set that delivered the hits "The Corner," "Go" and "Testify."
West once again lends his production talent to "Finding Forever," but there are also contributions in that realm from other superstars, notably Will.I.Am and the late J. Dilla. Musical guest stars on "Finding Forever" include vocalist D'Angelo.
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Kidz Bop Kids "Kidz Bop, Vol. 12"
The popular children's music series turns 12. This time around, those wacky Kidz Bop Kids tackle 18 kid-friendly tunes, including "Makes Me Wonder" and "Girlfriend."
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Sean Kingston "Sean Kingston"
This 17-year-old Jamaica native definitely has the right pedigree. His family roots include grandpa Jack Ruby (a great Jamaican producer) and uncle Buju Banton (Jamaican music star). Now, it's time to see just how closely Kingston follows in the family's footsteps as the singer delivers his self-titled full-length debut.
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Puddle of Mudd "Famous"
After making fans wait, the heavy rockers are finally back with a follow-up to 2003's "Life on Display." "Famous" marks the band's debut on Geffen, having released its two previous albums--"Life on Display" and 2001's "Come Clean"--on Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst's label, Flawless Records.
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Other new releases:
David Bowie, "Glass Spider Tour" (Virgin)
Eric Dodge, "Why Not Today" (Racing Snail)
Five Finger Death Punch, "Way of the Fist" (Firm)
Mandisa, "True Beauty" (Sparrow)
Mario, "GO" (J-Records)
Jeff Kashiwa, "Play" (Native Language)
Elvis Presley, "Elvis: Viva Las Vegas" (RCA)
The Raspberries, "Live on Sunset Strip" (Rykodisc)
Josh Rouse, "Country Mouse City House" (Nettwerk)
The Starting Line, "Direction" (Virgin)
Al Stewart, "Live Indian Summer" (Collector's Choice)
Al Stewart, "24 Carrots" (Collector's Choice)
Al Stewart, "Love Chronicles" (Collector's Choice)
Various Artists, "Kneel at the Cross" (Sparrow)
Soundtracks and scores:
"The Bourne Ultimatum" (Decca)
"Gears of War" (Sumthing Else)
Eagles Prepping New Studio Album, Tour
The Eagles are planning to take flight with a long-awaited new album and a tour. Guitarist Joe Walsh tells Billboard.com that the album -- the Eagles' first full-length studio set since "The Long Run" in 1979 -- is "almost out. We're just finishing vocals and mixing it. We're all finally signing off on it."
Walsh says that all of the band members -- himself, Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Timothy B. Schmit -- wrote songs for the album, which he says "go in some really, really new, different directions. It's hard to compare to anything that I hear out there now." For his songs, however, Walsh "went rock'n’roll," including one "extended" track with "a middle full of guitar statement" and another that's "full-on rock'n'roll. I didn't want us to be too ballad-y here. We need some stuff we can play live, so I made sure there was that element in the record."
Walsh says the band, which took this year off the road to hunker down on the album, plans to tour extensively in 2008.
The guitarist is hardly sitting at home, however. Though he's put the James Gang on ice until he has more time to dedicate to it, he's playing 13 solo shows in the next month, beginning tonight (July 31) in Saratoga, Calif. Walsh has recruited a band of well-credentialed young players such as Gia Ciambotti (Bruce Springsteen, Lucinda Williams) and Drew Hester (Lisa Marie Presley, Foo Fighters), who he says "are really kicking me in the pants."
"I love the energy and the attitude of a younger band, especially on stage," Walsh says. "I'm less cautious and less ... professional, I guess. I just like to rock'n'roll, and they're making me want to do it more."
Walsh adds that he's jonesing a bit to do some solo recording again but, not surprisingly, says, "I don't think I would cancel being an Eagle and resurface with a solo career. I love being in the Eagles, and we're not really done yet."