Sutter Cane said:
Why? Why is it not comparable to video games getting patched, or the extended cut of mass effect 3? I see no meaningful difference. Although I guess by you logic that the only true version of Blade Runner is the theatrical cut, and not the vastly superior "final cut". and that the watchmen "ultimate cut" despite being a vastly superior film to the one that made it to theaters, should never have been released. There are numerous examples of films that have been vastly improved after their initial theatrical release, the only difference here is that yo don't like the changes, and because you have a different taste than the filmmaker you find his actions appalling.
My god, you really are a perfect example of the crappy "everything needs to be specifically catered to please me and only me" part of geek culture. Also just as an interesting note, on its release Indiana Jones 4 got loads of positive reviews an is STILL currently sitting at a 77% on rotten tomatoes, so clearly a few people liked it.
You know what's funny? Currently, I believe we agree to quite some extent, yet our views still manage to differ greatly. Ain't that great fun?
See, I agree with you that a
proper director's cut really meant something until just a little while back. I agree with you that the Blade Runner 're-cuts' or the Apocalypse Now 'lost footage' edition are remarkable, interesting and good.
Have you seen Brazil by Terry Gilliam? There's a special, royally messed up re-edited version of it that snipped it into shape so the consumers would get a less depressive ending. Universal's Mr. Sheinberg is the one responsible for this, just thought it was all a bit too gloomy for general consumption, not marketable and generally 'entartete Kunst'. Shame on him for that.
I would assume Mr. Gilliam was a very angry, very unhappy person in the three years of fighting windmills and the studio (and more probably than not himself) to get
his baby out in a manner that pleased him, as a director.
There are many different cuts of Blade Runner, most 'bad' ones I know were cut for violence and running time, making a bunch of 'censored cuts' and some that I would probably call 'studio cuts', as the proper reasons behind them are probably a mix between same-old, same-old and internal... policies. The proper "Director's Cut", which had to be named "Final Cut", due to all life and meaning having been sucked out of the term "Director's Cut" by 2007, is genuine, proper, full-on Ridley Scott, and it's very much a must-have, must-own, must-know masterpiece. I fully agree with you on that one.
As to Mr. Lucas - well, my opinion is as good as yours, really, but it's different with Mr. Lucas. He rewrote the entire back history of what's easily the biggest success story of his oeuvre, and he keeps messing with his movies not in any way comparable to Blade Runner, Brazil or Apocalypse Now. He's on his own planet. Just some posts above our little exchange here, someone posted Darth Vader's NOOOOOOO! #1, and, as we all know, there's a NOOOOO! #2. They are not part of the original flavour of Star Wars, and they add nothing good to the story. It's pure inane asshattery.
Of course I prefer my point of view to yours, and I don't much like personal attacks. Now, shall we continue?