VENICE (Reuters) - Twenty-five years after “Blade Runner” was panned by critics and pulled from theaters, British director Ridley Scott savors revenge with the final cut of the science-fiction film now considered a cult classic.
Presenting the new version of what he considers his most accomplished movie, Scott recalled the difficulties he had when he first pitched the work to Hollywood.
“I was a new kid on the block in Hollywood, so driving to those studios every day was a magical mystery tour. But it was hard, the whole process of making the movie became quite difficult,” he told reporters at the Venice film festival after a press screening.
“I wasn’t used at that point in my career to having too many cooks in the kitchen, and I think there were many people who started to get involved.
“So out of it came a hybrid version of what I’d originally intended. Consequently … we had a bad opening, bad previews, confused previews. I was killed by some critics … then I thought it would be gone away for ever,” Scott said.
The futuristic thriller is set in the year 2019 and follows policeman Deckard (Harrison Ford), a “blade runner” trying to catch and kill four human replicants who have escaped from a space-based colony.
The response at early sample screenings before the official release in June 1982 was so weak that the producers forced Scott to add voice-overs to the film and change the final scene to make it a more “happy ending.”
“I thought I’d really nailed it, I really thought I’d nailed it. And the person I used to show it to was my brother (director Tony Scott). And my brother, he loved it so much. Then we preview, and the previews are really, really bad, and my confidence is really dented,” said Scott.
The reworking of the film led to “voice overs which started to explain what was about to happen, who the characters were and who was going to do what to who, which is the antithesis of a good movie making process,” he said.
CULT MOVIE
Despite the changes and two Oscar nominations, bad reviews and the almost simultaneous release of Steven Spielberg’s hugely popular “E.T.” ended the theater run of “Blade Runner” prematurely.
Yet the film eventually achieved cult status through re-issue on television and home video.
Scott, 69, said he had almost forgotten about it until he saw clips on music television channel MTV and realized that his film “was having a strong influence on younger generations.”
Over the years, five versions of the film have been released, including a director’s cut in 1992. But Scott said the “Final Cut” — which will be issued as a collector’s DVD edition later in the winter — was “really as it was intended to be.”
“A good film is like a good book, you might go to the shelf and take it off and revisit it. There are not a lot of films I can do that with from my collection of material,” said Scott, whose other titles include international hits such as the first “Alien,” “Thelma & Louise” and “Gladiator.”
At present, Scott is working on “Body Of Lies,” one of several Hollywood movies on the war in Iraq due for release in the next few months. But he said he would like to make another science fiction film.
“I am continuously looking for that so if anyone has got a science fiction script in their briefcase, give it to me.”
An open letter to iPhone owners from Steve Jobs
Celebrities with their pets(Part II)
Opera legend Pavarotti dies at 71
Legendary Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti has died aged 71
Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti has died, his manager said.
Pavarotti, 71, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year and underwent further treatment in August.
The opera legend’s vibrant high Cs and ebullient showmanship made him one the most beloved tenors.
An open letter to iPhone owners from Steve Jobs
Celebrities with their pets(Part II)
Owen Wilson Trys To Commit Suicide
Korean beauties and Dell, who is more beautiful?
I have received hundreds of emails from iPhone customers who are upset about Apple dropping the price of iPhone by $200 two months after it went on sale. After reading every one of these emails, I have some observations and conclusions.
First, I am sure that we are making the correct decision to lower the price of the 8GB iPhone from $599 to $399, and that now is the right time to do it. iPhone is a breakthrough product, and we have the chance to ‘go for it’ this holiday season. iPhone is so far ahead of the competition, and now it will be affordable by even more customers. It benefits both Apple and every iPhone user to get as many new customers as possible in the iPhone ‘tent’. We strongly believe the $399 price will help us do just that this holiday season.
Second, being in technology for 30+ years I can attest to the fact that the technology road is bumpy. There is always change and improvement, and there is always someone who bought a product before a particular cutoff date and misses the new price or the new operating system or the new whatever. This is life in the technology lane. If you always wait for the next price cut or to buy the new improved model, you’ll never buy any technology product because there is always something better and less expensive on the horizon. The good news is that if you buy products from companies that support them well, like Apple tries to do, you will receive years of useful and satisfying service from them even as newer models are introduced.
Third, even though we are making the right decision to lower the price of iPhone, and even though the technology road is bumpy, we need to do a better job taking care of our early iPhone customers as we aggressively go after new ones with a lower price. Our early customers trusted us, and we must live up to that trust with our actions in moments like these.
Therefore, we have decided to offer every iPhone customer who purchased an iPhone from either Apple or AT&T, and who is not receiving a rebate or any other consideration, a $100 store credit towards the purchase of any product at an Apple Retail Store or the Apple Online Store. Details are still being worked out and will be posted on Apple’s website next week. Stay tuned.
We want to do the right thing for our valued iPhone customers. We apologize for disappointing some of you, and we are doing our best to live up to your high expectations of Apple.
Steve Jobs
Apple CEO
The orginal post is here
Celebrities with their pets(Part II)
someone thought it would be a good idea to turn their dog into a panda. i think i want to turn my dog into a phoenix.
l
i wish.
enough said.
imagine the fun you could have with some toy cars here.
the man can suck it.
ghetto bambi poo? this leaves me overwhelmed.
Celebrities with their pets(Part II)
Taliban militants on Thursday released the final seven South Korean captives they had been holding, bringing an end to a six-week hostage drama, witnesses said.
 Four of five released South Korean hostages walk in the city of Ghazni, August 29, 2007. [Reuters] |
The captives were released in two stages. The militants handed over two men and two women to officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross on a road in the Janda area of central Afghanistan, an Associated Press reporter at the scene said.
Later, two women and one man who were covered in dust walked out of the desert, accompanied by three armed men, and also were turned over to waiting ICRC officials.
The Taliban originally kidnapped 23 South Koreans as they traveled by bus from Kabul to the former militant stronghold of Kandahar on July 19. In late July, the militants killed two male hostages, and they released two women earlier this month as gesture of goodwill. Another 12 were freed Wednesday.
Under the terms of a deal reached Tuesday, South Korea reaffirmed a pledge it made before the hostage crisis began to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year. Seoul also said it would prevent South Korean Christian missionaries from working in the staunchly Muslim country, something it had already promised to do.
The Taliban could emerge from the hostage-taking with enhanced political legitimacy for negotiating successfully with a foreign government.
South Korea and the Taliban have said no money changed hands as part of the deal.
An Indonesian government official who took part in the negotiations Tuesday between three South Korean officials and two Taliban commanders where the deal was struck said money was not brought up.
“From what I saw and from what I heard in the talks, it was not an issue,” Heru Wicaksono said.
Wicaksono, a high-ranking official at the Indonesian Embassy in Kabul, said the Taliban were motivated by “humanitarian feelings” to free the captives.
The Afghan government was not party to the negotiations, which took place in Ghazni and were facilitated by the ICRC.
Wicaksono was an observer at the talks, chosen by both sides because Indonesia is a large Muslim country.
South Korea’s government, which has been under intense domestic pressure to bring the hostages home safely, said it had tried to adhere to international principles while putting priority on saving the captives.
Afghan Commerce Minister Amin Farhang criticized the deal.
“One has to say that this release under these conditions will make our difficulties in Afghanistan even bigger,” he told Germany’s Bayerischer Rundfunk radio. “We fear that this decision could become a precedent. The Taliban will continue trying to take hostages to attain their aims in Afghanistan.”
A German engineer and four Afghan colleagues kidnapped a day before the South Koreans are still being held.
Afghanistan has seen a rash of kidnappings of foreigners over the last year.
The Italian and Afghan governments were heavily criticized in March for agreeing to free five Taliban prisoners to win the release of an Italian journalist. The head of the Italian aid agency Emergency also has said Rome also paid a $2 million ransom last year for a kidnapped Italian photographer — a claim Italian officials did not deny.
Love pictures
Celebrities with their pets(Part II)
someone thought it would be a good idea to turn their dog into a panda. i think i want to turn my dog into a phoenix.
i wish.
enough said.
imagine the fun you could have with some toy cars here.
the man can suck it.
ghetto bambi poo? this leaves me overwhelmed.
Love picturescelebrities with their pets
Celebrities with their pets(Part II)
Jiang Dezhang kisses his bride Tie Guangju during their special mid-air wedding ceremony in Kunming, West China’s Yunnan Province Tuesday, August 28, 2007. Both Jiang and Tie have been working as high-rise cleaners with a local company for years.
Jiang Dezhang and his bride Tie Guangju exchange wedding rings during their special mid-air wedding ceremony in Kunming, West China’s Yunnan Province Tuesday, August 28, 2007. Both Jiang and Tie have been working as high-rise cleaners with a local company for years.
Celebrities with their pets(Part II)
So now you know I love you. With all my heart. With all my soul. Forever…
Try to understand before you judge.
Fanstatic Kiss
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Celebrities with their pets(Part II)
The moon glows red during a lunar eclipse in skies over Vancouver, British Columbia August 28, 2007. A total lunar eclipse was observed Tuesday throughout the Western Hemisphere and parts of Asia.
The Earth’s shadow is cast on the moon during a lunar eclipse in San Jose, Costa Rica August 28, 2007
The moon is partially engulfed in the Earth’s shadow during a total lunar eclipse as viewed through a telescope from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, August 28, 2007
The Earth’s shadow is cast on the moon during a lunar eclipse in Los Angeles August 28, 2007. This is the second total lunar eclipse of 2007.
In this long time exposure the Earth’s shadow is cast on the moon during a lunar eclipse in Los Angeles August 28, 2007. This is the second total lunar eclipse of 2007.
The moon is engulfed in the Earth’s shadow during a total lunar eclipse during the early hours over the village of Nicolas Romero, August 28, 2007. Normally lit by reflected sunlight, the moon will enter and emerge from the shadow of the Earth over a period of several hours
The moon enters into the earth’s shadow in eight pictures, L to R, from fully lit to a total lunar eclipse over the village of Nicolas Romero in the early hours of August 28, 2007. Normally lit by reflected sunlight, the moon passed through the shadow of the Earth over a period of several hours.
Pictures taken from Rizhao, East China’s Shandong Province on August 28, 2007 show the moon enters into the earth’s shadow in four pictures (L-R), from fully lit to a total lunar eclipse. Normally lit by reflected sunlight, the moon passed through the shadow of the Earth over a period of several hours.
Celebrities with their pets(Part II)
Really funny pictures, couldn’t help myself from collecting and sharing them.(From Stumbleupon)
Celebrities with their pets(Part II)
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