Archive for September, 2007
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)
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