Case Study: Blade Runner
For the 25th Anniversary of ‘Blade Runner’, Warner Bros and Ridley Scott got together and decided to do something special.
Ridley was determined to complete what he couldn’t back in 1982 with the theatrical release of the film. So ‘The Final Cut’ was born; a version of ‘Blade Runner’ containing deleted scenes, visual effects shots that could never be completed, and removal of the much maligned voiceover.
At the same time, fans of one of the greatest sci-fi films ever begged for another story to finally be told. The story of how the film was made. For years, the fraught and complex journey behind the making of ‘Blade Runner’ was the stuff of Hollywood legend.
Role
Post-Producer, Editor
Exec Producer/Director
Charles de Lauzirika
Producer
Paul Prischman
Post-Supervisor
Amy Starbin
Supervising Editor
Will Hooke
A definitive documentary was needed. A doc that told every facet of the film’s wild journey from page to theatre. It was called ‘Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner’ and we were going to make it.
Harrison Ford, Ridley Scott, and the rest of the cast and crew were reunited to get everyone’s own version of what unfolded on that set. Behind this whole project was producer and filmmaker, Charles de Lauzirika, who has pioneered the art of ‘the making of’ doc. He gave me a shot and entrusted me with helping edit the doc as well as cutting the deleted scenes of the film.
In fact, with Ridley’s blessing, Charlie and I put together a shorter, alternate version of ‘Blade Runner’ using these deleted and alternate scenes, never before used voiceover that expands the world of the characters, and even unheard parts of Vangelis’ hypnotic score.
Here I had in my hands the very pieces of the film that had ignited my passion for cinema as a kid. It was the project of a lifetime.
