Friday, April 27, 2007

Joanna Cassidy: Blade Runner reshoots done?

I really hope this isn't true, what could be possibly so important that Ridley Scott needs to call her in for reshoots nearly 25 years on ?!? The only scene I could possibly think that could ever need replacing are those of the stuntwoman crashing through the glass when Zhora is shot by Deckard, and I'm sure doing some digital changes to the original are better than trying to do reshoots.

Blade Runner needs to be left, it was brilliant already even before they put out the half arsed Directors Cut in 1990 that Ridley Scott still wasn't happy with, now he's supposed to be working on a Blade Runner "Final Cut" due out later this year.

Anyway here's the story...

Joanna Cassidy, one of the original stars of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, posted a cryptic note on her official Web site: She said she has finished reshooting her scenes in the film.

"Joanna has just finished reshooting her scenes from the original Blade Runner," the site reported. "Joanna is wearing her original outfit (which she kept over from the first production). These new scenes will be part of the upcoming special Blade Runner DVD re-release. Check back for more details." It's not clear whether the new scenes will be incorporated into a new, final cut by director Scott, who has publicly expressed dissatisfaction with the 1992 director's cut of the movie. It's also unclear whether Scott is doing other reshoots. The film's 1982 theatrical cut was famously carved up by the studio and producers and released with a since-much-reviled voice-over. For the film's 25th anniversary this year, a special new DVD set of the movie is planned. Cassidy played Zhora, one of the movie's "replicants," or androids, who meets her demise at the hands of "Blade Runner" Harrison Ford.

13 comments:

allen etter said...

If he's pulling a Lucas, I will "UNLEASH HELL!"

Nik Holmes said...

Well, he seemed to treat Alien with due respect when he fiddled with that a few years back, so I definitely have a bit more respect for the mans need to meddle.
But hell, what I want is a re cut of Legend! Scott himself has said on at least one occasion how much love he has for that film, and what he would have liked it to be. And in the wake of LotR's it's not like a bit of fantasy is out of the realms of public reappraisal.

Andrew Glazebrook said...

I hated his re-cut of Alien, for years he always said he cut the cocoon sequence because it broke up the pacing at the end of the film, then he goes and puts the bloody thing back in which totally screws up the continuity between Alien and Aliens because he has the crew turning actually into eggs in his life cycle.And he was right,it did screw up the pacing.
The US DVD that I got of Legend has a new cut on it, they have the crappy US cut but a new cut with Jerry Goldsmith's music, it has new scenes with Darkness etc...

I. N. J. Culbard said...

Thing is, there's a cut of this film you already like, so what's wrong with them doing another one that hey, you never know, someone else might like?

Andrew Glazebrook said...

I'm not starting this again, my opinion is it sucks !! If someone wants to watch this good on em !

Moonwatcher said...

I prefer the version with the voice over.Blade Runner is a classic, why mess with it 25 years on ? How is she ever going to look like she did 25 years ago, sounds a bit stupid to me.

I. N. J. Culbard said...

"I'm not starting this again, my opinion is it sucks !! If someone wants to watch this good on em !"

I'm sure thats what some people were saying before the Directors Cut came out.

I like the Directors Cut. :)

I. N. J. Culbard said...

"How is she ever going to look like she did 25 years ago, sounds a bit stupid to me."

Have you seen her? She looks practically the same! Another one of these lucky devils who doesn't age (like Sara Jane from Doctor Who).

Andrew Glazebrook said...

From what I've heard Moonwatcher they're putting selected bits of the voice over back on and re-editing the fight in the Alley with Leon back into the proper order, if you notice when Deckard is talking to Captain Bryant at the Drink Vendors after he's shot Zhora he already has the scars on his face that he has yet to get off Leon moments later.

Ian, I liked the fact that they took off the happy ending with the unused 'Shining' footage but I think the voice over was popular with a lot of people, I know I preferred it even if Scott said at the time he didn't, like I said above they're saying that some sections of voice over are going back on to this new cut.

Steve said...

Leave Bladerunner alone! If isn't broken why fix it? Did Michelangelo retouch the Sistine Chapel? Has the Mona Lisa been redone in a day-glo shellsuit? Doh!

TimeWarden said...

I think you tend to prefer the version you see first because that's the moment you fall in love with the film. And, if it's good enough to fall in love with on initial viewing, why try and change something you love?

I've always thought the 1982 theatrical release best. I don't see the need for unicorns and it looks like a shot taken from "Legend" and inserted into "Blade Runner"! I'm not sure about the so-called "happy" ending. You can see where it's been removed on the director's cut and it looks an untidy edit.

Moonwatcher said...

I found this picture of her taken in 2003, she looks a hell of a lot older to me, I still can't see how she's going to pass for the same age ?.

http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Events/1916/JoannaCass_Ausse_867853_400.jpg

Andrew Glazebrook said...

Moonwatcher, I know she does look old in that pic but I've seen some at a premiere recently were she looked better, I suppose make-up and lighting can do a lot for people. OK she might be still in good shape but she's still not what she used to be 25 years after the original movie was made.