Monday, July 30, 2007

Han shot first and Deckard is a replicant--why is Harrison Ford involved with all these editing controversies?

Thanks to Ain't It Cool News, I found out about these new clips from Blade Runner: The Final Cut. Not too much there, but I'm sure a couple of you reading might be interested to give it a look. Interestingly, Joanna Cassidy pulled out the original costume to reshoot her chase scene. However, with a combination of wearing contacts today and the low-resolution of the video, I couldn't really make out how the reshot scene was different from the original. Is it less obvious that Zhora was just a stuntman dressed up as a woman crashing through those windows?

And since I have Wander and Firecracker George here, answer me this: The unicorn in Deckard's dream is supposed to be a clue to the audience that he's a replicant. Why? What's the significance of a unicorn? I'm sure I could figure out the answer if I gave it more time in my brain, but I figure one of you could give me a more thoughtful answer.

6 comments:

Wander said...

Well, the Unicorn (besides being a sneak peek of what would be Ridley Scott's next production, Legend) represents Deckards hopes and dreams. It puts into one singular image that which he is struggling for, a place and time of his own, away from his profession, and singular purpose; killing. Yet, we see him take the photo, so precious to the Replicants he is hunting, in hand while all around him are the photos and keepsakes of his own past. He sees the replicants one real weakness is the desire to be human, and free, and in a time of their own, away from the singular professions they were built expressly for. As Deckard plays the piano, after he tells Rachel he knows she had the memories of piano lessons as a girl implanted in her head, he sees the photos, he realizes he has the same memories of getting piano lessons as a child, and that one flash is the first moment we understand he is starting to see what is going on.
As he gathers Rachel up to leave at the end of the film, and finds the origami unicorn left by Gaff, we know in that one moment. They know what he dreams, they know what he sees. Gaff was just the keeper of the most important Nexus 6 built; Deckard the Blade Runner. There is no doubt after that scene that they are both Replicants, Deckard and Rachel, and they have a chance to find something real, and a place of their own. And as Replicants, it could be possibly forever.

There are several telling scenes, where we see the evidence piling up, but none more so then that Unicorn, because who else would hope to dream of something so pure and innocent in a city like Los Angeles in 2016, with a job like a Blade Runner, then a Replicant who only wants to be human.

Katie said...

I haven't watched that movie is so long... I'm going to have to pull my copy out and watch it before I watch the clips.

Dutch said...

I'm always perplexed that other people read our crap. I certainly don't mind - I'm just awed.

Should we make Tinsie an honorary member or what?

Anywho, yeah, the unicorn is supposed to reveal that they know what he dreams. They know, because they put it there. In the original release, which doesn't suggest he is a replicant, the unicorn origami at the end merely let's him know that Gaff was there and let Rachael live because he'd figured she'd expire soon anyway.

In the director's cut from 93', they included the unicorn dream when Deckard falls asleep at the piano. Replicants were made for dangerous or undesirable duty. Hunting down rogue replicants is pretty damn dangerous - just look at what happened to Holden.

He can breathe, as long as you don't unplug him.

Swany said...

Crap? This is quality stuff, man! Quality stuff.

And I think you're just hung up on British chicks--Tinsie didn't even comment on this post. ;-)

Anywho, thanks for the answers, guys.

As far as the unicorn, I think it's pretty neat how one can change the whole context of a movie solely by including or deleting one short sequence like Deckard's dream. I think it says a lot about how good this film was, too, considering it's awesome either way.

Dutch said...

Tinsie commented like a post or two ago. It's weird, like forgetting someone is in the back of your car until they speak, and scare the shit out of you.

Swany.

Wander said...

I actually was checking out Katie M.'s blog page yesterday. I found it very interesting.