Blade Runner: Final Cut finally coming to Toronto
After an interminable couple of months of reading exuberant reviews all over the internet of Ridley Scott's final final final (final) cut of his science fiction classic, Blade Runner, the flick is finally coming to Toronto.
Initially opening only in New York and Los Angeles, Toronto film fans were holding out hope that we'd get a release sooner or later - after all, Scott premiered his final final final (final) cut of Alien here a couple of years ago, during the Toronto International Film Festival.
Meagre hopes of a Toronto screening were dashed once again a few weeks ago, when a United States-wide selective rollout of the film was announced - and Canada missed the bill once again. Now, however, we can confirm that BR: Final Cut will start an exclusive 2-week engagement this Friday, on the digital screen at the Regent Theatre (Mt. Pleasant and Davisville).
Oh sure, the movie is coming out on Blu Ray in six weeks anyway, but the opportunity to see one of the great visual masterpieces of the cinema on an actual cinema screen, digitally projected no less, is too tantalizing to ignore.
Scott's restoration project has included digital fixes and cleanups to some of the more... er... "dated" visual effects from the 1982 print. More importantly, however, to anyone who has followed Blade Runner's torturous journey to the screen, is the director's imprimateur saying that this is, without compromise, his final vision of a film that once pretty much appeared in the dictionary next to the entry for "studio tampering."
Which means: Deckard is a replicant. (Deal with it.)
A particularly engaging interview with Scott, whose American Gangster is now cleaning up at the box office, can be found at the Wired web site. The Regent screenings start this Friday, November 9th - keep an eye on the listings for exact times. The theatre is at 551 Mt. Pleasant Road.
(Ed.: Thanks to everyone who caught my goof on the Regent location. :)
Comments (25)
This is awesome! I just watched it again on DVD the other day, and would love to check this out. Thanks for the notice, Matt.
I've been sitting on this news for 3 days because I was waiting to get confirmation from the fine folks at Theatre D... and now I can officially say it's the best news I've had all week. :)
The final, final, FINAL... final cut?! And it's right down the road from where I live?! Finally, something on this crappy day has gone right. Thanks for sharing the info! The geek in me (which is pretty much all of me) is super excited.
YAYY!!!! SO HYPED!!!
I've watched this movie way too many times. I own the soundtrack and have listened to it way too many times.
It's great news! Pity it's not showing at The Royal though.
By the way, if I'm not mistaken, The Regent is on Mount Pleasant, not Bayview (at Davisville).
final,final,final . . .
------------------
Worse than Mahler and Bruckner with their symphonies.
Gah, I already bought the supposed director's cut (longer edit, no narration, that jazz) a few years, and now he tells me that THE CAKE WAS A LIE?!?
I liked the ending of the faux-director's cut, though. It was ambiguous. He may or may not have been a replicant.
A true director's cut would nuke the stupid movie name and go with the awesome book name instead.
I don't know, i think for movie names "Blade Runner" has to be in the top five.
The good news for the real completists (like me) is that every single variation on the film will be available in the forthcoming DVD set - the theatrical cut, the '92 director's cut, and this final final final (final) final final cut.
The only thing that will be missing is the 2012 Final Final Final Final Final This Time I Mean It Final Final (Final!) Final Final Final Cut.
Thanks for inspiring a new My Life In A Nutshell strip. :-)
http://www.debbieohi.com/nutshell/2007/11/07/blade-runner-the-final-cut/
Just got the Times from the Regent, so starting tomorrow !!!
7:00, 9:30 & 4:00pm Matinees on weekends
Be assured that one day we will see: "Blade Runner: The Death Bed Confessional Cut - Deckard Was Not a Replicant"
And then "Blade Runner: The I'm Ridley Scott's Kid So I Have An Opinion Too Cut: Deckard Was In Fact A Large Wheel Of Cheese."
Saw it Friday night... exquisite picture quality and perfect sound. Just a beautiful film. The new Star Wars didn't convince me that digital projection was ready, but this somehow did. Ooh... I spotted Atom Egoyan coming out of the early show.
I saw it Friday night.
Blade Runner was made for the big screen! I've never had the opportunity to see it as such until now. You really don't know how sweet the eyecandy is until you experience it in a theatre as good as the Regent. Boy, they turned it up nice and loud. I heard everything on that enhanced soundtrack, which for my money is solely the reason this Final Cut is noteworthy and (as the title promises) the definitive version.
I'm not sure it was digital projection. I noticed some scratches on the print and reel changes... I don't know if they'd do such an extensive restoration and somehow leave stuff like that in.
I agree, Michael, I don't believe it was a digital projection after all. That's disappointing. Fortunately... it was the ONLY such disappointment. I saw the film this evening and it pretty much blew the doors open in the back of my brain. I'm going to have to sneak another screening in before it leaves the theatre. Blu-Ray just won't be the same, especially the sound...!! A totally enveloping, mindblowing cinematic experience.
I saw it sunday night.
What a change from the usual movie going experience. $10, no previews, no ads, no one talking and no cellphones going off.
bliss.
I haven't seen BR:TFC in 35mm so I can't make a fair comparison, but I did see the Digital version in LA at the Landmark. It was broadcast using some Sony projector that used 4320 lines and I don't know if it was interlaced or progressive. The specifics aren't really that important, but I thought I would pass it along.
The digital version looked and sounded awesome. I saw things I couldn't recall ever seeing on a TV before. I don't know how much of it was just the size of the screen or the clarity of the projection. And I am not talking about things that might have been added back into the film in the editing booth.
Can't wait to see how this translates to the small screen, but I am certain that, at least in this case, size will matter.
Just wanted to clarify and correct the previous post. This was the projector used: http://bssc.sel.sony.com/BroadcastandBusiness/minisites/SXRD/cinema.html
Dude, I am literally buying my first Blu Ray player just for Blade Runner.
(OK, for Blade Runner and Pirates 3. :)
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