Dystopian fun: ‘Blade Runner’ final cut at Morristown Library, May 28

blade runner poster
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The city in 'Blade Runner.'
The city in ‘Blade Runner.’

 

Even dystopians need a little fun once in awhile, right?  Well, tonight’s their night: A screening of Blade Runnerthe final cut, no less–at the Morristown & Township Library.

Showtime is 6:30 pm, on Wednesday, May 28, 2014, at One Miller Road in Morristown. Light refreshments will be served.  Here is the scoop from the library:

Just think, in only five more years, we will have reached the 2019 world of Blade Runner, a dystopian science fiction film starring Harrison Ford, Sean Young and Rutger Hauer. Should the local authorities should be alerted that ‘replicants’ are among humankind and will have to be hunted down?

The Ridley Scott film, which focuses on Blade Runners (i.e. special police operatives who go after replicants) was originally based loosely on a novel by Philip K. Dick called, of all things, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

blade runner posterThe Morristown & Morris Township Library is screening the final cut version of the movie as part of its “Midnight Movies at 7” series on Wednesday, May 28.

The screening begins at 6:30 p.m. and will include light refreshments. The program is supported through funding from the Friends of the Morristown & Morris Township Library.

The film is hailed by many as a science fiction masterpiece and not only brought the novels of Philip K. Dick to mainstream attention, but served as a model for many futuristic noir films and productions that succeeded it.

Like the dark and shadowy appearance of the film, even ancillary aspects of the film have taken a strange turn. The movie was scored by noted Greek (and Chariots of Fire-known) instrumentalist Vangelis and yet the release of its acclaimed soundtrack was delayed for almost a decade.

There is even a supposed ‘Blade Runner curse’ since many of the companies with product placements in the film (Bell, Atari, Pan Am, etc.) suffered a demise after the film’s release.

For a film that did not fare well at the box-office, Blade Runner has had a second life as a cult favorite and has gone through various versions from what was shown in theaters. The original work-print version was modified for the theatrical release due to poor test audience response.

A ‘director’s cut’ was issued in 1992 (although not under the supervision of director Ridley Scott), but a DVD release received vehement criticism when the quality failed to live up to expectations. A ‘final cut’ was released in 2007, as a 25th anniversary edition, and this cut­––the only one where Scott had true artistic freedom—will be the one shown at the Library.

“Midnight Moves at 7” is an occasional at the Morristown & Morris Township Library, where cult and B-movies traditionally shown at Midnight Movie houses are shown.

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