Blade Runner: The Final Cut

It was hard to watch this without trying to spot differences between this and the Director's Cut, with which I'm pretty familiar. I really didn't see all that many, aside from a few short shots that seemed new to me, and of course the different order of the ending sequences, so that Deckard runs away with Rachel after surviving his fight with Batty.

I was a little confused by his nod. Since everyone knows that after the Director's Cut the big question was about Deckard's human/replicant status, it almost seemed like having the nod be the last bit of expression we see out of Deckard, after he picked up the origami unicorn, it was pretty easy to assume that the nod was meant to be in response to that question, so that Deckard seemed to be actually thinking about that question more than I ever thought he was before, except that if that were the case, just nodding seems like a pretty stupid response to him making up his mind. Or maybe he just nodded because Harrison Ford couldn't figure out how else to respond to an origami unicorn, but thought he should respond somehow. Also, maybe the shot where Batty kills Tyrelle was held a little longer? I don't remember so much blood before, but I'm not sure.

I was really happy to be able to see it on a big theater screen, but I can't see the cut seemed to be that much of an improvement over the extant one.

(12/9/07)
Okay, so my worst fears have been realized. Here's Ridley Scott on "the nod"

Wired: You shot the unicorn dream sequence as part of the original production. Why didn't you include it in either the work print or the initial release?

Scott:As I said, there was too much discussion in the room. I wanted it. They didn't want it. I said, "Well, it's a fundamental part of the story." And they said, "Well, isn't it obvious that he's a replicant?" And I said, "No more obvious than that he's not a replicant at the end." So, it's a matter of choice, isn't it?

Wired: When Deckard picks up the origami unicorn at the end of the movie, the look on his face says to me, "Oh, so Gaff was here, and he let Rachael live." It doesn't say, "Oh my God! Am I a replicant, too?"

Scott:No? Why is he nodding when he looks at this silver unicorn? I'm not going to send up a balloon. Doing the job he does, reading the files he reads on other replicants, Deckard may have wondered at one point, "Am I human or am I a replicant?" That's in his innermost thoughts. I'm just giving you the fully fleshed-out possibility to justify that look at the end, where he kind of glints and looks angry. To me, it's an affirmation. He nods, he agrees. "Ah hah! Gaff was here. I've been told."

I've always kind of wondered how the guy who made Blade Runner and Alien could've also made Gladiator and... well... pretty much all of his other movies. Apparently it's because he's kind of an idiot (seriously, what kind of an imagination thinks "Yeah, when Deckard finds the unicorn he thinks 'Ah hah! Gaff was here. I've been told.' and then his response to learning unequivocally that he's a robot is to nod quickly and walk away"?) Oh, well. Blade Runner's still great (even if now it will forever have that silly nod), but I guess I can stop wondering what happened to Ridley Scott...