Blade Runner: The Penultimate Cut (TM2YC)

[LastSurvivor]

Stunning work TM2YC... Can not wait for this to be finished.

 

[Plissken1138]

Here are some screenshot comparisons for now:

 

[TM2YC]

The audio editing is progressing quicker than I thought:

- English language tracks:
Final Cut English 5.1
Theatrical Cut (with voiceover) English 5.1
Director's Cut English 5.1
Workprint English 5.1
Director's Cut 1999 DVD English 2.0

- Other languages:
Final Cut Spanish 5.1
Final Cut French 5.1
Final Cut German 5.1
Final Cut Italian 5.1
Theatrical Cut (with voiceover) French 5.1
Director's Cut 1999 DVD French 2.0
Director's Cut 1999 DVD Italian 2.0
Director's Cut 2006 Remastered DVD German 2.0

- Official commentaries:
Final Cut Stereo - 1 - Ridley Scott
Final Cut Stereo - 2 - Hampton Fancher, David Peoples, Michael Deeley & Katherine Haber
Final Cut Stereo - 3 - Syd Mead, Lawrence G. Paull, David Snyder, Douglas Trumball, Richard Yuricich & David Dryer
Workprint Stereo - Paul M. Sammon

- Fan commentaries:
??? (haven't looked into this yet)

Plus all the final cut mixes and the workprint mix are all but done. I should be able to just complete the English FC mix, then use source replacement to generate the other FC language tracks with minimal fuss. I've not started the theatrical/voiceover mix yet (or it's french version), or the Director's cut 5.1 blu-ray mix.

The workprint mix took the most time as it's very different in a lot of places and is regularly missing footage not in the FC, making filling those gaps tricky, since there is nothing to replace them with. I had to use looping/remixing for short gaps and bits of the FC mix when larger chunks were absent. It's maybe not perfect in places but I think it'll be a fun alternate track to watch along with.

I've put together a quick trailer (although it still took ages... I hate making trailers! ):

and here is comparison of the same shots from the Final Cut blu-ray (in 4K):

Reveal message

FYI: It's copied pretty closely from this one (nice work whoever edited it):

 

[skyled]

Super excited

I have to say though, I do kind of like the blue tint on the cold lab. Especially compared to the warmer DC colors, the blue on the lab makes it look incredibly cold. Of course it's entirely too much blue, but it's a neat look...

 

[TM2YC]

The "seamlessly branched" blu-ray sure is confusing to work with when it comes to mixing the audio. It's giving me a headache .

Super excited

I have to say though, I do kind of like the blue tint on the cold lab. Especially compared to the warmer DC colors, the blue on the lab makes it look incredibly cold. Of course it's entirely too much blue, but it's a neat look...

My version is graded closer to the 1999 DC DVD but the 2006 remastered DC DVD (and the blu-ray transfer of same) feature a much bluer grade for that scene with Chew but nowhere near the extreme minty tint from the FC.

Does anybody know if an isolated score for Blade Runner has been made by any enterprising fans?

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EDIT:

When I said "The "seamlessly branched" blu-ray sure is confusing to work with when it comes to mixing the audio. It's giving me a headache ." I was hearing errors in my rip of the Director's Cut 5.1 mix around the points where the voiceover is absent.

Turns out it's not anything I was doing wrong, the blu-ray mix is just faulty. I've checked two versions of the disc (Region A and Region B), on PC (ripped and just playing the disc) and on two different TVs, with two different blu-ray players and they all have the same audio glitches. It almost sounds like they've forgotten to mix in the center channel during the brief portions where the voiceover is absent.

It doesn't seem to be a problem with the English and French stereo mixes of the DC, or with the 5.1 English voiceover mix, or the French stereo voiceover.

EDIT2:

I checked the branched DVD from the first Blade Runner PAL 5-DVD set and the English DC 5.1 mix has the same errors. So no DC 5.1 mix then . However, I found that this old disc has German and Spanish stereo mixes of the voiceover not present on the later blu-ray. Chew's voice is really camp on the theatrical German dub .

 

[lapis molari]

Does anybody know if an isolated score for Blade Runner has been made by any enterprising fans?

There are many different CD releases, mostly bootlegs. Some are great, some aren't. I used to have the 2-disc 'Esper Edition', which includes bootlegged material, and it's sound quality was fine. The official 25th-anniversary CD has two discs.

Here is the only one I see that claims to have the complete score. I haven't heard it, so can't comment on the qaulity.

 

[ChainsawAsh]

I wonder if those "glitches" are actually present in all "Director's Cut" 5.1 mixes, being that the DC was a rush job. I wonder if they just...plucked the VO out rather than properly making a new mix?

Do the old DC DVDs have this issue too?

 

[TM2YC]

I wonder if those "glitches" are actually present in all "Director's Cut" 5.1 mixes, being that the DC was a rush job. I wonder if they just...plucked the VO out rather than properly making a new mix?

Do the old DC DVDs have this issue too?

The 2007 DC DVD 5.1 mix has it too.  The two mistakes I've noticed are around where the first Deckard voiceover narration isn't:

08.01 - You can just hear the blimp announcer say "New..." as it cuts to the crane shot down on to Deckard. It should continue to say "New climates, recreatio... etc".
09.05 - Chew beckons Deckard over and it cuts back to Deckard getting up. At that point the background noise, rain, crowd noise etc suddenly drops down in the mix. It's subtle enough that

Damn it, the first error is in the Final Cut (and not just the English mix), plus the old 1999 Director's Cut DVD stereo mix and all versions I have. The only place I'm not finding it is the Workprint but that's a completely different mix. Maybe it's not an error, maybe the start of the line is supposed to abruptly cut off to denote a slight change in the location of the listener within the scene?

The second error is only there in DC 5.1 mix (and the branched international cut). Comparing it to the old 1999 DC stereo DVD (and the 2006 DC remastered stereo DVD) I think it's the blimp announcer's background chatter that drops low in the mix, so maybe it's the back channels that aren't right? The blimp is comparatively quite high in the mix on the older DC DVDs across the sequence.

You know what, I'm going to save myself a headache and pretend I didn't notice any of these issues... nobody else has in the last couple of decades, including me .

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

Maybe it's not an error, maybe the start of the line is supposed to abruptly cut off to denote a slight change in the location of the listener within the scene?

I know exactly what you’re talking about (I think) even though I haven’t seen the movie in a few years. And I’ve always thought it was exactly this. The point of view changes so the sound mix changes. Though I do believe it’s intentional, I also do think it calls attention to itself too much.

 

[SmellySkunk]

I'm hoping that this will be the best Christmas present ever!

 

[ChainsawAsh]

Yep, I always thought those things were deliberate choices. I'd leave 'em.

 

[TM2YC]

Does anybody know if an isolated score for Blade Runner has been made by any enterprising fans?

There are many different CD releases, mostly bootlegs. Some are great, some aren't. I used to have the 2-disc 'Esper Edition', which includes bootlegged material, and it's sound quality was fine. The official 25th-anniversary CD has two discs.

Here is the only one I see that claims to have the complete score. I haven't heard it, so can't comment on the qaulity.

Thanks for the reply on the soundtrack front and thanks to @"Plissken1138" for info too. I haven't found anything like a complete isolated score already synced up but I've got enough that I might be able to put together a half decent isolated score track with the back audio channels used to fill in the gaps.  It's not going to be note perfect but it should be a nice bonus track.

Yep, I always thought those things were deliberate choices. I'd leave 'em.

I'm 99% sure you're right. Just checked a Laserdisc transfer of the 1983 US Theatrical Cut and that has the cut off line too.

 

[TM2YC]

All the official sound mixes are now complete and synced with the Final Cut. 23 in all, here's the list:

01 Final Cut 2007 blu-ray English 5.1
02 Final Cut 2007 blu-ray English 2.0
03 Final Cut 2007 blu-ray French 5.1
04 Final Cut 2007 blu-ray German 5.1
05 Final Cut 2007 blu-ray Italian 5.1
06 Final Cut 2007 blu-ray Spanish 5.1

07 Workprint English 5.1

08 Theatrical Voiceover 2007 blu-ray English 5.1
09 Theatrical Voiceover 2007 DVD English 2.0
10 Theatrical Voiceover 1983 Laserdisc English 2.0
11 Theatrical Voiceover 2007 blu-ray French 2.0
12 Theatrical Voiceover 2007 DVD German 2.0
13 Theatrical Voiceover 2007 DVD Spanish 2.0

14 Director's Cut 2007 blu-ray English 5.1
15 Director's Cut 1999 DVD English 2.0
16 Director's Cut 1999 DVD French 2.0
17 Director's Cut 2006 DVD German 2.0
18 Director's Cut 1999 DVD Italian 2.0

19 Isolated Score 2.0

20 Ridley Scott Commentary 2.0
21 Hampton Fancher, David Peoples, Michael Deeley & Katherine Haber Commentary 2.0
22 Syd Mead, Lawrence G. Paull, David Snyder, Douglas Trumball, Richard Yuricich & David Dryer Commentary 2.0
23 Paul M. Sammon Workprint Commentary 2.0

The Workprint (and it's commentary) took a lot of editing to get synced because it's so different in lots of little ways but it should be a great alternate way to watch. I'm glad I could include pre-2006-remastering mixes of the TC/IC and the DC but I don't know if an original mix for the Workprint exists. Across the various DVDs and blu-rays I was able to bring together some great French, German, Italian and Spanish dubs. The German dub actor for Roy Batty is very good, he nails the tears in rain speech.

I've noticed that the 2017 UHD Final Cut 4K blu-ray release also has new Portuguese, Polish and Russian 5.1 dub mixes but since I don't own it, or a UHD drive to rip it, I think spending £150 to get them would be taking my Blade Runner obsession one step too far!

Thanks again to @"Plissken1138" for help with making the Isolated Score track. Having all the correct pieces of music listed in more or less the right order meant I only had to make sure I found the right places to get them synced and then speed correct the odd piece. Instead of trawling through the whole soundtrack in the hope of finding the right bits and pieces, which would've been unthinkable. I've filled in the brief sections that feature no music with low-volume rear surround channels and LFE so there is always something to listen to.

I'm planning on adding some fan commentaries for extra value if I can find any that sound interesting discussion wise and sound okay fidelity wise. So not quite done yet with the audio but they shouldn't take long, as they should already be synced with the FC. Then mux everything together and have a watch this weekend .

 

[SmellySkunk]

Super excited ^_^

 

[asterixsmeagol]

I've noticed that the 2017 UHD Final Cut 4K blu-ray release also has new Portuguese, Polish and Russian 5.1 dub mixes but since I don't own it, or a UHD drive to rip it, I think spending £150 to get them would be taking my Blade Runner obsession one step too far!

Ripping and muxing these audio tracks is left as an exercise for the viewer.

 

[LastSurvivor]

Every now and then you get a fanedit which is in the works for years and for very good reasons - such is the case here.  Additionally, it's probably the most eagerly awaited fanedit for years - no pressure TM2YC - this just looks so epic and the work that has gone into this is to be appreciated by us all here.

 

[TM2YC]

Okay all the audio tracks are complete, in addition to the 23 listed above there are 6 fan commentaries synced up, plus an unusual 1986 Edited-for-TV CBS Broadcast mix (for a total of 30 audio options):

- CommTrackPodcast Commentary 2.0
- Pete Mac Commentary 2.0
- THO Movie Reviews Podcast Commentary 2.0
- Vassals of Kingsgrave Commentary 2.0
- VaughnJogVlog Commentary 2.0
- Vinesauce Commentary 2.0

- Edited-for-TV 1986 CBS Broadcast English 2.0

The CBS mix has the voiceover but also uniquely has a guy reading the opening crawl out loud and has all the bad language removed (although not the one use of the n-word, which was apparently a-okay for network broadcasting in 1986 :dodgy: ). Obviously I've had to put audio back in for the places where violence was trimmed to keep it the same length as the FC mix.  It was a bit of a ball ache to sync up because it has differences between the FC and TC, time edits for violence, advert breaks to look out for, plus small differences because it's taken from an old print with different splices to the blu-ray.

 

[Jrzag42]

I somehow didn't realize that there was a Vinesauce commentary, I'm very excited to listen to it. I'm somewhat of a fan.

 

[TM2YC]

I opened up my Alternate Cut timeline for the first time in a while. It's a scary place :

 

[SmellySkunk]

So much goodness all in one place, I seriously cannot wait for this ^_^