Voiceover or not? and IS Deckard a replicant? by chrisisall

OTHER SCIENCE FICTION SERIES

Voiceover or not? and IS Deckard a replicant?

POSTED BY: CHRISISALL
UPDATED: Sunday, June 25, 2006 13:07
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VIEWED: 7111
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Monday, December 5, 2005 3:52 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
...
(But, dis Serenity, and all bets are off

I'll take that challenge - if you really wanna to there...

SergeantX

"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock

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Monday, December 5, 2005 4:11 PM

CHRISISALL

SergeantX, YOU didn't like Serenity???
*Place tearful emoticon here*

Chrisisall, no longer a betting man

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Monday, December 5, 2005 4:15 PM

SERGEANTX

Well... I wouldn't go that far. But I'd hoped it would be better. I honestly liked most of the episodes better. I can get longwinded about the topic, but to keep it short, it just didn't feel like Firefly. It felt like it was aimed at a target audience, and I never got that feeling from the series. Mostly it was just a question of it being all actiony and epic. I really liked the more languid pacing of the series and sorely missed it in the movie.

SergeantX

"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock

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Monday, December 5, 2005 4:25 PM

REGINAROADIE

Hey, I'm all for grand metaphors and tragedy. Unlike chrisisall, I do think 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY is one of the best sci-fi films ever and, like every other Kubrick film, a masterpiece. If you've only seen it on a tv screen, try to see it on a movie theatre screen.

Before the Coronet in my home city was torn down, in its last year, they showed some classic films. I was able to watch RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and AKIRA on the big screen. I gotta tell ya, your appreciation for the film only deepens when you see it in a movie theatre.

And I'm a huge fan of tragedy. I love a good tragedy. YOU CAN'T GO HOME AGAIN is my foray into tragic writing. HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG is one of my fave films of 2003.

But as for BLADE RUNNER, it might have been those things, but it didn't do anything for me. At least BRAZIL had that manic sense of humor to it.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"YES!!!I'm a man posessed by many demons....Polite demons that would open the door for a lady carrying too many parcels...BUT DEMONS NONETHELESS!!!! Yes. I have walked along the path of evil many times, it's a twisting, curving path that..actually leads to a charming plot garden, BUT BEYOND THAT EVIL!!!"

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 8:08 AM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by SergeantX:
Mostly it was just a question of it [Serenity] being all actiony and epic. I really liked the more languid pacing of the series and sorely missed it in the movie.

Considered seperatly from FF I must agree with you, but as, like, a two part season finale, I think it's a perfect ending.
Like the last twenty minutes of War Stories, it was too intense for languisity.
My biggest pet peeve is the lack of Greg Edmonson's music.

Chrisisall, who makes up words like 'languisity' as needed

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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 8:15 AM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by reginaroadie:
Unlike chrisisall, I do think 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY is one of the best sci-fi films ever and, like every other Kubrick film, a masterpiece.

Don't get me wrong, it IS a masterpiece, AND one of the best ever, and STILL Kubrick's worst movie, IMHO.

But Blade Runner's better Chrisisall

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Monday, December 26, 2005 10:07 PM

SYSTEMADDICT

I didn't get the time to read every post...

So I'll just toss my cents into the hat...

No Voiceover is better...I think few movies are improved with them (memento perhaps does a great job with them)...but they tend to take away from truly great film making...Which Blade Runner is...

As far as Deckard being a Relicant or not...In the book, he is not. In the movie it's unclear...If you listen to Scott, he says he is...Harrison Ford thought otherwise...

I think Philip Dick intended this type of murkly line blur though, for reasons that should be fairly apparent.

You never really can tell...

"If I knew it was harmless, I would have killed it myself." ~PKD

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Friday, December 30, 2005 8:54 PM

NOAHINHISCUPS

This ol' argument!

I won't bother with the obvious historical stuff since I'm sure that's been covered...

As a fledgling writer myself, well, at least in film school i found myself resorting to Voice Over when i wanted to explain things clearly and succintly. But as I mature as a writer I always think of that scene in "Adaptation" where the Robert McKee character is yelling/lecturing; "and god help you if you use voice over in your work! It's sloppy flaccid writing!"

I don't agree with the real Mckee on to many points, I think his approach is formulaic and boring, and after all, voice over is just one tool at a filmmakers disposal, so it's stupid to just say it's completely wrong. I would however agree to the statement that voice over is to often utilized by inexperienced writers (myself included) and to an extent it shouldn't be used.
I struggled recently with a short sci-fi script over whether I should use voice over to cover finer details, and what i finally realized is that, to me at least, good screenwriting is not contained within either dialogue or voice over, but the image. Film is a visual medium, and people forget that. Two or three sentences of action can be enough to convey more narrative and the internal motivations of the characters than any spoken word can do.

So yeah. Blade Runner is better without the voice overs. It's the ambiguity, what isn't said at all that is interesting. We can never know exactly what the characters are thinking, but that is probably what makes the story so damned intriguing.

Again, not to say voice overs are bad, one of my favorite filmmakers - Wong Kar Wei - uses them to great effect - but they should be used when they are appropriate. Not to beat the audience over the head with what they should be smart enough to put together from the images they are seeing on the screen. But that's another discussion...

"God doesn't want me to write, but I must! I must!" - Kafka

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Friday, December 30, 2005 9:00 PM

NOAHINHISCUPS

I noticed some less than enthusiastic attitudes towards Blade Runner. Just wanted to add that when I initially watched the movie almost ten years ago, I was bored to tears. I hated it. So I can understand why it's had such a wierd history.

But a subsequent viewing a few years down the road changed my mind, and now it's my favorite movie period.

I remember reading that Kubrick insisted it was superior to 2001. He was a modest guy, but I can't say I disagree with him. Again, an argument for another time...

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Saturday, December 31, 2005 1:01 AM

VIOLETRIX

i have to put in my two cents, or maybe my one-and-a-half cents, because BR is one of my favorite movies. i've also read do androids dream of electric sheep? and to tell the truth, i liked the movie better. (i know, i know. blasphemy.)

i didn't like the voiceover, though i can see the film noir-ish aspect of it and appreciate it for what it is. but i didn't like it. i also know that ridley scott meant for deckard to be a replicant and i can see it, clear as day.
but you're right, chris. why didn't he have the strength or the brains of the others?
since i've read the book, which is significantly different, i've got, like, two versions of the story running around in my head.
but i think, regardless of what mr. scott says (since, respectively, it's not his story), i think PKD was aiming toward a more ambiguous answer to that.

and before everyone yells at me, i have not read all of this thread, since it's late and i've had 1/2 a bottle of cherry manischewitz. happy hanukkah!

http://violetrix.blogspot.com
you won't remember anyway

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Saturday, December 31, 2005 5:11 AM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Quote:
Originally posted by reginaroadie:
Unlike chrisisall, I do think 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY is one of the best sci-fi films ever and, like every other Kubrick film, a masterpiece.
Don't get me wrong, it IS a masterpiece, AND one of the best ever, and STILL Kubrick's worst movie, IMHO.

Nope, that would be The Killing, which coincidentally is one of the classic examples of voice-over used very, very badly.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

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Sunday, January 1, 2006 9:20 AM

CHRISISALL

You are correct. I forgot about that one.

Chrisisall on film

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Wednesday, June 14, 2006 6:03 AM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by violetrix:

but you're right, chris. why didn't he have the strength or the brains of the others?

It was all a grand design by Tyrell, so that Deckard would never know he was a replicant.
Or maybe he's human.

Ambiguous Chrisisall re-activating the thread in the wake of the new Blade Runner: Final Cut news

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Thursday, June 15, 2006 9:16 AM

J6NGO1977

I like em both as they are 2 different films. Deckard is a Replicant it refers to it in 'Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep'. It's been a long time since I read the book but I remeber Deckard had an Android Goat (I think it was a goat) and Rachel pushes it off the top of a building. Maybe a 'Dick Head' can fill in the gaps :)

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Sunday, June 25, 2006 1:07 PM

CHRISISALL

I just think it works better not to know either way. In the end, it's really unimportant to the message of the film.

Replicant Chrisisall

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