Harrison Ford shares notes from first cut of Blade Runner

Harrison Ford has revealed some never previously seen notes from executives that might have taken Blade Runner another way. Harrison Ford presented the Best Acting gong at the Oscars on Sunday night. Just to keep things fresh, the veteran actor decided to read off a few notes from a 30 year old film. Who said the Oscars wasn’t relevant? In fairness though, when the film is Blade Runner, nobody is really complaining. Blade Runner has attained near mystical status over the years for its variety of cuts and it’s no secret that almost director Ridley Scott’s first cut did not go down well with the film’s producers, who promptly took final cut from the director before assembling their own version. Now, 30 years on, Ford opted to share some of those notes and fans of the movie will recognise some of the notes very clearly indeed. “‘Opening too choppy.” (Even though Blade Runner is acknowledged as having one of the greatest opening sequences in science-fiction history.) “Why is this voiceover track so terrible?” (The voiceover track was added against Scott’s wishes.) They get better. “He sounds drugged,”  “Were they all on drugs? Deckard [Ford’s character] at the piano is interminable. Flashback dialogue confusing. Is he listening to a tape? And if they weren’t superfluous enough for you, try this one: “Why do we need the third cut to the eggs?” The notes go on. “The synagogue music is awful on the streets. We’ve got to use Vangelis. Up to Zora’s  death, the movie is deadly dull.” The final note is perhaps the best of the lot. “This movie gets worse every screening.” And yet, ultimately, Blade Runner would be reappraised as a film ahead of its time. Those passing a critical eye over it at the time clearly didn’t agree, however. And 30 years later, Ford isn’t letting them live it down… — Thank you for visiting! If you’d like to support our attempts to make a non-clickbaity movie website: Follow Film Stories on Twitter here, and on Facebook here. Buy our Film Stories and Film Stories Junior print magazines here. Become a Patron here.