Post by pitfallharry on Feb 3, 2007 2:38:08 GMT -5
I found this bit of info browsing through the net tonight. I don't know how old it is and I don't know whatever became of the script / idea. My guess is a sequel like this would never get off the ground because Ford would never come back and play Deckard again. Heck, especially not at this age. IF a sequel were ever made they'd have to recast the role.
Anyway, I like the idea and how it takes a "goof" in the first film and spins it off into a new story.
Here's some of what I dug up.
A new script called "Blade Runner Down". It's written by a guy named Stuart Hazeldine, and says it is based on the novel "Blade Runner 2" by K.W. Jeter. It should be indicated here that the background of this script is a mystery, but it is currently "making the rounds" (being circulated amongst people who read a lot of scripts), and is considered to be "legitimate" by many parties. But the alleged development of this project (if there is any) has been very, very quiet, so it's hard to know the origin of the script, its purpose, and whether or not it will ultimately be used. With all this other stuff going on, seemed an appropriate time to say a few words about "Blade Runner Down" - which I just got through reading.
Remember the sequence in "Blade Runner" when Deckard (Harrison Ford) gets orders from Captain Bryant (M. Emmett Walsh) to go out and hunt down the "replicants" who had recently arrived on our planet from Off-World' If you pay VERY close attention to that sequence, you'll catch an odd bit of discontinuity that serves as the central thrust of this screenplay's story.
In both edits of "Blade Runner", Bryant tells Deckard that SIX replicants came to Earth aboard the Off-World shuttle. He tells Deckard that one of the replicants was killed trying to gain access to the Tyrell Corporation, the place the replicants were created. This means FIVE of the replicants are left alive. But Bryant only sends Deckard out to kill FOUR replicants - even makes numeric reference to "four skin jobs walking the streets", and shows Deckard videos of them - Zorah, Roy Batty, Leon Kowalski, and Pris. All things being equal, this leaves ONE of the replicants both un-named and un-accounted for. This discrepency sets into motion the story of "Blade Runner Down". Actually, when all is said and done, the story is as much about this missing replicant as it is about Decakrd and Rachel.
"Blade Runner Down" opens in the snowy woods of Oregon. Deckard and Rachel have made a humble and meager life for themselves, having escaped the hellish cityscape that was 2019 Los Angeles. It's ten years later. They're older. They're free. She's still a replicant, and her time is up.
Deckard realizes he must go back into the city - back to the Tyrell Corporation - to find the secret to keeping her alive. He does so, and is instantly detected by the police force. Turns out he's a wanted man - he quit his job and took off with a "registered replicant". To Deckard's horror, Blade Runners (there are many Blade Runners in this script) are immediately dispatched to "air him out". But this can't slow him down - he's got to fight the good fight - got to save Rachel.
After breaching Tyrell Corporation security and explaining his mission to the Tyrell powers that be, he is offered a trade. The Tyrell Corporation has found a way to keep replicants alive past their in-bred deterioration (which Rachel is suffering from). But they will only keep Rachel alive if Deckard does something for them.
That missing replicant I mentioned above' He's very, very important to the Tyrell Corporation. For several reasons, not the least of which is he has already *outlived* his four year life span - without their help. The Tyrell folks need Deckard to bring him in, and if he does, they'll give Rachel the "kiss of life."
And so it begins.
In this script, we see much more of the world Ridely Scott envisioned in the original film. We see parts of the city we did not see the last time around: subways, extensive animal facilities, the space port where Off-World shuttles land and depart (the scene of an ultra-violent foot chase that could put the Deckard / Zorah street chase in the first film to shame).
But "Blade Runner Down" also takes us through some familiar places and environments. We see the singing propaganda blimps again - there are some terrorists who don�t like them and pick on them constantly. The Tyrell Corporation is presented in much more vivid detail and scope (locker rooms, showers, landing pads). We re-visit Bryant's office - now occupied by Captain Holden. If you don't remember, Holden was the Blade Runner that got smoked at the beginning of the first film. There's a later reference in that film to him being "able to breathe okay as long as no-one unplugs him".
Holden is now back at a *desk job*, hauling around a Frankensteinian breather-unit thingie. While functional, he appears rather horrific. In a sequence in which Deckard confronts Holden about the cops that have been sent out to "retire" Deckard once and for all, the monstrous Holden tells Deckard he�s illegal and now a wanted man because he ran off with Rachel the replicant.
"Give yourself up" insists Holden.
"I can't do that," replies Deckard.
"Leave LA. Don't come back" from Holden.
"I'm trying - you're not helping. Call off your dogs" from Deckard.
Holden answers "I can't do that."
"I am not a replicant" insists Deckard (a reference to the Blade Runners that have been sent out to terminate him).
"You took off with a listed skin-job" from Holden.
Deckard - "I love her."
Holden - "You love IT, Deckard. Except you can't love an IT, can you' Not really, anyway."
Deckard moves closer to Holden. "No' What are you now, Holden' A he or An it?'"
"Blade Runner Down" is filled with little moments like this- where the tables are turned and one's not quite sure what to expect from any given character or circumstance. In fact, there's a surprise in the plot line that is heavily predicated on pulling the rug out from under us, and messing with our perceptions.
"Blade Runner Down" approaches the world of "Blade Runner" with great understanding and respect for the atmosphere, setting, and character-interaction which has already been established by Scott. But it also conjures a film that feels a bit different than the first installment.
Much of the script seems to take place in daylight, with occasional descriptions regarding how the BR environment would translate at a particular time of day (this is really rather intriguing and interesting). This story also feels more tense, more kinetic and intensified than the pacing of the first film. Descriptions of people being shot in the head, pools of blood, and replicant self-mutilation (sounds like a Joe Bob Briggs Drive In Totals list) bring to mind Verhoven efforts such as "RoboCop" and "Total Recall". Mad foot chases through jammed space-port concourses or busy police stations (through locker-rooms and showers and computer facilities) bring to mind the good old mad-dash steady cam days of Peter Hyams in "Outland" or "The Star Chamber".
So the question has to be asked: is it a GOOD SEQUEL to "Blade Runner"' Visually and stylistically, this story has the capacity to equal or transcend "Blade Runner". There's a wider variety of settings, circumstances, and ambiance with which a director could work to fashion the world of Los Angeles 2029.
Anyway, I like the idea and how it takes a "goof" in the first film and spins it off into a new story.
Here's some of what I dug up.
A new script called "Blade Runner Down". It's written by a guy named Stuart Hazeldine, and says it is based on the novel "Blade Runner 2" by K.W. Jeter. It should be indicated here that the background of this script is a mystery, but it is currently "making the rounds" (being circulated amongst people who read a lot of scripts), and is considered to be "legitimate" by many parties. But the alleged development of this project (if there is any) has been very, very quiet, so it's hard to know the origin of the script, its purpose, and whether or not it will ultimately be used. With all this other stuff going on, seemed an appropriate time to say a few words about "Blade Runner Down" - which I just got through reading.
Remember the sequence in "Blade Runner" when Deckard (Harrison Ford) gets orders from Captain Bryant (M. Emmett Walsh) to go out and hunt down the "replicants" who had recently arrived on our planet from Off-World' If you pay VERY close attention to that sequence, you'll catch an odd bit of discontinuity that serves as the central thrust of this screenplay's story.
In both edits of "Blade Runner", Bryant tells Deckard that SIX replicants came to Earth aboard the Off-World shuttle. He tells Deckard that one of the replicants was killed trying to gain access to the Tyrell Corporation, the place the replicants were created. This means FIVE of the replicants are left alive. But Bryant only sends Deckard out to kill FOUR replicants - even makes numeric reference to "four skin jobs walking the streets", and shows Deckard videos of them - Zorah, Roy Batty, Leon Kowalski, and Pris. All things being equal, this leaves ONE of the replicants both un-named and un-accounted for. This discrepency sets into motion the story of "Blade Runner Down". Actually, when all is said and done, the story is as much about this missing replicant as it is about Decakrd and Rachel.
"Blade Runner Down" opens in the snowy woods of Oregon. Deckard and Rachel have made a humble and meager life for themselves, having escaped the hellish cityscape that was 2019 Los Angeles. It's ten years later. They're older. They're free. She's still a replicant, and her time is up.
Deckard realizes he must go back into the city - back to the Tyrell Corporation - to find the secret to keeping her alive. He does so, and is instantly detected by the police force. Turns out he's a wanted man - he quit his job and took off with a "registered replicant". To Deckard's horror, Blade Runners (there are many Blade Runners in this script) are immediately dispatched to "air him out". But this can't slow him down - he's got to fight the good fight - got to save Rachel.
After breaching Tyrell Corporation security and explaining his mission to the Tyrell powers that be, he is offered a trade. The Tyrell Corporation has found a way to keep replicants alive past their in-bred deterioration (which Rachel is suffering from). But they will only keep Rachel alive if Deckard does something for them.
That missing replicant I mentioned above' He's very, very important to the Tyrell Corporation. For several reasons, not the least of which is he has already *outlived* his four year life span - without their help. The Tyrell folks need Deckard to bring him in, and if he does, they'll give Rachel the "kiss of life."
And so it begins.
In this script, we see much more of the world Ridely Scott envisioned in the original film. We see parts of the city we did not see the last time around: subways, extensive animal facilities, the space port where Off-World shuttles land and depart (the scene of an ultra-violent foot chase that could put the Deckard / Zorah street chase in the first film to shame).
But "Blade Runner Down" also takes us through some familiar places and environments. We see the singing propaganda blimps again - there are some terrorists who don�t like them and pick on them constantly. The Tyrell Corporation is presented in much more vivid detail and scope (locker rooms, showers, landing pads). We re-visit Bryant's office - now occupied by Captain Holden. If you don't remember, Holden was the Blade Runner that got smoked at the beginning of the first film. There's a later reference in that film to him being "able to breathe okay as long as no-one unplugs him".
Holden is now back at a *desk job*, hauling around a Frankensteinian breather-unit thingie. While functional, he appears rather horrific. In a sequence in which Deckard confronts Holden about the cops that have been sent out to "retire" Deckard once and for all, the monstrous Holden tells Deckard he�s illegal and now a wanted man because he ran off with Rachel the replicant.
"Give yourself up" insists Holden.
"I can't do that," replies Deckard.
"Leave LA. Don't come back" from Holden.
"I'm trying - you're not helping. Call off your dogs" from Deckard.
Holden answers "I can't do that."
"I am not a replicant" insists Deckard (a reference to the Blade Runners that have been sent out to terminate him).
"You took off with a listed skin-job" from Holden.
Deckard - "I love her."
Holden - "You love IT, Deckard. Except you can't love an IT, can you' Not really, anyway."
Deckard moves closer to Holden. "No' What are you now, Holden' A he or An it?'"
"Blade Runner Down" is filled with little moments like this- where the tables are turned and one's not quite sure what to expect from any given character or circumstance. In fact, there's a surprise in the plot line that is heavily predicated on pulling the rug out from under us, and messing with our perceptions.
"Blade Runner Down" approaches the world of "Blade Runner" with great understanding and respect for the atmosphere, setting, and character-interaction which has already been established by Scott. But it also conjures a film that feels a bit different than the first installment.
Much of the script seems to take place in daylight, with occasional descriptions regarding how the BR environment would translate at a particular time of day (this is really rather intriguing and interesting). This story also feels more tense, more kinetic and intensified than the pacing of the first film. Descriptions of people being shot in the head, pools of blood, and replicant self-mutilation (sounds like a Joe Bob Briggs Drive In Totals list) bring to mind Verhoven efforts such as "RoboCop" and "Total Recall". Mad foot chases through jammed space-port concourses or busy police stations (through locker-rooms and showers and computer facilities) bring to mind the good old mad-dash steady cam days of Peter Hyams in "Outland" or "The Star Chamber".
So the question has to be asked: is it a GOOD SEQUEL to "Blade Runner"' Visually and stylistically, this story has the capacity to equal or transcend "Blade Runner". There's a wider variety of settings, circumstances, and ambiance with which a director could work to fashion the world of Los Angeles 2029.