Look for ‘Blade Runner’ tonight

Here’s a reminder to check out the director’s cut of Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi film “Blade Runner,” which is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick ‘s 1968 novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” It’s playing tonight at the Magic Lantern.

The movie is interesting for a number of reasons, not least of which the adaptation of Dick’s source work (screenplay courtesy of Hampton Fancher and David Webb Peoples of “Unforgiven” fame). It’s interesting because it was the second sci-fi offering of Scott’s early career. But it’s interesting, too, because of its schizophrenic nature.

“Blade Runner” is actually two different films. The first is the cut that will show at the Magic Lantern tonight, the one that Scott wanted to release originally. This is the one that, most notably, does not have a narrator telling the story in voiceover. Instead, the studio insisted that Scott include a narration (lines written by Roland Kibbee), making the film into a more standard gumshoe noir.

What’s funny, to me, is that I first resisted the notion of Scott’s own cut. I was such a fan of what I thought was the original film that I was certain Scott was suffering from artistic arrogance. But when I finally did get around to seeing the non-narrated version, I became a quick convert.

I still love the one originally released in theaters. But I recognize the brilliance of Scott’s version. If only more films being made today, even by Scott, had half as much quality.

Let’s hope that the forthcoming “Avatar,” for example, has a script to match its stunning visuals.