This update: November 6, 2007

The upcoming Blade Runner release...

Although final confirmation has yet to come in on this, fans will be glad to hear rumors within the music industry are buzzing frantically about Vangelis' upcoming Blade Runner related release.

It was late in June when word first broke Vangelis had been composing music for a new album related to Blade Runner, but it wasn't yet clear in which way this would be released. Here finally are some details, according to some very excited insiders.

The new release will be a deluxe set, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Blade Runner movie. Described as a three CD package titled "Blade Runner Trilogy", the set is said to start with the Blade Runner soundtrack as we know it from the official 1994 release. The second disk would present both music from the film not previously released on LP or CD (the notorious bootlegs excepted), as well as music made for the movie at the time, which was neither used nor released in any shape or form. Finally, the third disk would be Vangelis' expected new album, inspired by and thematically linked to Blade Runner.

Personally, I think a lot of people were dreaming about unreleased music from the film finally appearing on CD, while others dreamt of Vangelis returning to the dark melancholic moods played on synthesizers that peeked on the popular Blade Runner soundtrack, by creating new music in the same vein, but I've never heard anyone who dared to openly dream about both of these at the same time... With early word being strongly positive about the results, this could be the answer to what literally everyone has been longing for.

Confirmation and more details expected soon... Expectations are that "Blade Runner Trilogy" will be released in December. Time to start writing those Christmas wish lists...

This update: November 12, 2007

Update on "Blade Runner Trilogy"

A few new details on Vangelis' expected "Blade Runner Trilogy" release, as more rumors from the music industry are coming in.

The first disk, which is the album as we know it now, contains its usual 12 tracks. The same number of tracks can be heard on the second disk, indicated as "previously unreleased and bonus material", as well as the third disk, with "music composed for Blade Runner's 25th Anniversary". Thus, the complete set contains a total of 36 tracks, 24 of them previously unreleased.

Apparently, it will be packaged in a digipack and includes still photographs from the movie and liner notes by Ridley Scott.

A few details have leaked about the new music (disk 3). It was of course composed, arranged, produced and performed by Vangelis, but reportedly includes guest performances on saxophone on two tracks and a ney (ancient wind instrument) on one track. Furthermore, in line with Blade Runner's multi cultural urban atmosphere, Vangelis has included spoken word, with the help of a range of distinguished actors, directors, and world dignitaries.

The set should be released by Universal Music UK somewhere mid December, simultaneously in both the US and all major European markets.

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Originally posted by scoreguy16:
But seriously, I've never seen this movie. Is it good?

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Visually: It's stunning. The music is great. The actors are all excellent. But, it could have been faster; the pacing can lag compared to what many of us are used to today. You having not seen it, might find it a bit slow. I remember finding it slow when I first saw it (9 years old; I'm only 11) and still find it has a bit of a lag. Nonetheless, it's still pretty compelling.

Disc 1

Main Titles
Blush Response
Wait For Me
Rachel's Song
Love Theme
One More Kiss, Dear
Blade Runner Blues
Memories Of Green
Tales Of The Future
Damask Rose
Blade Runner (End Titles)
Tears In Rain

Disc 2: Blade Runner Previously Unreleased And Bonus Material

Longing
Unveiled Twinkling Space
Dr. Tyrell's Owl
At Mr. Chew's
Leo's Room
One Alone (Bonus Track)
Deckard And Roy's Duel -
Dr. Tyrell's Death
Desolation Path (Bonus Track)
Empty Streets
Mechanical Dolls
Fading Away

Disc 3: Blade Runner 25th Anniversary

Launch Approval Spoken Word. Scott Bolton, Bryce Bolton
Up And Running Spoken Word. Sir Ridley Scott
Mail From India Ney. C. Lambrakis
BR Downtown Bruno Delaye (Ambassador Of France To Spain) Akiko Ebi, Cherry Vanilla
Dimitri's Bar Akiko Ebi, Oliver Stone, Saxophone. Dimitris Tsakas
Sweet Solitude Saxophone. Dimitris Tsakas
No Expectation Boulevard Spoken Word. Rutger Hauer, Wes Studi, Bhaskar Balakrishnan (Executive Director Of The Asian Heritage Foundation), Shobhana Balakrishnan, Laura Metaxa, Sir Ridley Scott, Zhao Yali (Ambassador Of The People's Republic Of China To Cyprus)
Vadavarot Spoken Word. Irina Valentinova, Florencia Suayan Tacod
Perfume Exotico Spoken Word. Edward James Olmos
Spotkanie Z Matka Spoken Word. Roman Polanski Reciting Excerpts From The Poem 'Spotkanie Z Matka' By Konstanty Ildefons Galczynski
Piano In An Empty Room
Keep Asking Spoken Word. Bryce Bolton

Disc 3 looks to be a waste to me. :-(

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Originally posted by sean:
Visually: It's stunning. The music is great. The actors are all excellent. But, it could have been faster; the pacing can lag compared to what many of us are used to today. You having not seen it, might find it a bit slow. I remember finding it slow when I first saw it (9 years old; I'm only 11) and still find it has a bit of a lag. Nonetheless, it's still pretty compelling.

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Originally posted by nuts_score:
Too bad Ridley doesn't make 'em like this anymore. This was his last great film.

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Originally posted by nuts_score:
But I have to discredit the merit of how great KoH's DC is because Scott let that dreadful turd of a theatrical cut into cinemas. It tells me that he doesn't stand up for his films; and that he's a tosser.

BTW: Deckard as Replicant = Dumb, dumb, dumb twist of irony. The film's themes work best in the original cut. Ridley Scott is still a tosser.

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George Bush would call you "flip-flopper."

And here's the press release on the deluxe soundtrack. It sounds promising, and I'm hopeful, but that 3rd disc sounds like a real puzzler (or as a poster on another forum put it, a complete waste). Also, the claim that it will contain all the music seems very unlikely. The non-Vangelis portions are sure to be no-shos, and my money says the actual original opening of the movie, with the ominous bass notes and the first statement of the theme, which was omitted from the 94 release, will be omitted here too. I don't see anything in the titles that suggests otherwise. Anyway:

This update: November 14, 2007
Universal's official press release

Blade Runner Trilogy: 25th Anniversary 3 CD Soundtrack release on UMTV

Universal Music TV is set to release a stunning 3CD collection to mark the 25th Anniversary of Blade Runner on December 10th, 2007. Featuring previously unreleased music from the film, bonus tracks and a brand new album of Vangelis material inspired by the film with sleeve notes written by Ridley Scott.

Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, with its apocalyptic depiction of LA in 2019, has become one of the most celebrated sci-fi releases of the 20th century. It’s one of those films where all of the constituent parts - the set, the lighting, the characters, the sparse dialogue and of course the music - work uniquely together to produce a cult masterpiece.

The music has always been a key element of Blade Runner and there have been various versions of the soundtrack over the years, some ‘official’ and some bootlegs. But they have all either been incomplete or have suffered from poor sound quality, until now. Blade Runner Trilogy: 25th Anniversary is a 3CD set which - for the first time - puts all the pieces together, providing the complete music from the film and a lot more besides.
CD 1 features the original and remastered soundtrack as it first appeared in 1994, twelve years after the film was released. The second CD contains all the remaining music from the film that did not appear on the original 1994 soundtrack, plus two bonus tracks ("One Alone" and "Desolation Path"). None of this material has been released before.

The third and final disc will be of real interest to Vangelis fans - as it contains an entire album of newly written material composed by Vangelis to mark the 25th anniversary of Blade Runner. The music is strong and flowing, and retains the dark, atmospheric sense of the original score. There are some intriguing spoken word contributions too, from Ridley Scott, Roman Polanski, Oliver Stone and a host of distinguished actors, personalities and world dignitaries.

"One of the great experiences of my directing career was working on the music for Blade Runner with Vangelis at his Marble Arch studio in London where he would perform rough demo film cues for me on the fly, obsessing over every detail and capturing every moment with exceptional beauty...the final result took us far beyond my expectations." - Ridley Scott, sleeve notes

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Originally posted by Crono/Kyp:
If you wanna pay a ton of money....

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It'll be out around Christmas, so I think I owe myself a little present... I mean, IT'S A BRIEFCASE!!!!! And it's like $66 and a 5 disc set... I think. Is it 5 discs? Yes, yes it is.

Clayton

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Originally posted by scoreguy16:
But seriously, I've never seen this movie. Is it good? I am planning on buying that Blu-Ray briefcase thing that comes out in December due to everyone just bragging about this film.

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Originally posted by El Cid:
Prepare to be disappointed. I'd put it in the same category as "2001" - movies that some people are absolutely crazy about, but really aren't that great.

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I have to almost agree: I do find 2001 quite horrendous, not only to sit through, but it just isn't compelling. Yes, I understand all the technical innovations etc., but other than that, there's nothing impressive about this film. You'll get a lot of film profs and art losers that go on and on and on about the symbolism of the "monolith," but really: Who cares. That's an overrated film for sure.

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Originally posted by Swashbuckler:
Just because you don't like a film doesn't mean that you should slag the people who do.

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Originally posted by PeterK:
Sean, come on. You can't have it both ways. You may say you have nothing against them, so why then do you talk to them or about them like you do? Rhetorical question.

If you simply want to be a brat, that's fine, you're there. But man, over and over again, and your classic "who cares" that shows complete disconnect... this is tiresome. Aren't [b]you even tired of this performance by now? Let's bring it up a level, yeah?[/B]

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Well, actually I wasn't addressing anyone here. Swashbuckler would like to think I was talking about him/her.

The "who cares" comment from me was about the amount of weight many people put into the "monolith" part of 2001: I happen not to care about whatever symbolism that's "supposed" to be read into that aspect of the movie. If that's disconnect, than fine, I can't do anything to solve your problem with me there.

It's sad. When I first came here, there was more of a sense of comraderie and I miss that. And I miss those Monday night chats too. But times change and unfortunately some people don't.

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Originally posted by PeterK:
Sean, it's not whether people get hurt by words or not. It's about the level of respect shown for others. Big difference. You want to boil it down to wimps who can't take it online. What I am on about is those who can take it, and can take it a looooong way, but choose not to because there's a lack of respect. They don't leave the conversation because they are "hurt" as you want to put it, but because your level of respect is somewhere theirs is not... and they are making a wise choice to not waste any more time on it. But you keep at it, as if there's something cool about being disrespectful. Maybe it is cool, but dangit, it's so boring!

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I don't consider myself to have particularly thin skin, but in general, over the years, Peter's board has been kept a much more civil alternative to the others that are out there, and I for one would like to keep it that way.

To bring the conversation back on topic, I am hoping that the second disc is, indeed, dialogue-free. Perhaps a decent version of the score could be edited together from all of the available discs.

On a related note, I saw the "Final Cut" version of Blade Runner at the Zeigfield a few weeks ago and it was stunning. Rutger Hauer's performance is fantastic.

Shouldn't "Leo's Room" be "Leon's Room?"

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Originally posted by nuts_score:
I'm staying out of pretty much the majority of these arguements.

Just like the post on FSM that claims that Robert Altman is "The King's New Clothes".

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Good idea. I'm down for the count.

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Originally posted by nuts_score:
The 80s were a bad time for everyone!

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I don't agree at all: Most of my favourite films and scores are from the 1980s.

Maybe they were bad for Altman, but great for many others.

Really? I guess I should throw away my Raiders Of The Lost Ark film/score, and oh yeah, The Empire Strikes Back film/score, and Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home films/scores, and The Thing film/score, and The Untouchables film/score, and Aliens film/score, and Conan The Barbarian film/score, and Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom, Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade films/score, and E.T. film/score, and Beverly Hills Cop film/"score" (haha!) ... Andrew, I think they need to clean the water in that hick city you inhabit. And damn, did John Williams ever suck in the 1980s, his worst scores ever were written then.

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Originally posted by sean:

Really? I guess I should throw away my Raiders Of The Lost Ark film/score, and oh yeah, The Empire Strikes Back film/score, and Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home films/scores, and The Thing film/score, and The Untouchables film/score, and Aliens film/score, and Conan The Barbarian film/score, and Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom, Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade films/score, and E.T. film/score, and Beverly Hills Cop film/"score" (haha!) ... Andrew, I think they need to clean the water in that hick city you inhabit. And damn, did John Williams ever suck in the 1980s, his worst scores ever were written then.

[Message edited by sean on 11-19-2007]

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Touche on this one, old boy. You've caught me with my pants down. Actually, we can't clean the water in Atlanta because we're running out fast. Please send some down for us, thanks!

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Originally posted by nuts_score:
Touche on this one, old boy. You've caught me with my pants down. Actually, we can't clean the water in Atlanta because we're running out fast. Please send some down for us, thanks!

Oh, and I definitely plan on getting this score; maybe I'll even order it from this here damn site!

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Advantage Sean.

Blade Runner Trilogy release dates overview

Here's an overview of the currently known release dates for Vangelis' new Bladerunner release, including the new album:
December 7
# Holland
# Italy
# Switzerland

December 10
# United Kingdom
# Greece

Amazon.com

--Brian