'a Masterpiece'
1. Blade Runner: the Final Cut (2007) (dir Ridley Scott)
Starring Harrison Ford; Rutger Hauer; Sean Young; Daryl Hannah; Edward James Olmos
When & Where? 22:00-23:50 Thu 26th Sep 2013 110m BBC4
After the original release in 1982 and the director's cut in 1992, this definitive version of Ridley Scott's dystopian masterpiece finally allows his ambitious themes about the meaning of life in an ailing society to shine through. It's still a fantastic melding of film noir and sci-fi, in which morose hitman Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) tracks down illegal replicants infiltrating humanity. But his character is now fleshed-out as a flawed antihero, troubled by doubts over his own identity - fears that are later confirmed by the expanded unicorn dream sequence. With the restored footage mainly culled from the original work print, some dodgy special effects corrected, the voiceover removed, and the "happy ending" made bleaker, Scott's visionary thriller makes the acid rain/neon-drenched Los Angeles of 2019 a far colder, more violent and depressing place.
Plot Summary - The "Final Cut" of Ridley Scott's futuristic thriller starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer and Sean Young. Los Angeles in the year 2019: police learn that four lethal androids have escaped from a space colony to find their creator on Earth. Former cop Rick Deckard, an expert in distinguishing humans from "replicants", is assigned to track the androids down.
Starring Gary Cooper; Grace Kelly; Thomas Mitchell; Lloyd Bridges; Katy Jurado
When & Where? 12:55-14:35 Wed 2nd Oct 2013 100m Film4
This is the film that put director Fred Zinnemann on the Hollywood A-list, revived the career of Gary Cooper and made Grace Kelly a star. If that's not enough, this multiple Oscar winner was also one of the first psychological westerns, breaking the mould of the gun-toting tales that had dominated the genre since the early silent era. It was also a highly controversial film, being seen as an attack on those who deserted their colleagues during the Communist witch-hunts that turned Hollywood into a place of fear between 1947 and 1951. John Wayne was chief among the film's critics, denouncing it as "un-American". Whatever the truth about the story's origins, High Noon remains a classic thanks to its sterling performances and marvellously suspenseful "real time" structure.
