Movie Gadget Friday and Blade Runner return!

Ariel Waldman contributes Movie Gadget Friday, where she highlights the lovable and lame gadgets from the world of cinema.

To warmly welcome back an old Engadget classic, Movie Gadget Friday, we figured it might also be best to take a second look at a staff favorite also recently revived. Three years ago we analyzed the dystopian sci-fi sexiness of the Voight-Kampff and Esper machines, but just as we watched Blade Runner: The Final Cut again for the first time (now on remastered DVD, HD-DVD, and Blu-ray), we're taking a deeper look at a few more of the film's off-the-beaten-path devices.

Vid-Phōn
Pacific Bell's video phone network, which uses massive, junky, old-school CRTs to transmit calls from just about any location, be it Deckard's car or the local bar. A call costs $1.25, and is sure to make drunk dials of the future just that much more horrifying. Vid-Phōns do not have embedded Voight-Kampff machines, so they can be considered fairly safe to use for confidential chats between replicants. More after the break.

Lampbrellas
Used to help light your way if you find yourself caught in the middle of a film noir scene, these umbrellas are more utilitarian than fashion in 2019. Most notably, they serve as a form of safety from being persecuted by police as a replicant. Thankfully, the film influenced the creation of push-button LED umbrellas for those who can't wait another eleven years.

The Spinner flying car
Perhaps one of the most sought-after sights in Blade Runner, when people today ask where their flying car is, it's easy to remember the Spinner. This vertical-thrusting vehicle maneuvers through both the LA streets and the night sky on some fairly silent jet engine power, and comes equipped with roving wheels, vertical-rotating doors (sorry, this future involves no DeLoreans or gull-wings), and a hard, clear-plate floor to watch for replicants while hovering overhead. Full-size Spinner models do exist, but we've yet to take a look under the hood to check out the seemingly small hover-propulsion technology.

The DVD Voight-Kampff box set
We couldn't end this column without mentioning the cult-coolness factor of the actual DVD set created in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the film. Designed to look and open-up like the briefcase in which the Voight-Kampff machine sits in, it comes packed with five discs and a toy model Spinner car for the "ultimate collector" of movie gadgets. Sadly, it doesn't come with an Esper Machine, so we're three years and still waiting for a three-dimensional photo-navigating system (call us snobby, Photosynth just doesn't cut it for us).

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Ariel Waldman is a social media insights consultant based in San Francisco. Her blog can be found at http://shakewellbeforeuse.com.

[Ray @ Jan 18th 2008 11:18PM]

Why do they keep re-releasing this movie?
Is this one of those films where there's more cut footage than the actual final product? Not to compare Blade runner to The Simpsons movie or anything but I thought there were almost three entire Simpsons movies that were deleted before settling on the final thing.

[fischju @ Jan 18th 2008 11:46PM]

7 versions I think. But according to Ridley, Deckard is a replicant in the film. (He isn't in the book - but I always thought the movie was better if nobody knew) In many of them he isn't, and this last on he is.

[madgunde @ Jan 19th 2008 12:28AM]

The original theatrical release of Blade Runner was never released on DVD, so this is the first opportunity to get the movie you may have originally fallen in love with when you were younger. The DVD version was the director's cut, which felt very different from the theatrical release and even had a different ending.

I got the limited edition Final Cut box set (pictured in the article) on Blu-Ray, and it's really the definitive version with every version of the movie ever released, plus lots of bonus stuff and a couple of cool models in the briefcase.

[Steve Wallen @ Jan 19th 2008 12:35AM]

I dunno, I'm a geek pariah, but I really just hate this movie. Like in that special way. Like 2001. Or Sunshine.

[EatingPie @ Jan 19th 2008 11:00AM]

"But according to Ridley, Deckard is a replicant in the film."

Well, that's just stupid! The director should just let his work speak for itself. He put the hints in, and should have left it at that. It's one of the fun things about the movie.

In the book, Deckard actually *thought* he was an android for a period. The book and movie are opposite on many thematic aspects, particularly in answer to the question "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" (PKD had some funky books, but hands down, he's got the best titles in Science Fiction History.)

-Pie

[D.E. Lloyd @ Jan 18th 2008 11:20PM]

The Spinner (one of them, at least: another was last seen in Back to the Future Pt 2) now resides, fully-restored and spectacular, in a private function room at the Sci-fi Museum in Seattle. I've managed my way in twice now, and it is a thing of beauty. Unfotunately, it's suspended in the air, although you have access to top and bottom. It would just be nice to touch it and to really see it the way you can the DeLorean at Universal. This Spinner also has a LOT of lights and montitors, true to the movie. If only it had smoke...

-DE

[Ray @ Jan 18th 2008 11:23PM]

Seriously? I have to check that out. The Scifi museum is ten minutes from my house.

[D.E. Lloyd @ Jan 19th 2008 12:05AM]

All I can say is good luck. I've only gotten in because a friend of a friend worked there and got us in. I've heard that they're going to open it up for the public, but they'd need to expand thier collection considerably for that. Of course, they COULD do that if Paul was serious, but this is Seattle.

I think I have pics of it somewhere, but I don't have a Flicker account, or whatever it is you kids use these days on the webs.

[peshue @ Jan 19th 2008 12:21AM]

I always wanted one of those umbrellas just for the sheer ridiculousness. And if i ever get caught at a rave in the rain I'd be all set.

[ZeroCorpse @ Jan 19th 2008 12:42AM]

Engadget forgets the most impressive gadget in Blade Runner-- The android servant! (or Replicant, in movie lingo.)

What's more impressive than an android that looks and acts so human you have a special TEST to figure out who is an android and who isn't? What's more practical than an android "pleasure model" designed to take the edge off of those cold, Martian nights?

Also, I think the coolest gadget wasn't in the movie, but was in the book (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), and that is the Pennfield Mood Organ. You can dial up your emotional state with the Mood Organ. Everything from "satisfaction with your marriage" to "a desire to have an argument." Wouldn't that be handy? You could wake up and dial "Love for my job and deep appreciation for my coworkers" and you'd just have the greatest day at work. You could come home to your awful spouse and dial "Deep affection for my spouse" or "intense feeling of intimacy" and completely forget that you're on the verge of divorce. You could hear the kids screaming in your yard, and dial "fondness for all children" to avoid yelling at them.

You could even dial "deep depression and a feeling of melancholy" if you just want to sit at home and cry.

It's Buster Friendly approved, kids!

[Grandalf @ Jan 19th 2008 2:14AM]

Only in the future would people choose to be emo! ... or wait a minute ...

[Karim @ Jan 19th 2008 4:20AM]

The "Penfield Mood Organ" was actually invented.

It's called an iPod. ;-)

You just dial through your playlists and songs until you find a song that matches the mood you want to attain. Need to perk up? Pick something fast. Need to chill? Pick something slow. Want to have a good cry? Pick something sad. Want to cheer up? Pick something happy.

Like the Penfield Mood Organ, the iPod is a common home appliance that can be used to easily change emotional states from "self-accusatory depression" to "awareness of the manifold possibilities open to me in the future" to a "businesslike, professional attitude."

The novel even opens with Deckard being awakened by "a merry little surge of electricity from the mood organ beside his bed," which sounds like one of those clock radio iPod docks.

[rawhead @ Jan 19th 2008 12:45AM]

Best movie, Sci-Fi or otherwise, ever. I'm dead serious when I say I bought a Toshiba HD-DVD player just so that I can own and watch the HD-DVD Final Cut (and for that, I have zero regrets for buying the player). I've only gotten through the FC once, though, with Ridley's commentary ON (I saw the theatrical release of the FC in Boston last November). I'm looking forward to receiving my 42" LCD next week when I'll have an excuse to sit down and check out one of the other, numerous versions and extras. I'm thinking, I'll watch the Workprint version for the first time in my life ;-)

[DarkSol @ Jan 19th 2008 8:31PM]

Why not get it on Blu-Ray?

[rawhead @ Jan 19th 2008 8:48PM]

It could've been. I actually had the BR version on preorder at Amazon till the end of November, when Toshiba started dropping their player prices like crazy. You see, I owned neither an HD-DVD nor a BR player at that time. I said to myself "OK, I don't know who'll win out at the end, but I KNOW I'll buy a PS3 at some point, if only to play FinalFantasy XIII. Which means, if I buy an HD-DVD player now, which is cheaper than any BR player by a mile, my ass is covered either way".

So there you go.

[Uchiha Sasuke @ Jan 19th 2008 1:14AM]

Dr. Ethiopia is ZeroCorpse's replicant.

You can't fool me, I can see through you.

[ZeroCorpse @ Jan 19th 2008 9:58PM]

I have a replicant?!?!

[ZeroCorpse @ Jan 19th 2008 10:00PM]

And my replicant is Black?!?!

That completely explains why I date a lot of Black women. I'm not really a Welsh/Cheyenne man after all!

[ethan @ Jan 19th 2008 2:52AM]

I've only seen the last two cuts of the film. One thing I noted, is that if you watch Blade Runner and Gladiator, you note MANY similarities. The odd homosexual overtones, the closeness of Father and Son when the Son kills the Father. SMOKE SMOKE and more SMOKE!

But, as for the commentary, Ridley Scott is SO full of himself it makes me sick. Yeah, he's freakin amazing at directing, but it's a shame he's not humble. It makes listening to his directors cut kinda hard to swallow. And he plugs "American Gangster" during the commentary a little too much.

This is the great unspoken Sci Fi film of all time. It's heavily underrated. Most people have no idea about it's existence. Kinda sad.

[rawhead @ Jan 19th 2008 3:53AM]

Haha, I agree with you he's one egomaniac SOB, and the commentary did show that. With that said, I'm like, meh. If there is anybody who might have the "right" to be arrogant, at least regarding the art form for which s/he is known, it's people like Ridley. Humbleness might be a virtue, but it won't allow anybody to make good films. And as long as he can make awesome films, I'm OK with him being arrogant.

And frankly, if you forget for a minute that it's him talking (imagine it's a film critic) and listen to what he's saying, you'll see that most of what he's saying is true. I did find his reference to American Gangster... noticeable, but then he probably only mentioned it like 3 times, and it's understandable with the timing of the FC and all.


The one thing I found disappointing about his commentary is the fact that he didn't talk about the actual Final Cut at all. He had great things to say about the original filming, and behind-the-scenes stuff about that and what came after it, right up to the Director's Cut, but regarding the FC, like the shots that were retaken, some of the important choices he made (e.g., adding/changing Batty's lines @ Tyrell Corp), the process of remastering, etc., he didn't say a word. Now, maybe that's covered by some other people in the commentaries or one of the documentaries (man there's so much content in this brief case!), but I did want to hear it from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

[Russ @ Jan 19th 2008 4:37AM]

interesting: when DVDs first came out here, The Matrix was the 'killer app' movie. Maybe the HD killer app movie will be a remastered one.

i've defn been holding off on DVD purchases, so I can buy the HD title in the near future.

[ZeroCorpse @ Jan 19th 2008 10:02PM]

The Matrix isn't fit to polish Blade Runner's toilet.

[Charles @ Jan 19th 2008 6:33PM]

I watch this movie at least twice a year for the last few years. Yeah, I'm a special nerd. The last version is pretty sweet. It just looks damn god. People can go on and on about the "is he, isn't he" stuff (he is) and all the inherent flaws (it was made in 1982 for gods sake. It still holds up better than most), but what I want to know is if anyone else finds the semi-rape scene just a little disturbing?

[Kate @ Jan 20th 2008 12:35PM]

I just saw this film for the first time, but I had the opportunity to watch it in a cinema, since it came to the Ritz in Philadelphia. I was disturbed by that one scene, but felt it fit in with the film noir elements of the piece. Machismo tends to run high in the male leads of the genre.

The part that kept me up at night was the fight scene between Pris and Deckard...it was almost as disturbing to me as the mask they put on that dog-man in The Shining (the mere sight of which is still enough to make me have nightmares!)

[Sirocco @ Jan 19th 2008 9:32PM]

I only ever owned 1 movie poster, which I put on a wall in my apt when I lived in San Fran. The poster...was for Blade Runner. I think it was the fist movie I ever went right back to see again, in the theatre. Whenever it's on TV I watch it like it's the only movie ever made. It's the only movie for which I know the director's name, and hence am familar with his other work. He made Alien also, besides Gladiator. 3 great movies. I never need to watch the movie again, because it's in my head. Sean Young, where are you?

[patrick @ Jan 20th 2008 12:16AM]

I second that SIROCCO. WHERE IS SEAN YOUNG?

From what I've read in a recent celeb-mag article she fell on bad times in H'wood. She was blacklisted basically. She's fierce in BR.

Long live Sean Young!

[dvdivx @ Jan 20th 2008 11:34AM]

I found the release lame since the "original release" still doesn't have the voice over narration. Luckily I rented it instead of buying it. Only real release that has the narration is the laserdisc versions of the movie.

[bonyboy @ Jan 20th 2008 8:02PM]

I found a couple of shots of the Blade Runner car in Seattle on flickr.

http://snipurl.com/1xvo1

http://snipurl.com/1xvo4

[macona @ Jan 21st 2008 2:54PM]

Sorry, the one "gotta have" dvd is still Fifth Element... Too bad I hear the BD version sucks ass.