‘Blade Runner: The Final Cut’ kicks off retro film series

Leif Jonker is at it again.

The Wichita promoter and filmmaker has organized several successful screenings over the past couple of years, including packed showings of cult classics such as the original “Godzilla (Gojira),” “The Warriors,” “Sorcerer” and his annual horror film festivals in October.

Jonker and his Wichita Big Screen initiative are expanding their collaboration with the Warren Theatres to present “Return of the Cults 2015,” a retro film series featuring 16 cult-classic movies through September.

Jonker says these kinds of film series are important because people get to see movies as they were meant to be seen.

“They were designed by their makers for maximum impact on the big screen,” Jonker said. “There is simply no substitute for experiencing a movie as it was intended.”

“Blade Runner: The Final Cut” kicks things off at 7 and 10 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at Warren Old Town. The film is rated R, and tickets are $5.

Harrison Ford stars in the film that originally was released in 1982. The story is set in the year 2019 (which isn’t so futuristic now but was way back in ’82), and Ford plays a retired officer tasked with tracking down and killing bioengineered beings known as “Replicants” who are on Earth illegally.

The film, based on the novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” by Philip K. Dick, polarized critics in its original release but went on to become a massive cult hit. It was praised for its visuals that depicted a dystopian Los Angeles. Indeed, the world of “Blade Runner” was something we hadn’t seen before.

“The special effects are so beautiful and elegant,” Jonker said. “They aren’t just cool shots of spaceships – they are works of art within themselves that still hold up today.”

The version being shown is the cut of the film that director Ridley Scott supervised for the 25th anniversary of “Blade Runner” in 2007.

Here is the schedule for the rest of the series (dates and titles subject to change):

“Conan the Barbarian” (1982) — Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Barbarian warrior (April 13-14).

“Escape from New York” (1981) — Kurt Russell swaggers through a New York City that has been turned into a prison (May 11-12).

“Blue Velvet” (1986) — David Lynch’s classic about a man who discovers a severed ear and the surreal investigation it brings (June 8-9).

“Big Trouble in Little China” (1986) — Kurt Russell stars as a trucker who gets dragged into a centuries-old mystical battle in Chinatown (June 29-30).

“Scarface” (1983) — Say hello to Al Pacino’s little friend (July 13-14).

“Heavy Metal” (1981) — Several animated stories of dark fantasy, eroticism and horror (Aug. 10-11).

“Repo Man” (1984) — A young punk helps steal a car and stumbles into a world of wackiness (Sept. 7-8).

“Flash Gordon” (1980) — Sam J. Jones stars as a space-traveling football player (March 27-28).

“Mad Max” (1979) — Mel Gibson stars as an Australian policeman bent on revenge (April 24-25).

“Eraserhead” (1977) — David Lynch’s wonderfully weird tale of a man with big hair (May 22-23).

“Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” (1989) — Two dudes learn about history through a time machine (June 19-20).

“UHF” (1989) — A public radio station gets a new owner who wreaks havoc (July 10-11).

“Dog Day Afternoon” (1975) — Al Pacino stars as a man who robs a bank to pay for his gay lover’s sex-change operation (July 24-25).

“Pink Floyd The Wall” (1982) — A troubled rock star descends into madness (Aug. 21-22).

“2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968) — Stanley Kubrick’s mind-bending sci-fi classic (Sept. 25-26).

This story was originally published March 13, 2015 at 2:05 PM with the headline "‘Blade Runner: The Final Cut’ kicks off retro film series."