7. Blade Runner
The Myth: Theres more versions of Blade Runner than you can count on one hand. Blade Runner is arguably the best sci-fi of the eighties, if not all time, but the quality of the film will vary depending on which version you watch. Theres the one with Harrison Fords unnecessary voiceover, the one with the opening of The Shining as the happy ending and, of course, the one with the unicorn. Each version has minor differences that have a big impact on the overall story, altering whether Deckard is a replicant or not. The different versions are so hot, that in 2007 Warner Bros. released all available versions on DVD, allowing fans to pick their favourite.
The Shocking Truth: Its a marketing ploy (mostly). The firmness of this myth is such that I've had people with little interest in film claim they havent truly seen Blade Runner until they've seen each version. This is a load of rubbish. The versions do differ, but only minorly; nowhere near as much as, say, the Star Wars special editions. In essence, theres a couple of different alterations that gradually vary across the seven versions of the film, but if you were to watch the International Cut from 1982 and the Final Cut from 2007, youll have seen pretty much everything. The truth of all this is that the differences have been played up by Warner to create hype for the 10th and 25th anniversary releases of different directors cuts. These multiple versions are the film going to Warner and proclaiming 'I want more money, father'. Or 'fucker', depending on your preference.