Blade Runner: Final Cut (4K UHD/BD)

Knocked one of my favorite film (Kubrick) off the number one spot. Phenomenal, worth the wait!!

Seldom does a movie come around that is as popular or more popular than it was decades ago. Blade Runner was a Box Office flop when it originally debuted in 1982. Although the film quickly gained a cultish following of hardcore fans that enjoyed it as an epic Sci-fi classic. Now in 2007 the movie can once again be enjoyed by it's masses. A newly remastered collection of five discs has made it's way to hi-def world. So how does it look and play all these years later. Extremely well. I am probably one of the few to buy this movie who has actually only watched it once before. I was a child when this movie first came out and it was hard to understand how good of a movie this is until now as an adult. The story takes place in a futuristic world set in 2017. From the first moment on you can realize the epic scale this movie was put on. A corporation has created these cyber humans called replicants. Nearly identical to real people they were created to do slave labor. Although the replicants are very human like and that causes problems. Thus brings in Blade Runners. These bounty hunters go searching for rogue replicants. The replicants have been banned from Earth which means the Blade Runner must find any that find there way here. Harrison Ford plays one of the Blade Runner by the name of Rick Deckard. Fresh from his first Indiana Jones movie he shows why he is a action/sci-fi star. Four replicants free themselves from a planet and have come to Earth to search for their maker. From the first moment on this movie begins to raise philosophical questions. Right or wrong and should all replicants be retired(killed) for just being a replicant. Especially when these replicants become so human like. This becomes evident in the character played by Sean Young named Rachael. So human like and yet created by science. Most of the movie appears dark in many scenes, night seems to be when people live in this futuristic world. Despite the darkness much of the color is illuminated in a light blue color which is fascinating to the eyes. The music sets the tone thru the movie in which it can be rather pleasant to sometimes eery. The Blu-ray version of this film is quite a feat. The sheer beauty of it in high definition is the clear vision that Ridley Scott intended. From the first scene to the last you can tell this movie went thru more than a once over. The sound is excellent and really brings out the film. Blade Runner is without a doubt another classic. Although a sci-fi movie the story delves much deeper than that. This is a movie that should be seen by everyone. Any fan of sci-fi or just a good plot will love this movie. Age has only made it better. Without a doubt this is one collection that should be in any Blu-ray movie owners collection.

Without question or doubt, this film; more specifically, this version of this film, is now a genuine masterpiece. I remember seeing this film in the theatre back in 82. I was not impressed -- not in the slightest. That voice-over -- good god -- what a horrible idea that was. And all the silly, blatant goofs: Not just the dove ascending into a perfectly blue sky after having established that it is night, heavily overcast and raining. The cheap, cheesy wig Zhora's stunt double wears while being killed. These are the most glaring. The mismatched dialogue when Deckart is speaking to the snake salesman -- just awful; and blindingly obvious. That moronic, stupid "happy" ending, that has nothing to do with the rest of the film, parts of which were lifted from the outtakes made by Kubrick for The Shining. There are others, but these goofs are the ones that really stand out, really call attention to themselves; more like SCREAM attention to themselves. But now, this film moves along seamlessly, beautifully, flawlessly, beginning to end. Each shot could be lifted from the film and mounted on the wall as a masterpiece of photography. It all simply took my breath away. Mostly due to the masterful restoration. Gorgeous! There's one other aspect of this film that I noticed this time: When I saw it in the theatre back in the 80s, it seemed to crawl along. But now, I didn't even notice the passage of time. I started the film; and before I knew it, the end credits were rolling. I was not bored or distracted; not even for a moment. And as far as I'm concerned, the two crimes a film can commit which I consider unforgivable is 1) not making me care about the characters, and 2) being boring. A film that bores me or fails to make me care for the characters heads for the garbage. But Blade Runner, the Final Cut is perfect, compelling and gripping, and I actually cared about what was happening, mostly to the hero: Roy Batty. Just as an aside: Deckart is NOT the hero. He is the villain. Roy Batty is the one being threatened with death, unjustly, unfairly. Deckart is the assassin. And Tyrell is the Supreme Evil One; the Darth Vader; the Satan who creates and then destroys life. Roy actually manages to kill the Supreme Evil One and escape; but ultimately, he cannot escape the evil Tyrell designed into him. So when Batty dies in the end, and Deckart escapes with the girl, it is a twist on the usual plot resolution. It flips the usual resolution, because in this case, the villain gets the girl and the hero dies. The film, therefore, is a TRAGEDY. It is a tragedy in the classical sense. Again, I must point out that I never give 5 stars to any film, unless it proves to be a work of cinematic art, perfect in every respect. So far, I've given 5 stars to no film that I've yet reviewed. This will be the first that earns from me 5 stars -- and well deserved.

Great flick. Forgot how good it was. Better than latest version.

Blade Runner is my second favorite movie, and there's always been a certain amount of dissatisfaction among Blade Runner fans regarding details that should or should not have found their way into the original release of the film. Owners of this 5-disk collector's edition have no reason to complain, as EVERY VERSION OF THE FILM THAT HAS EVER EXISTED (barring any that were edited for television) is included here in the packege. Personally, I debated whether or not to shell out the dough for this edition for a little while, and I think that the deal-maker for me was the inclusion of the work-print in this release. I'm satisfied, more satisfied than I feel I would've been with just the 2-disc edition, but I also feel like I'd have been just as happy buying one fewer disc, and a lot fewer plastic doo-dads. Disc one is Ridley Scott's Final Cut, currently the definative version of this film and hopefully the last "improved" version that will ever be released. The content is just about the same as that of the 1992 director's cut, with a scene here and there from the workprint spliced in, and some special effects wizardry to correct gripes such as a stunt-double's wig not looking proper, or Harrison Ford's lips not matching the audio track. There are three commentaries, and although I've only listened to two of them so far, I'd say that they're worthwhile (although it's tough to tell if Hampton Fancher and David Peoples were really just about fed up with each other during the recording of their commentary, or were just putting on a show for the microphone.) Disc two is a making-of documentry. If you've ever read Paul M. Sammon's "Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner," know that this disc contains most of the information that was included in that book, plus a whole lot more. Most of the original cast is interviewed here (Ford included, although Will Sanderson is strangely absent, and a disclaimer at the end of the credits claims that absent cast members politely declined to be interviewed...,) both screenwriters give their input, and even PKD gets a little screen time with recordings made around the time of the filming. In my mind, discs one and two absolutely make this edition. (It should also be noted that discs one and two ARE the two-disc edition.) Disc three is just an "archive" of the previous three versions of the film; the theatrical release, the home video cut, and the 1992 director's cut. To me, there is so little difference between these three versions that this disc was probably just a waste of my money. It's expendable Disc four contains more featurettes, and it's as appriciated as disc two was. There's some repetition of information, but they go a lot more in-depth with the specific aspects of the filming - wardrobe, effects, and so on. If you're an info junkie like me, you'll like discs two and four equally. Disc five is the workprint. I wanted a copy, and now I've got a copy, but it's not so much different from the film that a casual fan needs to see it. Its lukewarm. The rest of the space inside of the plastic briefcase that these DVDs come in is taken up with packing foam, artwork, and toys, for lack of a better word. We're graced with a plastic model spinner, a plastic origami unicorn (which isn't even that good of a ringer for the one that Gaff leaves in the film, if you compare the two), and a plastic block with an animated second or two of footage from the movie - one of those graphics that appears to move if you rock it back and forth. As an adult, I really didn't feel that I needed to pay for any of this, and all it did was jack up the purchase price unneccesarily. I wish that I could sell them all back to Warner Home Video, but I can't. The briefcase itself, also plastic, is really just as much a toy, and a cumbersome one to store. The only reason they needed this large of a packege in the first place was to include all of the playthings, and as I've already said, I could have done without those. The five discs are stored in a folding cardboard-and-plastic slipcase, decorated with conceptual artwork and photos or scenes from the production. I wish that they had kept it one disc to a divider side, rather than overlapping the discs one on top of another, two to a side. I'm always worried that I'll scratch a disc when I have to pry it off from on top of another just to get it out of the liner. So, all in all, I'm satisfied, but they could have cut out one of five discs and all of the extra toys, and made me just as happy.

This set is really a must for any fan of Ridley Scott's iconic dystopian future movie, Blade Runner. The movie made in 1982 and set in 2019 involves a group of fugitive androids called Replicants, which have escaped from a space colony where they are forced to work. A cop named Rick Deckard (played by Harrison Ford) is tasked with hunting down and "retiring" the fugitive replicants. The rest of the main cast includes Sean Young, Rutger Hauer, Daryl Hannah, Edward James Olmos, and Joanna Cassidy. Chances are most people reading this know what the movie is about and whether they like it or not. For those who do not, if you are familiar with Ridley Scott's other sci-fi movies, it very much has a similar feel, with a very dark and moody tone, but does not try to copy a movie like Alien or some of his other works. It can be a bit slow in pacing in parts of the movie, but even the final director's cut comes in under two hours, so it is not overly long. The set includes all the prior editions of the movie (on disc 3), including the 1982 theatrical edition, the 1982 international theatrical edition, and the 1992 director's cut. Each cut of the film has a similar run time, just under two hours, and the 1982 editions are nearly identical. The 1992 cut does make substantial changes to the movie, some of which are carried over into the new final cut which is on the first disc. Really, where the set shines, is the bonus features. On the first disc, there are three separate commentary tracks on the final cut of the film, one by Ridley Scott one by the executive producer and some of the writers, and the third by the production designers and effects supervisors. Each of the commentary tracks provides great insight into the making of the movie. The second disc includes a three-and-a-half-hour-long making-of documentary that combines new and archival footage and includes a ton of interviews with cast and crew members. There are also some trailers and promos for other movies on the second disc. The third disc, as I mentioned, has all of the prior versions of the movie, and disc four includes a ton of featurettes including a comparison of the movie to the novel, features on the graphic design, the costumes, deleted and alternate scenes, and a lot more (including original promotional material from 1982). On the fifth disc, there is a workprint version of the movie that was the pre-release/test screening version of the film. It has an introduction by Ridley Scott and a commentary track by a film historian. Then there is a half-hour-long feature called All Our Variant Futures that details the processes to create the final cut of the movie. Overall, the movie is a classic sci-fi film. It is one that does not have as wide a fan base as say Star Wars, or even the Aliens franchise, but even being more in the cult-classic category, it still holds up well after forty years. This release has every possible cut of the movie, so if you prefer the theatrical release above all others you can watch that one exclusively, or you can watch them all compare the versions. It will definitely take days to watch every version of the movie (which you may get sick of after a while) and all the bonus features, but if you are a fan of the movie, this set has everything you could possibly want, especially if you love watching bonus material.

Good movie

Answer: This movie, appearing on every list of not only the greatest science-fiction films of all time, but the best movies ever made. "Blade Runner" is a movie that you have to not only see, but own, because it's one of the few monumental American classics, along with "Casablanca", "It's a Wonderful Life", "The Third Man", "Vertigo" and "The Godfather", that gets better by age. Like most of these movies, "Blade Runner" was a critical and commercial bomb, ludicrously dismissed as style over substance, for lacking a coherent story and for its one-dimensional human characters. Seen today, in a time of economic recession, class division and the state's utter disregard to come in human terms, "Blade Runner" feels more modern and relevant than ever. Why is "Blade Runner" one of the greatest movies of all time? I could write a lengthy review describing the movie's greatness, but I'll do the movie greater service by listing the reasons: 1.) It's a simple story, brilliantly told, tightly paced and superbly directed. A retired police officer is forced by the police state to hunt down (or "retire") a group of bio-engineered cyborgs called Replicants. Under Ridley Scott's tight direction, the movie is a gripping experience as we see the main character struggle to fulfill his obligations and survive. The opening sequence where Leon is interrogated as rather or not he's a Replicant and the scenes where Deckard is pursuing Pris in a room cluttered with mannequins are as suspenseful as the best of Hitchcock. 2.) The acting is utterly terrific. Harrison Ford probably gave the greatest performance of his career as the replicant hunter Deckard. Ford hated the movie and called it a miserable experience, yet in some ways, this helped add greater depth to his character, as we see Deckard's anguish, frustration and anger simmering throughout the movie. Sean Young is outstanding as the Replicant assistant Rachael and her scenes with Deckard, where he tries to teach her about love in his apartment, have an emotional intensity barely found in other sci-fi movies. Darryl Hannah made a huge impression as the lonely and tragic Pris and Edward James Olmos provides comic relief as the officer Gaff, who raises an ambiguous question at the end that still resonates to this day. But the highest acting honor, of course, belongs to Rutger Hauer, as Roy Batty, the movie's main antagonist. Subtle yet dangerous, a menace to society yet one with tragic grandeur, Hauer's Batty may rank as one of the greatest and most memorable villains in movie history. 3.) "Blade Runner" successfully continues the tradition that has defined science-fiction movies in decades, in that it presents the central theme that the most humane characters are in the fact the most inhuman. Despite their supposed lack of humanity, Roy Batty and Pris are arguably the most sympathetic characters in movie, primarily because they are outcasts who refuse to blend in to an oppressive society (see below). In fact, the general complaint about "Blade Runner" when it was released was that the replicants were more interesting than the hero, when that was precisely the point. There's a disturbing sequence where Deckard is hunting down a female replicant and instead of having the audience root for him, the movie defies conventions and has us hoping that the replicant escapes (there's even a hint in the movie's finale that Deckard himself may be a replicant). At the end, when Batty chooses his fate, you feel a great sense of sadness for this inhuman yet paradoxically humane character. 4.) No other movie, not even "2001" or "Metropolis", captures the feeling of being displaced, oppressed and and dehumanized in an oppressive society. One of the biggest reasons for the movie's initial failure was that it presented such a dark vision of a world where privacy is lacking, noise is abundant and commercialism runs rampant throughout the city. The sets, outfits, the insufferable rain and the cluttering masses on the street create a feeling of powerlessness, a feeling that prevents people from having the free will to be themselves. Deckard is a perfect example of that, as he is powerless towards a quasi-fascist police state that determines his fate or he will be part of the "little people". The movie is, for all its futuristic technology, is an expressive drama. 5.) "Blade Runner" has one of the best musical scores ever made. Composed by "Chariots of Fire" conductor Vangelis, the music is a groundbreaking merge of futuristic synthesizers, organic compositions and even an element of jazz, as seen in the beloved "Love Theme", with its beautiful saxophone solo. You can listen to this music without seeing the film and imagine the whole movie in your head. 6.) "Blade Runner" seems more relevant and prophetic today than it was released in 1982. Critics and moviegoers were taken back by seeing such dark, dreary vision, a vision where the rich care so little about the poor that they form a hostile, miserable ghetto. Yet walk down the inner slums of any city, from Los Angeles in early 1990s and Moscow to Tokyo and that vision is there before our eyes. Technology, which was supposedly man's gift to preserve humanity, has slowly overtaken our human traits, making us cold, mechanical and increasingly dependent on machinery. And yet... 7.) The movie, despite its darkness, ends with a suggestion of hope. When Batty spares Deckard's life and delivers that immortal monologue which has earned its place in cinema, this scene suggests a promising hope in the future: that machines and human, instead of striving to dominate the other, can live side-by-side in harmony. This is not a hippie message, but a heartfelt plea for everyone in diverse groups to coexist and accept one another. "Blade Runner" is one of the American cinema's most towering achievements and an institution for every science-fiction entity that has come afterwards, from "The Matrix" and "Dark City" to "Ghost in the Shell" and "Cowboy Bebop", from the fantastical adventures by Hayao Miyazaki, to the grim, political fables by Guillermo Del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron. Even "The Fifth Element", in some ways, plays like a sunny, cartoony alternative to this grim classic. It is essential that you watch "Blade Runner", even if you don't like it (which is highly doubtful). If you even think of starting a Blu-Ray/DVD collection without it, then you are simply just one of the "little people". Strongest recommendation to steal at all costs. P.S. Like many great movies, "Blade Runner" has come out in a variety of editions, each of them a worthy purchase. There was a five-disc ultimate collector's edition that came out on both DVD and Blu-Ray. That is currently out of print. In its place, there was 30th anniversary edition released in two box sets: a multi-format version (with that memorable Asian face on the front cover) and a three-disc set released with only Blu-Rays (that's the one with the unicorn on the front cover). Either version you watch is fine, but if you just want the Blu-Rays in an affordable set, go with the three-disc set. Besides nearly a dozen hours of supplements, the picture and audio qualities are excellent. Since "Blade Runner" is an intensely visual experience, it is highly recommended that you watch it on a big screen and with big speakers. As the saying goes, the bigger, the better...in everything.