Blade Runner [Director's Cut]

Rating:
Summary: Best movie made abit worse...
Review: BladeRunner is a great movie, Great Atmosphere, great Audio, Great Visuals... But I would say that the "Orginal" version was better... The big diff. is that they removed the voiceover, which gave alot to the movie. Heard some time ago that Ridly was planing on releasing a DVD with both version and a Special Ed. Version...

Rating:
Summary: I know i'll be eaten alive for this.
Review: I hate when someone totally rips apart a movie "I" like but...WAKE UP EVERYONE! This movie has three things going for it:
1) Harrison Ford
2) Awesome "visuals"
3) A dramatic and beautifully orchestrated ending
And that's about it. I can't believe I bought this movie. I bought it based on you people's reviews. I found this movie to be no more than an excuse to use lots of cool sets and neon lights, and to make droves of incessant movie-going lemmings with derelict senses of filmmaking go write reviews of praise on the internet so sorry chumps like me would go by it too.
Well, thanks.

Rating:
Summary: Great movie, so-so DVD
Review: Like most Philip K. Dick novels, this was a good story that was heavily revised, and turned into a great movie...with some strings attached.

When Blade Runner was originally released, it featured a film noir style narrative by Deckard (Harrison Ford). This was added supposedly at the behest of the producers, who sensed the movie was going to go over most people's heads. They were right, and Blade Runner still went over most people's heads, despite the narrative.

That spelled initial box office failure, or at least less than the expected science fiction movie success. On a gut level, the public thought they had this movie figured out, and it had to be Han Solo kills some naughty robots. Yet, instead of thrilling slam-bang action every minute, the public got a pensive examination of one of the greatest ethical issues raised in science fiction: How will we treat artificial intelligent life?

Fortunately, a large segment of the public has since warmed to Blade Runner's core theme, as well as to Blade Runner's rich, palpable cityscapes, which became the template for nearly every cinematic future-world wanna-be: Fifth Element, Judge Dredd, even the later Batman movies. Like most things copied, none of those movies could match the atmosphere of Blade Runner.

These key successes in Blade Runner are still present on the DVD, but...

...the re-release of Blade Runner in the early 1990s brought a few significant changes. Blade Runner had aged like a vintage wine, and audiences who had acquired the taste had no need for the narrative. Even to the uninitiated, an open and thinking mind was all that was ever necessary to keep up with the most important parts of the storyline. However, Ridley Scott also tempered his ending with a considerably less optimistic tone. Furthermore, and perhaps most controversial, was the scene in which Deckard dreams of a unicorn.

Director's Cuts are a controversy in themselves. But Ridley Scott wasn't just adding simple clarifications, or restoring footage cut to fit an optimal theatrical duration. Scott made a blatant change in the reality the movie projected.

Suddenly, Deckard's unicorn dream now played against the already-standing footage, later in the movie, of Deckard's sidekick, Gav, leaving an origami unicorn as a calling card. The implication is a strong one that Deckard, like Rachel, has implanted memories that the authorities know about -- that Deckard is an android, like those he is paid to destroy.

Unfortunately, like a hip Rick Berman idea for Star Trek, it's chic for a moment, but wreaks havoc with the established universe. The Director's Cut transformed Deckard into the android the cops picked to stop other androids. Unfortunately, he must have needed his annual tune-up. Deckard gets tired, he can't run as fast or jump as far as his quarry, and he responds to pain quite realistically through near strangulation, beatings of the face and head, neck wrenching, nose mangling, and having a couple of fingers broken backwards -- all of this from single combat with the androids he's supposed to retire. Maybe the authorities should have invested in a Nexus 6...preferably the combat model.

Well, like the idea or not, there was the Director's Cut. Which would be fine if the DVD let us watch both versions. Unfortunately, the original version of the movie is not on the disk. Most other movies with differing theatrical and director's cuts feature both versions on the same disk, inserting or bypassing scenes to present the appropriate version. The absence of this option is the greatest dissapointment in the DVD issue of Blade Runner.

Like Captain Bryant says, "No choice, pal."

Rating:
Summary: Loser w/o the voice over
Review: Agree with the others that the voice over is critical to this movie. ONe of the basic appeals is the futuristic setting with the 1930's style approach. It is 5 stars with the VO and 3 stars without it

Rating:
Summary: We need the "DEFINITIVE" edition now!!!!!
Review: Without a doubt, "Blade Runner" is a five star affair, since its influence is incalculable 20 years on. Like others have said, I wish both versions would have been included on this DVD, since I watched the original version with the voice-over almost 100 times before the director's cut hit in '93. Even with the voice-over, I remember that I didn't even really like this movie the first time I saw it on VHS in 1983 (like many, the movie is confusing if you only see it once). Thankfully, I was persistent and repeated viewings have made this my all-time favorite flick. I have heard Ridley is even considering doing a LONGER director's cut, so hopefully soon we'll have the FINAL DVD release of this gem!!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Movie Horrible DVD
Review: I really love this movie a lot. But the DVD is just plain awful. I really wish that they rerelease this moviewith some special features like commentaries from Ridley Scott and some featurets and the most important thing a 5.1 Digital audio track.

I won't need to tell you about the story but just RENT this movie DONT BUY THE DVD. Just pray that a rerelease will come.

Rating:
Summary: This time the studio had it right. Narration version needed.
Review: Whether you prefer the original theatrical release or the director's cut of Blade Runner, and there are many in both camps, to not include the narrated version is a huge mistake and the reason I will not be buying this DVD. This time the studio had it right. Not for the right reason, perhaps, but the VO convention ties Deckard to his 1930's noir kin and makes Blade Runner timeless. The happy ending is unfortunate but the unicorn image in the director's cut is as well. Not including the version of the film that originally compelled audiences to love it is just puzzling.

Rating:
Summary: The Definitive Sci-Fi Film Of The 80¿s
Review: Ridley Scott has made some of Hollywood's most amazing movies to date. Way before Gladiator though, came his amazing sci-fi movie Blade Runner. While not well-received at the box office, this movie went on to earn the reputation of being one of the best sci-fi movies of all time. Harrison Ford plays a detective in this futuristic film-noir where he must track down and destroy renegade Replicants... what we today would call androids. The film-noir approach really adds a lot of style to this movie, giving lots of shadows and adding a lot of dimension. The music is clearly 80's style synthesizer which makes it seem dated, but in context with the rest of the film it fits really well. In my opinion, the miniature models and matte special effects from this era in filmmaking looked much more real than these new movies that use CGI. The models had so much more detail to them that they actually look like they're real. The details and the sets will really blow your mind when you watch this.... you won't believe this was made over 20 years ago. If you haven't seen this yet, by all means give it a try.... it is a classic in every sense of the word.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Movie
Review: This release of Blade Runner was much better than the previous one. Its only problem is a lack of an ending, even a (bad) one. This movie just cuts off. However, the rest of it is insanely good. Fans of Anime will also like this one.

Rating:
Summary: Blade Runner Directors Cut Blew It...
Review: I love this movie... however, in my humble opinion the directors cut blew it by eliminating Harrison's naration... which really sync'd this film and blended an old film dark feel with this futuristic dark genre. It would have been great to have had an option to turn it on or off... but to not include it... I can only say, I am very dissapointed... if I could only get my hands on a "non" director's cut I'd trade my copy in a micro-second.