Blade Runner [Director's Cut]

Rating:
Summary: Cult Classic is still a Phenomenon!
Review: ...Anyway, about the movie; Ridley Scott portrays a world where "Replicants" (extremely human AI intelligence) is unwanted. They become out of control and lethal. Blade Runners are sent to "retire" them. Harrison Ford's job as a Blade Runner is to round up a team of Replicants known as Nexus 6.

These particular Replicants are stronger, more agile than humans and capable of mass destruction. But Who is looking for Who?

Ford's character, Deckard is sent to eliminate them, but simultaniously, the Nexus 6 "pack" (who include Daryl Hannah and Rutger Hauer) are looking for Tyrell...the man and coorporation who made them. He only developed Nexus 6 with a 4 year lifespan and the Nexus 6 are looking for life. It's a gritty world of who will get who first. Ridley Scott creates a most fantastical world that feels dirty, futuristic, hard, and it has his signature darkness pierced with beaming lights. It makes the movie "the Fifth Element" seem child-like. I watched this movie and I was often reminded of "Aliens"...with it's eary, dark, pulse- raising feel.

There are so many memorable scenes in this movie, it is hard to review a DVD like this one. The one that stands out most in my memory is the scene where Deckard finds "Zhora", played by Daryl Hannah. She disguises herself as a "toy" in J.F. Sebastian's home (a gentic designer who is lonely enough to create AI toys to keep him company). As Deckard approaches, she sits there, perfectly, like a doll hoping Deckard won't notice her. He does. The action that ensues from that point on is wild to say the least. It is pointless for me to go on about the plot. Most of you have seen this movie.

I hope this review has tantalized the newcomer and warned the true fan about a fabulous must-own. Could this be Ridley Scott's greatest film? I think so.

Rating:
Summary: Did they consult the Director?
Review: The present DVD release of this movie is a very cheap and cheerful affair, with plenty of dirt specks, extra grain and poor contrast; not worth having, and not that much better than a VHS copy. It hasn't got 5.1 sound or any special features.

What always annoyed me about this "Director's Cut" is that it is missing some very satisfying extra bits in the violent scenes which I've only seen once (in a pre-directors cut screening at a local cinema) which are as follows and which greatly affect the scenes they are in:

1. Where Roy Batty crushes Tyrell's head, there are some extra bits of him pushing his fingers in. Sounds crude, but the scene plays a lot better and is no more gruesome.

2. When Roy is trying to stay alive by pushing a nail through his hand, there's a bit more of the nail going in. This is very squeamish but again the scene works better.

3. The most annoying omission: Pris' dancing attack on Deckard is AT LEAST TWICE AS LONG and WORKS WAY BETTER! In the usual version, she drops him to the floor, does one run up and is shot dead. Very tame! In the never-to-be-seen-again version, she attacks him much more convincingly, and her death scene is also longer and much creepier, with her extra-weird android screaming and wriggling up the walls!

Surely Ridley Scott would have wanted these bits kept? They aren't as "strong" as many things I have seen, and this is an adult-rated movie anyway. I won't believe any more hype about Director's Cuts until someone explains this to me.

A special new edition, hopefully properly transferred, is coming along soon. I'm assuming it will still be incomplete. I almost wish I hadn't seen the better version. Where is it? Somebody else tell me they've seen it too, please.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing to compare
Review: I like the added scenes in the Dvd version, But It would have been a much better DVD, if they had added the original voice over movie. and also some extras. At some points I could see some dirt sections. like when you record a movie with your VCR.
But who knows, maybe they will correct these mistakes, and release another DVD in the future, but if you are like many people who have all the different versions of the Star Wars Saga, I would buy it.

Rating:
Summary: Much Ado About Nothing.....
Review: I saw Blade Runner on TV when I was younger, but I have never seen it uncut and commercial-free, and I've never seen The Director's Cut, so it was with GREAT enthusiasm that I purchased the DVD.....

Yawn.

The story of a cop being pressed back into duty as a "Blade-Runner", a hunter/killer of sentient rogue androids, is very promising, but Director Ridley Scott, while delivering a great LOOKING movie, gives the viewer nothing else to latch onto. The characters are all cold, one-dimensional pawns being put through their paces; I didn't care about any of them at all. Harrison Ford seems to sleepwalk through his role. The replicants themselves didn't seem too menacing; If they're so dangerous,why not send a few more Blade Runners after them, so they can be dealt with that much quicker? Why is Edward James Olmos' character being paid to stand around and do nothing???? Get to killing some replicants, pal!

The DVD has NOTHING in the way of extras, just some..."Production Notes", that are really nothing more than Cast Bios. This movie screams out for a Ridley Scott commentary track. And the much-ballyhooed "Unicorn Vision", that is supposed to reveal whether or not Deckard is a replicant himself, is all of two seconds long, and told me nothing new. The climactic battle between Deckard and Roy Batty is exciting and beautiful to look at, but that's about it. I had no emotional stake in the outcome of the fight, or the film itself for that matter. This DVD is obviously older than dirt, so hopefully the studio will issue a new version, with some commentary tracks and extras that will shed some light on the more puzzling aspects of the story. In the meantime, I have purchased the BFI Modern Classics Blade Runner book, and I'll be looking for answers there.

Rating:
Summary: An opportunity missed, but still enjoyable.
Review: I have owned and enjoyed the VHS tape of the movie for years. After seeing the Director's Cut on DVD, I would say the changes made were almost not worth the effort. The unicorn scene is ambiguous, but it was interesting to watch the film without listening to the voiceover. I feel Ridley Scott could have done much more, by adding edited scenes. Negatives: it was shocking to find this DVD was not shown in widescreen, or letterbox. Also, one can see dirt and other debris in a couple of scenes that was not removed from the original celluloid copy for this DVD. Positives: it is a joy to watch this film in DVD and see everything in much better sharpness. Hopefully, the 20th Anniversary Edition due out later this year will correct the deficiencies.

Rating:
Summary: Film noir is not always noir
Review: I first saw this film in a theatre with surround sound in its first release. The dripping rain which accompanied most of the outside scenes made my skin crawl! The scenes which parody earlier Dashiel Hammett / Raymond Chandler classics (like "Murder, My Sweet" and "The Lady in the Lake") remain some of my favorite film memories. All of those movies had a voice over, and perhaps younger viewers would not realize the significance of the voice over in this film. To my way of thinking, it is essential to the look and feel of the film, and the mood it created for me. The gadgets and gizmos are almost standard Sci-fi fare for Ridley, but the feel of this movie is unique in that regard.

I looked forward to the Director's cut to answer two questions --which remain unanswered.
1. Does the "heroine:" have an expire date?
2. Is the bladerunner a replicant and does HE have an expire date?
The director's cut, altho it changes the ending, does nothing to answer these questions. It does eliminate the voice-over, which was one of my fondest aspects of the film. I choose to stick with the original in DVD, rather than the director's cut.

Rating:
Summary: "LOS ANGELES, 2019 . . . ."
Review: After seeing "Blade Runner," i'm fearing the future. Ridley Scott (director) paints a rather vivid and disturbing picutre of what L.A. will look like in the furute. Harrison Ford's portrayal of a worn-out detective is rather bland, and it is the impressive special effects and art direction that saves this film. The futuristic setting is dark, rainy, neon-lit, smoky, slimy, and polluted. Is this what L.A. will look like in seventeen years? I certainly hope not.
The plot could have been interesting. Several "replicants" (robots) have been unleashed in L.A., and detective Ford is assigned to track down and kill them. The film moves at a slow pace, but it saved by the fight scene at the end.
This movie could be much better. The whole idea of Ford's character being a robot is laughable. His voice-over narration sounds like he's drunk and sunken...

Rating:
Summary: A Triumph of Style Over Substance
Review: I have never seen the original theatrical cut. I notice some reviewers complain the director's cut is confusing; although I had issues with the script, I did not find the film confusing per se.

To say BLADE RUNNER is an incredible looking film is a gross understatement. The art direction--whether costume, scenic design, or special effects--is simply stunning, creating an extremely dark, sometimes beautiful, but always fascinating vision of a future Los Angeles that has begun to collapse into grotesque decay. Hardcore science fiction fans will instantly recognize that the city's spectacular highrises reference Fritz Lang's silent METROPOLIS; art history buffs should notice a distinct Frank Lloyd Wright tinge to some of the set designs; costume designs are clearly intended to evoke the spirit of 1940s film noir. The resulting melange is simply extraordinary, very powerful, and incredibly atmospheric.

The cast--including Harrison Ford, Sean Young, Darryl Hannah, and Rutger Hauer--gives able, stylish performances in keeping with the film's dark but glossy tone. But the script they play is a very muddy one. The story concerns a special agent (Harrison) who is assigned the task of locating and "retiring" (i.e. killing) a handful of violent androids who have illegally landed on earth. Although I greatly admire the film's decidedly "open-ended" conclusion, I do not greatly admire the on-going vagueness that besets the storyline as a whole. We are persistently asked to ask believe that Ford locates his quarry via the vaguest information imaginable; moreover, although specifically described as a highly experienced and formidable agent, Ford's character gives little evidence of it: he's always being bashed around to the point of death and then overcoming his opponet more through dumb luck than superior skill. Most annoying of all, the film flirts with issues concerning creation of artificial life without actually amplifying any of them in a consistently engaging way. In spite of these failings, the performances and most particularly the incredibly compelling make BLADE RUNNER a fantastic triumph of style over substance. It is extremely enjoyable, and it is easy to understand how the film has drawn so many enthusiastic fans.

The DVD offers both widescreen and modified-for-television formats. The former is recommended, for the latter undercuts the visual fascination of the film. The picture quality of the widescreen format is superior; the sound is good but not exceptional. Aside from the choice of formats and brief biographies of the principal players, there are no extras of any kind.

Rating:
Summary: Let me explain...
Review: Okay, I got bored so I thought I'd review my favourite movie on Amazon. I thought I'd look through to see what was being said about it, and I'm a little stupefied. Here are the reason's it's my favourite movie of all time, especially the director's cut.

1 - Ambiguity and uncertainty are good. If you need a stupid voice-over to tell you what to think, go watch football.

2 - If it turned out in the director's cut that Deckard was a "replicant" and you thought that takes away his "humanity" and makes him "bad" then you're a very stupid person and you missed the point of the entire movie. It's the homo sapiens that are the villains.

3 - It is not a "futuristic detective movie". It is a philosophical examination of the nature of humanity. Just because it looks noir-ish, it doesn't mean it's actually noir.

4 - If you want a happy ending, why are you watching such a patently dark movie?

5 - I love the book "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?". This isn't the book, it doesn't even have the same name. It's "Blade Runner" and it's a movie. Don't compare them, enjoy them separately. Incidentally, you literary pedants, Philip K. Dick himself said he was most impressed with what he saw of the movie before he died.

Okay, I too want a better DVD. I don't NEED extras, or even any kind of 5.1 Surround (but bring it on!), but the audio balance is bizarre and fluctuates, and the ragged edges of the print are a little sub-standard. I DO want anamorphic widescreen, and I DO want the dirt gone fron the print.

Rating:
Summary: Love It Or See It Again
Review: Some people I know didn't like it mainly because they couldn't understand it. I didn't quite understand it when I first saw it as a teen, yet that's what held the greatest attraction for me. I've watched it again and again--usually waiting a year or more between viewings--and sensed it maturing like a fine wine (or has it only been my mind?) to the point where I now savor it completely. A delicacy of a film based upon the intriguing novel of PK Dick, Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?. Watch it again. Feel the cold rain on the overcrowded streets. Look up at the hovercars gliding by amidst towering concrete decay. Watch Harrison Ford's perplexion grow as his character, Deckard, finds himself caught in an emotional warp of half-truths and ever-imminent danger. If you don't love it, you just haven't seen it enough.