Blade Runner [Director's Cut]

Rating:
Summary: As bad as Alien...and a dehumanized picture...
Review: Harrison Ford's performance in this movie is so wooden, just as awful, if not more so, then the acting in ALIEN. It came from the over-rated Ridley Scott, who we have to thank for taking the humanity out of science fiction.

Rating:
Summary: 3 versions
Review: If you enjoy science fiction or film noir or both and are contemplting buying this film you have probably already seen it. If you haven't: It is a Phillip K. Dick story about androids doing the risky or unwanted jobs in society and what to do with them when their job is done. The answer is to use a type of cop called a Blade Runner to destroy them. Harrison Ford, in a nice but somewhat misunderstood role, is the Blade Runner.

I have three versions of this film on laser disc. The first is the theatrical version, the second was an extended version with about twenty minutes added, and the third is the shorter directors cut. This DVD version is the director's cut.

The directors cut is a tightened version with the voice over and the extended ending removed; the theatrical and the extended version are the versions with voice over by Harrison Ford and with the added ending that some call happy. It is the voice over and the so called happy ending that some find objectionable. My favorite of the three is the extended version with the voice over. The happy ending I did not see as especially happy and could take or leave. But all versions a superior science fiction and all are worth your time. A boxed set of all versions would have been nice and perhaps some day we will see that boxed set available. In the meantime enjoy Ridley Scott's favorite cut and maybe someday pick up the voice over version. And forget the fantasy about Harrison Ford purposely doing a bad job on the voice over; no actor is going to do a crappy job on purpose any more than an auto mechanic is going to do a crappy job on your car because he doesn't like the brand.

Rating:
Summary: "Not very sporting to fire at an unarmed opponent."
Review: I first heard of Blade Runner from the Another World CD by Paul Oakenfold that features Vangelis's songs 'Tears in Rain' and 'Rachel's Song,' which are both magnificent. When I saw Blade Runner, I was in awe. It was much better than I could ever had imagined. The storyline was original and addicting, and the characters were one of a kind. Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) is definitely my favorite character and he brings the whole DVD together, summing up the story with his line "I want more life." He was able to say things that were meant to be creepy and menacing, but that actually made me laugh, particularly when he yelled "That hurt!" to Deckard, who hit Batty in the head twice with a metal beam. Blade Runner is a definite must-have for people who love sci-fi, unexpected twists in a movie, and villains who are able to make your skin crawl.

Rating:
Summary: Both versions are great
Review: I've read the book and agree with most that the director's cut is more in tune with the book. The director's cut changes some crucial parts to the original movie such as the ending not being so happy as the original, and the question that maybe Deckard was a replicant himself.

That being said, I also loved the original. Yes the narration in the original was cheesy-sounding, but it all made up for it with the final scene when Roy Batty dies. The narration added a very powerful emotional edge to that scene, the likes of which is rarely duplicated in movies. That emotion is missing in the director's cut due to the narration being gone. For that reason alone I will always prefer to watch the original over the director's cut. even though the director's cut is a fantastic versionin its own right.

Rating:
Summary: Ridley's Revenge...
Review: Before the darkness of Tim Burton's Gotham city, and long before the perpetual dreariness of SE7EN, Ridley Scott gave us his vision of a dark metropolis. BLADE RUNNER set new standards, not only in bleakness, but in storytelling as well. Harrison Ford proved that he was more than just a space cadet by fleshing out the role of Deckard, a man sent to "retire" (aka:terminate) a renegade group of replicants (genetically engineered humanoids w/ 4 year life spans). Rutger Hauer is Roy Batty, leader of the renegades. Hauer portrays him with menace and exceptional depth. He is an android in search of a longer life. He fears death and the loss of his life's experiences. He dreads non-existence. Wait, isn't that a human trait? The other replicants seem like ordinary folks. There's Zhora (Joanna Cassidy) the exotic dancer. She gives Deckard a good fight before he guns her down. She doesn't want to die either. Pris (Daryl Hannah) the "pleasure model", is beautiful, sweet, and a bit insane. She is the "love" of Roy's "life". Sean Young plays Racheal, a replicant who finds out late that she's not human, that she has no real past, that all of her "memories" belong to someone else. Racheal is crushed by this information. Why? Isn't she just an android? Deckard himself is troubled. He has fallen in love with Racheal. Is he a man in love with a machine, or is he with his own kind? This is left unclear. Scott has put out HIS version of this classic. No clumsy voice-overs. No "fly away to a sunny day" ending. This is BLADE RUNNER as it was intended to be. Enjoy...

Rating:
Summary: then again...
Review: first off...I haven't seen the original. However, Blade Runner is a great movie. more than being about what makes us human it transmits a feeling of intense urban alienation similar to Taxi Driver. everyone has left for the colony planets...and deckard has the thankless job of killing androids. the city bleeds noir- and the sets are so well done as to seem like a location shoot with the sheer density of information. the atmosphere is heavy with the minimal synth music. Ford underplays his role as usual, to good effect. Blatty, in search of immortality- or humanity- finds it by letting Deckard go- it is then we realize Deckard is less than human- the existential struggle plays out- and he's on the run towards a new life. The ending has great resonance, and Ford turns his head to the side...a display of relentless purpose.

Rating:
Summary: The way it should have been done!
Review: the original is a work of art that was vandalised by hollywood studio bosses who presumably thought that the audience wouldn't be bright enough to understand it without the cringe worthy, chandleresque monologue (God forbid who should have to use our brains). And as for the spliced on up-beat ending (Cos nobody will watch a film that doesn't have a sugar coated, inspirational finale). This took the shine off an absolute classic film which unlike modern Sci Fi (ie - the matrix) never devolves into a mere brainless action film, and is as thought provoking as it is entertaining. Unfortunately, films like this are unlikely to be made anymore - if it was then studio bosses would insist it star Bradd Pitt, with the poignant scene on the rooftop exchanged for a kung foo fight, replete with cheesy one liners and bare chested movie stars. The last great Sci Fi for people with a brain!

Rating:
Summary: Some things are best left untouched
Review: This is or was one of the greatest movies I have ever seen. Until the directors cut was released. This show is an empty shell without the Fords narrative. I only gave it two stars but I would give the original 6.

Rating:
Summary: Sci-Fi of the Highest Order
Review: I agree with many that the original theatrical release with the Ford narration and "uplifting" ending is superior. As gifted as Ridley Scott is, even the greatest of artists aren't always as objective as they ought to be. The Director's Cut is a clear example of that.

I might remind anyone reading this that the "cult following" that the film has gained since its original, unsuccessful 1982 release really occured BEFORE the Director's Cut became available. Simply put, Blade Runner newbies just can't "get into" this edit/cut. Ford's narration engages the first-time viewer with important exposition and emotional depth while they are being visually saturated with the beautiful production ideas and timeless FX. The review just before mine made a great point as well with the V.O. providing that noir, "detective" film feel (quite a unique concept to make the setting sci-fi without the filmmakers going out of their way to make it "sci-fi." It's as though Scott brilliantly realized that the film would be most effective if he just approached it as if THIS was our own world). Plus, without the V.O., we just don't really get a feel for Ford's character; he literally has about the least amount of on-the-set dialog I've seen a major star have since Arnold in the first Terminator. It's just too detached; maybe, that's the point, but I certainly like to "feel" for my characters.

Recommendation: seek out the original theatrical release first, and then, if you're hooked, check out the DC.

If I could rate the film more accurately out of five stars:

Theatrical Release ****1/2
Director's Cut ***1/2

Rating:
Summary: man vs. machine
Review: I am going out on a limb and say that I liked the original theatrical cut better. I am not very patient, there for I am not a big fan of long unbroken scenes of silence, which is what you'll get in the Dircetor's Cut of "Blade Runner". The story is the same, Harrison Ford plays Rick Deckard, a retired blade runner (a cop who tracks down renegade androids and kills them) blackmailed into one last job; to track down four androids who escaped their space work site and made it to L.A. Now, while I am not favorable of the silence, I do like other aspects of the movie. The sets are breath taking and beautiful, it really looks like a mish-mesh of Tokyo, New York, L.A., and the city dump. The Tycho Corperation building is gorgous, it looks like what Bill Gates would do with a Buddist temple. The acting I am not too sure what to say about it. Harrison Ford gives a wooden dead pan performance. Was that the intention? Maybe. Deckard is a cynical, burnt out man who has seen too much death, so his seeming tired all the time would be about right. But I also hear that he was always upset with Ridley Scott, so maybe he was trying to be difficult. Who knows. The others were a lot more fun. Rutgar Hauer is the life of the party as Roy Batty, the android who only wants more life (can you blame him?) The contrast between these two powerful characters is really the point of the movie I think. The human who has stopped feeling, and the android who really loves life. "Blade Runner" is a deep philosphical movie along the lines of "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "The Terminator", dealing with man's relationship with technology, and how we don't control it, it controls us. It's a sci-fi classic, and really just a great movie all in all.