Blade Runner [Director's Cut]

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful upgrade from VHS
Review: If you liked Bladerunner the first time, watching it on DVD will blow you away. The sound and picture are so much clearer and the director's cut adds a few more insights into the characters. My wife, who usually doesn't enjoy sci-fi, really liked the movie as well.

I highly recommend it.

Happy holidays.

Darin

Rating:
Summary: 2019 is not too far away
Review: BLADE RUNNER--THE DIRECTOR'S CUT is Ridley Scott's 1992 version of what the 1982 film would have looked like if it had survived its preview screenings and a nervous studio. Gone is the Raymond-Chandler-style voice-over to explain it all to us. Gone is the sappy ending. Added is a key dream sequence (that presaged, as it turns out, Scott's 1986 fantasy LEGEND), the rest of the Vangelis score, and some additional footage to several key scenes. The director's cut makes this great film only greater, more impressive, more stimulating, more interesting.

A hugely influential movie, time has neither dimmed nor diluted Blade Runner. Despite numerous rip-offs, homages, direct copies and satires, Ridley Scott's vision looks as fresh today as it did in 1982. If anything, we seem to be witnessing a rather depressing convergence between reality and fiction. The foundation of this longevity is Blade Runner's look, its atmosphere and attention to detail; this is where the film scores so highly. The very first frames, and those that follow, have such a physical impact, overloading your senses with imagination, that they burn into your cortex. In the way that Scott evokes this future, bringing it to vivid life, it's hard to see how it could have worked in any other medium. Quite simply Blade Runner is one of the most stunning examples of pure cinema ever made.

The DVD however, is terrible. The Dolby Pro Logic 2.0 sound mix of Blade Runner worked much less effectively than did the terrific picture. I found the audio quality to be stiff and lifeless for the most part. Dialogue and effects usually sounded tinny and hollow, and while Vangelis' memorable score fares better, it doesn't do so by much. The rear surrounds are used often but seem muted; a nice sound environment appears at times, but without any consistency. But nothing is as bad as the supplemental materials! Why? Because there really aren't any. We receive some basic cast and crew biographies - that's it! For now, the best source for anyone interested in behind the scenes Blade Runner lore remains Paul Sammon's terrific book, Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy.

Rating:
Summary: Release the Original for God's Sake
Review: Blade Runner is one of the finest sci-fi films ever released in it's 1982 form. The Director's cut is a poor second to the original I have the original now on laserdisc which is the only way to go until Ridley changes his mind.

Rating:
Summary: Black science fiction as it should be
Review: Before director's cuts became a mainstream phenomenon and every other movie being released starting carrying that label for leaving in five extra seconds of unneeded footage, Blade Runner was rereleased as Ridley Scott's original and far superiour vision. A cult following bloomed into a not-just-cult following and fans everywhere rejoiced.

Blade Runner was filmed in the early eighties, before Return of the Jedi was released, and with effects that play just as well today as they did back in the heyday of the sci-fi special effects revolution. Scott's portrayal of a dark, often-raining, overcrowded LA is a thrill to watch as the scenes, blessedly free from the distracting narrative of the first theater release, pan slowly across the bizarre archetechture of the near future. The storyline is good, and gives the characters time to develop with the help of some brilliant acting, but it's the visual magic that puts Blade Runner in the much-deserved spot of "Best Science Fiction Movie Ever."

This is one movie that should ONLY be seen in it's director's cut. Only then can you truly appreciate the dark hopelessness of the world where synthetic beings are hunted down just for trying to live. It's dirty, it's dark, it's unkind, and it needs to be seen without the studio's unwelcome brightening up and spoonfed explanations. Much better to spend your attention and energy trying to figure out whether or not Decker is a replicant, or if the rogue band of replicants can survive.

As has been pointed out, the DVD itself is short on extras. That's unfortunate. But maybe that's because the focus is supposed to be on the movie itself.

Some behind-the-scenes stuff or a good interview for the fans would have been nice, though.

Rating:
Summary: Best Sci-Fi Film Ever
Review: Let's start off by saying that "Blade Runner" has more intellegence and imagination than any Star Wars or Star Trek movie ever made. Perhaps this is because it is based on a Phillip K. Dick novel, Dick being one of the smartest people ever to write science fiction. The movie, rather than dumbing down Dick's work as Hollywood is so often prone to do, instead celebrates it. Harrison Ford's hero is really Phillip Marlowe transported to the space age. The whole movie in fact has a "film noir" feel to it that enhances its downcast mood. Ford gives what maybe the best ACTING performance of his career. And Dick's scary vision of the future is perfectly portrayed.

The Drector's cut has a more ambiguous ending than the original film and throws out Ford's added on narrative designed to "assist" audiences that the producers thought would be too dumb to follow the story otherwise. While I never minded the narration, the more uncertain ending is far more appropriate. Either way, sci-fi movies don't get any better than this.

Rating:
Summary: A Smart And Stylish Science Fiction Movie.
Review: Blade Runner is my favorite science fiction film. Everything about it, from its exceptional music and script to its brilliant direction; oozes with substance and style.

The screenplay, by Hampton Fancher and Philip K. Dick, is intelligently written and has a good mix of drama, action, and science fiction. The dialogue is smart, philosophical, and meaningful.

The cast does a fine job at bringing voice to the script. Harrison Ford delivers a fine performance as the troubled Blade Runner, Rick Deckard. Rutger Hauer gives the best performance of the film, though. Hauer plays the replicant, Roy Batty, whom is searching for a way to prolong his life. He delivers his lines with cold-menace and a sorrowful undertone. Sean Young and Daryl Hannah also give noteworthy performances.

Ridley Scott is in top form here. As in Alien, he shows us that he has a very fine eye for details. His vision of Los Angeles in 2019 is frightening gritty and dark.

Jordan Cronenweth's cinematography is extraordinary. His use of lighting is quite effective and intriguing.

Vangelis's jazzy blues music suits the images on screen nicely and adds a lot of soul to the film.

The legendary, gothic, and often imitated set design of Blade Runner is incredible and helps in creating a sense of doom and in bringing Ridley Scott's vision to life.

Like so many films that have now attained classic status, Blade Runner was panned by both critics and audiences upon its release. I suppose people just weren't ready to see Harrison Ford in a film-noir and to see a science fiction film with this much power and grit. Blade Runner is, in my opinion, the finest science fiction films ever made.

Rating:
Summary: Classic film, made better in the Director's Cut
Review: When I first saw "Blade Runner" in 1982, I was literally blown away by the film's amazing production design, dazzling visual effects, and suprisingly human story. Quite simply, "Blade Runner" is the best dystopian vision ever put on film, and raises questions about the true meaning of humanity.

The director's cut of "Blade Runner" simply improves on a classic with a bit more character background and the elimination of Harrison Ford's horrid faux-noir narration. Best yet, the silly "drive in the country" happy ending, mandated by studio bosses, also ends up in the trash can, replaced by a much neater ending in which Decker the hunter becomes the hunted.

When I heard that Harrison Ford's narration (such as it is) was being removed for the director's cut, I wondered how the film's wandering narrative would work, but after viewing the revised version, I find it just as easy to follow as the original.

The visual effects also hold up extremely well 18 years later, even when compared to today's computer-generated graphics, a real testament to the skill and vision of their creators.

One of the main criticisms of this film is that it portrays a dark, dank Los Angeles that could never really exist, but that's why they call it "science fiction," folks. Go with it. And before you dismiss this film's vision of a future Los Angeles so easily, look at the ethnic mix in this film - a mismash of white people, Asians, Hispanics and other groups. Is that really so far removed from the real Los Angeles of today?

I do wish Warner Brothers would have done more in the way of special features on this disc, but overall this film is an unqualified success, and belongs in every movie lover's collection.

Rating:
Summary: This movie is sci-fi classic
Review: If you're into sci-fi movies, then this is for you. You must have ADD not to enjoy this flick. If it takes two hours of blazing guns and foul language, then save yourself some loot. This movie requires an audience with more than 5 brain cells. It's a sci-fi drama with a good cast.

The special effects are still good, even though they're a little dated. I think a lot of movies suck now anyway, because all the time goes into effects and not the story. This movie is well rounded.

Ford plays a COP/Bounty Hunter (Bladerunner) who's job is to kill rouge androids. After a few questions and a few twists you wonder who the bad guys really are. In the end you'll figure it out. Hint: During the movie, do the math on the escaped replicants (androids).

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but a classic?
Review: I fail to see how so many people enjoy this movie so much. Yes, the visuals are stunning (especially for early 80s fx) and the concept is interesting, but the plot is paper-thin and utterly predictable, there is no suspense to be found anywhere, and the Vangelis soundtrack is intrusive, inappropriate, and tacky. The wonderfully talented Harrison Ford gives as good a performance as the "look exhausted, now look scared, now look exhausted again" direction allows, but are we really supposed to believe that he'd fall for an utterly unattractive Sean Young? A lot of people here have mentioned that the original cut is superior to this version, and perhaps it is, but unless the plot is dramatically different and the score is not present, I won't be watching it.

Rating:
Summary: Good changes to a otherwise slow movie
Review: I saw Blade Runner when it first came out in the theaters and I was very disappointed. This Directors Cut of the film really makes up for a lot of mistakes made in the original. Getting rid of the narrative and changing the ending where two changes I thought made the DVD much better then the original movie. The few special effects that were in the film were spectacular, especially for the time it was made. I still thought the movie was slow, but the last 30 minutes of the film almost makes up for it. The DVD looks and sounds excellent and Blade Runner is a great DVD to own if you are a hard core sci-fi fan and don't mind a slower paced intellectual movie.