Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Blade Runner* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)

 

This year is the 32nd Anniversary of the orginal release of Blade Runner, hence I will tell you about all the basic's you need to know about the film

What is this film? (you may be asking)

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner

Blade Runner is a 1982 American dystopian science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick.

The film depicts a dystopian Los Angeles in November 2019 in which genetically engineered organic robots called replicants, which are visually indistinguishable from adult humans, are manufactured by the powerful Tyrell Corporation as well as by other "mega-corporations" around the world. Their use on Earth is banned and replicants are exclusively used for dangerous, menial, or leisure work on off-world colonies. Replicants who defy the ban and return to Earth are hunted down and "retired" by special police operatives known as "Blade Runners". The plot focuses on a desperate group of recently escaped replicants hiding in Los Angeles and the burnt-out expert Blade Runner, Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), who reluctantly agrees to take on one more assignment to hunt them down.

Blade Runner initially polarized critics: some were displeased with the pacing, while others enjoyed its thematic complexity. The film performed poorly in North American theaters but has since become a cult film. It has been hailed for its production design, depicting a "retrofitted" future, and remains a leading example of the neo-noir genre. It brought the work of Philip K. Dick to the attention of Hollywood and several later films were based on his work. Ridley Scott regards Blade Runner as "probably" his most complete and personal film. In 1993, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Blade Runner was made by The Ladd Company, in association with Shaw Brothers.

Directed by Ridley Scott

Produced by Michael Deeley

Screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples

Based on "Do Andrioids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Phillip K. Dick

Starring:

Harrison Ford

Rutger Hauer

Sean Young

Edward James Olmos

Daryl Hannah

Music by Vangelis

Cinematography by Jordon Cronenweth

Editing by Terry Rawlings and Marsha Nakashima
I would also suggest having a look at these trailers as well:

Plot
Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083658/synopsis

In 2019, humans have genetically engineered Replicants, which are essentially humans who are designed for labor and entertainment purposes. They are illegal on earth, and if they make it to our planet they are hunted down and killed.

Rick Deckard is a blade runner, a hunter of replicants. A group of replicants makes it to Los Angeles seeking a way to extend their life span. Replicants have a built-in 4 year life span, and this group is near the end.

==========================================

A crawl after the opening credits informs us that, in the near future, technology that has created synthetic humans has entered a new phase: replicants, sophisticated androids that are virtually identical to humans, are now equal in strength and emotion to their creators. Replicants are designed and built by the Tyrell Corporation, a giant multi-conglomerate headquartered in two pyramid-like towers. The latest version of replicant technology is the Nexus 6 model. Replicants are mostly used as manual laborers in the "off world" colonies out in space. Because of their advanced nature and tendency towards violence, replicants have been outlawed on Earth. Specialized police units, "blade runners," are charged with the difficult task of detecting replicants who come to Earth. If found, replicants are executed or "retired." An opening title tells us that the setting for the story is Los Angeles, and the date is November, 2019. Los Angeles and the surrounding area have become heavily industrialized, crowded with people and rain falls constantly.

 At the Tyrell Corporation, a blade runner, Holden (Morgan Paull) is interviewing a new employee using a special device called a Voight-Kampff (VK) analyzer. The machine is designed to detect any physical changes in the test subject in response to questions that are deliberately meant to affect the subject emotionally. After a few questions, the man being tested, Leon, becomes obviously agitated and eventually hostile, shooting Holden. (We learn later that Holden survived: "He can breathe okay, as long as nobody unplugs him.")

Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former blade runner, is eating at a Japanese noodle bar when another man, Gaff (Edward James Olmos), tells him he's under arrest. Deckard tries to ignore the man but eventually agrees to go with him. Gaff flies Deckard to police headquarters and delivers Deckard to his old boss, Bryant (M. Emmet Walsh). Bryant tells Deckard that a small group of Nexus-6 replicants have come to Earth illegally. Two of them were killed trying to scale a high-voltage security fence outside the Tyrell Corporation. Four have survived; Bryant shows Deckard their files. The leader is Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), the most advanced of the group. The others are Zhora (Joanna Cassidy), Pris (Darryl Hannah) and Leon (Brion James), the replicant who shot Holden. Deckard is charged with tracking them down. Bryant also tells Deckard that the Nexus-6s are believed to be advanced enough that they may have developed emotions, which might make them harder to detect via VK testing. Subsequently, the scientists designed the Nexus-6s to have only a four year lifespan. Bryant sends Deckard to Tyrell Corp's headquarters to test the VK machine on a Nexus-6.

 

Deckard

Gaff

Deckard and Gaff fly to Tyrell headquarters. While Deckard awaits Tyrell, he meets Rachael (Sean Young), a beautiful woman who welcomes him and who acts as Tyrell's personal assistant. Tyrell (Joe Turkel) appears and questions Deckard about the Voight-Kampff test, doubting its processes in detecting replicants among humans. Tyrell offers Rachael as a test subject, saying he wants to see a negative test result on a human before providing a replicant to be tested. Deckard asks Rachael over 100 test questions before the VK machine finally alerts Deckard that Rachael is actually a replicant. Rachael leaves and Tyrell explains that Rachael is a Nexus-6 and one of the most advanced replicants ever designed. She has been designed to possess memories, however, the memories given Rachael have been culled from Tyrell's nieces or other family members. Deckard is surprised to realize that Rachael doesn't know she's a replicant.

Deckard's first lead takes him to Leon's apartment. Deckard finds a stack of photographs there, as well as a scale from an animal's hide. Not far away, Roy Batty is waiting on the street for Leon to return from his apartment. Leon appears and tells Roy that there were policemen there and he was unable to retrieve his photographs. Roy is perturbed but takes Leon with him to a shop called Eye World, owned by a Chinese man named Chew, who engineers eyes for replicants for Tyrell. He is confronted in his subzero lab by Roy and Leon, the latter of whom rips open Chew's thermal coat to make it easier for Roy to interrogate him. Roy asks Chew about "inception dates," the date marking a replicant's first activation and beginning of their four year lifespan. Chew, quickly freezing to death, desperately tells them that they need to talk to Tyrell about increasing their lifespans. Roy suggests that meeting with Tyrell will be difficult, however, Chew tells him that a Tyrell employee, JF Sebastian, may be able to gain Roy access.

 

Roy Batty

Deckard takes Leon's stack of photos home with him. He is surprised by Rachael in the elevator. Deckard, seemingly feeling betrayed, is quite rude to Rachael, who was unable to talk to Tyrell himself after she found out she is a replicant. Though Rachael shows Deckard a picture of herself with her mother, Deckard insensitively quashes Rachael's insistence that she has memories. Rachael leaves, extremely hurt. Later, while drinking, Deckard examines old photographs on his piano and dreams of a white unicorn. When he awakes, he examines one of Leon's photos and finds that Zhora was in a back room. Deckard notes that she has a prominent tattoo on her neck of a looped serpent.

Rachael

In another part of Los Angeles, a woman walks into an alley and covers herself with waste paper to keep warm. She dozes for a bit until a man approaches her and startles her awake. She runs away, breaking the window of his van, but the man kindly returns one of her bags and she becomes friendly. The woman is revealed to be Pris, one of the Nexus-6s Deckard is pursuing. The man is JF Sebastian (William Sanderson), a genetic designer for the Tyrell Corporation and the person Chew told Roy to find. Pris agrees to stay at Sebastian's place where he designs toys and dolls.

Deckard visits the crowded streets near Chinatown and has a old Asian woman examine the animal scale. Deckard believes it to be from a fish but it's from a snake, and, like most animals of the time period, is artificial. The maker's serial number is also visible, a man named Abdul Ben Hassan, whose shop is right up the street. Deckard confronts Hassan, who tells him he'd made a snake for a dancer working at a club owned by Taffy Lewis. Deckard goes to the club and places a quick call to Rachael, apologizing for his insensitivity and asking her if she'd like to join him at the club. Rachel refuses.

Deckard finds that Zhora is an exotic dancer at the club who uses artificial snakes in her performances. Deckard poses as an irritating private eye investigating abuses by club owners who may spy on female performers. Zhora sees through Deckard's ruse and beats him violently and dashes from the club into the streets. Deckard quickly catches up and chases her until he's able to shoot her. Zhora crashes through several plate glass windows and falls to the street, dead.

Bryant arrives on the scene and talks to Deckard, congratulating him for finding and retiring Zhora. He tells Deckard that there are four more replicants to retire; Deckard insists that there are only three left. However, Rachael has disappeared and Deckard now has to find her. Deckard spots her a few moments later across the street. As he follows her, he's suddenly grabbed by Leon, who beats him severely. As Leon appears poised to kill Deckard by stabbing his fingers through Deckard's eyes, his forehead explodes; he has been shot by Rachael using Deckard's own pistol, which Leon had batted from Deckard's hand a few moments before. Deckard returns to his apartment and Rachael joins him. Deckard appears to be much more sympathetic toward Rachael since she saved him from Leon. When she asks him if he'd hunt and retire her, he tells her he wouldn't, but someone else surely would. He gives her a drink and the two play together on Deckard's piano. Deckard becomes more amorous and Rachael rejects his advances. Deckard prevents her from leaving his apartment and the two have sex off screen.

 

Zhora

 

Pris wakes up in Sebastian's apartment. She talks to him about his strange skin condition, "Methuselah Syndrome," which makes him age quickly. He is only 25, but looks older. Suddenly, Roy appears (likely summoned there by Pris). He shares the news that Zhora and Leon are both retired. Roy and Pris both reveal to Sebastian that they are Nexus-6s and they need to get "help" for Pris or she'll die. Pris proves to Sebastian that she's artificial by grabbing an egg from boiling water and tossing it to Sebastian, who finds it too hot to handle. Roy notices that Sebastian plays chess and asks him about his opponent, who is Tyrell himself. Roy convinces Sebastian to use his connection to Tyrell to arrange a personal meeting. Sebastian reluctantly agrees.

Roy and Sebastian go to Tyrell's pyramidal home and take an elevator to his penthouse. They are stopped as a security measure but are allowed to proceed when Sebastian voices two moves to Tyrell himself that win the chess match they'd been playing; the last move is given to him by Roy. In Tyrell's bedchamber, Roy confronts his creator, saying specifically he wants an extension of his short lifespan and calls Tyrell "father." (In the 1982 Theatrical and 1992 Director's editions, Roy says "fucker" in place of father.) Tyrell explains, with technical details, that artificial beings like Roy have been permanently designed not to live longer than their lifespan and that no known biological process has yet been able to change that. Roy becomes more despondent, telling Tyrell he's done "questionable things." Tyrell patronizes him, saying he's also accomplished great things. Roy, still despondent, first kisses Tyrell, then begins to crush his skull, poking his thumbs through his creator's eyes. Tyrell falls dead and a horrified Sebastian, unable to escape, is killed off screen by Roy.

Deckard flies in his car to the sector where JF Sebastian lives. He receives a report from Bryant who tells him that Tyrell is dead and Sebastian has also been found dead at the same scene. Deckard places a call to Sebastian's apartment claiming to be a friend. Pris answers the call but hangs up. Deckard has to move his card when some street people climb on the back, apparently hoping to salvage parts they can sell. Deckard enters Sebastian's apartment and searches for evidence or leads. While doing so, he is surprised by a disguised Pris, who assaults him using acrobatics. As she performs a series of back flips to finish Deckard off, he shoots her through the abdomen. She twitches violently for a few moments before Deckard shoots her twice more and finally kills her.

Bradbury Building



Deckard is next surprised by Roy, who moves too fast for Deckard to shoot. Roy stalks Deckard after discovering that Pris is dead, seizing Deckard's hand through a wall and deliberately dislocating and breaking two of his fingers. Deckard escapes to an upper floor in the building but is easily found by Roy, who is already showing signs of his own impending death - he stabs himself through the hand with a large nail to temporarily stabilize his condition. Deckard seizes an opportunity to beat Roy with a large pipe but cannot incapacitate Roy, whose superhuman strength is too much for Deckard. Deckard eventually escapes to the roof and tries to jump to another roof across the street. He nearly plummets, hanging on by one hand. Roy makes the jump quite easily and peers over the ledge at Deckard, saying "Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave."

Deckard slips and Roy catches him, dragging him to safety. Roy sits down near him, holding a dove he found on the other roof, and tells Deckard that he's seen more in his short life than most humans would see in a full lifetime. Roy is saddened by the idea that all the memories he's acquired will be lost "like tears in rain." Then, echoing the last thing Leon said to Deckard, Roy says "time to die" -- but he's referring to himself. As he finally dies, the dove in his hand flies off. In the original theatrical version (1982) the rain has stopped and the dove flies toward a clear blue sky. In the Final Cut (2007) the rain continues and the dove flies toward an overcast sky.

Gaff meets Deckard on the roof and throws his pistol back to him. He congratulates Deckard on completing his investigation; Deckard tells him he's officially finished with hunting replicants. As Gaff walks away, he yells back "It's too bad she won't live, but then again who does?", referring to Rachael.

Deckard returns to his apartment and is alarmed to find the door ajar. He calls Rachael, and when she doesn't answer he walks through the rooms with his gun drawn. In the bedroom, Rachael is completely covered by the sheet. Much to his relief, she wakes up when he touches her. He asks her whether she loves and trusts him; she replies that she does. A few minutes later, she is dressed and Deckard, after checking the lobby outside his apartment, motions for her to join him in the elevator. On the floor of the lobby is a small origami unicorn, left there by Gaff. Deckard studies it for a moment, then crushes it in his hand. In the Final Cut and Director's (1992) editions, the film ends when the elevator doors close. In the Theatrical edition, Deckard and Rachael drive into a mountainous area and Deckard explains in voice-over that Tyrell told him that Rachael has no termination date. Echoing Gaff, he muses, "I didn't know how long we had together... who does?"

Production

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner#Production

 



Phillip K. Dick (Author of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the basis for Blade Runner)

Interest in adapting Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? developed shortly after its 1968 publication. Director Martin Scorsese was interested in filming the novel, but never optioned it. Producer Herb Jaffe optioned it in the early 1970s, but Dick was unimpressed with the screenplay written by Herb's son Robert: "Jaffe's screenplay was so terribly done ... Robert flew down to Santa Ana to speak with me about the project. And the first thing I said to him when he got off the plane was, 'Shall I beat you up here at the airport, or shall I beat you up back at my apartment?' "

The screenplay by Hampton Fancher was optioned in 1977. Producer Michael Deeley became interested in Fancher's draft and convinced director Ridley Scott to film it. Scott had previously declined the project, but after leaving the slow production of Dune, wanted a faster-paced project to take his mind off his older brother's recent death. He joined the project on February 21, 1980, and managed to push up the promised Filmways financing from US$13 million to $15 million.



Filmways Logo

Fancher's script focused more on environmental issues and less on issues of humanity and faith, which had featured heavily in the novel, and Scott wanted changes. Fancher found a cinema treatment by William S. Burroughs for Alan E. Nourse's novel The Bladerunner (1974), titled Blade Runner (a movie). Scott liked the name, so Deeley obtained the rights to the titles. Eventually he hired David Peoples to rewrite the script and Fancher left the job over the issue on December 21, 1980, although he later returned to contribute additional rewrites.

Having invested over $2.5 million in pre-production, as the date of commencement of principal photography neared, Filmways withdrew financial backing (It was later bought by Orion Pictures, now part of MGM). In ten days Deeley had secured $21.5 million in financing through a three-way deal between The Ladd Company (through Warner Bros.), the Hong Kong-based producer Sir Run Run Shaw, and Tandem Productions.

Michael Deeley (Producer of Blade Runner, Ex-Chairman of EMI Films)

 

 

Sir Run Run Shaw (Co-Financer of Blade Runner, Ex-Chairman of Shaw Brothers Studio, a major film studio in Homg Kong)

 



Philip K. Dick became concerned that no one had informed him about the film's production, which added to his distrust of Hollywood. After Dick criticized an early version of Hampton Fancher's script in an article written for the Los Angeles Select TV Guide, the studio sent Dick the David Peoples rewrite. Although Dick died shortly before the film's release, he was pleased with the rewritten script, and with a twenty-minute special effects test reel that was screened for him when he was invited to the studio.

Despite his well known skepticism of Hollywood in principle, Dick enthused to Ridley Scott that the world created for the film looked exactly as he had imagined it. He said, "I saw a segment of Douglas Trumbull's special effects for Blade Runner on the KNBC-TV news. I recognized it immediately. It was my own interior world. They caught it perfectly." He also approved of the film's script, saying, "After I finished reading the screenplay, I got the novel out and looked through it. The two reinforce each other, so that someone who started with the novel would enjoy the movie and someone who started with the movie would enjoy the novel." The motion picture was dedicated to Dick.

 

Ridley Scott (Director of Blade Runner)

 

 

Metropolis (UFA Film which inspired Balde Runner)

 

 

Stadkrone Tower

 

Blade Runner has numerous deep similarities to Fritz Lang's Metropolis, including a built-up urban environment, in which the wealthy literally live above the workers, dominated by a huge building – the Stadtkrone Tower in Metropolis and the Tyrell Building in Blade Runner. Special effects supervisor David Dryer used stills from Metropolis when lining up Blade Runner's miniature building shots.

 

 

Nighthawks (A Painting by Edward Hopper)

Ridley Scott credits Edward Hopper's painting Nighthawks and the French science fiction comic magazine Métal Hurlant ("Heavy Metal"), to which the artist Moebius contributed, as stylistic mood sources. He also drew on the landscape of "Hong Kong on a very bad day" and the industrial landscape of his one-time home in northeast England. Scott hired Syd Mead as his concept artist who, like Scott, was influenced by Métal Hurlant.

Swan Hunter Shipyard (in Newcastle in the North-East of England)

Moebius was offered the opportunity to assist in the pre-production of Blade Runner, but he declined so that he could work on René Laloux's animated film Les Maîtres du temps – a decision that he later regretted. Lawrence G. Paull (production designer) and David Snyder (art director) realized Scott's and Mead's sketches. Douglas Trumbull and Richard Yuricich supervised the special effects for the film. Principal photography of Blade Runner began on March 9, 1981, and ended four months later.

Companies Involved

Blade Runner was made by The Ladd Company, in association with Embassy Pictures and Shaw Brothers Studio; it is distributed worldwide by Warner Brothers Pictures



 

 

Interpretation

 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner#Interpretation

Although Blade Runner is ostensibly an action film, it operates on multiple dramatic and narrative levels. It is indebted to film noir conventions: the femme fatale; protagonist-narration (removed in later versions); dark and shadowy cinematography; and the questionable moral outlook of the hero – in this case, extended to include reflections upon the nature of his own humanity.

It is a literate science fiction film, thematically enfolding the philosophy of religion and moral implications of human mastery of genetic engineering in the context of classical Greek drama and hubris It also draws on Biblical images, such as Noah's flood, and literary sources, such as Frankenstein. Linguistically, the theme of mortality is subtly reiterated in the chess game between Roy and Tyrell, based on the famous Immortal Game of 1851, though Scott has said that was coincidental.

Blade Runner delves into the implications of technology on the environment and on society by reaching to the past, using literature, religious symbolism, classical dramatic themes, and film noir. This tension between past, present, and future is mirrored in the retrofitted future of Blade Runner, which is high-tech and gleaming in places but decayed and old elsewhere.

Ridley Scott described the film as: "extremely dark, both literally and metaphorically, with an oddly masochistic feel", in an interview by Lynn Barber for The Observer (London) in 2002. Scott "liked the idea of exploring pain" in the wake of his brother's skin cancer death: "When he was ill, I used to go and visit him in London, and that was really traumatic for me.

An aura of paranoia suffuses the film: corporate power looms large; the police seem omnipresent; vehicle and warning lights probe into buildings; and the consequences of huge biomedical power over the individual are explored – especially the consequences for replicants of their implanted memories.

Control over the environment is depicted as taking place on a vast scale, hand in hand with the absence of any natural life, with artificial animals substituting for their extinct predecessors. This oppressive backdrop explains the frequently referenced migration of humans to extra-terrestrial ("off-world") colonies.

The dystopian themes explored in Blade Runner are an early example of cyberpunk concepts expanding into film. Eyes are a recurring motif, as are manipulated images, calling into question reality and our ability to accurately perceive and remember it.

These thematic elements provide an atmosphere of uncertainty for Blade Runner's central theme of examining humanity. In order to discover replicants, an empathy test is used, with a number of its questions focused on the treatment of animals – seemingly an essential indicator of someone's "humanity".

The replicants appear to show compassion and concern for one another and are juxtaposed against human characters who lack empathy while the mass of humanity on the streets is cold and impersonal. The film goes so far as to put in doubt whether Deckard is human, and forces the audience to re-evaluate what it means to be human.

The question of whether Deckard is intended to be a human or a replicant has been an ongoing controversy since the film's release. Both Michael Deeley and Harrison Ford wanted Deckard to be human while Hampton Fancher preferred ambiguity.

Ridley Scott has confirmed that in his vision Deckard is a replicant. Deckard's unicorn dream sequence, inserted into the Director's Cut, coinciding with Gaff's parting gift of an origami unicorn is seen by many as showing that Deckard is a replicant – as Gaff could have accessed Deckard's implanted memories.

The interpretation that Deckard is a replicant is challenged by others who believe the unicorn imagery shows that the characters, whether human or replicant, share the same dreams and recognize their affinity, or that the absence of a decisive answer is crucial to the film's main theme. The inherent ambiguity and uncertainty of the film, as well as its textual richness, have permitted viewers to see it from their own perspectives.

Reception

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner#Reception

Blade Runner was released in 1,290 theaters on June 25, 1982. That date was chosen by producer Alan Ladd, Jr. because his previous highest-grossing films (Star Wars and Alien) had a similar opening date (May 25) in 1977 and 1979, making the date his "lucky day". The gross for the opening weekend was a disappointing $6.15 million.

A significant factor in the film's rather poor box office performance was that it was released around the same time as other science fiction films, including The Thing, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and, most significantly, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which dominated box office revenues that summer.

Film critics were polarized as some felt the story had taken a back seat to special effects and that it was not the action/adventure the studio had advertised. Others acclaimed its complexity and predicted it would stand the test of time.

In the United States, a general criticism was its slow pacing that detracts from other strengths; heila Benson from the Los Angeles Times called it "Blade Crawler", while Pat Berman in The State and Columbia Record described it as "science fiction pornography". Pauline Kael noted that with its "extraordinary" congested-megalopolis sets, Blade Runner "has its own look, and a visionary sci-fi movie that has its own look can't be ignored – it has its place in film history" but "hasn't been thought out in human terms".

Roger Ebert praised the visuals of both the original Blade Runner and the Director's Cut versions and recommended it for that reason; however, he found the human story clichéd and a little thin. In 2007, upon release of The Final Cut, Ebert somewhat revised his original opinion of the film and added it to his list of Great Movies, while noting, "I have been assured that my problems in the past with Blade Runner represent a failure of my own taste and imagination, but if the film was perfect, why has Sir Ridley continued to tinker with it?"

Blade Runner holds a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an average score of 8.4 out of 10 from 96 reviews. The site's main consensus reads "Misunderstood when it first hit theaters, the influence of Ridley Scott's mysterious, neo-noir Blade Runner has deepened with time. A visually remarkable, achingly human sci-fi masterpiece."

Cultural influence

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner#Cultural_influence

While not initially a success with North American audiences, the film was popular internationally and garnered a cult following. The film's dark style and futuristic designs have served as a benchmark and its influence can be seen in many subsequent science fiction films, anime, video games, and television programs. For example, Ronald D. -Moore and David Eick, the producers of the re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica, have both cited Blade Runner as one of the major influences for the show.

Blade Runner continues to reflect modern trends and concerns, and an increasing number consider it one of the greatest science fiction films of all time. It was voted the best science fiction film ever made in a poll of 60 eminent world scientists conducted in 2004. Blade Runner is also cited as an important influence to both the style and story of the Ghost in the Shell film series, which itself has been highly influential to the future-noir genre.

The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1993 and is frequently used in university courses. In 2007 it was named the 2nd most visually influential film of all time by the Visual Effects Society.

Blade Runner is one of the most musically sampled films of the 20th century. The 2009 album, I, Human, by Singaporean band Deus Ex Machina makes numerous references to the genetic engineering and cloning themes from the film, and even features a track titled "Replicant".

Blade Runner has influenced adventure games such as the 2012 graphical text adventure Cypher, Rise of the Dragon, Snatcher, Beneath a Steel Sky, Flashback: The Quest for Identity, Bubblegum Crisis (and its original anime films), the role-playing game Shadowrun, the first-person shooter Perfect Dark, and the Syndicate series of video games.

The film is also cited as a major influence on Warren Spector, designer of the computer-game Deus Ex, which displays evidence of the film's influence in both its visual rendering and plot. The look of the film, darkness, neon lights and opacity of vision, is easier to render than complicated backdrops, making it a popular choice for game designers.

Blade Runner has also been the subject of parody, such as the comics Blade Bummer by Crazy comics, Bad Rubber by Steve Gallacci, and the Red Dwarf 2009 three-part miniseries, "Back to Earth".

Soundtrack

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner#Soundtrack + http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner_(soundtrack)

 

Vangelis

 

 

Demis Roussos

 

 

Dick Morrissey



The Blade Runner soundtrack by Vangelis is a dark melodic combination of classic composition and futuristic synthesizers which mirrors the film-noir retro-future envisioned by Ridley Scott. Vangelis, fresh from his Academy Award winning score for Chariots of Fire, composed and performed the music on his synthesizers.

He also made use of various chimes and the vocals of collaborator Demis Roussos. Another memorable sound is the haunting tenor sax solo "Love Theme" by British saxophonist Dick Morrissey, who appeared on many of Vangelis' albums. Ridley Scott also used "Memories of Green" from Vangelis' album See You Later (an orchestral version of which Scott would later use in his film Someone to Watch Over Me).

Along with Vangelis' compositions and ambient textures, the film's sound scape also features a track by the Japanese ensemble Nipponia ("Ogi No Mato" or "The Folding Fan as a Target" from the Nonesuch Records release Traditional Vocal and Instrumental Music) and a track by harpist Gail Laughton ("Harps of the Ancient Temples" from Laurel Records).

Despite being well received by fans and critically acclaimed and nominated in 1983 for a BAFTA and Golden Globe as best original score, and the promise of a soundtrack album from Polydor Records in the end titles of the film, the release of the official soundtrack recording was delayed for over a decade.

There are two official releases of the music from Blade Runner. In light of the lack of a release of an album, the New American Orchestra recorded an orchestral adaptation in 1982 which bore little resemblance to the original.

Some of the film tracks would in 1989 surface on the compilation Vangelis: Themes, but not until the 1992 release of the Director's Cut version would a substantial amount of the film's score see commercial release.

These delays and poor reproductions led to the production of many bootleg recordings over the years. A bootleg tape surfaced in 1982 at science fiction conventions and became popular given the delay of an official release of the original recordings, and in 1993 "Off World Music, Ltd" created a bootleg CD that would prove more comprehensive than Vangelis' official CD in 1994.

A set with three CDs of Blade Runner-related Vangelis music was released in 2007. Titled Blade Runner Trilogy, the first CD contains the same tracks as the 1994 official soundtrack release, the second CD contains previously unreleased music from the movie, and the third CD is all newly composed music from Vangelis, inspired by, and in the spirit of the movie.

The full list of releases are here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner_(soundtrack)#Releases

Anyway here are some of the tracks of the soundtrack

Main Title

Blush Responce

 Wait for Me

 Rachel's Song

Love Theme

One More Kiss, Dear

Blade Runner Blues

Memories of Green

Tales of the Future

Damask Rose

Blade Runner (End Titles)

Tears in Rain

 

Longing

 

   

Empty Streets

Fading Away

Versions
 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner#Versions + http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Versions_of_Blade_Runner

Seven different versions of Blade Runner have been shown. The original workprint version (1982, 113 minutes) was shown for audience test previews in Denver and Dallas in March 1982. Negative responses to the test previews led to the modifications resulting in the U.S. theatrical version.

The original version was also shown as a director's cut without Scott's approval at the Los Angeles Fairfax Theater in May 1990, at an AMPAS showing in April 1991, and in September and October 1991 at the Los Angeles NuArt Theater and the San Francisco Castro Theater. Positive responses pushed the studio to approve work on an official director's cut.

It was re-released with the 5-disc Ultimate Edition in 2007. A San Diego Sneak Preview was shown only once, in May 1982, and was almost identical to the U.S. theatrical version but contained three extra scenes not shown in any other version, including the 2007 Final Cut.

The releases seen by most cinema audiences were: the U.S. theatrical version (1982, 116 minutes), known as the original version or Domestic Cut, released on Betamax and VHS in 1983 and Laserdisc in 1987; the International Cut (1982, 117 minutes), also known as the "Criterion Edition" or "uncut version", which included more violent action scenes than the U.S. version.

Although initially unavailable in the U.S., and distributed in Europe and Asia via theatrical and local Warner Home Video Laserdisc releases, it was later released on VHS and Criterion Collection Laserdisc in North America, and re-released in 1992 as a "10th Anniversary Edition".

The U.S. broadcast version (1986, 114 minutes) was the U.S. theatrical version edited by CBS to tone down the violence, profanity, and nudity to meet broadcasting restrictions.

The Ridley Scott-approved (1991, 116 minutes) Director's Cut was prompted by the unauthorized 1990/1991 workprint theatrical release. This Director's Cut was made available on VHS and Laserdisc in 1993, and on DVD in 1997.

Significant changes from the theatrical version include: the removal of Deckard's voice-over; re-insertion of a unicorn sequence; and removal of the studio-imposed happy ending. Scott provided extensive notes and consultation to Warner Bros. through film preservationist Michael Arick, who was put in charge of creating the Director's Cut.

Ridley Scott's The Final Cut (2007, 117 minutes) or the "25th Anniversary Edition" was released by Warner Bros. theatrically on October 5, 2007, and subsequently released on DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray Disc in December 2007. This is the only version over which Ridley Scott had complete artistic control, as he was not directly in charge of the Director's Cut.

In conjunction with the Final Cut cinema release, extensive documentary and other materials were produced for the DVD releases which culminated in a five-disc "Ultimate Collector's Edition" release by Charles de Lauzirika. Here is in detail the various versions of this film

Workprint Prototype version (1982)

The Workprint version (1982, 113 minutes) was shown to audience test previews in Denver and Dallas in March 1982. It was also seen in 1990 and 1991 in Los Angeles and San Francisco as a Director's Cut without the approval of director Ridley Scott. Negative responses to the test previews led to the modifications resulting in the US theatrical version, while positive response to the showings in 1990 and 1991 pushed the studio to approve work on an official director's cut. This version was re-released as part of the 5-disc Ultimate Edition in 2007 with a new transfer of the last known print in existence, with the picture and sound quality restored as much as humanly possible. However the result was still rough.

• There is no voice-over, no "unicorn vision", and no "happy ending". However, Deckard does have a brief narration directly after Batty's death.
• There is no opening crawl: a static screen of text, showing a dictionary definition of the word "Replicant", replaces it.
• The scene in which Holden is shot by Leon (while giving the Voight-Kampff test) lasts slightly longer, and shows more of Holden after he is shot and comes to rest on the desk before it cuts to the next scene.
• In the scene at the Asian restaurant at the beginning, there is an insert shot of the dish Deckard orders. Also, we see Deckard eating his noodles (with great difficulty) while the waiter says, "He say you Blade Runner." In the Theatrical Release, we just see a cut to Deckard with his mouth full of noodles.
• From Deckard's arrival at the Bradbury building to the end of the film, the Vangelis music score is missing, presumably not yet composed at the time this version was made. It is replaced by placeholder music.
• Deckard is seen taking a few moments struggling to remove the tie that Zhora choked him with, before beginning to chase her.
• Batty addresses Tyrell as "father" (not "fucker") when asking for more life, as in the Final Cut.
• When Batty kills Tyrell, the scene is a combination of the "violent" footage from the International Edition and the "non-violent" footage from the theatrical original. Batty still pokes out Tyrell's eyes with his thumbs, but Tyrell is seen falling to the floor as in the original.
• When Pris attacks Deckard, the scene is again a combination of the International Edition and the original. Pris hits Deckard three times, and also holds him up by his nostrils. However, Deckard still shoots her only twice.
• The scene in which Batty pushes a nail through his hand is identical to the "non-violent" version in the Theatrical Release.
• There are no ending credits.

San Diego Sneak Preview version (1982)

A San Diego Sneak Preview shown only once in May 1982. This version is nearly identical to the 1982 US theatrical version, except that it included three additional scenes not shown before or since, including the Final Cut version (2007). These scenes are not on any Blu-ray, DVD, VHS, or Laserdisc version available.

• The full body introduction of Roy Batty inside a "VidPhon" booth.
• Deckard attempting to reload his weapon after Batty has broken Deckard's fingers.
• A complete high-angled shot of Deckard and Rachael driving off into a clear clean mountainous area with real trees, also known as "the happy ending" (using leftover aerial footage from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining). This scene was tacked on by executives at Paramount after the first test audiences reported poorly about the ambiguity of the original ending, and was shot weeks after the original shooting had been completed. Actors Ford and Young had to reprise their roles, but only a partial segment of it was ever used in the subsequent US theatrical release.

US Theatrical release (1982)

The US theatrical version (1982, 116 minutes), known as the original version or Domestic Cut. This version was released on Betamax and VHS in 1983. This version remained unreleased on DVD for many years. This version (with the international cut) was re-released as part of the 5-disc Ultimate Edition in 2007, taken from the same hd master as the 2006 remastered directors cut.

The 1982 American theatrical version released by the studio included the "happy ending" but with the addition of Harrison Ford's voiceovers. Although several different versions of the script had included a narration of some sort, Harrison Ford and Ridley Scott decided to add scenes to provide the information; but financiers rewrote and reinserted narration during post-production after test audience members indicated difficulty understanding the film.

It has been suggested that Ford intentionally performed the voice-over badly, in the hope it would not be used, but he stated in 1999: "I contested it mightily at the time. It was not an organic part of the film." Later in a 2002 interview with Playboy magazine, he clarified: "I delivered it to the best of my ability, given that I had no input. I never thought they'd use it. But I didn't try and sandbag it. It was simply bad narration."

International Theatrical release (1982)

The International Cut (1982, 117 minutes) also known as the "Criterion Edition" or uncut version, included more violent action scenes than the US theatrical version. Although initially unavailable in the US and distributed in Europe, Australia and Asia via theatrical and local Warner Home Video laserdisc releases, it was later released on VHS and Criterion Collection laserdisc in North America, and re-released in 1992 as a "10th Anniversary Edition". Home Box Office broadcast this version to U.S. audiences in the 1980s and 1990s.

It is similar to the US theatrical release but has more violence in three specific scenes:

• The scene when Batty kills Tyrell in his bedroom has been changed. The theactrical version simply had him put his fingers on his eyes. The international cut uses the second half of the take in which he presses his thumbs into them and blood runs down his hands. The shot of Sebastian watching has been moved to the second take of Batty, shortening it and splitting it into two shots. The shot of the owl watching the murder has been removed and replaced with two shots of Batty continuing to press down on Tyrell's eyes and releasing them. In between the two shots is the third take of Batty with the first half removed.
• When Pris has somersaulted onto Deckard's back, rather than hitting him three times and then dropping him (as she does in all other versions), she hits him twice, then inserts her fingers into his nostrils and releases her legs, holding him up by his nostrils for a few seconds before he falls to the floor. The shot of him falling to the floor is identical in all versions. Deckard also shoots Pris an extra time in between the two times Deckard shot her, and the scene of her thrashing spasmodically on the floor after having been shot are slightly extended.
• There are two additional shots of Batty pushing the nail through his hand. In between them is an additional shot of Batty in pain.

The violent scenes in the International cut were later inserted into the Final Cut.

US Broadcast version (1986)

The US broadcast version (1986, 114 minutes) was the U.S. theatrical version edited by television company CBS to tone down the violence, profanity, and nudity to meet broadcasting restrictions. However, they only edited 3 minutes for its 1986 network television premiere.

Some of the missing scenes included:

1. Bryant's line "Don't be an asshole Deckard" was changed to "Don't be an ass Deckard".
2. The word "Christ" was cut from Byrant's line "Christ Deckard, you look almost as bad as that skin job you left on the sidewalk"
3. The word "goddamn" was cut from Bryant's line "He's a goddamn one man slaughter house."
4. All scenes showing Zhora's breasts have been removed.
5. Roy's line to Tyrell, "I want more life, fucker", was changed to "I want more life."
6. Roy's murder of Tyrell is much shorter than in all other versions.
7. The fight between Pris and Deckard is heavily edited - all shots of Pris thrashing on the ground after being shot were cut, as were all the scenes where Deckard's head is trapped between her legs.

The Directors Cut (1992)

The Ridley Scott-approved Director's Cut (1992, 116 minutes) was prompted by the unauthorized 1990–1991 workprint theatrical release and made available on VHS and laserdisc in 1993, and on DVD in 1997. There were significant changes from the theatrical version. Ridley provided extensive notes and consultation to Warner Bros. although film preservationist/restorer Michael Arick was put in charge of creating the Director's Cut.

In October 1989, Arick discovered a 70mm print of Blade Runner at the Warner Bros. vaults while searching for footage from The Alamo. When the Cineplex Odeon Fairfax Theater in Los Angeles learned of this discovery, the theater management successfully got permission from Warners to screen the print for a film festival set for the following May. Until the screening, no one was aware that this print was that of the workprint version. Owing to this surprise, Warners booked more screenings of the now-advertised "Director's Cut" of Blade Runner in 15 American cities.

Ridley Scott publicly disowned this workprint version of the film as a Director's Cut, citing that it was roughly edited, lacked a key scene, and the climax did not feature the score composed for the film by Vangelis (it was a temp track using Jerry Goldsmith's score from Planet of the Apes). In response to Scott's dissatisfaction, Warners briefly allowed theatrical screenings of the workprint beginning in the fall of 1991, but only at the NuArt Theater in Los Angeles and the Castro Theatre in San Francisco.

As a response to these sold-out screenings of the workprint (and screenings of the theatrical cut in Houston and Washington, D.C.), in addition to the film's resurgent cult popularity in the early '90s, Warner Bros. decided to assemble a definitive Director's Cut of the film, with direction from Scott, for an official theatrical re-release in 1992.

Warners hired Arick, who was already doing consultation work for them, to head the project with Scott. He started by spending several months in London with Les Healey, who had been the assistant editor on Blade Runner, attempting to compile a list of the changes that Scott wanted made to the film. He also received a number of suggestions/directions directly from the director himself. Three major changes were made to the film:

• The removal of Deckard's 13 explanatory voice-overs. As such the blimp promotion sounds different and when Deckard looks up at it.
• The insertion of a dream sequence of a unicorn running through a forest. As a result, the music of Deckard waking up has been changed from a trumpet version of his and Rachel's love theme to a more magical chorus. (The original sequence of Deckard's unicorn dream was not found in a print of sufficient quality; the original scene shows Deckard intercut with the running unicorn. Arick was thus forced to use a different print that shows only the unicorn running, without any intercutting to Deckard. What was used was a slightly extended take of the second shot of the unicorn running placed into what had previously been a continuous tracking shot of Deckard sleeping at the piano, via fade away transition.) The unicorn scene suggests a completely different ending to the film: Gaff's origami unicorn means that Deckard's dreams are known to him, implying that Deckard's memories are artificial, and therefore he would be a replicant of the same generation as Rachael.
• The removal of the studio-imposed "happy ending", including some associated visuals which had originally run under the film's end-credits. This made the film end ambiguously when the elevator doors closed.
• The cut did not include the extra violence included in the "International version" of the film.

Scott has since complained that time and money constraints, along with his obligation to Thelma& Louise, kept him from retooling the film in a completely satisfactory manner. While he is happier with the 1992 release of the film than with the original theatrical version, he has never felt entirely comfortable with it as his definitive Director's Cut.

In 2000, Harrison Ford gave his view on the Director’s Cut of the film saying, although he thought it "spectacular," it didn’t "move him at all." He gave a brief reason: "They haven't put anything in, so it's still an exercise in design."

Originally released as a single-disc DVD in March 1997, with both pan-and-scan and widescreen versions on different sides, the Director's Cut was one of the first DVDs on the market. However, it is of low quality compared to DVDs of later standards, due to it being produced in the early days of the format. In, 2006 Warner Home Video re-released it with a new transfer, sourced from a new HD master (Re-released as part of the 5-disc Ultimate Edition in 2007.). The 1997 stereo (2.0) audio track was changed to a 5.1 mix.

The Final Cut (2007)

Ridley Scott's Final Cut (2007, 117 minutes), or the "25th Anniversary Edition", briefly released by Warner Bros. theatrically on October 5, 2007, and subsequently released on DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray in December 2007 (UK December 3; US December 18) is the only version over which Ridley Scott had complete artistic control, as the Director's Cut was rushed and he was not directly in charge.

In conjunction with the Final Cut, extensive documentary and other materials were produced for the home video releases, culminating in a five-disc "Ultimate Collector's Edition" release by Charles de Lauzirika.

Scott found time in mid-2000 to help put together a final and definitive version of the film with restoration producer Charles de Lauzirika, which was only partially completed in mid-2001 before legal and financial issues forced a halt to the work.

Although the Special Edition DVD was originally rumored to be released in 2002 to coincide with the film's 20th anniversary as a three-disc set, Warner Bros. delayed the "Special Edition" release after legal disputes began with the film's original completion bond guarantors (specifically Jerry Perenchio and Bud Yorkin), who were ceded the copyright to the film when the shooting ran over budget from $21.5 to $28 million.

After several years of legal disputes, Warner Bros. announced in 2006 that it had finally secured full distribution rights to the film, and that there would be a three-stage release of the film:

1. A digitally remastered single-disc re-release of the 1992 director's cut was released on September 5, 2006 in the United States, on October 9, 2006 in Ireland and the UK, and in the following months in continental Europe.
2. Ridley Scott's "Final Cut" of the film began a limited theatrical release in New York and Los Angeles on October 5, 2007; in Washington, D.C. at the Uptown Theatre on October 26, 2007; Chicago on November 2, 2007; in Toronto on November 9, 2007 at Theatre D Digital's Regent Theatre; Sydney, Australia at the Hayden Orpheum on November 8, 2007; Melbourne, Australia on November 15, 2007 at The Astor Theatre; Boston at the Coolidge Corner Theater on November 16, 2007 and Austin, Texas on November 18, 2007.
3. A multi-disc box set—was released on the DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray disc formats.

The set would include the workprint, the two 1982 original theatrical versions (US domestic and uncensored International cuts), the 2006-remastered director's cut, the 2007 final cut, and several hours of bonus features.

The set was released in Europe on December 3, 2007 and in the US on December 18, 2007. Two-disc and four-disc sets were also released, containing some of the features of the five-disc set. On November 10, 2008, The Final Cut premiered on US television, broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel.

A brand-new DVD featurette titled All Our Variant Futures profiled the making of the Final Cut version, including behind-the-scenes footage of Harrison Ford's son, Ben Ford, and the filming of new scenes for the Final Cut. According to the documentary, actress Joanna Cassidy herself made the suggestion to refilm Zhora's death scene while being interviewed for the Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner documentary, and footage of her making this suggestion is intercut with footage of her attending the later digital recording session.

The Final Cut contains the following differences (in order of appearance) from the 1992 Directors Cut:

1. The opening and closing credits, the replicant crawl and the "L.A, 2019" sign have all been redone with the shimmering effect removed. The font is identical though.
2. The fireballs in the opening refinery shot are correctly synchronized with the associated light play on the smokestacks. Some of these had been off-sync in earlier versions.
3. The first spinner that flies towards camera no longer comes out of nowhere.
4. The sound for the close-up fireball during the opening sequence has been changed.
5. The second spinner that flies past camera can no longer be seen through.
6. The close-up of an eye overlooking the Hades landscape is no longer the static image seen in previous versions. The eye's pupil now reacts to the fireball and the eyelids move realistically. Also, the reflection of the cityscape below appears to move ever so slightly.
7. The antennas on Tyrell corporation have been enhanced in all scenes for better realism.
8. The scene of Deckard waiting to eat at the White Dragon has three parts removed for pacing reasons.
9. Additional smoke effects have been added around Deckard when he is eating at the White Dragon.
10. The surrounding sound effects of Deckard at the white dragon have been enhanced and the sound of a bell in the background has been moved to the police getting Deckard's attention.
11. The cables on the police spinners throughout the film have all been digitally removed
12. All of the garbage matte lines throughout the film have all been digitally erased.
13. In addition to English, the voices on police radio during Gaff's and Deckard's flight to the police headquarters can be heard speaking German, Japanese, and Swedish.
14. As Deckard enters Bryant's office, Bryant's statement "I've got four skinjobs walking the streets" is no longer obviously a spliced-in re-recording.
15. Bryant's line "One of them got fried running through an electrical field" is changed to "Two of them..." from the workprint, to remove the numerical inconsistency later on.
16. Bryant adds a new line about Leon being able to "lift 400-pound atomic loads all day and night." This is also from the workprint.
17. A new cityscape horizon has been added to the shot of Gaff's Spinner coming in for a landing at the Tyrell Corporation. The shot itself has been slightly shortened.
18. Additional Spinner air traffic has been added in the distance outside the large window of Tyrell's conference room.
19. When Gaff and Deckard first appear at Leon's apartment, the landlord now says "Kowalski," another small bit originally from the workprint. There is also a new echo effect to the line.
20. A background behind Batty when he is first introduced speaking to Leon has been changed and the thumb on his shoulder has been removed. As the shot was taken from a later scene, this has now been corrected to appear as if Batty is actually in the phone booth as Leon finds him.
21. The matte painting establishing the cityscape down the street from the Bradbury Building has been adjusted for improved realism, including fixing the perspective of the Pan-Am logo on one animated billboard.
22. The original full-length version of the unicorn dream has been restored. This is a much different version from the one that appeared in the Director's Cut, and has never been in any version seen by the public prior to this one. Deckard is shown staring into space, and there is a cut to the unicorn. The film then cuts back to Deckard and again cuts back to the unicorn, before returning to Deckard once more. As a result, the traking shot of Deckard has been shortened, and the next three shots have been removed. Deckard is shown to be awake; previously he was asleep or nearly asleep.
23. The smoke and mist effects in the shots of the unicorn have been changes to blue for a dream like atmosphere, the sound mix has been completely redone, and the unicorn's horn has been digitally stabilized to minimize the unrealistic wobble of the horn appliance seen previously.
24. The blue lines in the espr have been reanimated to look less smooth.
25. The mystery women seen sleeping when Deckard is observing the photos has been changed to Joanna Casidy with the tattoo on her face digitally changed to match the one she has later. Focus has been improved as well.
26. The serial number on the snake scale has been changed to match the one the street merchant says.
27. The sequence at the fish booth now shows Deckard leaving. This is from the workprint.
28. Deckard's conversation with the snake merchant Abdul Ben Hassan has been altered so that the dialogue is no longer out of sync; Ford's son, Ben, lip-synched the spoken dialog and his mouth was digitally placed over his father's. Abdul's lines were done digitally.
29. A shot of the busy crowds in the streets was restored. Immediately after that, a shot of two strippers wearing hockey goalie masks was restored. Finally, there's a shot of Deckard talking to another police officer just prior to Deckard entering the Snake Pit. These three shots had previously appeared in the workprint version. The shot of the strippers has been slightly shortened at the end, and the shot of Deckard has had the first few frames at the beginning cut off. There is also a new sound effect when he is talking to the police officer.
30. There are several new sound effects for the sequence of Deckard chasing Zhora.
31. The line "Move. Get out of the way." by Deckard now has an echo effect to it.
32. The sound effects of Deckard shooting Zhora have been changed.
33. During Deckard's pursuit of Zhora, Joanna Cassidy's face has been digitally superimposed over that of stunt double Lee Pulford. This scene was re-filmed specifically for the Final Cut. Although great effort had been undertaken to replace the stunt double face with Cassidy's, the tan-colored protective suit Pulford wore to protect against glass cuts is still visible.
34. There is a new sound effect of glass shattering after Zhora is "retired".
35. A scar on Deckard's face after his "retirement" of Zhora has been removed. Originally, the scene in which Deckard meets Bryant after retiring Zhora was to take place after his encounter with Leon, explaining the scar. This was done prior to the removal of the "sixth replicant", creating a continuity error. Due to the re-ordering, the scar was always present before Deckard had actually received it.
36. The sound effect of Deckard punching Leon has been changed.
37. A repeated visual effects shot showing the city outside Gaff's Spinner has been adjusted very slightly: The once-obvious radar dish has been covered with shadow in the second use of the shot.
38. When Batty confronts Tyrell, he says, "I want more life, father"; this is from the workprint version as opposed to the original line, "I want more life, fucker." The line also has a noticeably deeper tonal quality than the previous versions.
39. All of the additional violence and alternate edits from the international cut have been inserted.
40. There is a new sound effect when Roy removes his fingers from Tyrell's eyes.
41. After killing Tyrell, Batty says "I'm sorry Sebastian. Come. Come." In the original he merely approached the frightened Sebastian. This is from the workprint.
42. When Batty descends from "heaven", the shot of him in the elevator is slightly shorter and the shot of Deckard's point of view in his car is slightly longer.
43. When pris releases Deckard from her legs, her fingers have been digitally inserted into his nostrils, to match the footage from the international cut.
44. As Deckard moves through Sebastian's apartment, the once-obvious shadows of the camera crew have been digitally removed from the back wall.
45. As Deckard flees Batty, the first wide shot of him on the building has been mirrored to match the rest of the scene.
46. In the second wide shot of Deckard on the building, the matte painting with a TDK neon sign has been cleaned up a bit to look more realistic, and the TDK sign itself has been added to a subsequent shot for better continuity.
47. The Shot of Batty laughing has been moved to before the shot of deckard climbing up the Bradbury apartment. As a result a close up of Deckard's hands holding on to the ledge has been removed.
48. As Deckard climbs up the roof, Batty was digitally placed into the open window, because he was missing there between two scenes.
49. Deckard does not wander around the roof as long as he does in the Directors Cut.
50. When Batty saves Deckard and lifts him back onto the roof, the building behind them has had its shadows emphasized.
51. After Batty releases the dove, it now flies up into a dark rainy sky instead of a clear blue sky. Also, the original building (the undressed side of a soundstage) has been replaced with a more appropriate retrofit apartment building. The background has also been enhanced with a cluster of circa 2019 buildings more in keeping with the film's dark futuristic setting.
52. When Gaff throws Deckard's gun to him, there is a new sound of it hitting something.
53. The music for the end credits has been rerecorded and is no longer clearly edited elements from the "directors cut".
54. In the closing credits, David L. Snyder is now listed as 'David L. Snyder', instead of 'David Snyder'. Additionally, Ben Astar is now credited for playing the role of Abdul Ben Hassan.
55. There are now new credits for the restoration of the film.

Scott also chose not to reintegrate a number of scenes that had been cut from previous versions of the film, such as:

1. Tears in the Rain (alternate opening titles): An alternate title sequence featuring huge water drops splashing onto the ground in slow motion, in time with the Vangelis music.
2. I'm Deckard: An alternate introduction to Deckard, featuring different angles of the blimp, the noodlebar and the scene where Gaff arrives. There is also a new voice-over here, with Deckard talking about his wife leaving him for a rich prospector on one of the colonies.
3. A Real Dandy: An alternate version of the scene where Gaff and Deckard arrive at the police station, revealing more of Union Station. In the new voiceover, Deckard explains that Gaff is new to the job and hungry for promotion.
4. Bryant's Point of View: A truncated version of the scene where Deckard and Bryant watch the incept tapes. The voiceover here talks about how Bryant knows something about everyone.
5. Visiting Holden: Deckard visits Holden in the hospital. Holden tells Deckard how life like the new Nexus 6 model is, and they speculate as to whether the Voight-Kampff will work on them.
6. Rep Detect File: As Deckard and Gaff approach the Tyrell building, Deckard flips through a file on the four replicants and the voiceover explains the background of each one.
7. Zero-Zero-Zero: An alternate version of Rachael's Voight-Kampff test. The voiceover talks about how difficult it was to determine that she was a replicant, and expresses disgust at what Tyrell is doing.
8. 1187 Hunterwasser: An alternate version of Deckard and Gaff searching Leon's hotel room. More of the geography of the room is seen, and additionally, at the end of the scene, Leon is revealed to have been hiding somewhere in the bathroom, the whole time the two policemen were present.
9. Chew's Specialty: An alternate introduction to Roy, who is shown in full profile standing in the phone booth. A voiceover explains who Chew is.
10. Heading Home: An alternate version of the scene where Deckard arrives at his apartment block, showing him getting out of his car and running to escape the rain. The voiceover talks about how poorly the case is going.
11. An Oddball Genius: An alternate version of the meeting between Pris and Sebastian, showing a high angle shot from overhead as Pris approaches the Bradbury. The voiceover talks about how difficult being a Blade Runner is, and why the replicants wanted to see Sebastian.
12. Memories: A different version of the scene where Deckard uses the Esper. In this version, the graphics seen on the Esper screen look completely different to all other versions of the film. Additionally, when Deckard asks for a hardcopy, the print out matches the image on-screen. The voiceover here talks about how demoralizing the job is, and there is some more information on Deckard's ex-wife, who we see in a photograph.
13. Food for Thought: A scene of Deckard sitting at the noodlebar eating. The man beside him gets fish, and Deckard suddenly realizes that maybe the scale he found belongs to a fish. The voiceover here basically just summarizes what is shown.
14. The Street of Bad Dreams: More footage of Deckard approaching Taffy Lewis' club, which reveals a lot more of the street. Also, an alternate take of the conversation between Deckard and Taffy. The voiceover discusses how unreliable Taffy is.
15. Backstage Pass: A barman tells Deckard that Taffy won't know anything about the scale, but the performers might, and he tells him to go backstage to find out. The voiceover here talks about how he suspects Zhora is a replicant, but isn't 100% sure.
16. Looks Like Blood: An alternate version of the scene after Deckard has killed Zhora. The voiceover here talks about the moral ambiguities of the work.
17. Washing Up: An alternate version of the scene where Deckard washes up and goes to sleep, with more footage of Rachael simply watching him.
18. I Want You: A longer version of the sex scene, which shows both Deckard and Rachael undressing one another.
19. Metaphysics: Deckard again visits Holden, who thinks Deckard had slept with Zhora and mocks him for it. Holden then tells Deckard that the replicants are looking for God. Bryant and Gaff are shown to be spying on the scene, discussing whether or not Deckard knows where Rachael is.
20. Tyrell Security Protocol: Different versions of Roy and Sebastian approaching the Tyrell suite, and of Roy leaving. Both scenes involve a security pass that has to be input into a slot on the elevator within a certain time or the elevator will be locked down. Additionally, as Roy leaves, he is clearly upset, almost frantic.
21. Closing In: A different version of the scene where Deckard calls Sebastian's. In this version, the conversation with the Spinner cop is longer, and the cop is actually seen on a small TV in Deckard's car. The real difference, however, is the voiceover. At this stage, Deckard doesn't know that Tyrell is dead. However, Rachael has guessed that the replicants want more life, which means they need to see Tyrell. Deckard explains that only 6 people have access to Tyrell, so he is calling each of them. Sebastian is the last one he calls.
22. Every Second Of It: An alternate version of Roy's final monologue. Different angles are used throughout, and the shot of the pigeon flying away is at nighttime. Additionally, when he arrives on the roof, Gaff points out to Deckard that he can't be sure if he is in fact human. The voice-over here is the same as that used in the workprint.
23. Old Richter Route (Alternate Ending): An alternate version of the theatrical cut's happy ending. The voiceover muses about how much in love Deckard and Rachael are.
24. Made for Each Other (Alternate Ending): Another alternate version of the theatrical cut's happy ending, with Deckard and Rachael discussing Deckard's ex-wife and their own relationship. Rachael tells Deckard that it is the happiest day of her life. Interestingly, Rachael then says, "You and I were made for one another," to which Deckard responds strangely, looking at her rather bemusedly (this line has been suggested to be another hint that Deckard is a replicant

Documentaries

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner#Documentaries

On the Edge of Blade Runner (2000, 55 minutes) was produced by Nobles Gate Ltd. (for Channel 4), directed by Andrew Abbott and hosted/written by Mark Kermode. Interviews with production staff, including Scott, give details of the creative process and the turmoil during preproduction. Stories from Paul M. Sammon and Hampton Fancher provide insight into Philip K. Dick and the origins of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Interwoven are cast interviews (with the notable exceptions of Harrison Ford and Sean Young), which convey some of the difficulties of making the film (including an exacting director and humid, smoggy weather). There is also a tour of some locations, most notably the Bradbury Building and the Warner Bros. backlot that became the LA 2019 streets, which look very different from Scott's dark vision. The documentary then details the test screenings and the resulting changes (the voice over, the happy ending, and the deleted Holden hospital scene), the special effects, the soundtrack by Vangelis, and the unhappy relationship between the filmmakers and the investors which culminated in Deeley and Scott being fired but still working on the film. The question of whether or not Deckard is a replicant surfaces.

Future Shocks (2003, 27 minutes) is a documentary by TVOntario. It includes interviews with executive producer Bud Yorkin, Syd Mead, and the cast, this time with Sean Young, but still without Harrison Ford. There is extensive commentary by science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer and from film critics, as the documentary focuses on the themes, visual impact and influence of the film. Edward James Olmos describes Ford's participation, and personal experiences during filming are related by Young, Walsh, Cassidy and Sanderson. They also relate a story about crew members creating T-shirts that took pot shots at Scott. The different versions of the film are critiqued and the accuracy of its predictions of the future are discussed.

Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner (2007, 183 minutes) is a documentary directed and produced by Charles de Lauzirika for The Final Cut version of the film. It appears with every edition of The Final Cut on DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc, except for the 2010 single-disc DVD and Blu-Ray editions. (It is a DVD format disc, even in the HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc editions). It was culled from over 80 interviews, including Harrison Ford, Sean Young, Rutger Hauer, Edward James Olmos, Jerry Perenchio, Bud Yorkin and Ridley Scott, and also contains several alternate and deleted shots within the context of the documentary itself. The documentary consists of eight chapters, each covering a portion of the film-making – or in the case of the final chapter, the film's controversial legacy.

The chapters and their length:

• Incept Date – 1980: Screenwriting and Dealmaking – 30:36
• Blush Response: Assembling the Cast – 22:46
• A Good Start: Designing the Future – 26:34
• Eye of the Storm: Production Begins – 28:48
• Living in Fear: Tension on the Set – 29:23
• Beyond the Window: Visual effects – 28:49
• In Need of Magic: Post-Production Problems – 23:05
• To Hades and Back: Release and Resurrection – 24:12

In addition to Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner, a variety of other supplemental featurettes produced and directed by Charles de Lauzirika are included both the four- and five-disc collector's editions of Blade Runner released by Warner Home Video in 2007:

The Electric Dreamer: Remembering Philip K. Dick – 14:22

Sacrificial Sheep: The Novel Vs. The Film – 15:07

Philip K. Dick: The Blade Runner Interviews – 23:03

Signs of the Times: Graphic Design – 13:40

Fashion Forward: Wardrobe and Styling – 20:40

Screen Tests: Rachael and Pris – 8:54

The Light That Burns: Remembering Jordan Cronenweth – 19:58

Deleted & Alternate Scenes – 45:47

Promoting Dystopia: Rendering the Poster Art – 9:35

Deck-A-Rep: The True Nature of Rick Deckard – 9:30

Nexus Generation: Fans and Filmmakers – 21:49

1982 Promotional Featurettes – 36:21

All Our Variant Futures: From Workprint to Final Cut (2007, 29 minutes), produced by Paul Prischman, appears on Disc 5 of the Blade Runner Ultimate Collector's Edition and provides an overview of the film's multiple versions and their origins, as well as detailing the seven year-long restoration, enhancement and remastering process behind The Final Cut.

Included are interviews with director Ridley Scott, restoration producer Charles de Lauzirika, restoration consultant Kurt P. Galvao, restoration VFX supervisor John Scheele and Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner author Paul M. Sammon.

Behind-the-scenes footage documenting the restoration—from archival work done in 2001 through the 2007 filming of Joanna Cassidy and Benjamin Ford for The Final Cut's digital fixes—are seen throughout. A variety of other supplemental featurettes produced and directed by Charles de Lauzirika are included on both the four- and five-disc collector's editions of Blade Runner released by Warner Home Video in 2007.

Home Media Releases (Part 1)

Sources: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/33292/blade-runner/

 







 

Blade Runner (International Cut) Criterion Laserdisc

Blade Runner (International Cut) Nelson Entertainment VHS

 



 Blade Runner (Directors Cut) Warner Home Video VHS

 

 

 

Blade Runner (Directors Cut) Laserdisc

 

 

Blade Runner (Final Cut - 5 Disc Ultimate Edition) Blue-Ray

 

Although I have listed many media releases of this film (in its various versions), I am going to focus on the Final Cut Ultimate Edition (I will talk about the other versions in another post) on Blue-Ray, here is a review of it:

The Movie

Blade Runner is perhaps the most tinkered with film in history. Based on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, the movie has gone through a 25 year refining process in a story that could only happen in Hollywood. Ridley Scott had a grand vision for the picture, which was his follow-up to the blockbuster Alien. The plot centered around Replicants, bio-mechanoid creations that mimic real humans in almost every way, except for a crippling lack of empathy.

 

Harrison Ford played Rick Deckard, a cop who hunted Replicants, designated a Blade Runner. Almost from the start, troubles plagued the production, as the script went through several drastic rewrites, the budget kept escalating, and a well publicized feud between Ridley Scott and Harrison Ford developed.

The end result was deemed commercially unacceptable by Warner Bros, who forced Ford to record a monotone narration that explained many of the concepts and plot points, and adding in a happy ending against Scott's wishes. Even with these changes (or perhaps because of them), Blade Runner was a flop when it was released in 1982. The success of E.T. in the same year proved that audiences of the day preferred to be told what to feel instead of being confronted about what they think.

The film quickly gained a new life on home video. Many people took inspiration from the movie's marvelously futuristic (yet shockingly retro) designs and the striking costumes. The picture endured, proving itself to be supremely influential on an entire generation of filmmakers. Roughly ten years after Blade Runner's initial theatrical release, a workprint was found that omitted both the narration and the happy ending, while containing other scenes not shown in the 1982 cut.

The overwhelmingly positive public reaction to the screening of this print prompted Warner Bros. to commission a new cut, to be called the Director's Cut, which first ran to record numbers at the Nuart Theater in Los Angeles. However, proving that they still hadn't learned their lesson, WB didn't allow adequate time for Ridley Scott to prepare a cut, which left the job to a team of editors, working off of production notes. The Director's Cut nevertheless initiated an almost unanimous reappraisal of the film, with many of the movie's original detractors coming around to say how much better it now was.

But things never sat right with Ridley Scott, who ached to get a chance at making what he considered to be the definitive version of the film. The chances of this seemed slim as the movie slipped into a litigious rights battle that almost felt like it would never end. But finally, all the pieces fell into place and Scott personally oversaw a new cut, dubbed The Final Cut. This had a highly successful and oft-extended run at The Landmark in Los Angeles and the Zeigfeld in New York.

Blade Runner's home video history is also quite convoluted. VHS tapes and laserdiscs of the Theatrical and '82 International Cut (almost entirely the same as the U.S. '82 cut, except for a few extra shots of violence) floated around for the years prior to the release of the Director's Cut. After 1992, those were pulled from circulation in favor of VHS tapes of the Director's Cut. The Criterion Collection re-released the International Cut on laserdisc to provide film fans with the first version of the film. Eventually both VHS and laserdisc were replaced by the now-ubiquitous DVD format.

Despite the incredible surge of DVD sales, WB only ever released one poor quality edition of the Director's Cut. Recently, in preparation for the Final Cut, WB has released a remastered edition of the Director's Cut on a barebones DVD. But now, finally, Warner has done the film right, releasing a set that contains every cut of the film ('82 Theatrical, International, Director's Cut, Final Cut, and Workprint) on DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray.

                  

In all of its forms, Blade Runner takes place in Los Angeles in the year 2019. Most of the world's assets have been gobbled up by greedy multinational corporations, one of the largest being the Tyrell Corporation. Tyrell specializes in Replicants, exact duplicates of human beings that are used as slave labor. After an attempted revolt, Replicants were declared illegal on Earth, and special police units, known as Blade Runners, were formed to hunt them down. By 2019, the job is mostly finished, leaving Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) in an unhappy retirement.

But a group of Replicants, led by Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), have made their way back to Earth, determined to make sense of their existence. Deckard is brought out of retirement for the sole purpose of killing each and every last one, a job made harder as Deckard begins to fall for Rachael (Sean Young), a Replicant of rare beauty and intelligence. Blade Runner's influence on modern cinema is incalculable. The look, a mix of futuristic tech and classic noir, has become a touchstone for many production and graphic designers. There is a "Blade Runner look" and if one references it, everyone else will know what they mean. Ridley Scott's attention to detail has never been more apparent than it is here. Every conceivable item and logo that appears on the screen was meticulously created by the design team, from the magazines people read to the badges on the police uniforms.

Even things you would never in a million years would see in the frame were made up and included, just to give an extra level of reality to the piece. The rank, oppressive atmosphere is enhanced by the sets, mostly constructed, which were eerily prescient of modern Tokyo, Hong Kong, and even parts of Los Angeles and New York. Scott correctly saw the melting pot of ethnicities and cultures that would occur in major cities.On a technical level, the craft is impeccable. The opening shot, dubbed "the Hades Landscape" by the crew, is a visual marvel: a breathtaking cityscape, with miles of industrial waste vents, spewing flame and smoke, fills your vision.

Having recently seen the Final Cut on the big screen with a sold out audience, the shot still brought audible gasps out of us (myself included). Jordan Cronenweth's cinematography was the best work he ever did, and he was highly regarded by his peers and enthusiasts alike. The contrast of light and shadow is astounding. Cronenweth wasn't afraid to let parts of the frame linger off to black, nor was he worried about having sources for all of his light. Thus we get these gorgeous shots where a beam of light will simply glide across the background of the scene, despite no obvious item in the frame creating that beam. And we never question it.

Cronenweth took Ridley Scott's world of detail and turned it into a place with mystique and personality, and it's one of the most masterful pallets in all of cinema. Perhaps the greatest achievement in Blade Runner is that even with all the visual spectacle, all the focus on the smallest physical details, the emotional backbone of the piece never got lost. In this film, Deckard is the antagonist. Roy Batty and his compatriots have returned to Earth in an attempt to discover a cure for their physical ailment - a four year life span. Their violence becomes understandable in this context. After all, birth is a bloody and violent process, and what is this quest but a search for rebirth?                     


















 

The audience feels more for Batty and Pris than they do for Deckard, who is a bastard for most of the movie. Take the scene where he callously and cruelly tells Rachael that she is a Replicant, a fact that she barely even suspected prior to that point. Deckard's experiences hunting down the Replicants makes him remember his own lost humanity (one of the many reasons why it makes no sense for Deckard himself to be a Replicant, no matter what Ridley Scott says), but that doesn't make his hunt any more noble.

When he kills Zhora, you can feel the pain of her ignoble death. All the characters, even minor ones like Gaff, have deep interior lives. Like the visual details, we may not see all of them, but intrinsically we know that they are there, and it adds more depth to the picture, which the audience can feel.

While the visuals may draw us in, it's the emotional core that keeps us there and brings us back. There are so many moments that jump out and stick in the memory. The opening shot is just the tip of the iceberg. Perhaps the most famous scene is the Roy Batty "Tears in Rain" sequence. This was originally planned to be a multi-page monologue. On the day of the shoot, Rutger Hauer distilled it down to its essence, delivering a simple and undeniably powerful speech that haunts the memories of anyone who hears it.

If there's anything in the film that shows what it means to be human, that speech is it. Another infamous sequence is a scene where Deckard dreams of a unicorn, which Scott intended to use as a sign post to suggest that Deckard is a Replicant himself.

The Final Cut stands as the ultimate representation of Ridley Scott's vision. It's not terribly different from the previously released Director's Cut, as it has neither the narration nor the happy ending. It included the unicorn sequence, which is slightly longer. Some scenes have been shortened for pacing purposes. Shots from the Workprint have been added in, most notably the hockey mask dancing girls. Small snafus, such as wires attached to the Spinners, have been cleared away for this release. Larger mistakes have also been corrected. In all the previous versions (except the Workprint), Bryant gives an incorrect number of escaped Replicants, due to a scene written with a fifth Replicant that was never shot. That has been fixed, along with the obvious Joanna Cassidy stunt double. The sequence where Deckard questions Abdul Ben-Hassan has been fixed so the dialogue matches the lip movements. And the shot where the dove flies away from Batty has been completely redone to keep the visuals of the film consistent. Most of these changes are subtle, thankfully, not drawing attention to themselves or distracting the audience. The cumulative effect, however, is enormous. The world feels more immersive, the emotional impact more powerful.

It took 25 years, but now we finally get Blade Runner the way Ridley Scott always wanted. For a film about people with short life spans, Blade Runner is a remarkably long-lived piece of work. Certainly its influence has brought about a critical reappraisal, as well as the subsequent cuts that removed many of the more objectionable studio-mandated elements. But there are those who love the theatrical cuts more than the others, so it's not that simple. Blade Runneris incredibly complex, visually, emotionally, and thematically.

People find more and more to discover with each viewing. It's this density, combined with a haunting lyricism, that gives the picture the staying power that it has. Blade Runner is a classic for the ages, a film that only gets better with age. Once you see it, you will never forget it. Thank you, Ridley, for letting us see what you saw with your eyes.

This Blu-ray edition includes all five versions of Blade Runner. I'll leave it up to the viewer to decide which version of the film is the best, but they all have something to offer. For those of you new to the film, you might start by watching the newest "Final" cut and then work you way back to the original versions. The film's original domestic cut, with its tacked on narration and happy ending, will surely be a surprise if you've seen the "Final" version first. Rest assured, however, that despite any complaints from fans about early cuts of Blade Runner, the film in its original form is still powerful and nothing short of exceptional. Would we still be going over Blade Runner with a fine-toothed comb 25 years later, otherwise?

Video Quality

Warner Bros. presents Blade Runner in its original aspect ratio of 2.40:1 in a VC-1 encoded 1080p transfer. What a difference a restoration makes. I've gotten so used to watching Blade Runner on VHS and eventually laserdisc (I only looked at the Director's Cut DVD a few times, preferring the International Cut on the Criterion laserdisc until this release) that this transfer is like seeing the movie for the first time. Jordan Cronenweth's remarkable cinematography is finally put on complete display.

The interplay of light and dark is fully realized, with plenty of definition in the darkest scenes. And the level of detail Scott crammed in to the film can be seen, much of it for the first time. Text on newspapers, styles of clothing, the grains in the snake scale Deckard finds is all up there on the screen.

You can seen the lines in Rutger Hauer's palm when he clenches his fist. Unbelievable. Color reproduction is rock steady, without so much as a single shade out of place. This disc is a testament to the visual capabilities of high definition. At no point did I think I was watching a 25-year old film. That's how good the Final Cut looks. If you've never seen the film before, you're in for a treat. And even if you have, I promise you will find something new to love here.

The Theatrical Cut, International Cut, and Director's Cut are all available on a single disc (disc three) in VC-1 encoded 1080p transfers. All three appear to be from the same transfer, and they generally look good. I noticed more grain and a slightly softer feel to these three than in the Final Cut, but they're unmistakably high definition. Anyone who prefers one of these cuts won't be disappointed. Interestingly, on the Blu-ray, you can select between the different versions via the pop-up menu. If you want to watch a scene in the International Cut and then see how it differs in the Director's Cut, you can pull up the Director's Cut, then go to its scene selections, and select the scene you like. What's really cool about this is that when you go back to the previous cut, it continues from the last place you left off. Very neat. Ridley Scott mentions in an introduction to the Workprint that they took the last known print of that version and did what restoration work they could, but warns that it still looks very rough. He's not lying. The image, framed slightly differently at 2.20:1 and encoded at 1080p in VC-1, is very rough.

It has much more grain than any of the other cuts. It's lacking in detail and the image often looks over saturated, with color balance skewed. Still, it is, as Ridley Scott points out, a work in progress, and was never meant to be viewed on a home video format, let alone one without the resolution of HD.

Audio Quality

As is explained on one of the set's many supplemental features, the Final Cut went through an extensive sound restoration. Not all of the audio elements were in salvageable condition, and some have been lost completely. In those instances, new sounds had to be created, with the aim of making their integration as seamless as possible. If I had not seen that featurette, I would never have known they created new sounds at all, so I would say they reached their objective.

The Final Cut gets a lossless Dolby True HD 5.1 mix that is a significant step up from any other version available (including the DVD release with only lossy Dolby Digital). The best beneficiary of the bump in aural resolution is Vangelis, who composed the film's score. Best known for Chariots of Fire, Vangelis created a truly unique electronic score that perfectly complemented Scott's world, and has also held up remarkably well.

The True HD mix brings the music to life with rich and sumptuous tones. The resolution on the audio is excellent, with dialogue sounding especially crisp. The surrounds are used more for coloring than anything else, but they help sell the world with the ever-present rain. The only issue I had is a tendency to put echo on the character's voices a little too often. Other than that, this is by far the best Blade Runner has ever sounded.

The Theatrical, International, and Director's Cuts get Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 mixes. These did not undergo the same processes that the Final Cut did, so the audio is understandably more rough. The surround aspect is not nearly as seamless, and dialogue has noticeable hiss at times. But even these sound good compared to the Workprint, which, again, was culled from the best possible elements of a long out of use single print.

Special Features (Disc 1 - The Finan Cut)

·  Introduction by Ridley Scott: Scott gives a short intro to this cut of the film, expressing his happiness at finally being able to have the film just as he wants it, and of course saying that it is his preferred cut.

·  Commentary with Director Ridley Scott: Ridley Scott gives a frank and honest account of his thoughts on and feelings about Blade Runner. He talks about all kinds of things, from the development stages to techniques used on production, all the way up to the film's themes and the arduous process to the Final Cut. Scott is a very intelligent man, and he's consistently engaging in this fine commentary.

·  Commentary with Writers Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, Producer Michael Deeley, and Production Executive Katherine Haber: The most disappointing of the commentaries, this one finds Fancher and Peoples commenting each other and Scott far more than they discuss the themes or content of the film. Most of their exchanges seem to be an attempt to give each other credit for the best lines. Deeley and Haber are heard much less, and their comments are more reflective, looking back on the film 25 years on.

·  Commentary with Visual Futurist Syd Mead, Production Designer Lawrence G. Paull, Art Director David Snyder, and Special Photographic Effects Supervisors Douglas Trumbull, Richard Yuricich, and David Dryer: This commentary is obviously more technical in nature, but considering how influential the look and design of Blade Runner has become, this track is a goldmine of information. Almost every comment is another nugget of wisdom from legends in the field. If you're even halfway curious about how the filmmakers achieved the look they did, you have to hear this commentary.

Special Features (Disc 2 - Dangerous Days)

This is, in fact, one 3 and a half hour long documentary. It's split into eight sections (Incept Date - 1980: Screenwriting and Dealmaking, Blush Response: Assembling The Cast, A Good Start: Designing The Future, Eye of the Storm: Production Begins, Living In Fear: Tension on the Set, Beyond The Window: Visual Effects, In Need of Magic: Post-Production Problems, To Hades and Back: Release and Resurrection), but each flows into the other. It all starts with Hampton Fancher, who purchased the rights to Philip K. Dick's novella Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.

From there, the documentary takes you all the way through pre-production to the re-releases in various versions. Practically every major contributor to the film who is still alive gets ample screen time, including Ridley Scott, Michael Deeley, Hampton Fancher, David Peoples, Douglas Trumbull, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Joanna Cassidy, Daryl Hannah, Edward James Olmos, Joe Turkel, and Harrison Ford. They even get Ridley Scott's sons and Philip K. Dick's daughter to comment.

The documentary is packed with exclusive and never before seen behind the scenes footage, along with outtakes, screen tests, and deleted scenes (including rather explicit footage of an extended take of Deckard and Rachael's love scene). There are also comments from filmmakers influenced by the picture, including Frank Darabont (easily the most entertaining person on the disc) and Guillermo Del Toro. If you ever wanted to know anything about Blade Runner, it's here.

Special Features (Disc 3 - U.S. Theatrical Cut/International Cut/Director's Cut)

·  Introductions by Ridley Scott: Ridley Scott introduces all three cuts available on this disc. He gives brief summaries of the differences, but never hesitates to mention his preference for the Final Cut.

·  U.S. Theatrical Cut: As far as I know, this is the first time this version of the film has been available on home video, as the first VHS release of Blade Runner was actually the International Cut. This version has the studio-enforced narration and the happy ending. Considering it has less footage than the International Cut, this doesn't seem like it would be of much interest, but it's nice knowing it's here.

·  International Cut: This was the version of the film available on VHS and laserdisc all the way up until the 1992 Director's Cut. Thus, this was the version that most people grew up with, and the one which started the original cult following. It's virtually identical to the U.S. cut, except it has a few seconds more of violence.

·  Director's Cut: This was the 1992 cut Warner Bros. made after the extremely positive response from the screening of the Workprint. This was assembled by a team of editors, working off of Ridley Scott's notes. The biggest changes are the omission of the narration and happy ending, and the inclusion of the unicorn dream. This version has been completely supplanted by the Final Cut, and at this point is only of historical interest.

Special Features (Disc 4 - Enhancement Archive)

·  The Electric Dreamer - Remembering Philip K. Dick: Author Philip K. Dick's friends, relatives, and colleagues recollect the man and his work. Dick was an exceptionally gifted man whose drug use led to increasing paranoia and other mental hallucinations. Much of this is documented in his own work, especially in novels such as A Scanner Darkly and VALIS. This featurette, while short, does a good job of remembering the mad genius whose ideas lay at the heart of Blade Runner.

·  Sacrifical Sheep - The Novel Vs. The Film: Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is compared and contrasted against the film. Paul M. Sammon, Blade Runner expert and author of the thorough Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner, gives a detailed summary of the differences between the two. Hampton Fancher and David Peoples explain many of the changes that they made when transferring the novel to the screen.

·  Philip K. Dick - The Blade Runner Interviews: Paul M. Sammon spent quite a while interviewing Philip K. Dick (a particularly bizarre anecdote about Dick's seeming schizophrenia is presented in Future Noir in connection with these interviews) and several of his recorded interviews appear here. The interviews are consistently fascinating. Dick was a complex man, but his training as a writer shows here, as his use of language is wonderful. He talks at length about how pleased he is with Ridley Scott's production and how close it is to what he had in his head.

·  Sign of the Times - Graphic Design: Remember all those details I mentioned earlier? The ones that barely even made it into the film? They get their turn in the spotlight in this featurette, with many design sketches and photos shown. Fans of classic Heavy Metal magazine (of which Ridley Scott was a huge admirer) should have a blast with this one.

·  Fashion Forward - Wardrobe & Styling: Blade Runner's wardrobe aesthetic was heavily influenced by the film noirs of the 40's for the main characters, and then a multicultural hodgepodge of designs for people on the street. Deckard, Rachael, and Gaff's wardrobes are examined quite closely.

·  Screen Tests - Rachael and Pris: Sean Young and Daryl Hannah weren't the only women who were considered for their respective roles, and here we get two screen tests with the other front runners. Neither are as good as the actresses who did get the parts, but it's still a fascinating look into the casting world.

·  The Light That Burns - Remembering Jordan Cronenweth: Jordan Cronenweth was responsible for much of Blade Runner's atmosphere and aesthetic. He was a great artist, able to paint with light and color. But more than that, he was a genuinely gentle and generous human being. He's remember by friends, collaborators, and his son, Jeff Cronenweth, who has followed in his father's footsteps. You can tell the devotion these men still have for Jordan, as their voices often crack with emotion. There are some truly moving moments here. "Tears in rain" indeed.

·  Deleted and Alternate Scenes: I can't believe this hasn't received more attention. There's almost an hour of new footage here, all pulled from the reams of film that the restoration team went through to make the Final Cut. These have been edited together to create a loose retelling of the story, all though unseen footage. This is all set to music from the film and Deckard's narration. But this isn't the narration from the theatrical cut, which was written quickly by an WB underling not connected to the film at all. This was from an earlier attempt at the narration by David Peoples, and it's amazingly different. The infamous Holden hospital footage is here, along with stuff I've never even heard of before. Did you know Deckard had a wife? I didn't. This is what I'm talking about. Even die hard fans of Blade Runner won't have heard about everything that's included here. And to think it's squirreled away among a selection of other extras. This is an unbelievable find and could be released on its own.

·  1982 Promotional Featurettes: A trio of vintage featurettes, these suffer from having a lot of clips from the movie itself, but there's also some really neat interviews with the cast and crew. These go a little deeper than your average on-set EPK, although they're clearly not as in-depth as Dangerous Days.

·  Promoting Dystopia - Rendering the Poster Art: Artists John Alvin and Drew Struzan discuss the creation of the promotional images for the film.

·  Deck-A-Rep - The True Nature of Rick Deckard: One of the big controversies Blade Runner has kicked up in its 25 years has been the question of whether or not Deckard is a Replicant. There were clues in the Theatrical Cuts that suggested Deckard might be a Replicant. At times, the Replicants' eyes glow orange in the film, as a visual cue to the audience. At one point, for just a few moments, Deckard's eyes exhibit a dull version of that glow. He also collects photographs, the same way Leon does. Once the Director's Cut was released, the debate blew wide open. Included was a scene where Deckard dreams of a unicorn, which gave new meaning to the scene at the end where Gaff leaves an origami unicorn outside Deckard's door at the end of the film. This featurette examines the controversy, with several different viewpoints offered. Ridley Scott says he always intended Deckard to be a Replicant, and "You'd have to be an idiot not to see it." Harrison Ford, on the other hand, is vehement in his contention that it makes no emotional sense for Deckard to be a Replicant. Frank Darabont gives a great argument for why the movie doesn't work if Deckard isn't human (an argument I completely agree with). Paul M. Sammon summed things up nicely by saying, "If someone asks me whether or not Deckard is a Replicant, I think the only truly correct answer I can give them is maybe."

·  Nexus Generation - Fans and Filmmakers: As the title suggests, this featurette focuses on the filmmakers and fans that have been influenced by Blade Runner. Many are directors, who speak eloquently about the impact the movie had on them. Guillermo Del Toro admits that "All the rain in my films comes from Blade Runner" and Frank Darabont shows off some of his memorabilia.

·  Trailers: We get one teaser, one theatrical trailer, and one TV spot from 1981/1982 for the original release of the film. Then a severely degraded trailer for the Director's Cut, a TV ad for Dangerous Days, and a really tacky ad for the Final Cut.

Special Features (Disc 5 - Workprint)

·  Introduction by Ridley Scott: Scott again introduces this version of the film. He makes apologies for the poor state of the elements, and points out a few of the differences in this version that never made it into any other version.

·  Workprint: This is the cut that started it all. Run by accident at a 70mm film festival, this version caused such a stir that it prompted Warner Bros. to commission a brand new cut. As Ridley Scott points out, there are several differences here from any other version. The opening sequence is different, there are some shots missing, other shots that aren't in the other cuts, and no unicorn sequence.

·  Commentary by Author Paul M. Sammon: Sammon, the world's leading expert on Blade Runner, gives an enthusiastic commentary on the workprint. This was recorded prior to the release of the Final Cut, and it seems the workprint was Sammon's favorite cut at the time of recording. He's quick to point out the differences from all the other versions, but doesn't limit his discussing to that subject. He talks about the films themes, gives anecdotes, and remembers his own visits to the set.

·  All Our Variant Futures - From Workprint to Final Cut: A half-hour look at the restoration process used for the Final Cut. First came the image, then touch-ups to the special effects, including reshoots for Joanna Cassidy and Ben Ford, standing in for his father Harrison (don't worry, this footage has been integrated so seamlessly into the Final Cut that I couldn't catch it, even knowing it was there). Then the sound was cleaned up and remixed. Restoration Producer Charles de Lauzirika shows his extreme passion for the project, declaring Blade Runner his favorite film.

The Conclusion

Blade Runner is, without a doubt, one of the most unique and influential films ever made. The Final Cut, created with Ridley Scott's input and approval, closes the last chapter on a saga that is as fascinating as the movie itself.

This five-disc set collects everything required to tell the tale, including five versions of the picture, an exhaustive set of documentaries, and almost an hour of never before seen deleted and alternate takes. I can't think of a more complete set for any film in history.

This collection is monumental, both for Blade Runner fans and proponents of film preservation. This is the most thorough and detailed set I've ever seen on home video, and given the high quality of the film, its stellar high def presentation, and the unbelievable set of extras, this set should be on the shelf of any self-respecting home theater owner.

Here is some screenshots