MWG: Bladerunner
Jer is picking our January movie for the Movie Watching Group (MWG) as Bladerunner from 1982. He was trying to pick a movie to pay Marci back for Night of the Comet, but ended up picking this one since he really wanted to see it again. There are three versions of this movie out. There is the original Theatrical Version with Harrison Ford voice over narration, then there is the Director’s Cut (the one that is linked in this post) which cuts out the narration and has a different ending, and the Final Cut just came out on DVD. I have no clue how that one is different. I’ve only ever seen the Director’s Cut. Say which one you watched when you review it.
Netflix Synopsis: In the smog-choked dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is called out of retirement to snuff a quartet of “replicants” — androids consigned to slave labor on remote planets. They’ve escaped to Earth seeking their creator and a way to extend their short life spans. Director Ridley Scott‘s reedited version comes with a different ending and the omission of Ford’s narration, giving the film a different tone.
RT Score: 91%
Here is our group that needs to watch the movie and review it: Amy, Marci, Sharon, Jim, Keiran, Lynz, Stacy, Jer and me. Review away! Remember to say which version you watched.
Technically… Four versions of the movie exist.
1982 Theatrical Version
1982 International Version
1992 Director’s Cut
2007 Final Cut
The difference between the ’82 Theatrical and the ’82 International are almost identical, but the International version has a few extra seconds of additional footage (violence that got cut from the US theatrical release) and it was the version on the old Criterion collection laserdisc release.
The Director’s cut was a return back to being closer to Ridley Scott’s original vision for the movie (the happy ending and voiceover was added by the studio despite objections) and, while closer to his intent, wasn’t truly a director’s cut as he wasn’t given either the time or the resources to edit the movie to his satisfaction.
The recently released ‘Final Cut’ however is the true Ridley Scott director’s cut that took two years for him to edit togethor and is finally as accurate to his vision of the movie as it is ever going to get.
Thanks for the info Hythian!
Yes, thank you for that, it was very hard to tell what was the difference between the last 2 versions.
Any hints on where to find the original release? Netflix doesn’t have it.
I don’t have the faintest idea where to rent the original theatrical releases. I can’t recall even having seen a copy on sale for quite a while. The ‘Directors Cut’ more or less pushed it entirely off of shelves when it came out.
I know all four versions of the movie are included in the four and five-disc collectors versions of the recent ‘Final Cut’ release. The ‘Final Cut’ being on the first disc, the other versions on the third disc of the set.
There is, actually, a fifth version of the movie called the ‘Workprint Version’ that was never officially released, it is only available on the fifth disc of the five disc collectors release of the ‘Final Cut’. It is actually relatively different from all of the other releases and was, I believe, an early print of the movie done while they were still working on finalizing the audio and edits.
I don’t know if any video rental places will have the four and five disc collectors edition of Blade Runner for rent or not but finding that may be easier then finding the original theatrical release on it’s own.
The library may have a copy to check out but I have to imagine that since the collectors editions just came out in December they either may not have gotten it in stock yet and/or their may be a huge number of holds to wait through.
You are full of useful information!
I love this movie and I cannot wait to watch it again… in any version =)
I love Philip K. Dick, even though I have never read any of his novels. I really should since I’m a fan of his movies. Even if the movies are bad, the concepts behind them are so interesting. Half of what I love about the movie is how he thinks the future of Los Angeles will look in 2019. Watching it now when it is only 11 years away from when it is supposed to take place, it makes me think that we really need to get working on flying cars. We don’t have any yet! I found it interesting that Los Angeles pretty much looks like Chinatown has taken over. Almost everyone speaks Chinese and there are all night Chinese food stands everywhere. The way the Chinese are going lately, they might take over the world soon and this will be come reality in 11 years.
The special effects in this movie from 1982 are still pretty impressive today. The only times I would be reminded it was from the early ’80s is when they used a computer. Even with the goofy computer technology, one of my favorite parts of the movie is when he scans a picture and starts zooming into it to find a clue. I’m not sure why, but I always found it cool the way he zooms in, scans over a bit, and then zooms into a mirror to find a clue. I still think it is as cool as the first time I saw it.
I have never seen the theatrical version, but I know there was voice over narration. I wondered in some scenes in the director’s cut that I watched if there was voice over narration when it was a long shot of him flying to a location or some other scene that seemed to drag on a bit with no talking at all. Nothing much was going on in certain parts of scenes so I wonder if that was improved in the new version that just came out on DVD.
Rating: A-
I watched the Director’s Cut and then the Final Cut and I listened to the commentary on Final Cut and I read the wiki!
After all this extensive Blade Runner involvement, here’s what I thought:
The Final Cut was better than the Director’s cut, so that is what I will talk about. It had been redone so it looked crispier and also it had some stuff put back in so it flowed better as well. The director talked about the music a lot in his commentary and I agree with him that it really set the tone for the movie.
I have decided that I do not like human looking robots, there just seems to be so much trouble with them! So I think robots should all be R2D2.
The acting in this movie is very good, I also liked the sets. I didn’t really get a lot of the symbolism, even though after I read about it on the wiki it did make some sense. I was confused by the thought that Deckard might be a replicant and not know it, or he does know it but he’s more advanced replicant? That part was way too deep for me. I thought it was weird how he liked the replicant girl, played by Sean Young, she seemed very annoying to me and I would not have liked her. I felt sad for the guy who made the creepy toys to have friends.
Overall I think this movie made me sad because I would like the future to be brighter and happier and not have robot issues.
Robot issues! haha. I love R2D2 so I would like robots to look like them too. Yeah, I don’t get anyone liking Sean Young since she’s a freak.
I like it a lot.
I feel like I need a drumroll here. I am about to review the Final Cut only 1.75 years late. How’s that for reviving a long dead conversation?
I really wanted to like this movie, I liked the book. Through the first few scenes I actually wished I were watching it on a bigger tv. Then I thought there was alot of quiet intensity which was boring to me. Maybe I would like one of the narrated versions better. This was like the third time I tried to watch it and I still didn’t make it all the way through. I kept half paying attention and doing other things because I just wasn’t in to it. 🙁
So you didn’t watch the end of the movie? That’s when the best stuff happens, including the best line, “Wake up! Time to die!”
I sorta did, it was just so slow.I saw flippy chick do her thing. Her outfit would be a good halloween costume. I wondered why they always try to poke people in the eyes. It was on but by that point I was doing other things. I just couldn’t get in to it.