Amazon.co.uk Review
When Ridley Scott's cut of Blade Runner was finally released in 1993, one had to wonder why the studio hadn't done it right the first time--11 years earlier. This version is so much better, mostly because of what's been eliminated (the ludicrous and redundant voice-over narration and the phoney happy ending) rather than what's been added (a bit more character development and a brief unicorn dream). Star Harrison Ford originally recorded the narration under duress at the insistence of Warner Bros. executives who thought the story needed further "explanation"; he later confessed that he thought if he did it badly they wouldn't use it. (Moral: never overestimate the taste of movie executives.)
The movie's spectacular futuristic vision of Los Angeles--a perpetually dark and rainy metropolis that's the nightmare antithesis of "Sunny Southern California"--is still its most seductive feature, another worldly atmosphere in which you can immerse yourself. The movie's shadowy visual style, along with its classic private-detective/murder-mystery plot line (with Ford on the trail of a murderous android, or "replicant"), makes Blade Runner one of the few science fiction pictures to legitimately claim a place in the film noir tradition. And, as in the best noir, the sleuth discovers a whole lot more (about himself and the people he encounters) than he anticipates. The cast also includes Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, Daryl Hannah Rutger Hauer and M Emmet Walsh. --Jim Emerson
Customer Reviews:
Really worth watching.......2007-12-19
What an utter surprise. I expected a dated sci fi flick that had not stood the test of time but I was wrong. This is an exceedingly moving and thought provoking film. It is also the first film in a long time that moved me to tears (anyone who has watched it will know which part I am referring to). It is utterly compelling. Much of the style and imagery may seem familiar at first, until you realise it is because it has been copied by more recent sci fi films. Watch this, it is an original.
Classic Sci-Fi.......2007-12-04
An amazing genre-setting sci-fi classic based on Philip K. Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", his novels always seem to translate well to film, but this was the best.
Nowadays, in an age where numerous throw-away sci-fi blockbusters form a regular part of the mainstream, it is hard to remember the impact that this film had when it first appeared. There had been nothing like it. From the atmospheric swirls of the Vangelis soundtrack to the oppressive intense dystopian-future setting, to the intriguing storyline of secret 'replicants', this was groundbreaking stuff. Many modern sci-fi cliches originate from Bladerunner.
When I first saw this I thoroughly enjoyed it, and got totally immersed in its atmosphere and exciting story. Now, when I see it again, it still holds all that original appeal, but I can see the extra level of allegory, with the two central characters Deckard and Rachael both suffering from somewhat of an existential crisis - it raises the question for all of us: "who are we, really?" and leads us all to examine how unsuspectingly mechanical we are, and to wonder how much of our life-experiences are real, and to what extent they are manufactured or illusionary. 'The Matrix' is a great modern counterpart to this film.
A classic, which can be enjoyed equally as well on different levels.
a scary vision of the future best appreciated with a good sound system.......2007-05-31
I saw the director's cut of Blade Runner at the cinema in 1993 and I've watched this dvd on my tv screen.I have to say that as a story on the small screen the director's cut of Blade Runner is excellent but as an experience on the big screen it is one of the greatest movies I have seen,largely because of the sound effects.If you really want to appreciate this film then make sure you have lots of speakers around the room you're in.The ending of the director's cut is far more satisfying and believable than the ending originally shown in cinemas in the 1980s.
Great Sci-Fi.......2007-01-24
I have been meaning to watch this film for years now and after having many of my friends say how good the film is and when I eventually saw it, I felt it isn't half bad. Harrison Ford plays a Blade Runner, an elite policeman who tracks down and `retires' artificial biological humanoids known as replicants. This film is still visually brilliant despite being over twenty years old and the writing has a far superior and grown-up feel to it than much modern science fiction. I have not seen the original version of this film but from what I have heard this Director's Cut is the far superior version. Although not the marvel of cinema that some of my friends have said it was, Blade Runner is still a great film and its influence on much more resent sci-fi is obvious.
Sci fi meets film noir........2006-05-25
Warner Bros had a downer on this film just prior to its release. Test audiences were inconclusive in their verdicts and Warner Execs insisted that Ridley Scott edit the film, considering it far too downbeat for mainstream audiences.
The result was the voice over narrative which apparently Harrison Ford tried to make as unconvincing as possible so that the Execs at Warners would drop it - he failed. Scenes were deleted, and the upbeat flying sequence at the end of the film was added.
The film opened to ok returns in the US but did huge business in Europe. In the UK release, it filled cinemas nightly for weeks with many people choosing to make return visits.
The early 1990s saw the release of the Directors Cut which was minus the narrative and the upbeat end sequence. It saw some scenes such as the Unicorn sequence restored. Although a limited
release, fans turned out in droves, particularly in London's West End.
I must confess that I enjoy both versions as different approaches to the same film. I have recently ordered 'The International Version' which apparently is an augmented version of the first release so I will pass comment on that when it arrives.
Set in the future, it sees Los Angeles as a rainy, polluted, and totally cosmopolitan metropolis. Mankind has colonised other worlds and uses synthetic humans known as replicants, with superhuman abilities to carry out the dirtier work that doing this involves. Being superhuman comes at a price, as the lifespan for a replicant is only 4 years. The plot revolves around a former cop (Harrison Ford) who specialises in hunting down replicants. Known as a Bladerunner, his task is to eliminate any replicants setting foot on Earth where the punishment for doing so is death or 'retirement'to quote the jargon of the time.
Ford's character has quit the job but is blackmailed into hunting down a particulary dangerous group of replicants who have made it to Earth. Their leader is played by Rutger Hauer, who together with his companions are on a dangerous quest to find an end to their limited lifespan.
Visually the film is stunning with its depiction of a gaudy and seedy futuristic metropolis. Flying cars, huge neon signs, and advertising blimps dominate the skyline. Life is cheap and violent in this future, and the point is not lost on the viewer that this is a highly likely evolution of our society.
The replicants hunt for more life reflects that of humanity's generally, and Ridley Scott's depiction of a replicant meeting his cold and heartless maker, mirrors ongoing theological questions that ultimately we all have to varying degrees.
The drama plays out in the style of a classic detective/ Film Noir story, against a superbly realised Sci Fi background.
A sequence that could have been cut is the sickly, symbolic scene with the dove (which apparently was Rutger Hauer's own suggestion). It detracts from the film and is cloying.
What prevents me from giving the dvd 5 stars though is the lack of 5.1 sound on any discs that I have viewed so far.... This film is not so great in Pro logic sound, someone please give it a full digital soundtrack so as to do it the justice that it received in its cinema release!
See it though for what it is, a superbly staged Sci Fi Film Noir which reflects on the human condition, and the future that probably awaits us.
As a footnote, December this year will see the release of the 5 disc Ultimate Edition of Bladerunner, featuring the Directors Cut, The Theatrical Cut, The International Cut, and the newly rediscovered Working Cut. There will at last be a 5.1 soundtrack and will also feature on HD DVD and Blu-ray.
Amazon.co.uk Review
When Ridley Scott's cut of Blade Runner was finally released in 1993, one had to wonder why the studio hadn't done it right the first time--11 years earlier. This version is so much better, mostly because of what's been eliminated (the ludicrous and redundant voice-over narration and the phoney happy ending) rather than what's been added (a bit more character development and a brief unicorn dream that drops a big hint about Deckard's origins). Star Harrison Ford originally recorded the narration under duress at the insistence of Warner Bros. executives who thought the story needed further "explanation"; he later confessed that he thought if he did it badly they wouldn't use it. (Moral: never overestimate the taste of movie executives.) The movie's spectacular futuristic vision of Los Angeles--a perpetually dark and rainy metropolis that's the nightmare antithesis of "Sunny Southern California"--is still its most seductive feature, another worldly atmosphere in which you can immerse yourself. The movie's shadowy visual style, along with its classic private-detective/murder-mystery plot line (with Ford on the trail of a murderous android, or "replicant"), makes Blade Runner one of the few science fiction pictures legitimately to claim a place in the film noir tradition. And, as in the best noir, the sleuth discovers a whole lot more (about himself and the people he encounters) than he anticipates. The cast also includes Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, Daryl Hannah Rutger Hauer and M. Emmet Walsh. --Jim Emerson, Amazon.com
In the Box Set: It is a fitting testament to Blade Runner's enduring appeal that it should receive the red-carpet box set treatment in this Collector's Edition, which represents a sizeable outlay not least in terms of shelf space. The chunky black box (about the size of the yellow pages) houses a slide-out tray containing the DVD, eight original lobby cards an original one-sheet movie poster, the draft shooting script and a movie image card with the corresponding 35mm film frame attached. As with all such sets the whole is rapidly diminished by removing its parts, presenting the dilemma of whether to mount the poster and pictures, or leave them pristine but unseen in their original state.
The DVD included contains Ridley Scott's director's cut version of the film, but offers no new features or commentaries which would have added considerably to the set's desirability. The original draft shooting script by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples does, however, provide some fascinating insights in its moments of departure from the version that was finally filmed. Perhaps the most compelling example is Deckard's final, decisive contribution to the "is he or isn't he" debate: "I knew it on the roof that night. We were bothers, Roy Batty and I! Combat models of the highest order. We had fought in wars not yet dreamed of in vast nightmares still unnamed. We were the new people ... Roy and me and Rachael! We were made for this world. It was ours!" --Steve Napleton
Amazon.co.uk Review
When Ridley Scott's cut of Blade Runner was finally released in 1993, one had to wonder why the studio hadn't done it right the first time--11 years earlier. This version is so much better, mostly because of what's been eliminated (the ludicrous and redundant voice-over narration and the phoney happy ending) rather than what's been added (a bit more character development and a brief unicorn dream that drops a big hint about Deckard's origins). Star Harrison Ford originally recorded the narration under duress at the insistence of Warner Bros. executives who thought the story needed further "explanation"; he later confessed that he thought if he did it badly they wouldn't use it. (Moral: never overestimate the taste of movie executives.) The movie's spectacular futuristic vision of Los Angeles--a perpetually dark and rainy metropolis that's the nightmare antithesis of "Sunny Southern California"--is still its most seductive feature, another worldly atmosphere in which you can immerse yourself. The movie's shadowy visual style, along with its classic private-detective/murder-mystery plot line (with Ford on the trail of a murderous android, or "replicant"), makes Blade Runner one of the few science fiction pictures legitimately to claim a place in the film noir tradition. And, as in the best noir, the sleuth discovers a whole lot more (about himself and the people he encounters) than he anticipates. The cast also includes Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, Daryl Hannah Rutger Hauer and M. Emmet Walsh. --Jim Emerson, Amazon.com
In the Box Set: It is a fitting testament to Blade Runner's enduring appeal that it should receive the red-carpet box set treatment in this Collector's Edition, which represents a sizeable outlay not least in terms of shelf space. The chunky black box (about the size of the yellow pages) houses a slide-out tray containing the DVD, eight original lobby cards an original one-sheet movie poster, the draft shooting script and a movie image card with the corresponding 35mm film frame attached. As with all such sets the whole is rapidly diminished by removing its parts, presenting the dilemma of whether to mount the poster and pictures, or leave them pristine but unseen in their original state.
The DVD included contains Ridley Scott's director's cut version of the film, but offers no new features or commentaries which would have added considerably to the set's desirability. The original draft shooting script by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples does, however, provide some fascinating insights in its moments of departure from the version that was finally filmed. Perhaps the most compelling example is Deckard's final, decisive contribution to the "is he or isn't he" debate: "I knew it on the roof that night. We were bothers, Roy Batty and I! Combat models of the highest order. We had fought in wars not yet dreamed of in vast nightmares still unnamed. We were the new people ... Roy and me and Rachael! We were made for this world. It was ours!" --Steve Napleton
Amazon.co.uk Review
When Ridley Scott's cut of Blade Runner was finally released in 1993, one had to wonder why the studio hadn't done it right the first time--11 years earlier. This version is so much better, mostly because of what's been eliminated (the ludicrous and redundant voice-over narration and the phoney happy ending) rather than what's been added (a bit more character development and a brief unicorn dream that drops a big hint about Deckard's origins). Star Harrison Ford originally recorded the narration under duress at the insistence of Warner Bros. executives who thought the story needed further "explanation"; he later confessed that he thought if he did it badly they wouldn't use it. (Moral: never overestimate the taste of movie executives.) The movie's spectacular futuristic vision of Los Angeles--a perpetually dark and rainy metropolis that's the nightmare antithesis of "Sunny Southern California"--is still its most seductive feature, another worldly atmosphere in which you can immerse yourself. The movie's shadowy visual style, along with its classic private-detective/murder-mystery plot line (with Ford on the trail of a murderous android, or "replicant"), makes Blade Runner one of the few science fiction pictures legitimately to claim a place in the film noir tradition. And, as in the best noir, the sleuth discovers a whole lot more (about himself and the people he encounters) than he anticipates. The cast also includes Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, Daryl Hannah Rutger Hauer and M. Emmet Walsh. --Jim Emerson, Amazon.com
In the Box Set: It is a fitting testament to Blade Runner's enduring appeal that it should receive the red-carpet box set treatment in this Collector's Edition, which represents a sizeable outlay not least in terms of shelf space. The chunky black box (about the size of the yellow pages) houses a slide-out tray containing the DVD, eight original lobby cards an original one-sheet movie poster, the draft shooting script and a movie image card with the corresponding 35mm film frame attached. As with all such sets the whole is rapidly diminished by removing its parts, presenting the dilemma of whether to mount the poster and pictures, or leave them pristine but unseen in their original state.
The DVD included contains Ridley Scott's director's cut version of the film, but offers no new features or commentaries which would have added considerably to the set's desirability. The original draft shooting script by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples does, however, provide some fascinating insights in its moments of departure from the version that was finally filmed. Perhaps the most compelling example is Deckard's final, decisive contribution to the "is he or isn't he" debate: "I knew it on the roof that night. We were bothers, Roy Batty and I! Combat models of the highest order. We had fought in wars not yet dreamed of in vast nightmares still unnamed. We were the new people ... Roy and me and Rachael! We were made for this world. It was ours!" --Steve Napleton
Customer Reviews:
Classic Sci-Fi.......2007-12-04
An amazing genre-setting sci-fi classic based on Philip K. Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", his novels always seem to translate well to film, but this was the best.
Nowadays, in an age where numerous throw-away sci-fi blockbusters form a regular part of the mainstream, it is hard to remember the impact that this film had when it first appeared. There had been nothing like it. From the atmospheric swirls of the Vangelis soundtrack to the oppressive intense dystopian-future setting, to the intriguing storyline of secret 'replicants', this was groundbreaking stuff. Many modern sci-fi cliches originate from Bladerunner.
When I first saw this I thoroughly enjoyed it, and got totally immersed in its atmosphere and exciting story. Now, when I see it again, it still holds all that original appeal, but I can see the extra level of allegory, with the two central characters Deckard and Rachael both suffering from somewhat of an existential crisis - it raises the question for all of us: "who are we, really?" and leads us all to examine how unsuspectingly mechanical we are, and to wonder how much of our life-experiences are real, and to what extent they are manufactured or illusionary. 'The Matrix' is a great modern counterpart to this film.
A classic, which can be enjoyed equally as well on different levels.
Do Androids Dream?.......2006-11-05
Philip K Dick wrote the seminal book "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" in 1968 and it was adapted into a movie in 1982. This movie was "Blade Runner", a movie by Ridley Scott.
The movie centres around Rick Deckard, a cop, one of the elite Blade Runners tasked with finding run away androids known as "replicants". The Blade Runner's job is to 'retire' the replicant, i.e. terminate them. In the course of the hunt for a band of the very latest Nexus 6 series of replicants, Deckard meets Dr Eldon Tyrell the creator of the replicants and his niece Rachel. This meeting starts a chain reaction in Deckard causing him to question everything that he is and everything that he might become.
This movie asks certain specific questions of the viewer, namely:
"What constitutes humanity?" and
"If a 'product' passes the Turing test does that make it a truly conscious being?"
"How do we know our memories are real and not the 'gifted' implant of a manufacturing corporation?"
When taken in the context of the psychological questioning plot line this movie has the potential to be disturbing. When taken as a piece of art showing the desperate side of the remnants of humanity clutching at a dark and dying earth, you can see the genius of Ridley Scotts vision of an environmentally damaged world. When taken as a cop movie with a rogue policeman dragged from retirement to perform a task he hates, you'll be entertained.
The casting is marvellous with Harrison Ford in his prime playing the perfect Deckard and the remarkable Rutger Hauer playing his best role as Deckards adversary Roy Batty, a combat model Nexus 6, the leader of the replicants. Sean Young's Rachel adds a fragility that makes the production all the more poignant.
On the whole, a film I enjoyed, a setting that I appreciated and performances I applauded. This film is very much a must for all sci-fi movie buffs and enthusiasts.
Cloned life is a risky risk.......2006-05-16
Another catastrophe film about the future and particularly about cloning human beings. It's a little bit old but still quite to the point as for our fear when confronted to the idea of cloning human beings and coming across some of them in daily life. But these clones have two defects. They have no past except some artificial implants and they have a termination date. When they realize these two shortcomings, especially the second, they desire to go on living so much that they run away from their slavery and try to merge into normal society. That's where blade-runners come into the picture to retire these invaders. What is surprising is how cool we react to such cold-blooded killing of individuals that look just like us. We of course are an audience, but this cool acceptance is permanent in the film among the witnesses of the killings. Society is getting so detached from normal human feelings nowadays. And yet the end reveals two twists. These clones are maybe not all that black after all, or at least not that useless.
What did Blade Runner did?.......2005-02-17
In a nuttle, it is the best science fiction film made ever, so i cannot understand why is not more easy to find it.The real question in the film, apart from the short life of replicants, is that they are no too much different from us. Slow and fast, our life goes on, and we can be sure actually that everyone of our lifelines has only one end: Death.In fact, if you are more precise, WE ARE DEAD.We cannot stop it. If we look with precision, that's the truth. The replicant life is lots of times more LIFE than ours one. We forget the idea, and fall in
costumes that put us so far from the truth. Is it fear at all?
Do we trust in another life, or some of us see directly and clear as it is? I think That with this thinking everibody's life will be better because all of us will feel brothers, over any religion or different kind of thinking, and we will need to the ones we have near us. That's all.
Twenty years gone and still nothing to touch it................2002-12-01
I remember seeing this at the local cinema in '82 and it was visually stunning, not many films have that effect but this still is the best film of it's type to date. The film has been copied by so many pretenders and later efforts such as The Matrix owe so much to it's simplistic understated brilliance.
Just watch and revel in it's ability to show how a film should be made. But then again Ridley Scott always seems to deliver.
The Vangelis soundtrack is probably one of the best you'll ever hear which just adds to the whole package. All I'd say is it deserves to be seen on the biggest screen possible with the volume cranked up to at least eleventy four.
UK DVD:
- Blade [UMD Mini for PSP] [1998]
- Blood And Chocolate [2007]
- Blood of Beasts [2005] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Bram Stoker's Dracula [1993]
- Bram Stoker's Dracula (2 Disc Deluxe Edition) [1992]
- Buffy The Vampire Slayer [1992]
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 6 (New Edition) [2001]
- Cabin Fever [2003]
- Candyman : Collectors Edition [1992]
- Carrie [1976]
UK DVD List
UK DVD
![Blade Runner (The Director's Cut) [1982]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21S36HX0Q5L.jpg)
All Science Fiction & Fantasy
|
Science Fiction & Fantasy
|
Categories
|
DVD
|
Video
![Blade Runner: Original Soundtrack & additional Music [SOUNDTRACK]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000025FGT.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Blade Runner: Original Soundtrack & additional Music [SOUNDTRACK]
![Blade Runner [1982] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/0790729628.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Blade Runner [1982] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
![Dog Day Afternoon [1975]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00004CX8B.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Dog Day Afternoon [1975]
![Brazil [1985]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00008WQ62.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Brazil [1985]
![2001: A Space Odyssey [1968]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000056WOM.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
2001: A Space Odyssey [1968]
![Blade Runner (The Director's Cut) [1982]](http://www.bill88.com/buy.gif)
![Blade Runner [1982] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31KJ3BXC3ZL.jpg)
![Blade Runner (The Director's Cut) [1982]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00004CZXU.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Aliens [1986]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0001HHRVM.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Clockwork Orange [1972]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00005MHNI.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Enemy Mine [1985]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000065UHC.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Blade Runner Director's Cut - Special Limited Edition Collector Set [1982]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/419EKW0H12L.gif)
![Blade Runner [1982] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/213J02M6MZL.jpg)
![Blade Runner [1982] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21WS0PCD87L.jpg)
![Blade Runner - Special Edition [1982]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/117Y729D0GL.jpg)