Blade Runner - The Final Review

Originally posted over on the OS.


I was lucky enough to catch the newest (and allegedly final) version of Blade Runner at my local cinema last night, and thought you might like to hear some feedback.

Yes, I know it’s coming out in a super duper multidisc box set in a week or so, but who can give up the chance of seeing it again on the big screen? Not me, buddy.

Overall it was a great experience, the image looked stunning; really sharp and perfectly saturated. The remastered audio was very cool. The atmosphere was tripled by the enhanced ambience and even in the quietest, most still moments, I remained completely absorbed. Of course, some of the biggest changes were in the addition of cut scenes, and the polishing of old effects, and I’ll try to give you a run down of what I noticed.

WARNING – IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE FILM, AND DON’T WANT TO FALL FOUL OF ANY SPOILERS, STOP READING HERE.

Firstly, all the spinner shots have been tidied up, no wires to be seen at all. Also, some extra spinners have been added to the sky, and there are some additional shots of Harrison in his own spinner, pulling into his apartment complex. All of these shots just add to the concept of a bustling metropolis.

Bryant now says “four skinjobs” instead of “five” - a pretty important amendment.

The scene with the Egyptian has been sorted out – no more terrible lip sync issues.

One big change is the fixed Zhora death – now it looks like Joanna Cassidy falling through the windows, and not me in a wig. Also, the boots don’t disappear and reappear anymore. It looks like Joanna actually re-shot some of this (she is credited at the end and bluescreen is mentioned) – 25 years on and she’s still fit as a butcher’s dog!

Some big changes to Roy’s defining moments – the one swear word has been replaced.
Now he no longer says “I want more life… fucker!”, but instead the last word is ‘father’. I have to say, this kind of jarred me, but it makes more sense.
Still, it felt funny for some reason.

Also, we are treated to a much longer version of Tyrell’s death at Roy’s hands – but considering the emphasis put on the ‘eye’ throughout the film, this fits in extremely well.

There are some more tweaks and nudges throughout, but all in, this is the definitive version, and I was delighted to see it on the big screen one more time.

It would be remiss of me if I didn’t mention Vangelis’s contribution to this masterpiece, and his music is still as haunting and emotional as ever before – this truly is one of my favorite soundtracks, ever.

So there you go – don’t worry if you missed it, as it will be on DVD very soon – and who knows? If you come to sunny California, you can watch it in our theater, we’ll supply the popcorn.