FILM REVIEW- Blade Runner, the Directors Cut

*This was written a while back and after seeing it again I think I was a little generous. Blade Runner is a far simpler film than you think, and beyond it’s incredible aesthetic is perhaps a little shallow. I would probably give it 4, or perhaps even 3, if I reviewed it again*

Blade Runner- The Final Cut

Where? On 5 Disc DVD set

Back to the future…for the fifth time.

Plot
Set in 2019 Los Angeles, Detective Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) must track down some escaped robotic replicants. These robots runaways look identical to humans, yet have a set four year lifespan, and their leader, Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), is not eager to give himself up yet…

Film Review
After over 25 years and five different cuts, has director Ridley Scott finally delivered the final version of Blade Runner? Let’s hope not, otherwise there may not be another chance to watch it on the big screen. Shown in only a few lucky cinemas, it still remains a science fiction landmark.
This new version has had minor, near unnoticeable editing changes, but it’s the new and re-mastered picture that is the real attraction here. Never before has Scott’s gloomy vision of the future Los Angeles had neon that glows so warmly through the dense fog, or rain that glitters down so coldly.
Of course, even if the print was plagued with scratches the beauty of Blade Runner would still shine through. The films production design has been discussed endlessly, but it undoubtedly outdid any film before it. Its effects still impressing today, infinitely more believable than the cold, soulless CGI that plagues today’s sci-fi efforts. Even though the bleak future portrayed in this film has had its critics for being a little too bleak, it would have simply been impossible for the film to hit its future-noir vibe without it.
From production to casting, the film continues to excel, possessing perfectly pitched performances from its main cast. It is common knowledge that Harrison Ford did not understand or like Scott’s directorial style, yet the confusion and uncertainty that Ford brings to Deckard's character helps give the film a larger sense of ambiguity. Hauer too, is superb, adding a dangerous and unpredictable edge to Batty, drawing contrasts to the vulnerable Deckard. Young, as the replicant Deckard falls in love with, is also faultless, portraying a fragility and hesitancy that makes her scenes with Ford crackle with an uncertain future.
Talking of uncertainty, Blade Runner is itself such a tangle of possibilities that it’s impossible to be certain of anything. The lines of who is and isn’t a replicant is one thing, but what about the potential religious allegory behind the film? The film asks its viewer more question than it answers, but it is all the better for it. Deeper and more mysterious than 2001: A space odyssey, far edgier than Star Wars, Blade Runner is the definitive Science fiction film.

(5/5)

DVD review-

It's 5 discs, so it's as comprehensive as you can get. Commentaries, docs, interviews and much more behind. A flawless package. The tin is nice too.

(5/5)

Overall Verdict-
Even if you’ve seen the previous versions to death, you should still go and watch this on DVD, if not the big screen if possible. Still magical, still mysterious, Blade Runner is an incredible enigma. (5 /5)

(Above- Rutger Hauer, in perhaps his finest film role. Except for maybe the Hitcher. Or Soldier of Orange. Or Blind Fury. Actually, scratch that last one.)