Search - Blade Runner (Four-Disc Collector's Edition) on DVD

Jerome G. from LA CRESCENTA, CA
Reviewed on 3/21/2014...

Ridley Scott's masterpiece was a box office bomb in 1982. How ironic, so was Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane". Today, both are considered two of the greatest films ever made. So much has already been written about Blade Runner(Steffan from Palm Desert,CA captures it all in his impeccable review for DVD Swap). I will just say if you haven't seen Blade Runner, my favorite version is the one which was first seen on VHS. This is the Un-Rated cut with "added graphic violence". This was a neat little gimmick in the 80's to entice you to rent the video.It was also done with DePalma's 'Dressed to Kill'. For example, Dekard shoots Priss one or two more times than he did in the Theatrical release and there is noticably more blood in certain scenes.
So cool to finally have all of the versions on DVD!
So many layers to Blade Runner and such a spiritual story.

Details & Features of Blade Runner Final Cut are announced

calvinnme | 07/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Due for re-release in December, this motion picture is one of the finest science fiction films of the 20th century. Part of this is because it projects a future that could be - the earth as a place with a ruined environment populated by people that couldn't or wouldn't make the jump to one of the more habitable off-world colonies. The other part is because the film questions what it means to be human, and explores the possibly unsatisfactory answers you might get if you could, like the replicants, hunt down your maker and ask him Why am I here? Why must my life end? I'll pretty much let Warner's press release do the talking from this point forward. Basically you have your choice of three different sets - 2-disc, 4-disc, and 5-disc. The discs are described as follows:



Disc 1 - Ridley Scott's All-New "Final Cut" Version of the film - Restored and remastered with added & extended scenes, added lines, new and cleaner special effects and all new 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio. Also included is commentary by Ridley Scott and a host of others that worked behind the camera.



Disc 2 - Documentary - Dangerous Days: Making of Blade Runner - A feature-length documentary revealing all the elements that shaped this cinema landmark. Cast, crew, critics and colleagues give a behind-the-scenes, in-depth look at the film from its literary roots and inception through casting, production, visuals and special effects to its legacy.



Disc 3 - 1982 Theatrical Version - The original that contains Deckard's narration and has Deckard and Rachel's (Sean Young) "happy ending" escape scene.



1982 International Version - Also used on U.S. home video, laserdisc and cable releases up to 1992. This version is not rated, and contains some extended action scenes in contrast to the Theatrical Version.



1992 Director's Cut - Omits Deckard's voiceover narration and removes the "happy ending" finale. It adds the famous "unicorn" sequence, a vision that Deckard has which suggests that he, too, may be a replicant.



Disc 4 - BONUS Disc "Enhancement Archive" - Eight featurettes, image galleries, radio interview with the author, and screen tests for the part of Rachel.



Disc 5 - Workprint Version - This rare version of the film is considered by some to be the most radically different of all the Blade Runner cuts. It includes an altered opening scene, no Deckard narration until the final scenes, no "unicorn" sequence, no Deckard/Rachel "happy ending," altered lines between Rutger Hauer and his creator Tyrell (Joe Turkell), alternate music and much more.



Also included is commentary by Paul M. Sammon, author of Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner and a featurette - "All Our Variant Futures: From Workprint to Final Cut".



2 Disc Edition : Discs 1-2

4 Disc Edition : Discs 1-4

5 Disc Edition : Discs 1-5



The downside of this 2-disc version is that you are only getting the Final Cut version of the film and the documentary disc. You won't get the bonus disc of featurettes, the disc of past releases, and the workprint version of the film. The upside is that the 5-disc version of the film has some expensive packaging and promotional material included that seems to really raise the price of the entire package."

More Human than Human, that's our motto ...

Steffan Piper | Palm Desert, CA | 12/26/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"
Having seen this movie probably more times and in more different formats than most people, I thought it was time I write a few words about this masterpiece of filmmaking. Truly, I wasn't boasting with my assertion that I've seen this movie as much as I have (I watch this movie almost once a week and have done so for almost 10 years). I own several, still unopened, VHS tapes that for a large part of the nineties I did my best at collecting. I own the Japanese Laserdisc version, a rare bootleg VHS version that was distributed over the internet a handful of years ago that has the narration selectively placed back into the Director's Cut version of the film, not called the Esper Version as some would want to label it, the Director's Cut and now the HD version of the Final Cut. That makes 5, but 6 if you count the Workprint version that comes with this box set. So, I would say that's one more than most.



Blade Runner first and foremost, is probably the greatest film ever made, from beginning to end and in all of its variations. A bold statement when the film doesn't even rank in the top 10 in the American Film Institute or on IMDb. Spots #97 and #104 respectively (ahem). But as these kind of lists are subjective and truly under the control of mere mortals and their own strange whims, and I take no offense that so many so-called aficionados have over-looked this film for so long. Roger Ebert slammed Ridley Scott and the film during the first theatrical release by stating that `Scott cared more about the lush environment of the film than he did of the story', which as we all know - and even Ebert now, in hindsight, has stated that he was unkind and grossly unfair to both Scott and the film.



For years, Blade Runner was divided into two different camps, or rather four and they are: Those that preferred the narration and those that did not and the other camp was those that thought Deckard was a Replicant and those that thought he was either human or felt it was left ambiguous. Ridley Scott has very gracefully over the years, given homage to these thoughts and made many statements that most readers are aware of, chiefly - that Deckard was a Replicant. Unfortunately, due to the studios fingering with the film during post-production, Warner Brothers had the right to trim anything after the 120 min mark, and thus butchering the nuance of the film and leaving several things vague and forcing Scott to tack on the Happy ending and the narration - because as we all know ... we're all just too stupid to get it.



The new and most refreshing part of the new argument, evinced in the 210 (wow!) min documentary `Dangerous Days' is that Scott gives equal time to those that enjoyed the film with the narration, with Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth / Hellboy) in the forefront, with his very candid telling of how Blade Runner changed his life and launched him down the road into filmmaking. We also get to hear a very lucid and warm retelling from Harrison Ford of the nightmare that he not only endured making the movie but the further commitment of having to do the Voice Over narration months later, which ended up having its own strange story as well.



So, now with 5 versions available in this box set, you get to see Blade Runner in every single angle imaginable and it is engrossing every time. Ebert also said in the Nineties that the re-release of the movie for the Director's Cut gives you yet another version of the film, but fails to handle the main problems that were so apparent the first time around. As the film has changed Ebert has gone from student flippancy to utmost respect and enjoyment. Ebert's own site has all three versions of his reviews which are interesting to read in context to the passage of time if you're interested.



There are so many layers to Blade Runner and so many things that can be said from the brilliant look of the newly restored cut, the awesome remixed sound, the Original Score by Vangelis, and the story itself. Blade Runner is probably the high water mark of all films and will probably stay that way for quite some time. Internet voting puts the film as the 4th greatest movie of all time, according to AFI's own user polls - so that really puts perspective on AFI's and IMDb's so-called Final Lists.



On a final note, when people watch this film, a lot of people come away with a strange feeling of familiarity regarding the content, the story and the character of Rick Deckard the protagonist, the Detective, the Blade Runner. You should know that Philip K. Dick was an incredibly huge fan of Raymond Chandler and absorbed every one of his stories on a personal level. Hampton Fancher, the screenwriter was privy to this when he penned the screenplay while making the adaptation for `Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' and did his best to not only pay homage to this for Dick but for Chandler as well. Movies like `The Big Sleep' really bring it home and make it evident to the viewer. The novel almost reads like the narration and in latter years I find impossible to not hear Harrison Ford's voice as I read `The Big Sleep'.



"What do you think of my Owl, Mr. Deckard?"



"Is it real?"

"

How to get the correct disc for your Blu-Ray set

Robert D. Walstrom | 01/21/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this set from Amazon on January 1, 2009. Like other reviewers I too received a duplicate disc, the "work print" content on both discs 1 and 5.



Just contact the Warner service hotline at: 1-800-553-6937. The operator I talked to was very helpful and fully aware of the problem. She took down my information to send me the correct disc 1 when they become available. She said currently they are waiting on more to be printed and it will take at least 3-4 weeks before they are available.



*FYI, I rated this item one star to get the attention of folks who are having the same problem.



2/10/09 UPDATE: I have now received my replacement disc 1 with the correct content so my set is now complete. I'd highly recommend you contact the number above if your set came with the defective disc."