A cinematic experience:

Blade Runner: The Final Cut
2007 marks the 25th anniversary of the movie Blade Runner. For this occasion Warner Brother has released a version of the film called Blade Runner: The Final Cut. It has been showing in North America in limited release across the continent. It made it to Melbourne this past weekend and on Saturday I took in a screening at the Astor theatre. It was projected using a digital projector at 4K resolution. The projector was brought in special for this showing of Blade Runner.Over the past 25 years Blade Runner has garnered cult status as being one of the most influential films of modern time. Initially when Blade Runner was released it was a flop both commercially and critically. When the film was released in 1982, it was not what film maker, Ridley Scott intended. It was changed from the director’s view to make it more accessible to the audience with voiceovers and a happy ending.

In the early 90’s Warner Bros. released Blade Runner as a Director’s cut because of increased interest in the film. This director cut was not really the director’s cut as he had little involvement in it. But it changed quite a few things that annoyed him. The voice-over was removed, being the big change.

In 2000 there was a movement towards a real director’s cut, but because of legal issues it didn’t resolve itself for a few years. Finally when all the legal obstacles were cleared work began to create a release to celebrate the 25th anniversary.

A lot of work was done cleaning up the film removing dust, scratches and other defects. The film was scanned at 4K resolution and colour-timed to Ridley’s specifications. As for the changes Ridley Scott made, it’s not that different from the Director’s cut from 1992.

Changes were made to make the film complete. Small edits were made to make the film flow smoothly. As well as fixing numerous continuity errors and adding scenes to flesh out the story or atmosphere of the movie. Lots of small digital enhancements, effects and changes were made to fix problems with the original production and continuity issues. As well the audio was remixed to make use of current surround sound technology. The changes do not change the film in any way and add to the overall authenticity to the film.

I was 5 years old when Blade Runner was initially released and 15 when the Director cut was released on VHS and a limited theatrical showing. I was never a big fan of Blade Runner. I always thought it was a cool movie for it’s time. But had already seen and experienced movies that were influenced by it. But I am glad I got to see it on the big screen at a theatre in such a good condition. The film will never look as good as it did on the digital projector at 4K resolution I saw. It was quite amazing; it looked like a modern film. I am glad I saw one of the iconic films of the 20th century at the cinema and not on a 27” square television.

This definitive version of Blade Runner will be released on DVD and Blu-ray(1080P High-Definition) on December 18/19, 2007.