Ridley Scott was not a fan of the theatrical cut, which was put together by studio executives who wanted a happy ending to please moviegoers. The theatrical cut also contains some voiceover from ex-cop and Blade Runner Rick Deckard played by Harrison Ford , which serves two purposes. But it also makes the film feel even more like a neo-noir detective movie, in the style of Raymond Chandler. Blade Runner draws some visual and narrative cues from neo-noir — dark and moody lighting, light shining through window shades, a femme fatale, and a morally conflicted protagonist — while being set in a dystopian future !
This lends an extra sheen of moral ambiguity to everything that happens in the film. It was released in theaters by Warner Bros. But perhaps more importantly, several additions suddenly called into question whether Deckard is human — something the theatrical cut never gives much reason to interrogate — or is actually a replicant, created to hunt down other replicants.
This new ambiguity was accomplished largely through the insertion of a sequence in which Deckard dreams of a unicorn running through a forest. A longer version of the unicorn dream appears in this version, some extra-violent scenes that had only appeared in the international theatrical release were reinserted, and the whole movie was restored and digitally remastered to feel like new.
The final cut is the only version of Blade Runner over which Scott had full control, so it best represents his original vision for the film.
Whatever version you choose, though, pay especially close attention to how the film looks. Blade Runner is set 30 years after Blade Runner , and one of its strengths is in how it imagines dystopian Los Angeles to have evolved in the future, and how it might stay the same.
Film is a visual medium, after all — and all versions of Blade Runner , including the new sequel, are visually stunning and well worth watching closely. Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment: to empower through understanding.
Financial contributions from our readers are a critical part of supporting our resource-intensive work and help us keep our journalism free for all. Megan: Stellar points, Bryan. Mark Wahlberg has built an entire career off this loophole. Did you want to add anything else? Looks like T. Tagging in instead is video producer Creighton DeSimone! This was planned.
Everything is fine. Creighton : While T. The status quo. The accepted choice. The Theatrical Release is like chocolate and pickles. The two versions of the film actually share a lot in common. The scenes run in the same order, too. The differences are minor, but they add up, changing a lot about the tone and some of the smaller story beats. The narration feels extremely tacked-on. Everything about it is wrong: Ford speaks in a dull monotone, the dialogue is written out of sync with the way the character speaks and acts, and it seems to be slotted in wherever the producers felt they could squeeze it.
The voiceover generally comes during transitional scenes that show off the world. The Final Cut sets out to captivate the audience, not spoon-feed them. Undermining your opponent by campaigning that you have the easy job is an interesting tactic, but I feel you never got off the runway here. Could this be a long con?
Your own version of a slow movie, so to speak? A round of applause for Bryan , who appears to have turned self-loathing into an argument strategy. A strong start for Bryan, but can he keep it up? Bryan: Thanks for your intervention there, Megan. What the hell, T. How do you mic-drop an online discussion with no mics? Creighton, I enjoy your attempt to frame defending the Theatrical Cut — which is about as beloved as the ending of Lost — as the easier job, somehow.
In any case, in terms of mood and feel, the Theatrical Cut of Blade Runner changed the trajectory of cinema. Up until that point, we were on a run where robots and science fiction vistas meant raucous, operatic adventures.
Ridley Scott did so many things right, and so differently for the era, Blade Runner is worthy of all the praise it received in Still, this was in , and Scott was busy shooting the film Warner Bros. This was also the first version to incorporate the unicorn dream sequence which Scott had wanted reinserted from the beginning.
And at least I got my unicorn. Since , the Final Cut has effectively erased all other versions, other than the theatrical version, which, occasionally, pops-up on streaming. By now, you can probably predict the ways in which this film differs from the theatrical cut: No voice-over, no happy ending, unicorns both tinfoil and actual abound. First up, this version contains a few scenes that were outright reshot only for this version, notably, the scene in which Deckard shoots Zora.
In other versions, the stunt double used for Joanna Cassidy was utterly unconvincing, a fact which is fixed here. The dove released by Batty at the end of this cut also flies into a nighttime sky, rather than an inexplicable daytime sky, as in previous cuts. This fixes a long-standing continuity error in which Bryant mentioned one Replicant, which contradicts the idea that there were six Replicants who escaped.
In fairness, this small change does not fix the basic contradiction that Holden should in theory have recognized Leon at the very beginning of the movie. Otherwise, why does Bryant have all the Replicant headshots? Blade Runner is arguably a study in aesthetics, meaning an inferior version of its basic cinematic quality hurts the overall product. Cleaning up Blade Runner just makes it more timeless.
If you have a choice which someday you may not! You may have already been told this. Ryan Britt is a longtime contributor to Den of Geek! How the Making and Remaking ….
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