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 FWIW. Sep 09, 2010
Regarding the Blu-ray collector's edition, I ordered it from Amazon two days ago and it arrived today. Disc one is indeed the final cut and disc five is indeed the workprint. I checked the content of the discs themselves; not just the artwork. I either got lucky or the "defective" copies of this flick have gone the way of the dodo, so I'd say it's safe to order with confidence from here on out.
About the movie - if you haven't seen Blade Runner yet in any of it's many forms, what are you waiting for? This is probably the best sci-fi flick of the 80s and a pure masterpiece of cinema. One of my absolute favorites that I'm thrilled to finally own in HD. Get it.
A Classic Sci-Fi (?) Film Aug 23, 2010
A foreboding tale about the future or are many elements present in over-crowded cities and environmentally challenged planet today? A classic Harrison Ford shows the figurative and literal dark side of survival and how we value our humanity; striking a balance between what's demanded of us to endure in society, the price of human greed, and how much we value the interactions that define us.
The Blade Runner 5 disc set Aug 23, 2010
This was a requested gift for my son's 24th birthday. The set arrived before his birthday and was in excellent condition.
A Modern Classic Asks, "What is "Human?" Aug 19, 2010
This is really hard--what do you say in less than 1,000 words about one of your most favorite films? And what am I going to say that's different than 800-odd other reviews? All I can offer is my abiding admiration for this movie.
I wrote a 35-page college paper on this film in the spring of 1985, and my narrow-minded snob of a professor rejected it, telling me she'd never seen it, that I'd picked a "pop" movie. She directed me to write on the classic--at least she and I agreed on this--Dr. Strangelove instead (and I still got an A--nyah)!
Synopsis: a retired cop-cum-assassin is compelled to return to the job to hunt down and kill a group of manufactured people who have boldly returned to Earth to have their factory-set four-year lifetimes extended.
Well, this film, while truly great, just isn't the best film ever made. Sorry. It's fun to watch, and is a cornucopia for filmies, but it's no Godfather, Triumph of the Will, or even Swept Away. It is a modern classic, no doubt, and it has been massively influential, which is plain to see in Outland, The Fifth Element, Dark City, and so many others.
This film is so much more than sci-fi meets film noir. Its beauty lies in the fact that you can take it as a simple cop-chases-bad-guy flick, complete with intrigue, fights, shooting, and a confused woman with a mysterious past. Or you can take it as tale of doomed romance. Or, it's a terrestrial sci-fi adventure, a meditation on the wages of off-world conscript warfare coming home. It's all of these, and more. The sci-fi context is a thoroughly realistic and accessible near-future, yet the movie is grounded in a climate-shattered L.A. where the global economy we know now is right in your face, and living in the streets.
I absolutely love this film, and have from that autumn night in 1982 when I was one of the few to see it in a theater. I've seen this film more than 400 times in the past 27 years, I know it all by heart, and still am not tired of watching it; I see something new every time. From its visually stunning and aurally scintillating opening to the end titles, in all of its various cuts, its soundtracks, its groundbreaking and still-awesome F/X and intricate production values, its feel--more than anything the questions it raises about life, and living a life--the film continues to enthrall me. As we get ever closer to the day when a "manufactured person" of real flesh, blood and bone is a reality, the film asks the simple question: what exactly constitutes being human?
So, what is human? How is it defined, and who gets to make the definition? Simply a creature born of another human? Or is it the individuality and (for want of a better term) "soul" living inside an easily replicable biological frame? Is the concept of a "soul," in the context of growing--and selling--fully grown humans for corporate profit, even worth discussing any longer? Can a living thing created in a laboratory, for purely commercial purposes, be considered a human? Yes, they are faster, stronger, in many ways better than we "normal" humans, but who wouldn't take those options at birth, if they could be given? Our almost-protagonist replicants are impetuous, capricious, immature, and then unflinchingly brutal, but then again, that describes anyone we know, or read about in the newspaper every day. They are self-aware, and fully cognizant of their own mortality, and set about in deliberate fashion to defeat death, and more than anything, this seems to show how truly human they are. When this film was made, almost 30 years ago, this was far-reaching stuff, real science fiction. Now, with gene therapy, artificial tissues, experimental replacement organs both synthetic and organic, the opening of public debate about building sex robots and dating and even marrying automata, the Gattaca future of genetic options unfolding rapidly, these questions aren't farfetched fiction, they're contemporary.
The music: Massive thanks to Vangelis for finally delivering us his original sountrack. It is a masterful rendering of the inspired work that helped make this movie the milestone that it is. Yes, I'll go on record: I do enjoy the 1982 New American Orchestra recording that came out in the 80s. Despite what the purists say, these are satisfying symphony orchestra covers of Vangelis' unmistakable soundtrack originals, softened and de-electronified, somewhat more commercially accessible.
If you've read Philip K. Dick's original novel, then you will know that this is the very basic story, but little else of that translates here. If you love the movie, you might like the book, but be warned that Dick's writing style, while full of imagination and observations on issues of humanity in the face of scientific advancement--he wrote the originals that became Total Recall, Minority Report, and Paycheck, after all--can be, well, slow.
If you love this film, you must read Paul Sammon's Future Noir. It is the definitive saga of the making of this film, and is full of incredible trivia, like how Robert Mitchum was the original vision of Deckard, and how Dustin Hoffman interviewed/auditioned for the role for months. Or the fact that in some of the cityscapes, old Star Wars Millennium Falcon models were used in the background.
Bottom line: This is a classic, enduring American film, right up there with On the Waterfront, Taxi Driver, The Wizard of Oz, etc. Its vision is breathtaking, and its single-minded attention to detail makes it come flawlessly together. Whether or not you enjoy science fiction, this film will touch some part of you.
Awsome Aug 01, 2010
"Blade Runner" has long been one of my facvorite movies. I had it on VHS but it went kaput. It is definitely a good print.
If you like the futuristic, this is a comedy, but "The Fifth Element" with Bruce Wiliis is great as well.
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![Blade Runner (Five-Disc Complete Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61UuM4DakzL._SL250_.jpg "Blade Runner (Five-Disc Complete Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]")
