Blade Runner: The Final Cut

This is a review of the 'Final Cut'. I loved this film from the first time I saw it upon its original release, even with its then obvious inconsistencies. It remains my favourite science fiction film and I believe it is the best of them all. The 'Final Cut' addresses all the 'deficiencies' of the original (though see my comment about the book, further down), a couple of which were partly resolved in the 'Director's Cut': I will not be giving anything away by mentioning that the end of the pursuit of Zhora ( a very, very, sexy Joanna Cassidy gets my pulse racing every time I watch that dressing room scene), and the final appearance of the dove have rankled me in other versions. I have seen this film dozens of times, each time leaving a lengthy gap between viewings, yet I find something new in it on almost every screening and there's not a duff performance in sight - well, bar a couple of little niggles: The sound in the scene with the snake maker is still indistinct, and Taffey Lewis, the bar owner, commits the cardinal film sin of ever-so-briefly making eye contact with the camera, but that's it, no grumbles about anything else. The supporting actors who appear relatively briefly in many scenes are outstanding; I cite a favourite - Joe Turkel's performance as the refined genius Tyrell is outstanding, but then so is William Sanderson's underplayed-to-perfection 'J.F. Sebastian', a prematurely ageing geneticist whose only friends are those which he designs. Heck, they are ALL excellent. And then there is Roy Batty. Ah, Roy Batty; in my opinion, Rutger Hauer's finest moment, the part he was born to play and he plays it for all he's worth, creating one of the exceptional science fiction characters of all time and he eclipses Ford in every scene in which they appear together - some feat as I believe this is one of Ford's best performances. Edward James Olmos as 'Gaff' is superb with his sinister, creepy gait and certainty of purpose - he knows something, but what? Sean Young is perfect as the ultra-cool, but ultimately fragile, vulnerable, frightened 'Rachael'. What this film does is set up the Replicants as the baddies but, as the film progresses, one should start to feel a little uneasy because it begins to address matters that are oh-so relevant today (and, indeed, are timeless): Life, the quality of it, the prolonging of it, the RIGHT to one, to live it as one sees fit. It ultimately leads to a situation - for me, at least - where, although I wish no harm to befall Deckard, I am also rooting for Batty because all he is trying to do, in the way he was designed to do it, is LIVE; it turns out he is in many respects more human than the humans (Dr. Eldon Tyrell refers to this aspect is his meeting Deckard). Consider this: if the roles were reversed and the Replicants were actually human survivors of a slave system who'd come to earth to battle for their lives against the humans who rule them (now the Replicants in my scenario) under exactly the same circumstances then we'd have no trouble in seeing their cause as just and human and would be hoping they'd succeed in what would be a straight 'good versus evil' story. What a dilemma the scriptwriters gave us: to choose between each character's view of what's right and take sides, but it's almost impossible to because, as in life, we are watching 'innocents', pawns in the hands of the scientists, the police, and whomever is ruling the place, fighting each other when they should both be turning on what created this situation in the first place: science and big powerful business interests. The end of the climactic scene with Batty and Deckard is one of the most moving I have experienced and sums up the frailty and ultimate disposition of all life; it is heart-rendingly beautiful and I remember the sensation I experienced of what I can only term 'beyond silence' amongst the cinema audience at the time. I believe this was the last major science fiction film to have the special effects 'hand crafted', so to speak - in other words, not C.G.I. and it is all the better for it; the sets are superb. I enjoy looking for little 'nods' or homages paid to Scott's directorship and sets in other Sci-Fi films, and there are plenty to be had. Credit to Scott for finally giving us the film we should have seen in the 1980s. A last word on the film itself: After seeing 'Blade Runner', I read the book upon which the film is based, 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep', by Phillip K. Dick. The book, as per Hollywood-usual, is somewhat different from the film - notably Deckard has a wife - but I would urge you to read it before viewing the film; it's an good read and, importantly, it will give you knowledge that will explain much of the films visual effects and make sense of some of the dialogue: for example, why the earth is as it is; why there are huge advertisements of pill-popping Japanese ladies; and why the Owl is 'VERY' expensive. It is a slim tome and - for many, perhaps not all - an invaluable prop for ADDED enjoyment of the film. A word about the 'Dangerous Days' (D.D.) supplement. Normally I don't watch a 'how it was made' documentary as I feel it can spoil a lot of the dramatic tension, also it can lay waste to the the 'ooh' factor of the special effects in that it results in something wonderful and magical on the screen being reduced to wires and pullies in the mind, however, 'D.D.' is very interesting if only to understand how the film even made it to the screen in the first place. To sum up. This film can be watched at a superficial level and you'll be rewarded with a cracking good Sci-Fi film. Dig deeper and the existential questions come thick and fast - that's when you can watch it again, but this time possibly from a slightly (or greatly) differing viewpoint and it raises more questions than it answers - so you watch it again, and again...

Classic movie. No problems. Arrived on time well packaged. Am verry pleased

This is a review of the 2-disc, Final Cut, Blu-Ray. I am not going to go into a full review of the film itself. I bought this version to replace my old DVD, which replaced a VHS. Needless to say, I am a fan of the film. I think it is too easy today to forget the impact the film had on almost all science fiction which came after it. Its vision of the future (actually supposed to be 2019!) was ground-breaking at the time. A world of dirt and squalor, of neon, of a world left to the poor underclass, whilst the rich found better places to live. Somewhere that had been left behind. The story seems fairly simple; replicants, used to do all the dirty work, are banned from Earth. If found, they are 'retired' by Blade Runner units. A small group have found their way back, and Deckard is tasked with 'retiring' them. He encounters difficulty, both physical and moral, along the way. For me, Blade Runner is one of the best films ever made. I have watched it many times over the years - in its many forms - but I think this is the best version, as the director intended. This version is almost perfect in every way. Visually, the blu-Ray offering is perfect, sharp and crisp. The only slight let down is the sound. It has been re-mastered in 5.1, and the music and general sounds are beautiful; well-balanced, crystal-clear and accurate. But the dialogue is slightly muffled in places; I have tried several different settings on my system, but without success. This is, however, a very minor point; the film is over 30 years old now, so it will be showing a little bit of age. If you are a fan, then this is the version to have; if you haven't seen it, buy it and experience this great film that influenced almost every science fiction film since!

It definitely was worth getting for the second special feature disc alone. The sound and picture quality were NOTICEABLY better than my copy of Blade Runner: The Director's Cut.

The cinematography, music and set design are superb.

Envois rapide et soigné, tout est sous blister comme neuf. Les deux Dvd: le film et le making off sont impeccables, zéro rayure et la lecture se fait sans problème. Attention version original en anglais, ne comporte pas la version FR.

I won't review or ramble on about the movies, it has been 35 years since the original Blade Runner, and most know what the movies are about. I will comment, however, about the quality of the Blu Ray transfer of the movie - in Blu Ray, it is very clear and a nice upgrade from the DD - I was impressed by how crisp, clear the Blu Ray transfer was. I viewed it on a 65" Panasonic VT60 Plasma, and it was very nice. Not all Blu Ray transfers of older movies fare as well. Note this movie was shot in 2:35:1, so the transfer didn't do anything about the "watch band" appearance on your 16x9 screen :-( but hey, that is a common thing. I really like the 1:85:1 Anamorphic widescreen format for home movies but we can't have it all! What is a bonus is that after almost 35 years, I STILL enjoy the movie. And more importantly, so do my 18 year old boys - which says a lot about how well done this movie was - it is very entertaining. I saw the original first movie in the theaters when it first came out, and I am still entertained from beginning to end. So here we have a timeless movie which is still entertaining today, and one where the Blu Ray transfer allows you to watch it in crystal clear HD. Awesome. 5 stars all the way!!! Thanks for reading.

Purtroppo il prodotto nonostante fosse funzionante è in lingua inglese. Ho chiesto il rimborso e mi è stato fatto immediatamente, senza nemmeno l'obbligo di restituire il prodotto. Sono pienamente soddisfatta!