Blade Runner: The Final Cut

Blade Runner: The Final Cut is presumably the final word (ha!) on Ridley Scott's 1982 sci-fi cult classic, adapted from Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Set in a rainy, industrially bleak, futuristic Los Angeles (the set design would have a huge impact on MTV music videos in the ‘80s), the story follows “blade runner” Rick Deckard's (Harrison Ford) efforts to find and kill a group of Replicants (i.e., androids) who have escaped from an off-planet work colony and are looking for their earthly creator to ask for life extensions. How does the "new" film differ from the 1992 “director's cut”? Not by much: Ford's narration is still missing, and the brief clip of Deckard's unicorn daydream—meant to suggest that Deckard is a Replicant—remains, but this new Blade Runner has benefited from a number of small, digital cosmetic changes, the most important of which is the superimposition of Joanna Cassidy's head over the obvious stunt double's in Zhora's death scene. Presented with a luminous new transfer and sterling Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, this double-disc release features three audio commentaries (one by Scott, the others featuring writers/producers and SFX techs/set designers, respectively), as well as an outstanding three-hour behind-the-scenes documentary that incorporates interviews with all of the principal cast and crew, deleted scenes, and production footage. What's really amazing here is the revelation of just how much the actors contributed to the film: Ford fleshed out investigative scenes, Darryl Hannah added gymnastics, Edward James Olmos created his “cityspeak” dialogue, and Rutger Hauer wrote his “all those moments will be lost in time like tears in rain” speech—one of the most famous in contemporary cinema. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (R. Pitman)