Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, M. Emmet Walsh, Daryl Hannah

It’s reassuring that Ridley Scott hasn’t gone and done a George Lucas on us. He hasn’t taken a beloved sci-fi classic, arbitrarily altered a bunch of scenes, added in some conspicuously fake CGI, and destroyed the original so you can only watch his new botch job. Just the reverse. The new Final Cut is little more than a slight re-edit that’s been scrubbed clean, and all the old versions have been left intact.

And Deckard still shoots first.

''Blade Runner''’s appeal has not diminished in these 25 years past, rather it has grown to match its now-apparent stature. It’s a hard-boiled noir drama, set in a high-concept ecological dystopia with splendid design work, memorable characters, action, adventure, and romance. It’s worth stressing again that there is no (conspicuous) CGI - it’s one of the last great analogue special effects films to be released before the computers destroyed Hollywood.

Harrison Ford gives one of the best performances of his career as a Blade Runner, a detective who hunts and kills androids in the year 2019. Rutger Hauer’s largely improvised performance as Roy, the wild-eyed humanoid killer, is actually kind of endearing. The psychological tension that pervades the work is as powerful as ever, and in retrospect a welcome alternative to the raw paranoia of Philip K. Dick’s original novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

It’s a top film, and the Final Cut is the best version yet. We don’t like to judge here at Moviehole, but if you don’t like it, then there’s probably something wrong for you.

Extras-wise...

''Dangerous Days'' is a feature-length documentary made especially for this collection. Filmed and edited with very high production values, it has loads of interview footage with key staff involved with the film: actors, screenwriters, artists, and especially the director.

Location photography, screen tests, and deleted scenes are all worked into the mix, making optimal use of the available screen time. For instance, they may be talking about how it was originally planned that Deckard and Rachel would have a more full-on love scene. This dialogue is then played over a conspicuously deleted scene of the young replicant getting her kit off as the future cop intently snogs her.

Syd Mead, the industrial designer and ‘visual futurist’ who concocted all the cars, interiors, fixtures and fittings, gets a lot of screen time. He explains many little details that only worked at a subliminal level in the finished film. For instance, those weird little bright yellow light things on the kerbside were supposedly parking meters that could electrocute you if you tried to get your coins out.

''The Final Cut'' and ''Dangerous Days'' are included on the two-disc edition, and they should suffice for the casual fan. But serious film wonks should think long and hard about buying one of the two jumbo five-disc editions. The discs are the same in both - you get four additional version of the film, including the (until now) rare Workprint, a rough cut that was used for test screenings. Several commentary tracks layer in additional insight, and there are stacks of image galleries and featurettes.

The fold-out packaging for the Collector’s Edition is also quite swish – it’s lined with a montage of classy production stills, and design sketches (or ‘Ridleygrams’) from Mr. Scott himself.

The top-of-the-line edition comes in a pack designed to look like Deckard’s briefcase, and comes bundled with a little plastic flying car, a little foil unicorn, and some other useless, but highly desirable ephemera.

Rating :
Reviewer : James Cottee