Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1716 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-12-03
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Formats: Box set, Collector's Edition, PAL
• Original language: English, Spanish, German
• Number of discs: 5
• Running time: 114 minutes

Synopsis
It is 2019 and genetically made beings known as replicants exist as slaves and prostitutes in the off-planet colonies. Despite possessing such human traits as intelligence and virtual emotion, they are limited by a four-year life span which forces them to question their mortality. Four escaped replicants, led by Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer, THE HITCHER), arrive in Los Angeles to confront their designer, Eldon Tyrell (Joe Turkel). Hot on their trail is world-weary assassin--or 'blade runner'--Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford, INDIANA JONES), who has come out of retirement especially for this case. His objective is to hunt down and liquidate the four renegade androids before they have a chance to exact revenge on their cruel human oppressors. In the course of his search, Deckard becomes romantically entangled with Tyrell's lovely assistant Rachael (Sean Young)--who may not be all that she seems--and a dramatic face-off with Batty is inevitable. Director Ridley Scott's hauntingly prescient vision of the not-too-distant future is a stark revelation: a dark, polluted, overcrowded dystopia dominated by cloud-piercing buildings and looming neon billboards, the air dense with acid rain and flying traffic. Based on the novel DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? by Philip K Dick, BLADE RUNNER boasts astonishingly rich art direction, juxtaposing ingenious technological gadgetry with yellowing photographs and fetishist objets d'art as it touches on questions of time, memory, identity, and mortality.

Customer Reviews

Superb presentation of a classic film
It seems like overkill. A five disc box set focused on a single film. Six different versions of the original film, plus an exhaustive array of extras - documentaries, commentaries, out-takes, interviews, concept art, screen tests. Surely only obsessives and the professionally interested could possibly want all this?

But this isn't like other dvd sets. No dull, half-baked `documentaries' that tell you nothing more than star A thinks director B is a great director, Director B thinks star A is a top chap, and everyone thinks the guy who deputy managed Computer Effects Team C did a super job. No commentaries by extras that appear on screen for all of ten seconds. What you get here is a magnificently put-together Blade Runner archive, an exhaustive history of a landmark film.

The various cuts of the film itself obviously represent the bulk of the content - all with excellent picture quality and superb 5.1 sound. The Final Cut, Ridley Scott's latest tinker, isn't significantly different from 1991's Director's Cut, but includes a few restored shots and some subtle reworking of a couple of scenes that had continuity errors in the original, and has been carefully cleaned up for modern displays and audio systems. The Directors Cut is also included, alongside the original US and European theatrical versions and the `uncut' video release, all on a single seamlessly branched disc. Finally, there is the workprint version, a voice-overless cut of the film whose surreptitious distribution in the late eighties provided the impetus for the Director's Cut release. Each is accompanied by a brief introduction by Ridley Scott, and a selection of voice-over commentaries by a wide variety of production personnel, including Scott himself, special effects genius Douglas Trumbull and the man who literally wrote the book on Blade Runner, Future Noir author Paul Sammon. Obviously the interest level varies over the course of each commentary, but it's hard to fault the inclusion of such an impressive range of key names in the Blade Runner story.

Those same names also feature in the documentary that stands as this set's centrepiece. The four-hour Dangerous Days documentary really is a benchmark for how these things should be done, and covers every aspect of Blade Runner's production history with admirable depth and detachment.

Finally, there is a disc of supporting material that includes a wealth of extras, including audio interviews with Phillip K Dick and almost an hour's worth of deleted scenes, edited together to produce a kind of `alternative' Blade Runner cut. One can quibble over a couple of further features that would have been welcome - a documentary focusing on Vangelis's music is notably absent, and I would have liked to see something discussing the film from a more academic viewpoint - but really, complaining about what isn't here seems churlish when so much is included, and presented to such a high standard.

The quality of the film itself is of course a matter of taste - personally I think it's a magnificent visual experience that lacks a compelling narrative, instead falling back on superficial nods to existentialism and philosophy to offer an illusion of depth. Rather like a Metropolis of the Eighties. But what isn't in doubt is that this set is a milestone - a perfect example of how classic films should be treated. If only more key films could be given such a lovingly curated release.

THE 'FINAL CUT' / 'DIRECTOR'S CUT' LOSES EVERYTHING THAT IS TRULY GREAT ABOUT BLADE RUNNER --- ITS HUMANITY!!!!!!!!!!!
Blade Runner's 1982, 'Theatrical Cut', is a deeply human film. So: do what I do: put up with the unsubtle voice-over and end the film when Rachael and Deckard enter the elevator to escape - press STOP, then, and end it.
This 1982 version of Blade Runner - viewed like this, in my humble opinion - is a truly amazing film: brimming with humanity in a desolate, nightmare world that is sadly becoming more and more of a reality - for all of us - here on the real, awful Planet Earth, 2008.
I feel - very, very strongly - that Director Ridley Scott had the future of the world in his hands . . . but . . . NOW . . . with 'The Final Cut'. . . he has ruined it for all of us!

Blade Runner - No 5 - All Time List 2008
I'll quickly start by mentioning cuts of the movie - I've watched the Director's Cut and the Final Cut - literally with one or two exceptions (Tyrell eye scene anyone) they are blink and you'll miss them changes. Only fan boys would spot the difference - or someone with better eyes than myself! I'm yet to watch the voiceover cut or work print which I am hoping will add a little something to the experience - even if the directors / final cut is supposedly the better version of the movie.

Now the movie itself, because lets face it, who would care about numerous cuts / releases etc of a film if it was rubbish - thankfully Blade Runner is not. It's anything but, you can read a synopsis yourself and I'm not repeating myself but effectively Harrison Ford is a Blade Runner who is reluctantly ordered to hunt down and kill four replicants who are illegally on earth. Now that might sound like Sci-Fi rubbish, but it's easy enough to pick up when the film starts and without ruining the film in anyway you don't want to know too much more.

Blade runner offers a bleak view of the future, but it's a mysterious journey set completely within a film-noir world on dark alleyways, dodgy characters and rain. The film is magnificent; I challenge anyone to say they got bored watching it, because there is not a dull moment. Without doing a thesis on is Ford/ Deckard a replicants and really giving the advice not to even worry about it, just know that with Blade Runner you are guaranteed an edgy, atmospheric, action pack movie which touches some great themes and one that you won't want to look away from and when it finished you'll be looking on the internet about the film, then watching the next version of the movie.
The fuss is justified.

I purchased the five Blu-Ray Briefcase DVD box set from America - and whilst I am happy to get all five DVD's Blu-Ray the box set isn't worth the extra money in my eyes - a really cheap and nasty toy car and unicorn and some sheets you'll never look at - whilst the briefcase is cool - it's too bulky to fit anywhere in a normal persons DVD collection. On a plus side the Blu-Rays are of awesome quality - you can't believe this film is over 25 year old when you watch the clarity of the picture and listen to the quality of the sound. I'd advise someone to get the 5 Blu-Ray non box set version from the US. The amount of extras is second to none and if only film studios could give us a Blade Runner style set for some other classic that deserve the treatment.