Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9890 in DVD
• Released on: 1999-11-01
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Director's Cut, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: Arabic, Bulgarian, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish
• Dubbed in: Italian
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 111 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
When Ridley Scott's cut of Blade Runner was finally released in 1993, one had to wonder why the studio hadn't done it right the first time--11 years earlier. This version is so much better, mostly because of what's been eliminated (the ludicrous and redundant voice-over narration and the phoney happy ending) rather than what's been added (a bit more character development and a brief unicorn dream). Star Harrison Ford originally recorded the narration under duress at the insistence of Warner Bros. executives who thought the story needed further "explanation"; he later confessed that he thought if he did it badly they wouldn't use it. (Moral: never overestimate the taste of movie executives.)

The movie's spectacular futuristic vision of Los Angeles--a perpetually dark and rainy metropolis that's the nightmare antithesis of "Sunny Southern California"--is still its most seductive feature, another worldly atmosphere in which you can immerse yourself. The movie's shadowy visual style, along with its classic private-detective/murder-mystery plot line (with Ford on the trail of a murderous android, or "replicant"), makes Blade Runner one of the few science fiction pictures to legitimately claim a place in the film noir tradition. And, as in the best noir, the sleuth discovers a whole lot more (about himself and the people he encounters) than he anticipates. The cast also includes Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, Daryl Hannah Rutger Hauer and M Emmet Walsh. --Jim Emerson

Video Description
DVD Special Features

Interactive Menus - Scene Access
Languages in Dolby Surround: English/French/Italian
Subtitles: English/Italian/Dutch/Arabic/Spanish/Portuguese/German/Romanian/Bulgarian/English for the hearing impaired/Italian for the hearing impaired

Synopsis
Director Ridley Scott's hauntingly prescient vision of the not-too-distant future stars Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard, a retired police assassin, or blade runner. The Los Angeles of 2019 is a dark, polluted, overcrowded dystopia dominated by cloud-piercing buildings and looming neon billboards, the air dense with acid rain and flying traffic. World-weary Deckard has been called out of retirement to liquidate four escaped replicants--genetically derived androids of great strength, intelligence, and nearly-human emotion who serve as slaves and prostitutes in the off-planet colonies. Led by Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), they've come to Los Angeles to confront their designer, Eldon Tyrell (Joe Turkel), with their unhappiness about the brevity of their four-year life span. In the course of his search, Deckard becomes romantically entwined with Tyrell's lovely assistant, Rachael (Sean Young), and must eventually confront Batty in an unforgettable rain-soaked sequence.
A highly influential fusion of the science fiction and noir genres based on the novel DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP

Customer Reviews

Really worth watching
What an utter surprise. I expected a dated sci fi flick that had not stood the test of time but I was wrong. This is an exceedingly moving and thought provoking film. It is also the first film in a long time that moved me to tears (anyone who has watched it will know which part I am referring to). It is utterly compelling. Much of the style and imagery may seem familiar at first, until you realise it is because it has been copied by more recent sci fi films. Watch this, it is an original.

Classic Sci-Fi
An amazing genre-setting sci-fi classic based on Philip K. Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", his novels always seem to translate well to film, but this was the best.

Nowadays, in an age where numerous throw-away sci-fi blockbusters form a regular part of the mainstream, it is hard to remember the impact that this film had when it first appeared. There had been nothing like it. From the atmospheric swirls of the Vangelis soundtrack to the oppressive intense dystopian-future setting, to the intriguing storyline of secret 'replicants', this was groundbreaking stuff. Many modern sci-fi cliches originate from Bladerunner.

When I first saw this I thoroughly enjoyed it, and got totally immersed in its atmosphere and exciting story. Now, when I see it again, it still holds all that original appeal, but I can see the extra level of allegory, with the two central characters Deckard and Rachael both suffering from somewhat of an existential crisis - it raises the question for all of us: "who are we, really?" and leads us all to examine how unsuspectingly mechanical we are, and to wonder how much of our life-experiences are real, and to what extent they are manufactured or illusionary. 'The Matrix' is a great modern counterpart to this film.

A classic, which can be enjoyed equally as well on different levels.

a scary vision of the future best appreciated with a good sound system
I saw the director's cut of Blade Runner at the cinema in 1993 and I've watched this dvd on my tv screen.I have to say that as a story on the small screen the director's cut of Blade Runner is excellent but as an experience on the big screen it is one of the greatest movies I have seen,largely because of the sound effects.If you really want to appreciate this film then make sure you have lots of speakers around the room you're in.The ending of the director's cut is far more satisfying and believable than the ending originally shown in cinemas in the 1980s.