8.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
In a future of high-tech possibility soured by urban and social decay, a 21st-century detective is on the trail of four fugitive replicants—cloned humans that are now illegal—and is drawn to a mystery woman whose secrets may undermine his soul.
Starring: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, M. Emmet WalshSci-Fi | 100% |
Epic | 90% |
Thriller | 74% |
Drama | 49% |
Film-Noir | 33% |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
German: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 (192 kbps)
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Czech: Dolby Digital 5.1
Polish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Russian: Dolby Digital 5.1
Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 (192 kbps)
Spanish 5.1=Castilian; 2.0=Latin
English SDH, French, German SDH, Italian SDH, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Cantonese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hebrew, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Swedish, Turkish
Blu-ray Disc
Four-disc set (2 BDs, 2 DVDs)
UV digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 2.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Ridley Scott's Blade Runner has a long and colorful history that includes production turmoil, box
office failure, multiple versions and a dawning awareness that the film is a masterpiece. As Blade
Runner has progressed from cult classic to cinematic landmark, its ever-expanding fan base has
sustained a small industry of books, articles and documentaries, and its impact has permeated the
culture. One would be hard-pressed to identify any other futurist fantasia (with the possible
exception of Fritz Lang's Metropolis
) that has exercised
so much influence on the imaginations of succeeding generations of filmmakers.
In 2007, after numerous versions of Blade Runner had already appeared, Warner Brothers
released the Final Cut, which is Ridley Scott's preferred version of the film (though not
necessarily the preferred version of every fan). The Final Cut includes every narrative adjustment
that Scott contemplated over the years, and it fixes numerous mistakes that resulted from rushed
production and a tumultuous post-production besieged by conflict and financial pressures. The
Final Cut didn't satisfy everyone, and it may not even be the best version for a first-time viewer
to experience, but it's a remarkable achievement that finally brought the film's lengthy evolution
to a close.
The Final Cut was initially released on Blu-ray in an exhaustively thorough 5-disc collection that
included four prior versions accompanied by a wealth
of informative extras. That same collection was re-issued in 2012 for the film's thirtieth
anniversary, with the material reconfigured to reside on three discs. Now Warner is adding Blade
Runner to its 4K catalog, with a new UHD disc accompanied by some (but only some) of the
previously released material. The 4K disc is magnificent. The collection accompanying it is a
botch job.
(Note: Screenshots accompanying this review have been captured from the standard Blu-ray.
Additional captures from that disc can be found here.)
The Final Cut of Blade Runner was assembled from multiple sources, including a high-resolution
scan of the film's original camera negative as well as new effects originated and completed
entirely in the digital domain. The final result was a 4K digital intermediate that was used as a
source for the 2007 Blu-ray. For this
new 2160p,
HEVC/H.265-encoded UHD, Warner has
returned to that 4K DI, with no further modifications other than the application of HDR
encoding.
Unfortunately, the studio has decided not to accompany the 4K disc with a remastered 1080p
Blu-ray, as it did with its recent UHD release of Unforgiven. The 2007 Blu-ray is a low-bitrate
VC-1 encode prepared for both Blu-ray and HD-DVD, and its age is showing. The Final Cut
could look much better on Blu-ray than it did ten years ago. By failing to provide a remastered
standard disc, Warner has missed an opportunity to sell this set to fans who haven't yet upgraded
their equipment to 4K but would be willing to "future proof" their purchase for the sake of an
improved 1080p experience.
Compared to the dated Blu-ray, Blade Runner's UHD presentation can't help but look better, but
it's more than better—it's astonishing. The improvements begin with the opening logos, where
the pixelated tree representing the Ladd Company unfurls across and down the screen without a
hint of the flicker and aliasing that have been there on every prior version, including the 2007
Final Cut Blu-ray. The opening aerial views of 2019 Los Angeles have always been impressive,
but prepare to gasp when the Tyrell Building comes into view, with each window, level and
outcropping now sharply and crisply resolved. (The Blu-ray is blurry by comparison.)
Throughout the film, the UHD's resolution reveals so much detail in the remarkable model work
that it almost breaks the illusion of scale. If the cityscape were any clearer, you'd see that it was
made of miniatures.
The combination of 4K resolution and HDR encoding highlights numerous fine details that have
been there all along but now command new attention. I never before focused on the crisply
stenciled "Tyrell Corp." on the chairs in which Leon and Holden sit during their fateful
encounter, but now that logo is sharply visible. The textured vertical striping on the bow tie worn
by Dr. Tyrell during his meeting with Deckard rises out of the frame, adding yet one more item to
the genius tycoon's list of sartorial eccentricities. The individual strands on Rachel's oversized
fur coats stand out vividly, making both the coats and their wearer seem even more out of place.
(Who wears huge fur coats when it's always raining?) Individual stars in the sky above Batty as
he descends from his meeting with Tyrell blaze more brightly, and more of them are visible. In
the scene where J.F. Sebastian sits at his dining room table surrounded by his family of
genetically engineered toys, more of Sebastian's odd creations can be seen clearly, even those at
the edges of the frame, expanding the group of onlookers who will watch helplessly as Pris and
Batty enter and Sebastian begins to grasp his dangerous predicament.
Warner's UHD of the Final Cut brings some of the most influential visuals in movie history to
the home theater screen with a focus and intensity unmatched by any but the finest theatrical
presentations. It's one of the handful of discs to date that truly delivers on the promises of 4K.
Watching Blade Runner on this disc is like seeing the film anew. Everything you remember
seeing is there—and more.
[System calibrated using a Klein K10-A Colorimeter with a custom profile created with a
Colorimetry Research CR250 Spectraradiometer, powered by SpectraCal CalMAN 2016 5.7,
using the Samsung Reference 2016 UHD HDR Blu-ray test disc authored by Florian Friedrich
from AV Top in Munich, Germany. Calibration performed by Kevin Miller of ISFTV.]
Note: 2K score updated to reflect clarifications to scoring categories since this review was first published.
Almost as impressive as the visual upgrade is the newly remixed Dolby Atmos soundtrack. I
didn't think it was possible to improve on the effective 5.1 mix supplied on the 2007 Blu-ray in
Dolby TrueHD, but the sound engineers have achieved new levels of intensity and immersion. The
opening drumbeats of Vangelis' electronic score are thunderous and deep while remaining tightly
focused. The score and sound effects have been blended and intertwined more closely than ever
to create a uniquely eerie audio landscape. Background dialogue like the loudspeaker voice at the
Tyrell Corporation (during Leon's interview) and the announcements from the ever-present
dirigible advertising life in the off-world colonies are more distinct, while retaining their
appropriate place in the background. Continuous rainfall fills the room during outdoor scenes
such as Deckard's introduction, while individual effects like the flashing neon dragon's tongue at
the noodle stand remain clearly localized, as does the dialogue. The hubbub of large crowd
scenes like those at Taffey Lewis' club or the busy streets where Deckard pursues Zhora is both
expanded and refined, so that you have the sense of being surrounded by a sea of individual
voices rather than a generalized murmur. The sounds of the Bradbury Building (pigeons flapping
their wings, elevators rising and descending, water streaming) are intensified and precisely
placed.
One could continue noting examples for pages, but the point is that the Final Cut's UHD doesn't
just feature a superior picture; it also offers a quantum leap in audio quality, drawing the viewer
further into Rick Deckard's darkly mysterious world and making Blade Runner live and breathe
even more vibrantly on the screen. For those with the equipment to decode it, the Atmos track
alone would justify an upgrade (which makes it doubly unfortunate that Warner has chosen not to provide a remastered
standard Blu-ray).
The selection of extras included in this package has been the source of major confusion, and
Warner is almost entirely to blame. First, the press release for this set was less than a model of
clarity. Second, when screeners were sent to reviewers several weeks before street date, the
contents of the package didn't match what was listed in the press release (and we now know that the same mistake affects
some, but not all,
retail copies; see "Update" below). Third, and most importantly, the selection of extras for this set is nonsensical, omitting
key features that are
essential to an understanding of the history leading to the Final Cut of Blade Runner.
Here's the short version: There is one, and only one, extra that is new to this set and unavailable
with any other edition. That is the trailer for the Final Cut, which has been
remastered in 4K and HDR and appears on the UHD disc. Nothing else is new, but many things
have been dropped.
The UHD disc contains the same extras included on the Final Cut Blu-ray in the 5-disc Blade
Runner 2007 edition, i.e., three separate commentaries and an introduction to the Final Cut (in 1080p)
recorded by Ridley Scott in 2007. Warner has chosen to accompany the UHD disc
with three of the five discs from the 2007 edition. They are listed below by their designations in
the original set:
The 4K disc of Blade Runner is a thing of beauty, but the set with which it arrives is something
else: ill-conceived, poorly executed and to all appearances designed by people who have no
understanding of the film or its provenance. Especially egregious is the failure to remaster the
standard Blu-ray from 2007, which is dated and inferior. My advice is to forget about the crippled
selection of accompanying discs and features and evaluate the purchase as if it were a single 4K
disc. Anyone who wants a complete set of features and versions representing
the full history of Blade Runner will need to acquire the 5-disc 2007 set (which has been
discontinued) or the 30th Anniversary edition
(also, apparently, discontinued). Solely on the merits of the 4K disc, the UHD is
recommended. For the rest, the team in charge of this collection should be ashamed of
themselves.
The Final Cut
1982
The Final Cut
1982
30th Anniversary Edition
1982
30th Anniversary Collector's Edition
1982
Ultimate Collector's Edition
1982
30th Anniversary Collector's Edition
1982
The Final Cut
1982
5-Disc Complete Collector's Edition
1982
2017
Special Edition
1951
Limited Edition / Reprint
1997
2008
40th Anniversary Edition
1977
Director's Cut
1998
2013
2016
2015
2009-2010
1997
The George Lucas Director's Cut
1971
Includes "The Invisible Boy" on SD
1956
2018
2013
2015
2001
2008-2013
2019
2023