Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		2.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

Blade Runner 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 10, 2022

Note: Collectors who value beautiful packaging and non-disc swag as much as whatever technical merits are in store had better start clearing some significant new shelf room for this impressive new series being distributed by The Film Vault. What's perhaps also going to be exciting for physical media buffs is that this new collection is being curated from both the Warner Brothers Discovery and Universal catalogs, which hopefully will increase the opportunities for appealing choices.

To inaugurate its new series, The Film Vault has selected one of the most visionary and occasionally controversial films from Ridley Scott's long and celebrated career, 1982's Blade Runner, albeit in its "new, improved" Final Cut from circa 2007. This is a film that seems rather eerily prescient in any number of ways, and in fact presages the recently departed HBO series Westworld in its dissection of artificial intelligence and what "Being Human" (if I may be permitted to pun by using a completely unrelated show title) is all about.

The Film Vault, as mentioned above, is licensing their releases from Warner Brothers and Universal. For anyone needing a recap of the labyrinthine plot mechanics of the film, I refer you to Michael Reuben's Blade Runner 4K Blu-ray review. Michael's review is also a good resource for more analysis as well as confirmation that this release duplicates both the technical merits and supplements of Warner Brothers' own 4K product. But here you get quite a bit more in terms of non-disc swag, which I'll attempt to describe below in the Supplements section.

Blade Runner 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are (unfortunately) sourced from the less than stellar 1080 disc included in this set, the old VC-1 encoded release from 2007. While this is being marketed to the UK, those in Region A will be pleased to know the 1080 disc played fine in my Region A player.

Blade Runner (The Final Cut) is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of The Film Vault with a 2160p transfer in 2.40:1. This is for all intents and purposes the same disc, down to branding and menus, as Warner Brothers released a few years ago, and for an in depth analysis of the 4K's video quality, I recommend consulting Michael's Blade Runner 4K Blu-ray review. I will say I'm perhaps a bit more of a curmudgeon and wasn't quite as excited about some of the grain resolution as Michael evidently was. That said, as always, Michael's analysis is thorough and insightful. I do want to clarify one aspect which may confuse some people, which I think may have actually come from the confusion on the part of we reviewers when the site started rolling out 4K reviews. There was some apparent miscommunication in what our 4K and 2K scores should be for (the 2K score is for any included 1080 content), and as you can read in Michael's own comments, I don't think he actually meant a 5.0 score for the 2K disc included in this package (and some may feel I'm being too generous with a 2.5 score). Some other 1080 reviews here from the very earliest days of the site I would also say should be taken with a rather generous sprinkling of salt or whatever hindsight analogy might be appropriate.

Blade Runner 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Blade Runner (The Final Cut features the same array of audio options that Warner Brothers' release did, including the, um, Atmospheric track in English. Many longtime readers of my reviews know that I'm probably at least as much as an audiophile as I am a videophile, and I heartily echo Michael's comments in his Blade Runner 4K Blu-ray review about the excellence of the Dolby Atmos track on this disc. Immersion is impeccable, and I was repeatedly struck by how fluid the sound design is in terms of offering everything from rumbly lows to screeching highs with nary a problem. Optional subtitles in a glut of languages are also available.

Blade Runner 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

On Disc Supplements: With the exception of the remastered trailer, which appears only on the 4K UHD disc, both discs in this package contain the same slate of supplements:

• Introduction by Ridley Scott (HD; 00:35)


• Commentary by Director Ridley Scott


• Commentary by Executive Producer / Co-Screenwriter Hampton Fancher, Co-Screenwriter David Peoples, Producer Michael Deeley and Production Executive Katherine Haber


• Commentary by Visual Futurist Syd Mead, Production Designer Lawrence G. Paull, Art Director David L. Snyder and Special Photographic Effects Supervisors Douglas Trumbull, Richard Yuricich and David Dryer


• Blade Runner (The Final Cut) Trailer Remastered in 4K (UHD; 2:38)

Packaging and Non Disc Swag

The Film Vault is obviously gearing these releases toward serious collectors, in terms of offering a unified appearance and the same sort of non disc supplements included in each package. The outer box is approximately 9" high by 7 1/8" wide by 1 5/8" deep. The box has an acetate O-ring slipcover branded with both the film title and The Film Vault's logo as well as numbering. This rigid clamshell box is emblazoned with newly commissioned key art and itself features a kind of cool magnetic clasp that opens to disclose a whole host of goodies. A CD sized digipack (in its own slipcover) holds both the 1080 and 2160 discs, there is a rather beautiful if possibly useless exclusive individually numbered crystal display plaque (again with the film's title), eight collectible art cards (on glossy cardstock) with film facts, and a reproduction "Spinner" vehicle design blueprint, with the cards and blueprint enclosed in another branded envelope. I've uploaded a picture of the packaging under the appropriate tab on the main review interface.

Blade Runner 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

No matter how you may feel about Kevin Smith, as I mentioned in my recent Clerks III Blu-ray review I think collectors should celebrate Smith for his unabashed promotion of physical media, as he does in a fun introduction to that film on that disc. My hunch is Mr. Smith may be going to London, or at least his nearest online emporium, to sign up for this really beautiful package. Yes, it would have been great had Warner Brothers seen fit to remaster their 1080 disc, but the 4K UHD presentation is stellar, and both the packaging and non-disc swag of this release is really gorgeous. Highly recommended.