Blade Runner: The Final Cut

Rating: Null/10 (6 January 2008)

* This comment was written following a theatrical screening of Ridley Scott's final cut of "Blade Runner" and is written about this newest version.
Before I get started I must note that "The Final Cut" is a definitive cut of the film. This is the most cohesive, well-paced, and entertaining cut of the film, by FAR. I really hope Ridley Scott doesn't go do another cut because this one is as much as can be done without altering the script or filming new scenes.
Another point I was thinking about during the film is how much of a 'theater movie' this is. I have seen the film in two forms (director's/theatrical) a total of three times, and though I always thought it was a good film, I never quite saw what all the fuss was about. A good, solid science fiction film was what I saw each time, but I had what felt like an epiphany during this viewing. The film is easily one of THE MOST GORGEOUS things I've ever seen. Brilliantly shot by Jordan Cronenweth (and I definitely give Ridley Scott some credit for how good this looks), the film is astoundingly beautiful and effective on the big screen. When watching it one realizes that each shot was painstakingly thought out, but unlike some others I've seen, the film is so fluid that you can't stop to think about such matters.
One of several flaws I still believe "Blade Runner" suffers from is Vangelis' then ultra-modern score, which by today's standards is so dated it's distracting. That's not to say the film isn't well-scored, but synthesizer scores always bug me because they're bound to sound dated, and this is coming from a guy who loves 80's electronic music (the good stuff, not MTV). Another distracting aspect of the score was the bizarre combination of East Asian, Indian, and Arabic music which felt completely out of place and often forced. Since I'm criticizing the movie in this paragraph I'll throw in my opinion that the script was unbalanced in points, though drastically improved over the original 'voiceover included' version. I felt that dialogue could get distractingly forced at times.
Still, during this viewing of "Blade Runner: The Final Cut[" I noticed that the majority of criticism leveled at the film is a big load of rubbish. Technically speaking, there is basically nothing at all wrong with the film. Visual effects are excellent, photography and editing are accomplished, and the acting is phenomenal across the board, be it Ford, Hauer, Hannah, or Young, watching them was a pleasure.
There is something the film communicates when seen on the big screen which is missing from home video viewings, and I'm not sure what it is. Is the film so visually dazzling that viewing it on a theater screen glosses over its numerous errors and some other minor flaws, or is it just that with Ridley Scott finally fully overseeing the final product the film has really improved as much as it did in my eyes? Whatever it was, "Blade Runner: The Final Cut" is an outstanding science fiction film, not without its flaws, but still one of the most effective films in the genre I've ever seen, and though it forsakes a lot of Phillip K. Dick's philosophical pondering to focus more on the pulp-ish if quite intelligent sci-fi/neo-noir aspect of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", the film stands so well on its own that I left the theater overwhelmed and feeling even a bit privileged to have had the chance to view this incredible film on the big screen and learn to appreciate it more.
9/10