Blade Runner Redux 2007 - Zhora Fires First! (just kidding)

Rating: 8/10 (9 December 2007)

**This Review contains many spoilers - beware!** This is a review of the Blade Runner - Final Cut released in fall 2007. Ridley Scott has tinkered for the third time with his original work. In the 90s, his director's cut gave justice to the original piece, with no dopey narration by Harrison Ford, and a snappier ending. This time, it's just fixing famous gaffes and cleaning up the famous visual effects. I had the pleasure of seeing a showing of the "Final Cut" at the same theatre I saw the film throughout the 80's - the Uptown Theater in Minneapolis. I believe this is the fourth time I have viewed the film there. One thing you will be very impressed with is the quality of the print. This shall no doubt be obvious on the upcoming DVD release, as the colours are beautifully digitally enhanced. The visual effects also look very clean, and hold up very well. The cleaning up is primarily on the flying cars, they no longer have telltale black matte lines around them.
A couple changes caused me to laugh out loud, however. First and foremost, is the infamous Snakemaker scene, where Deckard confronts the snakemaker in his shop. In all previous versions, you could easily tell that the dialogue did not match what was shot. Now, Harrison's CGI mouth magically is saying the correct dialogue, along with the Snakemaker. Another is the scene where Deckard kills Zhora, where previously it was obvious that it was a stunt woman crashing through the windows. Now she has the CGI face of Joanna Cassidy. Then there is a change in dialogue when Roy confronts Tyrell, instead of saying "I want Life, f*cker", he now says a more politically correct "I want life, father". Sure, it fits, but why bother when everyone knows that line so well by now? That scene also has additional gore as Roy stuffs his thumbs into Tyrell's eyes. Also fixed is the annoying shot as Roy releases the bird at the end, when originally the sky changed from dark and rainy to sunny and clear. Now the bird flaps away into a dark industrial CGI sky.
The "Final Cut" thankfully has no drastic changes from the Director's Cut that came out in the 90's. Same beginning, same ending, same famous Unicorn question and same moody score (one of the best movie scores ever made). If you have the opportunity to see this print, do so. It was fascinating picking out details in the background, and scrutinising the visual effects (coolest looking scenery ever). For those who have never seen this film, please ignore some the clunky dialogue, and the ploddy pace. This movie is not a "Terminator" type of Sci- Fi thriller, it is a mood piece, dripping (literally) with atmosphere. For the uninitiated, the production design (conceived by Scott along with Syd Mead) inspired a new generation of Sci-Fi Grunge, where the future had a retro look to it, and had a noir quality. Christopher Nolan admitted that he based the look of the new "Batman Begins" franchise on Blade Runner.
This movie still rates about an 8 out of a 10. Even after viewing it about 15 times.