Tears in the Rain

Rating: 10/10 (1 March 2012)

This movie is as dark and foreboding as Ridley's earlier "Alien" - Naturally, because Syd Mead also did a lot of the production design. And he used everything he could get his hands on to build an eerie cityscape - Including, ironically, the Millennium Falcon spaceship from Star Wars, which was star Harrison Ford's ride in the SW Original Trilogy.
I've heard many Philip K Dick purists pound this film, because it changes some things from the Book "Do Androids Dream of Dlectric Sheep" on which this film is based. - But what those people probably don't know, is that Philip K Dick himself approved of the film-Especially the dark look which he claimed was exactly what he was going for. Philip himself understood that written works rarely can be filmed as written, from Gone with the Wind to Lord of the Rings, filmmakers are constrained for time. To tell a 500 page book in 2 hours running time is difficult.
So even as Ridley Scott changed some of the science and mechanics regarding "replicants" and altered a bit of the character interaction, he did maintain the spirit of the novel - Which is, Do things we create, which appear Human, actually become valid living beings - Do they have souls, and more important, do they have a Spirit? This is explored in this film.
"I Think, therefore I am." Eventually, mankind will build a computer capable of passing the Turing Test, and when that happens, will we treat that invention as a slave? Do I treat my Home Computer as a kind of Slave? Actually they way I see it, my home computer always takes on characteristics of myself. So in a way, my home Desktop and my Laptops, are living breathing beings.
I loved the Narrated version - Mostly cos thats the way I saw it originally, and the removal of the narration track, kind of ruins it for me, it's not the same without it.
Maybe if I had seen it without the narration, but all my information about the movie and what is going on, is IN that deleted narrative.
As much as I like the extended cuts and the "Final Cut" - I feel sort of betrayed that there was no "Final Cut" with the option to have the narration running if I wanted to.
There are also several scenes that are different, in the US Theatrical version versus the International version. For instance, when Rutger Hauer kills his "God" Dr Tyrell, in the version I originally saw, it's a more gruesome. Later, Hauer shoves a long nail through his hand, thats also missing in the extended/final cut.
Other than that, the two versions are pretty close.
And I do like both versions, or, all versions. I have seen about 6 different cuts of this, each with slight differences.
Mainly, when I first saw this, it was with the Narration, which gives good exposition on what is happening. Without it, there are a number of things left unexplained. The Narration track explains pretty much what is going on, also the nature of Ford's character and the characters of Bryant and Gaff. Also some of the motivations of the Replicants.
When Ford is hanging from the top of the Bradbury Building by two broken fingers, in the rain, I was sweating bullets. That scene has the same effect on me in all versions.
I'm so glad I was able to find a version with the Narration, it had been 30 years since I had seen that version. It was refreshing.