I'm sorta surprised nobody has brought this one up yet, though I'm guessing most got it as an Xmas gift and haven't had a chance to watch it yet.

My thoughts, on the Blu Ray Version. Yes, I sprung for the "briefcase" edition!

The documentary, Dangerous Days, is probably the best DVD "extra" I've enjoyed on DVD so far. I imagine even non-fanatics will find it interesting, few movies changed and evolved as radically as BR did over the course of the production.Some of the newly discovered footage will really delight fans of the flick. The saga of the film's production is pretty comphrehensive, and interestingly told. I gotta say though, if they had gone for their first choice for Rick Deckard, Robert Mitchum, BR would have been a totally different movie, but probably a really cool movie! Their second choice (which I won't spoil) just seems totally wrong.

As for the transfer, the Final Cut on Blu-Ray is just beautiful. The SFX don't have that slightly degraded look they do on the blu-ray Close Encounters disc. The digital and CGI tweaks are cleverly and subtly done, non-fanatics may not even notice them. The theatrical versions and the workprint have been cleaned up as well, but the Final Cut looks noticably better.

Still, the Final Cut is a prettied-up version of "the directors cut". To me the real revelation is "the workprint" that was only shown to two test audiences, the test scores caused the changes that would become narrated happy-ending theatrical version. The workprint is brilliant. Period. It's a genuine shame that it wasn't released that way, BR probably wouldn't have done better box office back in the summer of ET, but I genuinely believe if audiences had seen the workprint version it would have been regarded as one of the greatest science fiction films ever. It's also a shame Ridley Scott is so dismissive about the workprint and plainly dislikes it, in some ways it actually works better than the Final Cut which he is obviously more invested in. IMHO, whether Deckard is a replicant is handled best by the workprint, he doesn't know for sure, it certainly is a distinct possibility, but it doesn't change what he's decided to do. I can't fathom why that beautiful shot of the full-sized Spinner rising beside the dying Batty wasn't used in any other cut. And the workprint has a great commentary by Paul Sammons!

I still got a lot of extras to go, but I've been pretty impressed so far! If you got a Blu-ray player, it's a must have.

got it (standard def). Saw it a few weeks ago when it was in theaters briefly.

Very satisfied with the quality of the DVD. Makes me want to go HDdvd or Bluray; a lot of detail is lost from the digital projection (very impressive) to my smallish (30") HDTV with a standard DVD player.

Also my old toshiba started hiccuping on this DVD. I think even the standard def DVD has a very high bit-rate (if that's possible).

It's still on order for me, should arrive maybe sometime next week. Standard definition, and yes it is the Insane Fan's Five Discs and Goodies in a Frackin' Metal Briefcase Edition. having reading the can't-recommend-enough book Future Noir about the making of Blade Runner, I fully intend to watch the famous workprint version first.



And CE3K - the Hi-Def version actually makes the fx look dated? I just saw the '77 edit this morning in a standard edition, and the fx looked gorgous to me.

And CE3K - the Hi-Def version actually makes the fx look dated? I just saw the '77 edit this morning in a standard edition, and the fx looked gorgous to me.

Not dated per se, but in high def there's a certain grainy and fuzzy quality to the brilliantly lighted UFO's, by contrast in Blade Runner the lighted vehicles and buildings are razor sharp, especially on the Final Cut.

Ah, thanks. Of course, I'm no techie and not good at spotting transfer flaws as some of you guys can do, but it might be down to not having HD or Blu-Ray equpiment to see them on.

I got the four disc version of BR only because I wanted the original theatrical version. Say what you will, but I will always love the voice-over work that they did for it. That is my true memory of BR when I saw it in the theater 25 years ago. I love the Final Cut as well, if for no other reason that it looks so beautiful, and sounds so good too. I hope to someday see the work-print, but I didn't want to shell out another $40.00 just for another disc. (Yeah I know you get all the cool goodies too)

Oh, and as a side note here...CES is starting Sunday. And Warner Brothers announced today that they will be going Blu-Ray only by the middle of the year.

I got the four disc version of BR only because I wanted the original theatrical version. Say what you will, but I will always love the voice-over work that they did for it. That is my true memory of BR when I saw it in the theater 25 years ago..[/I]


The workprint has narration too, but a lot less of it. I didn't realize it wasn't on the four-disc edition,as I said earlier, it's obvious from the introduction that Scott isn't crazy about this version being included. Netflix or rent it if you get a chance!

BR Zone has a good article on the differences between the workprint and other cuts.

http://media.bladezone.com/contents/film/workprint/

This epic collection was worth the wait (and what a long wait it was).

The Making Of documentary is the best and most comprehensive I've ever seen.

For science-fiction fans, hell, for film fans, it's a must-own.

....Insane Fan's Five Discs and Goodies in a Frackin' Metal Briefcase Edition.
Sadly, the briefcase is plastic.