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As an early adopter, I started buying DVDs almost as soon as the
format was introduced. As you might remember, the initial selection
was pretty thin; it's truly remarkable how quickly things have changed.
My first purchase was of titles distributed exclusively by Warner
Bros. and released on the day DVD was offered to the public in the
seven test cities. Included were Batman, Eraser, Twister, Goldeneye,
Species, and director Ridley Scott's wonderfully bleak visualization
of a futuristic Los Angeles in Blade Runner: Director's Cut.
In a city of perpetual rain, where light rarely manages to reach
the depths of overcrowded streets surrounded by unimaginably vast
buildings, we're introduced to Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford). He
sits at an Asian noodle stand, ordering a meal. Los Angeles has
absorbed a considerable Asian and Hispanic cultural influence; a
strange hybrid of English, Japanese, and Spanish, an alternative
language, has come into fashion. It is the sound of that language
that interrupts his quiet meal. Gaff (Edward James Olmos in pale
blue contact lenses signifying the fusion of cultures and peoples),
an officer who reports to Deckard's ex-boss, Bryant (M. Emmet Walsh)
arrests Deckard and brings him before the police captain.
In a brief bit of exposition, we learn that Deckard is a former
blade runner - a police detective who specializes in assassinating
artificially created human slaves called replicants who dare to
trespass in Los Angeles. They have been barred from Earth. Deckard's
arrest was a necessary subterfuge; Deckard didn't leave on the best
of terms and would not have come voluntarily. Bryant coerces Deckard
into taking on a job. A small band of violent Nexus 6 replicants
have killed their way into the city and they've been trying to infiltrate
the place of their creation, Tyrell Corporation. A laborer named
Leon (Brion James) was the first to be discovered. He killed Bryant's
best man during a replicant screening test and escaped. Four replicants
remain alive; Deckard is to find them and "retire" them.
We follow Deckard as he discovers leads that can only end in violence.
We begin to understand his resignation and his reluctance to get
involved. His soul has been eroded by the death he brings. Ironically,
it will be two replicants that help him regain his humanity. One
will be through love. The other will be through an unexpectedly
gained respect and the realization that regardless of origin, all
human animals may possess a soul. The white dove flying skyward
as the last of the replicants quietly dies is hardly a subtle hint.
Rutger Hauer's Roy Batty simply may be mistaken for a psychotic
murderer, but Hauer brings a vulnerability to the character. Violence
is all he's been trained and bred to do, so his actions are an understandable
reaction to his discovery of a genetically engineered life span
of only four years and an existence limited to that of a warrior-slave.
In an early screen appearance, Sean Young as Rachael brings appropriately
odd nuances to her character as she discovers her own origins and
develops emotions, provoking a significant question about her fate.
Daryl Hannah's Pris, William Sanderson's J.F. Sebastian, Joe Turkel's
Dr. Eldon Tyrell, and Joanna Cassidy's Zhora all make notable contributions
to the piece. But Harrison Ford, whose star was rising after Star
Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, carries the film. His Raymond
Chandler-like film noir detective is attracted to a cold, glamorous
dame of questionable background. His Deckard must shake off the
stench of death, break through the wall he's constructed around
himself, and rediscover his feelings.
This version of Blade Runner is called the Director's Cut, and
it's significantly different from the original theatrical release.
Gone is the Ford narration, added by the studio because it was unsure
the audience would understand the film without it. Gone is the happy
Hollywood ending, driving through the sunny California hills (the
aerial shot was apparently picked up from the cutting room floor
of Kubrick's The Shining). Additions include a slightly longer development
of the Deckard and Rachael relationship. Pris' end is prolonged,
as is Batty's lingering over her lifeless body. A new scene of Deckard
daydreaming about a unicorn shortly after Rachael storms out of
his apartment during their first meeting adds new meaning to the
last bit of origami left behind by Gaff. Having spared Rachael,
did he also spare another replicant? Deckard?
The screenplay was adapted from Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream
of Electric Sheep?" by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. And while
it strays far from its inspiration, it's thought-provoking ambiguities
raise Blade Runner well above the level of more conventional science
fiction / action / adventure fare.
Video: How Does The Disc Look?
The films original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is presented in anamorphic
video. It has a peculiar characteristic I've not seen in any of
the other nearly two hundred DVDs I've seen. There is a vertical
black bar on either side of the image, each of which I would estimate
to be about 5% of the screen width. It was almost as if Warner,
in anticipation that most consumer television sets are adjusted
for a 10% overscan, decided to reduce the size of the image to ensure
that most of the film's frame would be seen.
This very early DVD is not up to the quality we enjoy in more recent
Warner Bros. titles. The picture is a bit on the soft side, yet
there's visible edge enhancement. The Ladd Company opening logo
has a bit of vertical instability one might find in an old D2 master,
yet since this is a anamorphic DVD, the transfer must be new. But
in consideration of the dark scenes and murky sets, the images are
quite respectable. (By comparison, the Batman DVD, released at the
same time, looks noticeably better - perhaps Blade Runner's film
elements were less than pristine.)
(Editor's Needless Interjection: Blade Runner was the first
DVD I ever bought...ah, the memories! Sniff sniff!)
Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?
The audio is Dolby Surround. Rear channel information is used frequently
during scenes of skimmers, flying cars, as they streak from back
to front or vice-versa. The bandwidth seems a bit pinched; there
is neither deep bass nor shimmering highs. And the sound effects
seem highly compressed, particularly gunshots. Dialog and the imaginative
Vangelis score are always perfectly clear.
The DVD also offers English Closed Captions and English, French,
and Spanish subtitles, and no foreign language dubs/
Supplements: What Goodies Are There? As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, this was among
the earliest releases in the DVD format. Supplements were a tad
scarce. There are several screens of cast & crew biographies
and filmography highlights, and thirty-six chapter stops.
Parting Thoughts
It's no coincidence that of the thousands of films listed in the
Internet Movie Database this film ranks as the forty-eighth most
popular film among all the respondents. Blade Runner remains a masterpiece
of visualization and detail. The underlying themes raise fascinating
questions about the nature of existence as the main thrust of Deckard's
story compels our attention. Teh film comes highly recommended,
though the disc is pro formula. Wait for the 20th Anniversary Edition
due out in 2002 from Warner, unless you are an aboslute diehard
fan.
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