It’s been 25 years since the release of ‘Blade
Runner,’ Ridley Scott’s science fiction cult film
turned classic, but only now has his original
vision reached the screen.
An earlier director’s cut played in theaters 15
years ago to great fanfare and is still available
on DVD. But the new one is something different:
darker, bleaker, more beautifully immersive.
The film, based on Philip K. Dick’s novel
‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?,’ takes
place in Los Angeles in 2019. It follows a cop
named Deckard (played by Harrison Ford) who
hunts down androids — or, in the film’s jargon,
replicants— that have escaped from their slave
cells on outer-space colonies and are trying to
blend in back on Earth.
For the new director’s cut, the special-effects
footage was digitally scanned at 8,000 lines
per frame, four times the resolution of most
restorations, and then meticulously retouched.
The results look almost 3-D.
Fred Kaplan, The New York Times
The spectacle is still there; the most richly
detailed future ever seen on screen is visible
for all to enjoy. ‘Blade Runner’ fully and
richly deserves its reputation. It is simply one
of the most extraordinary films ever made.
Nick Cramp, BBC Film
