Versions of Blade Runner

The 5 disc limited edition DVD set, packaged in a reproduction Voigt-Kampf test case

File:Blade runner special ed layout.jpg

The contents of the 5 disc limited edition DVD set

Seven different versions of Blade Runner exist, but the most well known are the International Cut (1982) and the Director's Cut (1992):

1. Original workprint version (1982, 113 minutes) shown to audience test previews in Denver, Dallas and London in March 1982. It was also seen in 1990 and 1991 in Los Angeles and San Francisco as a Director's Cut without Scott's approval. Negative responses to the test previews led to the modifications resulting in the U.S. theatrical version. while positive response to the showings in 1990 and 1991 pushed the studio to approve work on an official director's cut. It was re-released with 5-disc Ultimate Edition in 2007.
2. A San Diego Sneak Preview shown only once in May 1982, which was identical to the Domestic Cut with three extra scenes.
3. The U.S. theatrical version (1982, 115 minutes), known as the original version or Domestic Cut, released on VHS in 1983 and re-released in 1992 as a "10th Anniversary Edition."
4. The International Cut (1982, 117 minutes) also known as the "Criterion Edition" or uncut version, included more violent action scenes than the U.S. theatrical version. Although initially censored in the U.S. and available in European and Asian theatrical and local Warner Home Video LD releases, it was later released on VHS and Criterion Collection Laserdisc in North America.
5. The U.S. broadcast version (1986, 86 minutes), the U.S. theatrical version edited for profanity and nudity by CBS to meet broadcast restrictions.
6. The Ridley Scott-approved (1992, 117 minutes) Director's Cut; prompted by the unauthorized 1990-1 workprint theatrical release and made available on VHS in 1994 (1993 in Japan), on Laserdisc in 1995 and on DVD in 1997. Significant changes from the theatrical version include: removal of Deckard's voice-over, re-insertion of a unicorn sequence and removal of the studio-imposed happy ending.
7. Ridley Scott's Final Cut (2007, 117 minutes), or the "25th Anniversary Edition", released by Warner Bros. theatrically on October 5, 2007 and subsequently released on DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray in December 2007 (U.K. Dec. 3; U.S. Dec. 18). This is the only version over which Ridley Scott had complete artistic control; the Director's Cut was rushed and he was not directly involved. In conjunction with the Final Cut, extensive documentary and other materials were produced for the home video releases culminating in a five-disc "Ultimate Collector's Edition" release by Charles de Lauzirika.

Workprint version (1982)

The full workprint version of the movie was released to the public on DVD as part of the five-disc boxed set containing the Final Cut, in 2007. It has the following differences:

• There is no voice-over, no "unicorn vision", and no "happy ending". However, Deckard does have a brief narration directly after Batty's death.
• There is no opening crawl: a static screen of text, showing a dictionary definition of the word "Replicant", replaces it.
• From Deckard's arrival at the Bradbury building to the end of the film, the Vangelis music score is missing, presumably not yet composed at this time this version was made. It is replaced by placeholder music.
• Deckard is seen taking a few moments struggling to remove the tie that Zhora choked him with, before beginning to chase her.
• Batty addresses Tyrell as "father" (not "fucker") when asking for more life, as in the Final Cut.
• When Batty kills Tyrell, the scene is a combination of the "violent" footage from the International Edition and the "non-violent" footage from the theatrical original. Batty still pokes out Tyrell's eyes with his thumbs, but Tyrell is seen falling to the floor as in the original.
• When Pris attacks Deckard, the scene is again a combination of the International Edition and the original. Pris hits Deckard three times, and also holds him up by his nostrils. However, Deckard still shoots her only twice.
• The scene in which Batty pushes a nail through his hand is identical to the "non-violent" version in the Theatrical Release.
• There are no ending credits.

American theatrical release (1982)

The 1982 American theatrical version released by the studio included a "happy ending" (using stock footage from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining) and voiceovers added. Although several different versions of the script had included a narration of some sort, Harrison Ford and Ridley Scott decided to add scenes to provide the information; but studio executives rewrote and reinserted narration during post-production after test audience members indicated difficulty understanding the film. It has been suggested that Ford intentionally performed the voice-over poorly, in the hope it would not be used, but in a 2002 interview with Playboy magazine, Ford clarified: "I delivered it to the best of my ability, given that I had no input. I never thought they'd use it. But I didn't try and sandbag it. It was simply bad narration." Ford also stated in 1999: "I contested it mightily at the time. It was not an organic part of the film."

International theatrical release (1982)

The International Cut, or "Criterion Edition," is similar to the U.S. theatrical release but has more violence in three scenes:

• When Batty confronts Tyrell in his bedroom, in addition to crushing Tyrell's face with his hands, Batty pokes out Tyrell's eyes with his thumbs, releasing a huge amount of blood.
• When Pris has somersaulted onto Deckard's back, rather than hitting him three times and then dropping him (as she does in all other versions), she hits him twice, then inserts her fingers into his nostrils and releases her legs, holding him up by his nostrils for a few seconds before he falls to the floor. The shot of him falling to the floor is identical in all versions. Deckard also shoots Pris an extra time, and the scenes of her thrashing spasmodically on the floor after having been shot are slightly extended.
• At the end of the film, Deckard hunts Batty, who pushes a nail through his own hand, which again bleeds profusely.

Director's Cut (1992)

In 1990, Warner Bros. briefly allowed theatrical screenings of a 70 mm copy of the workprint version of the film, advertising it as a "Director's Cut." These sell-out screenings ran for two weeks at the NuArt Theater in Los Angeles, and the Castro Theatre in San Francisco. Ridley Scott publicly disowned this workprint version of the film as a Director's Cut, citing that it was roughly edited, and lacked the score composed for the film by Vangelis. In response to Scott's dissatisfaction (and in part because of the film's resurgent cult popularity in the early '90s), Warner Bros. decided to assemble a definitive Director's Cut of the film, with direction from Scott, to be released for the 10-year anniversary in 1992.

They hired film-restorer Michael Arick, who had rediscovered the workprint of Blade Runner, and who was already doing consultation work for them, to head the project with Scott. He started by spending several months in London with Les Healey, who had been the assistant editor on Blade Runner, attempting to compile a list of the changes that Scott wanted made to the film. He also received a number of suggestions/directions directly from the director himself. Three major changes were made to the film, which most people agree significantly changed the feel of the picture:

• The removal of Deckard's explanatory voice-over
• The re-insertion of a dream sequence of a unicorn running through a forest
• The removal of the studio-imposed "happy ending," including some associated visuals which had originally run under the film's end-credits.

The original sequence of Deckard's unicorn dream was not found in a print of sufficient quality; the original scene shows Deckard intercut with the running unicorn. Arick was thus forced to use a different print that shows only the unicorn running, without any intercutting to Deckard. This footage was inserted into what had previously been a continuous tracking shot. As mentioned above, the restoration of the unicorn scene suggest a completely different ending to the film: Gaff's origami unicorn means that Deckard's dreams are known to him, implying that Deckard's memories are artificial, and therefore he would be a replicant of the same generation as Rachael.

The cut did not include much of the "extra violence" included in the "International" version of the film.

Scott has since complained that time and money constraints, along with his obligation to Thelma & Louise, kept him from retooling the film in a completely satisfactory manner. While he is happier with the 1992 release of the film than with the original theatrical version, he has never felt entirely comfortable with it as his definitive Director's Cut.

In 2000, Harrison Ford gave his view on the Director’s Cut of the film saying, although he thought it "spectacular," it didn’t "move him at all." He gave a brief reason: "They haven't put anything in, so it's still an exercise in design."

Originally released as a single-disc DVD in March 1997, with both pan-and-scan and widescreen versions on different sides, the Director's Cut was one of the first DVDs on the market. However, it is of low quality compared to DVDs of later standards, due to it being produced in the early days of the format. Warner Home Video re-released it with a new transfer in 2006 as a "Digitally Remastered Version." The 1997 2.0 Dolby Surround audio track remained unchanged, however.

The Final Cut (2007)

Scott found time in mid-2000 to help put together a final and definitive version of the film with restoration producer Charles de Lauzirika, which was only partially completed in mid-2001 before legal issues forced a halt to the work. Although the Special Edition DVD was originally rumored to be released in 2002 release to coincide with the film's 20th Anniversary as a three-disc set, Warner Bros. delayed the "Special Edition" release after legal disputes began with the film's original completion bond guarantors (specifically Jerry Perenchio and Bud Yorkin), who were ceded the copyright to the film when the shooting ran over budget from $21.5 to $28 million.

After years of legal disputes, Warner Bros. announced in 2006 that it had finally secured full distribution rights to the film, and that there would be a three-stage release of the film. First, a digitally remastered single-disc re-release of the 1992 Director's Cut was released on September 5, 2006 in the United States, on October 9, 2006 in Ireland and the UK, and in the following months in continental Europe. Second, Ridley Scott's "Final Cut" of the film began a limited theatrical release in New York and Los Angeles on October 5, 2007, in Washington, DC at the Uptown Theatre on October 26, 2007, as well as Chicago on November 2, 2007, in Toronto on November 9, 2007 at Theatre D Digital's Regent Theatre, Melbourne, Australia on November 15, 2007 at The Astor Theatre, Boston at the Coolidge Corner Theater on November 16th, 2007, and Austin, Texas on November 18th, 2007. The third and final phase — a multi-disc box set — was released on the DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray disc formats. The set includes the workprint, the two 1982 original theatrical versions (U.S. domestic and uncensored International cuts), the 2006-remastered Director's Cut, the 2007 Final Cut, and bonus features; which was released in Europe on 3 December, 2007 and in the U.S. on December 18, 2007. Two-disc and four-disc sets were also released, containing some of the features of the five-disc set.

The DVD featurette All Our Variant Futures profiles the making of the Final Cut version, including behind-the-scenes footage of Joanna Cassidy and Harrison Ford's son, Ben Ford, filming their new scenes. According to the documentary, Cassidy herself made the suggestion to refilm Zhora's death scene while being interviewed for the Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner documentary.

Differences

The Final Cut contains the following differences (in order of appearance) from the 1992 Director's Cut:

1. The fireballs in the opening refinery shot are correctly synchronized with the associated light play on the smokestacks. Some of these had been off-sync in earlier versions.
2. The shot of Deckard waiting to eat at the White Dragon has been shortened, its editing reminiscent of the workprint version of the shot. This was done due to the removal of the voiceover.
3. Smoke has been added behind the cook when he serves Deckard.
4. The cables lifting Gaff's police spinner are no longer plainly visible. (Cables were also removed from another shot of a spinner late in the film, just before Deckard enters Sebastian's apartment building.)
5. As Deckard enters Bryant's office, Bryant's statement "I've got four skinjobs walking the streets" is no longer obviously a spliced-in re-recording.
6. Bryant's line "One of them got fried running through an electrical field" is changed to "Two of them..." to remove the numerical inconsistency later on.
7. Bryant adds a new line about Leon being able to lift 400 pound atomic loads all day and night. This is from the work print.
8. All the violent scenes in the International Cut that were deleted in the U.S. theatrical release and Director's Cut are restored to the Final Cut.
9. When Gaff and Deckard first appear at Leon's apartment, the landlord now says "Kowalski", another small bit originally from the workprint.
10. A background behind Batty when he is first introduced speaking to Leon has been changed. As the shot was taken from a later scene, this has now been corrected to appear as if Batty is actually in the phone booth as Leon finds him.
11. Deckard's conversation with the snake merchant Abdul Ben Hassan has been altered so that the dialogue is no longer out of sync; Ford's son, Ben, lip-synched the spoken dialog and his mouth was digitally placed over his father's.
12. A shot of the busy crowds in the streets was restored. Immediately after that, a shot of two strippers wearing hockey goalie masks was restored. Finally, there's a shot of Deckard talking to another police officer just prior to Deckard entering the Snake Pit. These three shots had previously appeared in slightly different form in the workprint version.
13. The original full-length version of the unicorn dream has been restored. This is a much different version than the one that appeared in the Director's Cut, and has never been in any version seen by the public prior to this one. Deckard is shown to be awake, previously he was asleep or nearly asleep.
14. During Deckard's pursuit of Zhora, Joanna Cassidy's face has been digitally superimposed over that of the stunt double, Lee Pulford. This scene was re-filmed specifically for the Final Cut. Although great effort had been undertaken to replace stunt double face with Cassidy's, the tan-colored protective suit Pulford wore to protect against glass cuts is still visible.
15. A scar on Deckard's face after his "retirement" of Zhora has been removed. Originally, the scene in which Deckard meets Bryant after retiring Zhora was to take place after his encounter with Leon, explaining the scar. This was done prior to the removal of the "sixth replicant," creating a continuity error. Due to the re-ordering, the scar was always present before Deckard had actually gotten it.
16. When Batty confronts Tyrell, he says, "I want more life, father." (from the workprint version, an alternate take intended for but never used in television broadcasts of the film), as opposed to the original line "I want more life, fucker." The line also has a noticeably deeper tonal quality than the previous versions.
17. The scene of Roy Batty crushing Tyrell's skull is now more graphic, with blood pouring out of Tyrell's eye sockets while Roy pushes his thumbs in them.
18. After killing Tyrell, Batty says "I'm sorry Sebastian. Come. Come." when in the original he merely approached the frightened Sebastian. This is also from the workprint.
19. When Pris attacks Deckard she hits him three times and also holds him up by his nostrils afterwards.
20. When Deckard retires Pris he shoots her three times.
21. After Batty releases the dove, it now flies up into a dark rainy sky instead of a blue sky.

External links

• Alternate versions for Blade Runner
• Blade Runner FAQ by Murray Chapman