Blade Runner, one of the most important science fiction movies in cinema history, is a film whose legacy is proportional to the number of versions it officially has. As of today, seven versions ofBlade Runnerhave been released, and the absolute best of all, dubbedThe Final Cut, is available onNetflix. But not for long.
Starring Harrison Ford, the 1982 epic was written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, whose screenplay was based on Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novelDo Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?It wasdirected by Ridley Scottand released by Warner Bros. to a mixed reception from critics and audiences. However, 25 years after its original theatrical run, Scott was able to supervise a new cut and release the film the way he intended it to.The Final Cutlanded in theaters in October 2007, and subsequently, it was released on home media. It is currently available on Netflix, and if you want to catch up on the seminal work of science fiction by Scott, now is the time.Blade Runner: The Final Cutleaves Netflix on May 1.
5 Sci-Fi Films That Made 1982 a Really Special Year for the Genre
1982 cemented itself as one of the best years of all time for the sci-fi genre, with the releases of Blade Runner, E.T., and more heavy hitters.
Blade Runnerstars Ford, Rutger Hauer, Edward James Olmos, Daryl Hannah, Sean Young, and William Sanderson, among others. The film takes place in 2019 in Los Angeles, where former police officer Rick Deckard is trying to retire from being a “blade runner,” a hunter whose work consists of killing androids posing as humans who are known as replicants. These replicants have been created by a corporation to work as slaves in space colonies, but four of them have escaped illegally and have come back to Earth. Deckard gets recruited to hunt them down, but he ends up falling for one of them.
Today,Blade Runneris considered an essential science fiction movie. It holds an 89% Certified Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, and it is often included on lists of the best sci-fi films ever made.
‘Blade Runner’: Many Versions and a “Director’s Cut” That the Director Doesn’t Care For
The originalBlade Runnerwas released in June 1982, and it was one ofseveral genre filmsto land in theaters in a year that many consider to be one of the best in terms of “summer releases.” Films likePoltergeist,The Thing,Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,Conan the BarbarianandE.T. The Extra-Terrestrialwere all released in the same year, and this could have affected the ticket sales of the more complicated sci-fi film that isBlade Runner. It was not a huge bomb, but the initial reception did not match the appraise the film had afterward.
In 1992, a version ofBlade Runnerwas marketed and screened as an approved Director’s Cut, but it was just a workprint version that had been screened one decade before, and the reception had not been great. Scott was not a fan of the marketing move by Warner Bros., and he disowned this version, meaning that the “Director’s Cut” wasn’t given a thumbs-up by the director.
In 2007, Scott was able to see his vision come to life withThe Final Cut, a 117-minute version that was re-released in theaters and on home media. To this day,Scott and fans of the film agreethat this is the single best version of the movie, regardless of the various cuts that still exist that, for some reason, keep getting included in the physical media re-releases.
Blade Runner
