Green Jello

Hey Guys,

I want to get Blade Runner, but I'm confused as to what the best edition is supposed to be. There are a few editions out there, but I have no interest in buying one of those really expensive limited edition sets. Does anyone know if a new version is in the works, and if not, wha tis the best one to get?

Thanks

drjay

A 3-disc SE has been rumored and in limfo for years. I forget what the hell the hold up is, but in any case, I think there's little hope for its release. Unless I'm mastaken, all regions have the same Director's Cut, so you are just as well off getting the R1 snapper-cased one. If you're a big fan you can try n pick up the Criterion Laserdisc, which contains the European cut I believe, and has the happy ending, etc in it.

Green Jello

The Director's cut is a fairly early release though. Does the video look like shit?

Okheresthedeal

I just purchased the Director's Cut last week. I decided I had waited long enough for the fabled special edition and just went out and bought the thing. The video and audio is okay and by that I mean you will be able to enjoy the movie. All the complaints about the quality are accurate. But so what? By the time the 'special edition' comes out, Jenna Bush will be wrapping up her first senate term.

What blew me away was the absolute cheapness of the menu interface. The average Blade Runner fan site is a Michelangelo compared to this DVD’s interface.

Green Jello

Ok, thanks. That basically answered my question.

Josh Z

Blade Runner was one of the very first DVDs titles released in 1997. Its digital compression quality is really bad by current standards.

The deluxe box set is actually the same disc in a box with some lobby cards. Not worth the money.

Class316

I have the criterion LD copied to a DVD. This is the best version.

Jackskeleton

Only it's not a legal copy. I have the LD of it and haven't thought of putting it on dvd. But it sure doesn't seem like a good suggestion since it is still a bootleg.

Grubert

bootleg schmootleg. I also have a DVD port of the Criterion LD and now I can pretend the director's cut never existed.

Green Jello

So, is the Criterion LD, the director's cut, or the theatrical cut?

milo bloom

It is the theatrical cut with a few more seconds of violence.

Class316

You can argue that neither one is the true "director's cut".

But the LD version is the better one.

Oh my God, it's a bootleg!! I should go toss it away and get a crap DVD of it!

mjlukich

When the DC DVD was released in 97 in received glowing reviews for the picture quality. As the industry matured and mastering techniques and methods improved, well, it's just interesting how things change.

Grubert

To be specific, it's the European theatrical cut.

Well, we didn't know any better. It's like classical CDs released in the mid-80s. Everybody was amazed at the clarity of the sound until the flaws were pointed out.

Jackskeleton

And here I thought I was the only insane person who LOVED the Theater cut, but falls asleep at the directors cut.

speedyray

If you own the LD and put it on DVD there is nothing illegal about that and it is not a bootleg. It becomes a bootleg when you have that DVD, but not the original source. You are buying rights when you buy the laser disc. You can make backups if you like. Its just like recording your records onto cassette, CD or Minidisc - You still own the music, you are just making it more convienient.

Oh, I had the DVD that is out currently, but watched it and then sold it. I like the movie but it is not something I watch regularly and I figure eventually something new will replace this since there is so much money to be made on it. It is rough by today's standards, but watchable.

Class316

Yet legally you can't backup DVDs because it's encrypted.

Josh Z

He didn't copy a DVD. He made a copy of his own laserdisc, which is not encrypted or copy-protected, for personal use. This is covered by Fair Use. Where problems develop is in the buying or selling of that copy.

Class316

I know I was just pointing something out.

Of course, I have a bootleg DVD without the LD source. Not losing any sleep over it

Green Jello

Well, since I'm not a "Die Hard" fan, I guess I'll just wait a little longer to see if the SE comes out. If not, maybe I'll just wait until 2048 for the HD-DVD.

Class316

It's been coming out for years now. So no need to hold your breath.

RagingBull80

Is the quality bad enough not to get it for $9.99?

drjay

I think it's definitely worh $9.99 just because it's a great movie. The quality isn't the absolute worst I've seen on DVD, but it's definitely not great lookin in any way.

Okheresthedeal

A few postings have noted that Blade Runner was one of the older DVD efforts and the transfer shows it. That is a great way to look at it. The sound, the video, all of it does not match the most basic release today. But the movie is watchable and more importantly, enjoyable. Sure it's kind of funny picking out the production errors that today, would have been corrected in digital, but those parts don't subtract from the fine visuals, the excellent scoring, dialogue, the whole package that can get you saying to a friend in a chinese restaurant "He say you Brade Runner".

I love the movie but I look at its quality as being similar to that of Spielberg’s Close Encounters. Great movie, but when you watch it today, technically it comes up a bit short. The sound is very elementary with its mix and you listen to this ’big damn film’ and have to take into account that it was state of the art when it came out. We kind of think it is lacking now but when we first sat our butts down in the seat at the bijou, we were clapping our hands together and saying ‘now this is how a movie is supposed to sound’. But that was state of the art back in the eighties. Today we have Dolby EX and DTS ES, in our freakin’ HOMES. We have screens that are 50 inches diagonal and subwoofers that will reduce sperm count from two rooms over. So we have by and large, better equipment to enjoy a movie that was made with the best technology twenty years ago, pressed in the early days of DVD. With out spending the time to bring it up to the standards we take for granted today, it will always be on the lower end of the technical quality continuum. So we have to enjoy what we got. And man, I think we still have a hell of a lot to enjoy.

“Hey Louie, the man is dry. Give him one on the house, OK?”

chente

I'm considering getting a Laserdisc player just for this movie. I'm so tired of waiting.