Blade Runner: Tears in the Rain

I have seen just about every iteration of Blade Runner out there and own both the DVD set in the brief case and the Blu-ray equivalent with the Spinner model. I am glad that RangerKris decided to use the Final Cut as the source material, as this is the most refined of all of the versions in my opinion. I've watched this film in different forms, including both first runs in the theatre, at least 20 times and I thought I knew every nuance possible. That is why I was so intrigued that this Fanedit takes a completely new POV and doesn't try to "improve" on the original(s). Thank you RangerKris for that.

Technically, I'm not going to comment much as others have already dissected this with a fine toothed comb. Visually, I think the HC B&W looked gorgeous in 1080p on my large plasma display. I think it even made the scale model sets look more convincing. Aurally, the music edits were well placed and helped move the story from the new POV. It seems some other sound editing was done with the dialogue too, such as the scene in Abdul ben Hassen's shop. It seemed even more distinct than the fixed up version in the Final Cut.

My only slightly critical comment on the edit is one that others have mentioned: the non sequitur appearance of the police Spinner floating up in the background during Roy's last scene on the roof. The only thing I think you could have done there was just loop Roy's last close up (without the dove) to keep the poignancy of the moment.

All in all, very well done from a dyed-in-the-wool BR fanatic.

What we have here is a very creative take on a classic movie. First and foremost, the use of black and white is so effective it makes you wonder why Scott never released it this way in the first place. In addition, it's quite obvious that a lot of thoughts and planning went into the creation of this edit, for the movie remains consistent throughout even if the scenes have been reorganized. My only problem with the edit is the fact that the character of Gaff has been partially removed: prior to Deckard searching Leon's apartment, Gaff can been seen next to Deckard on the sidewalk, but seconds later he is not in the apartment. He could be considered a simple bystander waiting on the sidewalk if he was not to appear in a later scene (accompanying Bryant). Anyway, not very distracting for me to enjoy this edit!

As for the rest (music cues, editing, etc), this looked and sounded very professional to me. I look forward to watching future fanedits from ranger613. Speaking of the faneditor, I truly believe he did achieve his goals which were to offer us an edit from the replicants' perspective, and also present an innovative take of a movie he cherishes while being respectful to the source material. Thank you for that ranger613, I really enjoyed those 75 minutes from beginning to end!

Eric

This is a gret take on Blade Runner; it never would have occured to me that this interpretation could work, but it works and feels sufficiently natural that you could be forgiven for thinking it was intentional.

The black & white visual style works very well - I know a couple of folks had issues with the high contrast, but I thought it worked really well. The editing itself was invisible, with some excellently-executed transitions between scenes.

If I had a complaint, it would be a very minor one that the sound levels seemed to vary a fair amount. The variation isn't so great as to be a problem, I just found myself knocking the volume down once or twice after raising it to ensure that certain bits of dialogue were audible. This may be down to the source material.

All in all, I thought this was excellent both narratively and technically. Great work!

Blade Runner has, for quite a long time, been one of my absolute favorite films. When I saw the Ranger was editing it, or rather, what he was doing and how much was getting cut, I was certainly skeptical.

Of course, Ranger has a very good track record with such projects, and this is certainly no different. The narrative worked quite well, and the arranging of the opening scenes was very well done, and dare I say, better put together than the original five cuts of the film. That said, there were a few things from the original version I missed. Namely, Deckard's story and his relationship with Rachel. There were a few bits that hinted at Deckard and Rachel having a deeper relationship (when she kills Leon, for example) but it never really goes anywhere. I think expanding on this would, at the very least, tie up a few loose ends (the story as it stands is still very strong).

The quality of the MP4 I watched was pretty good. The high contrast b/w worked exceptionally well, though there were a few shots that didn't look quite as sharp, but that may have been the source material.

Editing was also very well done. No complaints in that department!

Overall, I will definitely watch this edit again in the future. I'm still torn if the '92 Director's Cut or the '07 Final Cut is my preferred version, but this is a great alternate take if you're look for something different.

Excellent Noir rendition of Blade Runner.
Creative, using Roy's, and other replicants, point of view to drive the narrative.
Storywise, everything made sense - which is not always a given with such rearranging.
Pacing was good, I never got bored or felt the need to take a break.

Video: Others have written about the high contrast black n white.
I did not have as many problems, though a softer, grainier look would have been more appropriate to true Noir.
No problems whatsoever with audio. Excellent cutting and editing all around.

Note: This edit was a large file, but well worth chasing down if you are on the fence, deciding about watching.
Tears In The Rain is an inventive spin on a favorite film I have watched dozens of times.