Blade Runner – The Deep Cut

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

November 21, 2009
*This rating was given before reviews were required*

One of the main reasons I love Blade Runner is precisely the hypnotic, reflexive pacing, so from the start I knew this wouldn’t really be for me, yet I liked how you timed the music to the images in the YouTube video of the intro you posted so I gave it a chance. This delivers exactly what it promises: a shorter and much faster paced BR, and does so in a technically mostly excellent way. Editing is totally professional except for that jump during the Leon/Deckard confrontation, and I even thought some of the newly placed music worked (Zhora, yes. Climax, no). However, I stick to the original. This feels too much like a standard action movie and lacks a lot of what makes BR special (for my tastes). Anyway, you are a very good editor and I hope I can see more from you in the future. And the edit I’d recommend to those people who don’t much like the original because of the slower pacing: better an abridged BR than no BR at all, and this could even help make the film grow on them. 7/10.

VERY well done, but like most of the BR fans I want more, not less! ;)

White43 already said more or less what I think (exept that I like the new score over the Zhora’s scene.)
7/10, could have been 8 but this cut did not surprised me a lot, it’s still BR, but shorter.
From this point of view it’s a good edit.
It’s just that in the case of BR I like more, or else it should change the vision of the movie and plot in a more radical way.

That said I did enjoy this edit. Good job.

Review by White43

NOTE : Personal Opinion. Not intended to offend.

I’m a huge Blade Runner fan – always have been. I rate it as my favourite film of all time. This cut is interesting in that it is a cut, rather than an extension and usually – people are looking to add more to BR, than to take away.

For me, BR is made up of three invaluable things – plot, video and audio. All three elements make up the BR experience, take away any one of those and IMPO, you’re taking away from the overall experience. In terms of the plot, it’s pretty straightforward – but it’s derived from a wonderful PKD novel and the concepts presented are far from low brow. The visual experience is wonderful. This was made in the early 80′s and it stands up to the test of time. All those gorgeous shots of the city, the spinners give us a sense of where we are, it doesn’t feel ‘small’ – it feels massive and sprawling. Finally, Vangelis’ score is timeless. Spooky, unique and vital.

So how does a BR cut that removes some of these elements stand up?
AVI version watched, so cannot comment on DVD presentation.

Plot
The core plot remains intact. The editor has trimmed the fat off and gotten straight to the point.

Video and Audio
Video, no problems whatsoever. 10/10
Audio. Initially I was concerned at cutting from the opening titles (with end BR music) to the start of the scene with Leon and Holden. On rewatch this seems to be OK. I do hear a few bars of the original opening score at the start. Largely, your audio edits are seemless. I think I noted something when Rachel leaves Deckards apartment. The score is a little jumpy. 9/10.

Entertainment and thoughts.

You didn’t say 2019 in the opening credits. I take it that you’ve done this to make it more ambiguous as to when this is set?
Leon’s ‘Sure’ is well intergrated. Liked that.
Likewise, Deckard killing Zhora and then being attacked by Leon before seeing Rachel is better.
You also removed Roy’s ‘comedy moment’, which always felt a little out of place, but made Roy all the more psycho. Not sure on that one.

You added some music to Zhora’s escape and later used this in the Leon/Deckard confrontation. Not sure it worked – it doesn’t mesh well with the Vangelis score, feels too TV series(I’m sure I heard it in Dexter last night?). Using it in the final confrontation also seems to take away the spookiness of the situation.

Rachel playing the piano. You removed the first part and Deckard comes on in and says he dreamed music. Well, no, he heard Rachel playing and woke. Here it feels a little off that he comes straight on over. It works, but not as well.

No unicorn scene. OK, but what does the end unicorn now mean?

As I initially stated, BR is an experience in three bits. You’ve made a faster paced BR, but at the expense of the wonderful visuals. You’ve trimmed some scenes which add depth to the characters – especially Deckard, which is why most people opt for extended version of BR. We want more visuals, more character development to enrich this fantastic world. Adding the incidental music in the first chase scene was OK, but didn’t work for me in the final scenes.

This edit may work for some people and technically, I can’t really fault it. Some people prefer a more straight to the point story – but I’m one of the other ones who like that this film takes it’s time. I prefer the sombre music at the start, the cityscapes, BR blues etc. I could waffle on for ages, so to the point – I’m going to give 6/10 for the entertainment value. I’m unlikely to watch this version again – but might recommend it to someone who needs to get BR watched in about an hour!

Overall rating 7/10 (as I won’t add more than one point over entertainment.