Review Detail

I'm a die-hard fan of Blade Runner (or the Final Cut, if you're looking for specifics), and I also consider its sequel, 2049, as one of the best films of 2017. So of course I was excited to see Blade Runner get turned into what is slowly becoming a sub-genre of fanediting: A.K.A. the grindhousing of all your favorite movies. I'm not sure how this one will compare to other grindhoused edits (I've only seen The War of the Stars as of this review), and there's a part of me that feels like this sounded better on paper, but with that said, I still enjoyed it, and I think it's worth a watch if you're already going down the grindhouse rabbit hole.

I guess I'll start with my issues with this edit before I jump into the good stuff. First off, this is not intended to be a "perfect" version of Blade Runner. Of course, this being the grindhouse version, that's to be expected. This means that a lot of the editing choices made are from the much maligned theatrical versions of the film. Harrison Ford's bad narration? Check. Happier ending? Check. Censored content? Well, that's a little more complex (We get to see Sean Young's breasts in this cut, and it had more offensive subtitles, so there's that, I guess), but I'm leaning towards check. I suppose most of this works for the intentions of this edit (Although I wish more of the violence was uncensored, specifically on Tyrell's and Zhora's fates), but if you're hoping that the storytelling is gonna be top-notch, let me just say you're looking at the wrong edit.

Storytelling aside, though, the edit does a good job of making you feel like you're watching a grindhouse film. I would say that parts of the dirty film look clearly have a filter on, but having done my own editing on DaVinci Resolve (the free version, mind you, because not everyone has $300 to spare), I know how hard it is to achieve that kind of look, so I'm more forgiving on that aspect. I loved both of the fake trailers and I now want to see a version of Grease where Sandy is an alien from outer space who will explode and turn our planet into a million little pieces if some John Travolta-looking stud takes away her virginity! Good stuff! The roughed-up cuts look accurate, and the 1970's funk and jazz soundtrack does a good job of making this film feel like a product of its time. For me, this edit is more about the experience of watching one of these grindhouse films, and less about the film itself. So if you want to see an edit that gets you as close to watching a grindhouse film as possible with the editing and color grading technology we have, and you're fine seeing these effects done to Blade Runner, then this is a good watch!