Blade Runner returns to Arte. Yes but which version?

Purists count no less than 8 montages of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi film. The one that returns to television is the favorite of its director.

“I have seen so many things that you humans would not believe.”

The history of versions of Blade Runner would deserve a documentary series in itself, as it is full of twists and turns! In 1982, Harrison Ford, Ridley Scott and their producers had divergent views on this Replicants story. Should we clearly give the key to the enigma to the spectators? Or, on the contrary, end the story by leaving doubt about the true identity of the main character, Rick Deckard?

We also know that the director lacked money to shoot all the shots he had in mind, so some images were taken from Shining, filmed two years earlier by Stanley Kubrick. And we must not forget that this multiplication of versions is also a marketing technique to ride on its late success… Indeed upon its release, Blade Runner had grossed less than $50 million at the box office. It has gained its status as a cult film over the years, through rebroadcasts and releases on VHS, DVD and then blu-ray.

This extraordinary project of Ridley Scott therefore returns to Arte, and the question that fans can legitimately ask themselves is the following: “what is the proposed version?” Without much surprise, it is not the one released in theaters in 1982, but the Final Cut of 2007. Not to be confused with the Director’s Cut from 1991 or worse the version fraudulently called the Director’s Cut which was in fact a 70mm copy found of the Workprint.

Premiere Classics: When Harrison Ford and Ridley Scott talked about Blade Runner in 1982

Blade Runner – Final Cut

This 25th anniversary edition, lasting 117 minutes, was released in theaters on October 5, 2007, then it was a hit on video. It is the only one on which Scott had total control of the artistic direction, although he was unable to use certain shots filmed at the time, because they were too damaged by time.

It looks a lot like his 1991 Director’s Cut, but with particular care taken to renovate the quality of its images and sound. This is Scott’s favorite version, as he explains in this bonus video, below. Since it appears on the DVD and Blu-ray of the film, it is generally chosen for rebroadcasts of Blade Runner on television or streaming.

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To stop confusing once again for the different edits of the film, here is a quick presentation of the previous versions of Blade Runner.

Beware of spoilers : Most of the changes are related to the ending scene.

Version released in American theaters (1982)
It lasts 116 minutes and is immediately recognizable by the use of Harrison Ford’s voiceover, and its happy ending scene. We see Gaff (Edward James Olmos) spare Rachel’s (Sean Young) life. The young woman then escapes from Los Angeles by car with Deckard, and the landscape that the couple crosses was filmed not by Ridley Scott, but by Stanley Kubrick for Shining. The British filmmaker gave his agreement so that Warner Bros, which produced these two films, could use these few aerial shots, and thus save money.

Although it was selected for release in American cinemas, this version is not truly the original, as others had been made before it.

The Workprint (1982)
This 112-minute montage was shown in test screenings in Denver and Dallas, but at the time, audiences were confused by not having a clear answer to the question: “Is Deckard a Replicant or not?” It differs from the other versions in several details: the presentation of the androids has been modified, when Deckard plays the piano, there is no unicorn or music, the death of Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) is filmed from further away and commented by Rick, the film stops before the “happy ending”, when the elevator doors close and Rachel leaves. Finally, there are no end credits, just a cardboard “The End” and the music of Vangelis. The fact that this cut received negative reviews during testing prompted the studio to make the changes listed above for its cinema version.

The San Diego Premiere (1982)
This version was only shown once, with three scenes in addition to the film edit of the film, during a screening in San Diego in May 1982. Tiny details that were never shown again: Batty in a videophone booth, Deckard reloading his gun after wounding him and Deckard with Rachel at sunset.

The international version (1982)
117 minutes long, it is also known as the edition “Criterion”, and it was it which was initially broadcast in France: it had been designed for the European, Australian and Asian markets, which were more permissive in terms of violence: this montage is a little bloodier than the American version, for example during of the hunt for Zhora (Joanna Cassidy). It ended up being released in the USA, on VHS and laserdisc, ten years later: this 1992 release is nicknamed “the 10th anniversary reissue.”

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The CBS TV version (1986)
Conversely, to be able to show Blade Runner without receiving too strong a ban, the channel decided to reduce its violence, bad words and nudity. Hence this difference of 3 minutes compared to the European assembly: this only counts 114 vs. 117. This is still 2 minutes longer than the Workprint, because its broadcast was preceded by a card explaining from the outset that Deckard is not a Replicant, and the opening presentation was a little longer and different.

The Unofficial Director’s Cut (1990)
A montage designed from the Workprint, rediscovered in 1989 by the curator and restorer Michael Arick, made without the director’s consent, but which greatly pleased the public. He believed he had gotten his hands on a previously unreleased edit of the film, and the firm validated its broadcast in several American cinemas before realizing its error.

Upon discovering it, Ridley Scott was very critical, notably because of the absence of Vangelis’ music during a key scene in the film, temporarily replaced by a score by Jerry Goldsmith for The Planet of the Apes ! Understanding that they had authorized its broadcast too quickly, Warner will withdraw this version from theaters to offer the real Director’s Cut shortly after.

The (real) Director’s Cut (1991)
Blade Runner having a resurgence of popularity in the early 1990s thanks to the broadcast of the bad Director’s Cut, Ridley Scott wasted no time in retouching his film, with the help of Michael Arick, who was, despite himself, at the origin of the mess. He removes Deckard’s voiceover – which is still present 13 times! – he adds the dream of the unicorn in the forest, a question from Gaff to Deckard (“Are you sure you’re human?”), and above all, he removed the optimistic ending for this more ambiguous shot on the elevator doors. In short, it casts doubt on the true identity of its protagonist.

Absorbed in the making of Thelma and Louise, he later admitted to not having been available enough to properly refine this Director’s Cut. This is why he retouched his films one last time in 2007 with the Final Cut, which has been broadcast everywhere since. Harrison Ford, who has considered from the start that Deckard is not a Replicant (he has always repeated that he played him as a human), explained in 2000 about this Director’s Cut that he considered him to be “spectacular, but reduced to an exercise in style.”

The 1997 DVD edition vs. that of 2006
For the 15th anniversary release, the Director’s Cut is chosen, unfortunately the production from the 1993 laserdisc offers fairly low sound and image quality. By preparing his Final Cut, Ridley Scott was able to give back to Blade Runner a more prestigious restoration, in 2K and 5.1. This remastering of the Director’s Cut was released in 2006, just one year before the Final Cut.

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