![]() ![]() The question is, does the voice-over ruin the movie? Is this version of Blade Runner - the first version shown to the public - actually unwatchable because of the heavy-handed narration? Many fans believe subsequent cuts of the film sans the Deckard voice-over are superior for this reason alone. Ford also hated the voice-over, and it shows. Deckard is reading a newspaper, he looks up at a blimp that is advertising life on the “Off-world colonies.” And then, in voiceover, we hear Ford speak the line: “They don’t advertise for killers in a newspaper.” This is one of thirteen separate voiceovers throughout the Theatrical Cut, and if you’ve ever had a conversation about Blade Runnercuts, the voiceovers are almost always the most universally derided.Īlthough the idea of having a narration from Deckard originated with director Ridley Scott, the actual voice-over mandated by the studio was not what the director wanted at all. And, the first moment you hear it in this version is 8 minutes and 49 seconds into the movie. How will you know? The short answer is that this version of the film has voiceover narration from Harrison Ford’s character, Rick Deckard. If you try to rent Blade Runneron YouTube, Amazon Prime, Google Play, iTunes, the version you will encounter is - most likely - the theatrical cut of the film. So, with that in mind, we’re dealing with five watchable versions of Blade Runner, some harder to find than others. (And if you’re curious about the existence of those Blade Runner variants, buy yourself a copy of the book Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner by Paul M. Any other theater-only versions of Blade Runnerare out of the scope of this article. Unfortunately, since time travel is not yet an option, and you can’t go back in time and catch all the various cuts of Blade Runnerthat were shown in theaters in 1982, we’re going to stick to versions of the film that you could conceivably watch right now, either on streaming, on DVD/Blu-ray, or by obtaining a VHS tape or a LaserDisc. So, which cut of Blade Runneris the best? It’s time to answer that question. Because of the numerous cuts of Blade Runner out there, it can be bewildering to try and figure out which one is the “real” one. Was there one Replicant fried in that electrical field or two? Depends on the cut of the film! No other science fiction film has demanded such hyper-granular scrutiny, partially because no other science fiction film has had as many versions of itself. Even Blade Runner canon is a little murky. Wondering why exactly science fiction film aficionados are so obsessed with Blade Runner is a similar paradox: It may not matter if we can explain the cult obsession and it’s probably just healthier if we accept it. ![]() In the film, we’re not told exactly how “advanced robot evolution” intermingled with “genetic engineers” to create the Nexus 6 Replicants, but the film works anyway because we’re only interested in what the Replicants are doing right now. ![]() ![]() The reasons for this are numerous, and those explanations could (and have) filled several books. In 1982, a noir-esque thriller called Blade Runnerquietly changed science fiction cinema forever. ![]()
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