Blu-ray box set review: 'Blade Runner: 30th Anniversary Collector's Edition'

Pros: Five (yes, five) different versions of the film; nice mix of extras

Cons: None

Blade Runner: 30th Anniversary Collector’s Edition
 
Reviewer’s Note: This review covers the 2012 Blu-ray box set and not the 1982 feature film or any of its follow-on versions. I also don’t own the five-disc DVD set from which the ’12 30th Anniversary Collector’s Edition is derived. 
 
Although I’m a fan of both director Ridley Scott and actor Harrison Ford, I’ve inexplicably kept 1982’s Blade Runner at arm’s length.

I didn’t rush to see the original theatrical cut when it premiered on June 25, 1982 nor for its run in theaters. I hadn’t yet seen director Scott’s Alien and wasn’t too enthused about “hard” science fiction movies. My idea of an enjoyable sci-fi flick at the time included such movies as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and space fantasies along the lines of Star Wars and its sequels. I knew, thanks to Entertainment Tonight and various articles in sci-fi related magazines, that Blade Runner was a mix of 1940s-era film noir and a dystopian vision of the future — two major turnoffs for my then teenaged self.  

Thus, when Warner Bros. and Scott released the “Director’s Cut” edition in theaters and home video 10 years later, I still resisted Blade Runner’s dark allure, especially after I read (or heard) that the director had changed the somewhat traditional finis  to, as Scott described it, a  “somewhat bleaker ending.” Meh, I thought. I didn’t see the more commercial version when it came out; why bother watching the depressing one?
 
However, my movie-watching habits have evolved over time, and after watching several of Scott’s other films (Alien, Black Hawk Down, Gladiator), I decided to use my Amazon Visa’s “Shop With Points” rewards to snag the 30th Anniversary Collector’s Edition of Blade Runner, a 2012 three-disc Blu-ray counterpart to 2007’s Blade Runner - Ultimate Collector's Edition.
 
Judging from the list of product details (see the DVD/BD Set Features section below), the 2012 Blu-ray disc (BD) version presents the same content as 2007’s DVD edition. The only differences between the two sets are the audio-visual format, the packaging, the number of discs, and the distribution of the Special Features among the discs.
 
Packaging
 
The packaging of Blade Runner: The 30th Anniversary Collector’s Edition differs from its DVD counterpart in several ways.

Unlike the Blade Runner - Ultimate Collector's Edition, the number of discs in the BD edition is three, not five. This allows Warner Home Video to pack the BDs in a Blu-ray book-style case similar to the company’s first two Star Wars: The Clone Wars BD sets.  Disc One, which contains the 2007 Final Cut of Blade Runner, is ensconced in a single-disc slot in the book’s frontispiece. Discs Two and Three, which contain the 1982 original and international theatrical versions, 1992’s Director’s Cut, and the rare “workprint” edition, fit in overlapping disc holders in the inside of the back cover.

Between the covers, there is an illustrated book which features conceptual art, storyboards, sketches, and a handful of behind-the-scenes photographs taken on the set. There is, however, no text other than designs for on-screen logos and camera shot descriptions on the storyboards. (This is reminiscent of the Clone Wars BD sets.)  

This, obviously, is different from the DVD set’s packaging, which was designed to resemble a briefcase carried by Harrison Ford’s Blade Runner character, an ex-cop named Deckard.


DVD/BD Set Features:
 
Disc One

RIDLEY SCOTT'S ALL-NEW "FINAL CUT" VERSION OF THE FILM

Restored and remastered with added & extended scenes, added lines, new and cleaner special effects and all new 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio. Also includes:

Commentary by Ridley Scott

Commentary by executive producer/co-screenwriter Hampton Fancher and co-screenwriter David Peoples; producer Michael Deely and production executive Katherine Haber

Commentary by visual futurist Syd Mead; production designer Lawrence G. Paull, art director David L. Snyder and special photographic effects supervisors Douglas Trumbull, Richard Yuricich and David Dryer
 
Disc Two

DOCUMENTARY DANGEROUS DAYS: MAKING BLADE RUNNER

A feature-length authoritative documentary revealing all the elements that shaped this hugely influential cinema landmark. Cast, crew, critics and colleagues give a behind-the-scenes, in-depth look at the film -- from its literary roots and inception through casting, production, visuals and special effects to its controversial legacy and place in Hollywood history.
 
Disc Three 
1982 THEATRICAL VERSION

This is the version that introduced U.S. movie-going audiences to a revolutionary film with a new and excitingly provocative vision of the near-future. It contains Deckard/Harrison Ford's character narration and has Deckard and Rachel's (Sean Young) "happy ending" escape scene.

1982 INTERNATIONAL VERSION

Also used on U.S. home video, laserdisc and cable releases up to 1992. This version is not rated, and contains some extended action scenes in contrast to the Theatrical Version.

1992 DIRECTOR'S CUT

The Director's Cut omits Deckard's voiceover narration and removes the "happy ending" finale. It adds the famously-controversial "unicorn" sequence, a vision that Deckard has which suggests that he, too, may be a replicant.
 
Disc Four

BONUS DISC - "Enhancement Archive": 90 minutes of deleted footage and rare or never-before-seen items in featurettes and galleries that cover the film's amazing history, production teams, special effects, impact on society, promotional trailers, TV spots, and much more.

Featurette "The Electric Dreamer: Remembering Philip K. Dick"

Featurette "Sacrificial Sheep: The Novel vs. The Film"Philip K. Dick: The Blade Runner

Interviews (audio) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

Cover Gallery (images)

The Art of Blade Runner (image galleries)

Featurette "Signs of the Times: Graphic Design"

Featurette "Fashion Forward: Wardrobe & Styling"

Screen Tests: Rachel & Pris

Featurette "The Light That Burns: Remembering Jordan Cronenweth"

Unit photography gallery

Deleted and alternate scenes

1982 promotional featurettes

Trailers and TV spots

Featurette "Promoting Dystopia: Rendering the Poster Art"

Marketing and merchandise gallery (images)

Featurette "Deck-A-Rep: The True Nature of Rick Deckard"

Featurette "--Nexus Generation: Fans & Filmmakers"
 
Disc Five

WORKPRINT VERSION

This rare version of the film is considered by some to be the most radically different of all the Blade Runner cuts. It includes an altered opening scene, no Deckard narration until the final scenes, no "unicorn" sequence, no Deckard/Rachel "happy ending," altered lines between Batty (Rutger Hauer) and his creator Tyrell (Joe Turkell), alternate music and much more. Also includes:

Commentary by Paul M. Sammon, author of Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner
Featurette "All Our Variant Futures: From Workprint to Final Cut"
 
The 30th Anniversary Blu-ray Edition
 
Disc One: 
 
Blu-ray: The Final Cut (2007)
 
Disc Two:
 
Blu-ray Original Theatrical Cut (1982), International Theatrical Cut (1982), Director’s Cut (1991)
 
Disc Three:
 
Blu-ray Special Features: The rare Workprint Feature Version, Dangerous Days documentary, HD stills gallery with more than 1,000 archival images.
 
(All of the DVD extra features added to the movies themselves appear in the appropriate films’ Blu-ray discs.)

My Take
 
One of the best things about box sets such as Blade Runner: The 30th Anniversary Collector’s Edition is that you can own and watch multiple versions of the same movie without having to mortgage your house. Unlike, say, 2011’s Star Wars: The Complete Saga, you are not limited to one arbitrary version of the movie. In this set, just as in Columbia’s 30th Anniversary Edition of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, you can watch different iterations of Deckard’s dogged quest to track down six replicants in 2019 Los Angeles.

Not having owned the DVD set, I can’t make any comparison between the 2007 and 2012 sets. My Epinions colleague shopaholic_man wrote an excellent review of the five-disc set, so if you don’t have a Blu-ray player and want the DVD collector’s edition, you might want to refer to that article to make an informed decision.

I’ve only watched the 1982 theatrical version and some of the behind-the-scenes materials. From what I’ve seen, the quality of the image and sound is excellent, even on a non-home theater enhanced HDTV like mine. To his credit, Ridley Scott did not replace Douglas Trumbull’s old-school special effects with computer-generated imaging (CGI) ones. Those look super-cool on high definition and really don’t look dated.