Blade Runner: The Final Cut, film review: Sci-fi epic is one of the best film noirs of recent times

(15) Ridley Scott, 117 mins Starring: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Daryl Hannah

Geoffrey Macnab
Thursday 02 April 2015 23:16 BST
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The 'final' Final Cut? Sean Young in the Ridley Scott sci-fi classic 'Blade Runner'
The 'final' Final Cut? Sean Young in the Ridley Scott sci-fi classic 'Blade Runner' (Rex)

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Watching Blade Runner again, you can't help but be struck by how damp it is in the 2019 Los Angeles dreamed up by Ridley Scott and his crew. We are always hearing that LA is running out of water but, in Scott's masterpiece, the neon-lit city seems to be under a permanent sheen of rain.

There have been several different versions of the film – chiefly the 1982 release, the 1992 "Director's Cut" and the 2007 "Final Cut". The latter is re-released now to round off the BFI's long-running Sci-Fi: Days of Fear and Wonder series. In 2007, Scott hinted he might tinker yet further with the "final" cut. "It's like finishing a painting – you never really do," he commented.

Whether he does or not, this remains an astonishing achievement: a Dystopian sci-fi epic that is also one of the best film noirs of recent times.

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