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Blade Runner: The Final Cut


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Hello mr Mullen.

First I just wanna say how amazing your contribution to this forum is. Your enthusiasm in answering complex as well as simple questions is very admirable. Great stuff for those of us stuck in a small european country with a horrible film industry and not much clever film teaching going on.

I was just wondering, what did you think of the alteration Ridley Scott did in the grading for the final cut?

 

It doesn't seem that different than the original look of the 1982 prints. I don't see a major change in look. The biggest difference was in the video transfers of the "preview cut" since that was a dupe of a print, so was rather contrasty. I've seen every version of that movie over the decades in theaters and on VHS, laserdisc, DVD, and blu-ray, plus the original pink-shifted 70mm print of the preview cut and then the dupes made off of that for the 35mm release that preceded the director's cuts. I know you seem to think that Scott did some sort of major look-change to the movie now but I don't see anything that major. Each time a movie is transferred to video there are bound to be variations in contrast and black levels depending on the taste of the people involved at the time and since an electronic version is a different viewing experience than a projected theatrical print, it is hard to make the two experiences look the same when one is viewed on a TV monitor and the other projected from a print. And even prints vary in contrast and black levels depending on whether they are from the o-neg or dupes, the type of print stock, etc. not to mention projection variations. When I see the movie on blu-ray, I still see basically the same look it has always had more or less within reason. It certainly doesn't seem like a contrasty transfer to me but maybe my TV set is set-up differently than yours. Early TV transfers back in the 1990's tended to be a bit lighter because people watched movies on smaller CRT screens but now with home theater systems and larger screens, transfers can be a bit darker.Simply put, 'The Final Cut' looks stunning. Although again I didn't despise the earlier DVD editions, this restoration is nothing short of a revelation. I've seen the film at least 50 times over the years (seriously), and was absolutely floored by how many visual elements I'd simply never seen before. The detail, texture and depth of the image are spectacular. The original elements have clearly been rehabbed from the ground up, with a flawless print that has had all dirt and blemishes removed, (which is doubly impressive considering how many optical effects there are in the film). But lest purists fear that Warner has overdone it, I was thrilled to see that there is still some legitimate grain to the image, which retains a film-like and natural look entirely appropriate to the vintage of the film.

 

Here's a review of the blu-ray from Hi-Def Digest

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/251/bladerunner.html

Colors are also fantastic. This new restoration corrects the overly reddish tint from the previous DVDs, and the subtle and striking blue-green casts are now far more apparent. Fleshtones are also far more consistent, despite all the stylized lighting. Blacks are perfect, and contrast expertly modulated. Jordan Cronenweth's trend-setting cinematography can now be fully appreciated -- particularly his stunning use of light and shadow. Delineation in even the darkest areas of the picture is dead-on, so fine subtleties previously lost in the murk are now readily visible.

 

Home Theater Forum also liked the transfer:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/267984/htf-blu-ray-review-blade-runner-5-disc-ultimate-collectors-edition

At last! Never have the moody dark interior scenes popped so crisply with the unrelenting dance of peering lights; nor have the crowded bombardment of neon signs glowed so much as they do in this painstakingly repaired and assembled cut of the film. Disc one of this Blu-Ray edition provides that ultimate version of Scott’s film in its original aspect ratio, 2.40:1 and encoded VC-1, 1080p. Not every element produces the giddy grin of satisfaction that the pitch-perfect opening does, with the unending industrialized landscape sprawling off to the horizon with an inundation of lights and tall towers spewing fire into the murky sky, but the improvements over any previous home release are substantial.

 

The Digital Bits review:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviewshd/bladerunnerfinalallver01.html

We've got the Blu-ray Disc edition, and I can tell you that the video quality is, in a word, spectacular. Contrast is superb, with deep, detailed blacks. Colors are lush and accurate. There's very light to moderate grain visible, with breathtaking clarity, texture and detail. You can see how the effects footage benefitted from 6K scanning - these shots have just simply never looked better. Best of all, there isn't a speck or scratch to be seen anywhere.
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Hi Mr Mullen.

I thought I would get an email notification if you responded, but looks like I havent set that option up correctly cos I just discovered your reply.

Ive often wondered to what extend a "look" was a result of a paticular type of video transfer. Ive never seen Blade runner in the cinema. I grew up looping an old vhs copy of the film back in the dark middleages of pan and scan. still remember what a revelation it was when it was transmitted in wide screen on danish TV. since then I looped my laserdisc, then dvd and now the blu-ray. The difference im talking about is noticable in these comparisons:

 

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews24/bladerunner.htm

 

Look especially at the shot of Holden/Morgan Paull. The top version is so beautiful I feel like I could replace my wedding photo with it. However, I think the blu-ray shots looks quite different. Im very fond of dark color and details in the shadows, but in this new tweak the shadows are crushed into solid blacks, also I think the shift in color is quite staggering.

 

Also check out the difference in this shot of Rutger Hauers eyes.

http://kintespace.com/rasx45.html

 

Maybe that top look was a happy accident for me and my scale taste due to a inferior transfer, but I sure know what I like best.

It was a similar problem I had when "the Last boyscout" went from dvd to Blu-ray. I never watch my Blu-ray.

 

Do you not prefer one of these looks over the other?

Thanks for your response

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The difference im talking about is noticable in these comparisons:

 

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews24/bladerunner.htm

 

 

 

Maybe that top look was a happy accident for me and my scale taste due to a inferior transfer, but I sure know what I like best.

It was a similar problem I had when "the Last boyscout" went from dvd to Blu-ray. I never watch my Blu-ray.

 

Do you not prefer one of these looks over the other?

Thanks for your response

 

It pisses me off when a classic film is color corrected with 'MODERN' teal&rust orange color casts. It ruins the picture. Watch any big budget Hollywood film in the past 10 years and everything has TEAL & RUST coloring in the background.

 

I agree, Blake. I like the old DVD color correction better. Sure, there may have been trends when the SPIRIT telecine came out, but the new trends are boring.

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Same here. I watched it on a calibrated D-Cinema system, having seen 35mm prints of both the 1982 and 1991 versions before. Perhaps if I saw a side-by-side comparison, I might have seen a difference in the color cast… but just watching the Blu-Ray on its own, the only thing I noticed was that how good the whole thing looked.

 

Remember that if there’s just a consistent overall color cast difference between two copies of the same film, our eyes will adjust for it somewhat. Just try staring at a white sheet lit by 6500 °K light for a while, and then quickly move to a room lit by 2700 °K incandescents. Everything looks yellow now, because your eyes have auto-adjusted their white balance to 6500 °K. That’s why side-by-side screengrab comparisons tend to exaggerate color cast differences.

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Im very fond of dark color and details in the shadows, but in this new tweak the shadows are crushed into solid blacks

Also, the blacks are not really crushed (as in ”clipped to absolute black”) in the Blu-Ray screengrabs you showed us. The shadow detail is still there, it’s just graded very dark. Check for yourself in Photoshop.

Edited by Antti Näyhä
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  • 4 weeks later...

Also, the blacks are not really crushed (as in ”clipped to absolute black”) in the Blu-Ray screengrabs you showed us. The shadow detail is still there, it’s just graded very dark. Check for yourself in Photoshop.

 

 

well I dont watch films through photoshop. on a well calibrated tv set the shadows are black, and the shift in color looks terrible. For the people talking about how it was projected in the cinema, I just dont know, but for the dvd/blu-ray, it sucked.

Its just not the same film. Have a look if theres any doubt in your mind. its all right here:

 

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews24/bladerunner.htm

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  • 1 month later...

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