Review of Blade Runner

This dvd also had the international version. I watched each version to compare them. I had not seen the movie before. I only want to comment on the differences between the versions and don't want to give anything away for those who haven't seen the movie. I watched the Directors Cut first as most reviews indicate that without the "narrative" you wouldn't understand what was going on. I found this not to be the case. In fact, after watching the theater version I felt only the first "narrative" when he is reading the newspaper was one I might have left in. The others were unnecessary although they added a little understanding to characters and the last ones (on the rooftop and the ending) I felt actually took away from the movie. I preferred the ending in the directors cut as it left more to my imagination, I could end it how I wished. The one added scene (with the unicorn) which the director indicates is supposed to open the possibility of Ford being a replicant as well was so obscure in its purpose as to have no meaning at all. To me, it bore no relevance to anything and was the one bad chord in the cut. The international version is different from the theater version only in that it has a couple of scenes where the violence is shown and I felt it greatly detracted from the mood and the movie. You already know how menacing Hauer'r character is. All that said, I liked the Directors Cut best.