More Human Than Human

New York, NY. My favourite movie of all time has just got better.

Last night I went to see Blade Runner - The Final Cut, now showing in a limited engagement at the lovely old Ziegfield movie theatre on 54th street. With this new fantastic restored digital 'print' the film looks and sounds better now than it did when I first saw the original version, at a Starburst magazine preview, in London a ¼ of a century ago. It's a thing of beauty, an amazing work of art from director Ridley Scott.

Blade Runner's most obvious technical flaws have been fixed in this new 'Final Cut' - including reshooting the scene of Zhora's death, which used to feature a stunt double that looked nothing like actress Joanna Cassidy, and the scene where the white dove flies off into the (now dark) sky.

All nicely done, but I noticed something annoying - a 'George Lucas-like' revision of dialogue has snuck in when Replicant Roy Batty meets his maker Tyrell. I'm not sure if the 'I want life' line was changed in this cut or the previous 'Director's cut' but it no longer has the same impact that it used to have in the original theatrical cut. This is minor quibble that can be forgiven due to the tremendous restoration of the film as a whole.

If you get a chance then you really should try and catch this 'Final Cut' on the big screen rather than wait for its forthcoming DVD release.