Blade Runner: The Penultimate Cut

A great piece of work, from the perspective of only having seen the Final Cut before this just felt like a more polished product. Nothing at all to complain about, but it may be tricky to decide which of the 20+ other audio tracks to listen to next time!

I've seen Blade Runner more times than I can remember. Ridley Scott + Philip K. Dick + Syd Mead = CYBERPUNK. Often imitated, never duplicated; 2049 didn't even come close. I saw The Final Cut when it was first released on the silver screen and thought I'd seen the best version the best way.

But even back in 2007, something bothered me. I couldn't put my finger on it at first. The era of digital color grading was still fairly young, and so was I, unaware of such things. Every version I've watched since, always in a newer format, has had the same unidentifiable issue. Years later I figured it out, but what options did I have?

I've been subconsciously waiting for this correction, I only wished I watched it sooner. With the exception of some slight audio glitches where the soundtrack seemed to strobe or pulse (and only for a couple of minutes early in the film); I don't recall that on any other mix, but I could be wrong. I'm still grading A/V a 10, because the color is perfect. It could also be the smaller 720p file I watched. I'll have to see the 1080p and compare. Either way, who cares, this is the only way I'm watching Blade Runner.

1/7/23 Edit: I compared the 720p version to the 1080p; I found no audio issues with the 1080p.

All I can say is just WOW! I own the five disc blu-ray collectors set, and for some reason have only watched the Final Cut for the longest time, never liked the harsh teal tint, but it was a solid movie. Watching the original home release to see why everyone seems to dismiss it, and the FC, this edit quite literally the penULTIMATE cut, loved it from beginning to end.

Honestly, I can't keep all of the different versions of Blade Runner straight in my head. All I can say is that the Penultimate Cut is wonderful.

It looks great. It still has all of the little fixes from The Final Cut, while being beautiful to look at, which is a big factor in the enjoyment of a visual film like Blade Runner.

I really appreciate all of the care and attention to detail that went into this edit. Great work!

I’ve watched (many times) Blade Runner on VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, and I got to see the DC at the cinema - and this is by far the best looking version of the film without a doubt. Absolutely sterling work by TM2YC!

There isn’t really anything to add - the scores I’ve given are very well deserved. If I could get this fan edit on Blu-ray, it’d replace my FC disk in an instant :)