In terms of narrative, the final cut isn’t all that different from the 1992 version. If anything, the final cut is nothing more than a “polished” version of the director’s cut. There’s no narration, no happy ending and Deckard still dreams about the unicorn, same as the director’s cut from 1992. The more significant differences between the two versions are as follows:
- When Batty releases the dove as he dies, in the final cut it flies into a darkened and rainy night sky that matches the rest of the scene, instead of the bright and clear one from the previous versions;
- The meeting of Batty with Tyrell has a few dialogue changes in the final cut. Instead of “I want more life, fucker”, Batty says “I want more life, father”. Also, when he leaves the room after killing Tyrell, he goes after Sebastian saying “I’m sorry Sebastian. Come, come…”, further implying that he kills Sebastian too;
- The onscreen deaths are more violent. When Batty kills Tyrell in the final cut, you can see his thumbs actually entering Tyrell’s eye sockets and blood spurting out. Also, Pris wiggles on the floor screaming for longer than in previous versions and Deckard has to shoot her a total of three times to kill her. The fight between Deckard and Pris is also more violent and the shot of Batty driving the nail through his hand is more graphic;
- Deckard’s dream with the unicorn looks better and it’s also better integrated with the rest of the scene;
- There are special effects enhancements here and there, but it’s subtle stuff. The movie had a few shots trimmed and a few transitions between scenes redone as well, but nothing major.
If you want a more comprehensive list of differences, you can find it here.
Honestly, I think it’s a matter of personal preference between the director’s cut from 1992 and the final cut. The final cut is just more polished than the director’s cut, but if you prefer the way things look and sound in the director’s cut, I suppose it’s ok too.
I own all of them in a 4 disc set and personally prefer the final cut. It fixed a lot of errors made in previous versions and is a lot more beautiful to look at.
I also own all three different versions on DVD. I haven’t completely made up my mind yet on the changes made to the Tyrell/Batty scene or if the added violence was necessary, but I think I also prefer the final cut.
I have the 4 disc set. The difference between directors cut and final cut is hardly noticeable but the final cut is the better of the two.
Yeah, the Final Cut might be better, but I prefer the Director’s cut. It irks me every time he says “I want more life, father.” It just doesn’t feel right to me.
Moderated
I like some aspect “best” about all the different versions. No definitive version. The final cut’s great and otherwise superior, but the color correction to make it more in line with today’s current monochromatic aesthetic bugs me. Dumbs down the original color design and complexity of visual detail.
“In a world where everything is blue or brown…”
New Yorker, isn’t the score to BLADE RUNNER dated and cheesy?
Rather than bump the other thread I posted this in, I’ll follow up my post from ten months ago with a link to some side-by-side comparisons. Really dislike the color-correction of the Final Cut compared to previous versions.
@Ben Simington: when you’re getting into that level of technical nitpicking, you have to ask yourself whether or not: A. that changes the way you watch or understand the movie in any significant way, and B. whether or not that effects the enjoyment you get from watching it. I don’t think colour correction etc. really changes that much for 99% of non-film-Otaku spectators.
Yes to both your questions (perhaps less to A.), but more than anything, just makes me think of the difference between looking at a nice painting in a museum versus a crappy plate reproduction in an art textbook from the 60s. And in the case of BLADE RUNNER, it definitely makes me bummed for the weak-sauce direction color composition has gone in general since, well, at least in this case, the early 80s. But more generally since the days of Technicolor when people had some frickin’ guts about such stuff.
New Yorker
I have the 1992 version, which I understand is highly respected, but is the final cut substantially different to the extent that I should replace it.