Culture news 7 different endings in 27 years! This cult sci-fi film waited two decades before getting the conclusion it deserved and it changed everything
A monument of science fiction, Blade Runner is a film which nevertheless had a complex journey and which took years to obtain a certain recognition. It’s simple: in nearly 25 years, the film has been released in seven different versions.
The seven versions of Blade Runner
Blade Runner holds a special place among the masterpieces of science fiction. The film by Ridley Scott, adapted from the novel Do androids dream of electric sheep? by Philip K. Dick has had a complex journey since its very first release in 1982. Over the years, multiple versions of the feature film have been produced and today there are seven, not all of which are equal. The differences are sometimes minimal, but it is especially at the end of the film that they differ more widely.
We thus note, in the order of output, the Workprint version, i.e. the test projection version. The test version of San Diego, which contains shots now lost, the American cinema version, with a final sequence edited from rushes of Stanley Kubrick’s Shining, the international cinema version, more violent and the TV version which includes some modifications in order to comply with the regulations in force at the time. Then, in 1992, a Director’s Cut version was offered in limited release in the United States to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the film. This version actually corresponds to the 1982 Workprint version, with some changes made by editor Michael Arick under the supervision of Ridley Scott. Finally, you will have to wait until 2007 for the 25th anniversary of the film to discover the Final Cut version, the definitive version of Blade Runner that you absolutely must watch.
A monument of science fiction
Today, we can only remember one version: The Final Cut of 2007, entirely supervised and validated by Ridley Scott himself. The images and sound have been remastered, the dream sequence of the unicorn is shown in its entirety, additional sequences have been shot and above all, we find an ending similar to the Workprint version, much more ambiguous, which completely dismisses the happy ending initially desired by production. This version is the most legitimate and it is also the one which introduces Blade Runner 2049, the direct sequel directed by Denis Villeneuve, released in 2017. If you have never seen Blade Runner, we can only recommend that you do discover this science fiction masterpiece with the Final Cut version which offers a real makeover to a film released more than forty years ago.