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Blade Runner (The Director's Cut)

  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 15, age appropriate for kids over 17; suggested age 15.

  • Is it any good?

    4.0
  • Common Sense says

    A dark, philosophical sci-fi drama. Older teens +.

Why We Rated This iffy for Ages 15–17

What to watch out for

  • Messages:

    Not an issue.
  • Violence:

    Shootings, fights. The last 20 minutes of the film are particularly explicitly violent.
  • Sex:

    Implied sex. Brief female nudity.
  • Language:

    Not an issue.
  • Consumerism:

    A few billboards in the cityscape, most notably for the recording media company TDK.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Some drinking and smoking. Deckard (the main character) gets drunk.

What Parents Need to Know

This review of Blade Runner (The Director's Cut) was written by Afsheen Nomai and Marjorie Kase

Parents need to know that BLADE RUNNER is at times a very violent film with graphic and slow-motion depictions of people being shot in the head and chest multiple times. The last 20 minutes of the film are particularly violent. There are two instances where sex is implied. The main character witnesses (implied) bestiality in a strip club. There is brief nudity when one of the strippers showers. Drug and alcohol use is at a minimum; however, there is some drinking and smoking by the principal characters.

Families Can Talk About

Talk to your kids about the media in their life. We have more tools and tips that can help
  • Families can talk about the ethics of replicating humans. Replicants look and behave exactly like humans, but should they be treated as such? What standards are used to justify the treatment of people or things that are perceived as inhuman, whether they are created by us (as in clones or artificial intelligence) or not?
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More on Blade Runner (The Director's Cut)

What’s the Story?

BLADE RUNNER is set in dystopian Los Angeles, circa 2019. Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former Blade Runner, is recalled from retirement to exterminate a gang of rogue replicants (a type of human android). Replicants were invented to perform slave labor on off-world colonies. Law forbids them to live on Earth. Despite their artificial intelligent makeup, a glitch has allowed them to develop human emotions and a lust for life. The longer they live, the more powerful their emotions. Unofficial replicant leader Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) leads a pack of them to Earth to find and convince their maker, Tyrell (Joe Turkel), to invent a way to extend their five-year lifespan. As they become more desperate to find Tyrell, they grow weaker. Grappling with an intense love for model replicant Rachael (Sean Young) but bound by his duty to uphold the law, Deckard must rethink his views on what it means to be human, as he hunts down and kills his android nemeses.

Is It Any Good?

Based on the short story Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by legendary sci-fi author Philip K. Dick, BLADE RUNNER is a deeply philosophical yet violent picture. While it may come across as an action/adventure science fiction film, the movie is, in actuality, very slow-paced and visually dense. When it premiered in 1982, BLADE RUNNER bombed at the box office. Critics decried its unnecessary voice-over and inconsistent Hollywood ending. Audiences were alienated by its lengthy pace. As rumors circulated of studio interference, a cult following emerged seeking director Ridley Scott's original ending. The director's cut confirmed their suspicions in 1993 when the film was rereleased, this time without its original voice-over and cheesy finale. After well-deserved acclaim, BLADE RUNNER (THE DIRECTOR'S CUT) is now considered one of the greatest science fiction films of all time.

Families considering viewing this film should avoid the original like the plague; instead go with Ridley Scott's original vision. Children in their mid-teens with a strong interest in the science fiction genre are more likely to enjoy this film. However, it is not appropriate for teens under age 15.

Movie Details

Studio: Warner Bros., Director: Ridley Scott
Run time: 117 minutes
Theatrical release: 06/25/1982, DVD release: 03/24/1997
MPAA Rating: R for Violence and Nudity

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Most Recent Reviews

  1. Teen Reviewer Age 13
    I rate this title iffy for age 14 and give it 5.0
    • My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence

    A great sci fi flick starring Harrison Ford. Not for kids for obvious reasons. The film is dark and the violence is graphic and repetetive. Bare breasts are occasionly seen, and there are some sex references. Older kids should be able to handle this one.

  2. Teen Reviewer Age 13
    I rate this title iffy for age 13 and give it 5.0
    • My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence

    Eat your heart out Star Wars

    This Movie is a perfect example of Science Fiction at it's best. This phonominal movie is tied with Kubrick's 2001 with my favorite Sci Fi motion picture, a must see for everybody over 13. The main problem for younger viewers in this movie is not exceptionally the violence (although it plays a roll) but the complexity of the story line. There were a few parts of the film where I had to ask my father motives behind why charactors were doing this that and the other, and I'm sure that the complexity of this movie would just bounce off an elementary school child's head, so save it till there thirteen. Another point, there is a part of the film where a female's breasts are exposed, so you may want to remove the more inocent of your children at this point in the movie. Keep watching! The Blackadder

  3. Kid Reviewer Age 12
    Lives in Virginia
    I rate this title iffy for age 17 and give it 5.0
    • My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence

    still one of thebest sci fi movies ever

    blade runner is a very violent sci fi classic that many films want to emulate but none ever will emulate a film that everyone who seen it will remember it forever and the director cut features long lost deleted scenes. and the extras are so in depth you learn lots of stuff that you wanted to konow and never wanted to know. overall A

  4. Adult Reviewer
    Lives in California
    I rate this title on for age 14 and give it 4.0
    • My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence

    Blade Runner is a timeless classic. The special effects were phenomenal for it's time and are up to today's standards. The story is both engaging and extremely thoughtful. This film creates a both realistic and believable look at the future and captures us into the movie. While not one of my favorites, this is a very well done film that I recommend, especially to sci-fi fans, but also, to any lover of good cinema. Parents should know that the atmosphere of this movie is very dark and there are some intense moment of violence. There is a scene where a man is shot twice and flies back in his chair very quickly, which will surprise many viewers. Other violent scenes include a man getting shot in the back of the head, with the front of his head bursting open, a mans face is crushed by another man, a woman is shot many times and breaks through many windows of glass in slow motion, another woman is shot and while yelling very loudly and writhing on the floor, she is shot again repeatedly, a man is bloodily beaten and has a couple of his fingers broken (with loud crunching sounds), and a man stabs himself in the hand with a nail. There is also a scene with a woman taking a shower where you see her bare breasts. As for language, in the final cut, there is one instance of the f-word, in other versions the language is PG.

  5. Teen Reviewer Age 15
    Lives in California
    I rate this title iffy for age 15 and give it 4.0
    • My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence
    • Inappropriate sexual content

    Really good. I actually saw Final Cut, so it might be slightly different... Highly provocative and philisophical, but also extremely violent and gory. Brief nudity in a strip club (breasts). The last 30 minutes of the movie are extremely intense and creepy. Definately not for anybody younger than 14. (This movie was based on the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. If you like this movie/book, read Fahrenheit 451 or 1984.)

  6. Adult Reviewer
    Lives in Florida
    I rate this title iffy for age 14 and give it 4.0
    • My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence
    • Inappropriate sexual content

  7. Teen Reviewer Age 16
    Lives in Pennsylvania
    I rate this title on for age 16 and give it 5.0

    Certainly the best science fiction film of the 1980s.

  8. Teen Reviewer Age 15
    Lives in New York
    I rate this title on for age 0 and give it 4.0

    This movie surprised me!

    I decided to just buy this movie based on a couple reviews on blu-ray. It surprised me because the video quality looked like it could've been made 6 months ago. I liked the film, but I thought that it could've expanded a bit more.

  9. Adult Reviewer
    Lives in California
    I rate this title pause for age 0 and give it 2.0

  10. Teen Reviewer Age 16
    Lives in Massachusetts
    I rate this title pause for age 0 and give it 4.0

    interesting drama, not really an action flick

    If you are looking for a run and gun action movie, this is not it. The action in this one is extremely brutal and explicit, and violince is not glorified. The main charater is beaten nearly to death twice, one charater is shot in slow motion, another has half his head blown off, another is shot in the side twice and her side gets ripped off. Oddly enough, only 7 charaters die. Good movie for older teens mature enough to understand some of the themes.

  11. Adult Reviewer
    Lives in Pennsylvania
    I rate this title pause for age 0 and give it 5.0

    Good, but violent.

    This is an amazing movie. The scenery is just spectacular, same with the acting and special effects. Please note though, that the violence is pretty graphic, although there is not much of it. The sex is minimal, but the nudity in one scene is a little gratuitous. 15+ if you cry easily, but 13 or 14+ if you are really mature.

  12. Teen Reviewer Age 16
    Lives in Indiana
    I rate this title on for age 0 and give it 5.0

    Provocative

    This classic is a moving and powerful vision of the future, not to mention a symbolic film with great characters. Sure, there's commercialism, but it adds to the bleakness of the vision.

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