Blade Runner (The Director's Cut)

 Review

Common Sense Media says

A dark, philosophical sci-fi drama. Older teens +.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

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.

  • Not applicable.
  • Shootings, fights. The last 20 minutes of the film are particularly explicitly violent.
  • Implied sex. Brief female nudity.

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.


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What families can talk about

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?


This review was written by Common Sense Media Editors
Teen, 15 years old
October 1, 2009
 
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.

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
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.

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Adult
July 17, 2009
 
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.

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Teen, 17 years old
April 9, 2008
 
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.

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Teen, 18 years old
January 28, 2009
 
Certainly the best science fiction film of the 1980s.

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Teen, 14 years old
August 17, 2009
 
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

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Adult
August 14, 2010
 
Iffy Sci-Fi Lacks Character
Though very cinematic in this edgy and dark futuristic world, it doesn't do very well with character development, which disappointed me. Only problems was that there was a nude woman, then she runs around in her underwear, and one use of the f-word.

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Adult
April 6, 2009
 

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Teen, 16 years old
July 19, 2010
 
Brilliant.
This film, from a deeply philosophical person, was beautiful, truly wonderful. It was questioning but not too soppy. It was a bit violent but not too bad although an android is shot and her body graphically convulsive and towards the end the head replicant causes himself harm to prove to himself that he is still alive. I put a good role model as towards the end Roy Batty shows remorse and gives the most hardfelt speech and saves the protaganist, then he releases a dove. YOU MUST WATCH THE DIRECTORS CUT as the original has the most evil and rediculous voice over that the makers put on fearing the americans may not understand the plot which was stupid as americans, I have found, are rather intelligent - they have NASA for pete's sake. All in all its a pretty awesome film.

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This review was written by Common Sense Media Editors
Studio:Warner Bros.
Director:Ridley Scott
Cast:Daryl Hannah, Harrison Ford, Sean Young
Genre:Science Fiction
Run time:117 minutes
Theatrical release date:June 25, 1982
DVD release date:March 24, 1997
MPAA rating:R
MPAA explanation:Violence and Nudity

This review was written by Common Sense Media Editors
 

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ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
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