Blade Runner: The Final Cut Review (Contains spoilers)
And did it ever, I can say firsthand that a tremendous amount of work had to have been done to digitally restore BR to have it look how I saw it the other day. This is easily the best that BR has ever looked or sounded, you truly felt like you were in the middle of the atmosphere. Sound effects rumbled or exploded around the audience, and the soundtrack was equally as lush.
As far as the movie itself and its changes, it was nearly identical to the previous director's cut, with some exceptions.
*In the opening shot, the flames shooting up have been re-animated to look more realistic
*In the second shot of the staring eye, you could see the pupil react to the setting of 2019 L.A.
*A couple of shots were trimmed (such as Deckard's intro staring at the blimp)
*All spinner wires have been removed and matte lines erased
*Captain Bryant now says that "2" replicants were fried in the electrical field
*A new voiceover from Captain Bryant was inserted describing Leon's job
*New Cityspeak came over on the police scanner in Gaff's spinner rides both to the police station and the Tyrell building
*The original shot of Batty in the VidPhon booth that had been recycled from the later confrontation with Tyrell has been digitally altered so that it truly does look like Batty was in the booth
*The hotel manager mutters "Kowalski" as he opens the door to Leon's room for Deckard and Gaff, also Harrison's son Ben Ford was used as a stand-in during the silhouetted bathroom scene
*Of course, the new Unicorn footage
*New footage of the LA streets before Animoid Row and Taffey Lewis's club, including the hockey-masked geisha dancers
*The serial number on the snake scale now matches the Animoid Row lady's dialogue
*The lip flap between Deckard and Abdul Ben Hassan has been corrected
*Zhora's snake tattoo on her face from the photograph has been digitally added
*In Zhora's death scene, you can tell it is her the entire time. While previously it was obvious that her stunt double Lee Pulford was in the shot, Cassidy's head was digitally superimposed over Pulford's.
*The "extra violence" footage from the International Version was inserted
*During Batty's confrontation with Tyrell, he says, "I want more life, father", in addition to saying "Come Sebastian, come" when Sebastian is trying to escape after Batty murders Tyrell
*When Batty releases the dove, it now flies up into a background that matches 2019 L.A. (one of the most gorgeous shots of the film, I need a screen capture of that)
I don't want to be repetitive, but seeing BR this way is just like seeing it for the first time - if you're a fan, you're almost guaranteed to fall in love with the film all over again. If you're anywhere close to NYC or Los Angeles, I promise you, it is worth the trip to check out this masterpiece on the big screen. For everyone else, you have a lot to look forward to on December 18.