Blade Runner: The Original Cuts in 4K HDR (US Theatrical Version and Director's Cut Released, International Cut WIP)

In 2007, to create the “Final Cut” of the film, Ridley Scott and Warner Bros. rebuilt Blade Runner from the ground up using a new 4K digital intermediate. What if, instead of stopping with the Final Cut, Warner Bros. used this DI to restore the previous cuts of the film as well?
This fanedit restores the US Theatrical, International, and Director’s Cuts of Blade Runner in 4K HDR using the Final Cut 4K Blu-ray. The footage will feature a scene-by-scene regrade to match the warmer tones of the 1999 DVD. Any major visual changes will be replaced with footage from the Theatrical Cut Blu-ray, which will be upscaled to 4k and regraded to match.

Here is a proof-of-concept clip:
https://youtu.be/nWLAVAgPvL0

Project Update:
I am about 70% complete with color grading (up to when Batty meets Tyrell), and you can see the difference in the attached screenshots below. While they are not in 4k or in HDR, they can at least give an impression of what the edit will look like. Once the grading is done, I can start integrating the upscaled Blu-ray footage into the edit to create all three versions (thank goodness for the nerds over at movie-censorship.com for documenting every change down to the frame…)

I think that I am in the minority that actually likes the grade of the official 4k version of Final Cut(the old Blu-ray of the Final Cut is best used for skeet shooting, though). I considered using the original Final Cut colors, but I chose the more neutral color grade based on the popularity of “Blade Runner: Penultimate Cut”. As such, it seems that the consensus is that the “original colors” are more akin to the DVD.

(FWIW, I also saw some 35mm frames, but they looked closer to the DVD. We are talking about analogue media, not digital, and no two release prints will look the same. This is especially true 30+ years after the fact.)

This sounds like ana amazing project. BR deserves these three versions in 4K.

It’s out! (Kind of)
I have completed a beta version of the International Cut for your viewing pleasure. There are still a few issues that need to be ironed out, so expect an updated version when the US Theatrical and Director’s Cuts are released. PM me for the link, and I hope you enjoy it!

The US Theatrical Cut is out! This fixes the issues present in the Beta version of the International Cut, so it should be a more pleasing watch. The Director’s Cut and an updated version of the International cut should be out soon!

Phase3 said:

lionscout42 said:

(FWIW, I also saw some 35mm frames, but they looked closer to the DVD. We are talking about analogue media, not digital, and no two release prints will look the same. This is especially true 30+ years after the fact.)

The colour timing of the original film was a source of much conjecture over the years; the 1996 DVD’s colour grade is just about the same as the 35mm version.

With regard to it being from an analogue source, a high-quality 4K or 8K scan of 35mm film will always yield beautiful results, and can easily surpass what is commercially released via DVD and Blu-ray.

This is another reason why I chose the DVD grade over the Final Cut. The Criterion laserdisc, which came from a completely different source from the Director’s Cut DVD (the LD came from an interpositive of the International Cut), looks quite similar to the DVD. This is evidence that the DVD’s color grade is accurate to what people saw in the theater.

Phase3 said:

lionscout42 said:

This is another reason why I chose the DVD grade over the Final Cut. The Criterion laserdisc, which came from a completely different source from the Director’s Cut DVD (the LD came from an interpositive of the International Cut), looks quite similar to the DVD. This is evidence that the DVD’s color grade is accurate to what people saw in the theater.

I absolutely agree! Another good source for the original colours, aside from a scan of a 35mm print, is the 1983 LaserDisc released by Embassy.

I am going to add my two pennies worth here. After looking over the BETA of the International theatrical I believe that the approach adopted on this project is correct. Using the DVD is as close as we will ever get because, and you might disagree but I suggest reading up on the problems of 35mm scans, they are too varied from one scan to another and using stills from them are thwart with questions rather than answers. If you and I scanned the exact same 35mm material we would almost certainly get different results unless we were using the exact same scanners in the exact same conditions.

More generally, the INT beta was a great watch and I am going to check out the US over the weekend and expect the results will be as impressive. Thank you for all the amazing work @lionscout42 on this.

The Director’s Cut is out. Only one more to go.