BladeZone's Off World Forums

Has anyone else noticed the annoying black bar that flashes briefly at the bottom of the screen after every shot change, most noticibly during the Tyrell/Decard interview, is this the way the other versions of the film are or only the Directors cut? I've noticed this on the VHS and the DC's screen version.

Blade Runner was the first DVD I bought. I only watched 5 minutes of it since the contrast in this badly done transfer is way off. But I didn't notice the problem you mentioned on either DVD or VHS.

Leon Corporation Employee

If we could get a friggin SE dvd we wouldn't have to worry about this crap!

Ive seen that exact problem, I was wondering that maybe we got the defect ones!

Whole new generations, who see BR for the first time, are basing their opinion on this faulty version! It getting embarrassing!


Leon Corporation Employee

The transfer was probably made from a mastered magnetic tape/laserdisc. Well, the material is old and the DVD was made in 1998 when the transfering process was not very well developed yet (1st generation of DVDs). These two things together are responsible for the result, Id say.

I would say you're right! But the thing is they made so MANY of them! Concidering its release date, isn't it strange that it's still easily available in every shop? I thought DVD has been good to Blade Runner and that it sold well. They sure must have made a lot of copies at the time. A lot of copies from a crappy master.

They are still available in every shop? O_o Well inUS and UK maybe, but not here, surely not since 2001. What is a bad thing, because I don't own the DVD!
Anyway, Ive heard rumor that both region 1 and region 2 BR DVDs are sold out, even though Warner offers them on the net.

Wanna buy mine?

Hehe, that scratched one?

I'm glad to see i'm not the only one, i thought i was crazy. However most of you have noticed it on DVD, I only have the DC VHS, but even more disturbing to me is that I have noticed this on a film print i viewed a few years back of the DC, so my question remains: is this a transfer problem from the original 82 movie to the DC or is it in the orig82 print as well, is this a permanent problem. this alone has almost made the movie unwatchable to me, although i have watched it more than fifty times by now. Could someone with the old print or Criterion print please let me know?

I never noticed this problem on the VHS Director's Cut. Anyway, I'll check it out.

Maybe you've seen the DC in one of those new multiplex theaters. That would explain the bad picture quality. Man, I stopped going to those horrible places years ago! The only good projection I've ever seen there was an IMAX presentation. All the other auditoriums are downright terrible, except for their seats and sound, but they're least important to me. I prefer sharp images (especially in the frame's background when intended) and I like color (!). Both are severely neglected in modern cinema-going. I'm very happy DVD is here nowadays. The only thing missing in my collection is a decent copy of Blade Runner (please, please, this year) and a few other flicks I'm waiting for to be released and hopefully with a good transfer.

Ohhhhh... I wish to see Blade Runner in IMAX and then I can just DIE!

yeah, they showed the matrix in IMAX, star wars in imax, why not this? that would be nice for its 25th anniversary.

Leon corp-- no this was not a theatre projection issue, as i've stated the same exact errors were seen on film and vhs, which means its a print issue, and not particular to the one i saw or theatre i saw it at, and i agree most megaplexs are horrible, i was lucky to see this three times at a arthouse thearte and also at a friends personal movie theatre, this guy was obssessed with the perfect image on screen and such, he all the latest high tech equipment.
so i'm still wondering is it in the original 82' prints, or the criterions?