Blade Runner Trilogy: 25th Anniversary [3 CD]

This is the first time that Blade Runner fans in the U.S. will be able to purchase this special release domestically and not as an import.

Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, with its apocalyptic depiction of LA in 2019, has become one of the most celebrated sci-fi releases of the 20th century. It's one of those films where all of the constituent parts - the set, the lighting, the characters, the sparse dialogue and of course the music - work uniquely together to produce a cult masterpiece.

The music has always been a key element of Blade Runner and there have been various versions of the soundtrack over the years, some 'official' and some bootlegs. But they have all either been incomplete or have suffered from poor sound quality, until now.

Blade Runner Trilogy: 25th Anniversary is a 3-CD set which - for the first time - puts all the pieces together, providing the complete music from the film and a lot more besides.

CD 1 features the original and remastered soundtrack as it first appeared in 1994, twelve years after the film was released. The second CD contains all the remaining music from the film that did not appear on the original 1994 soundtrack, plus two bonus tracks ('One Alone' and 'Desolation Path'). None of this material has been released before. The third and final disc will be of real interest to Vangelis fans, as it contains an entire album of newly written material composed by Vangelis to mark the 25th anniversary of Blade Runner. The music is strong and flowing, and retains the dark, atmospheric sense of the original score. There are some intriguing spoken word contributions too, from Ridley Scott, Roman Polanski, Oliver Stone and a host of distinguished actors, personalities and world dignitaries. Album Description

Is this the promised end?

One track on this album has the absurd title "Unveiled Twinkling Space." It fits the album well because the album is all twinkling. It's all wind chimes and cheesy wind effects and almost no music from the movie "Blade Runner."

I'm not a Vangelis fan. I think he's pretentious, for one thing. For another, I think he's got very little creative talent. He tends to take about eight notes and repeat them endlessly, without even varying the tempo or the key. He can't think of codas--all his pieces fade out or fade into one another. There are exceptions to all these observations, of course, and they tend to be the strongest cues on this album.

What I am is a "Blade Runner" fan, and a film music fan, and I'd really like to be able to listen to music from the movie without dialogue, sound effects, and dumb wind noises interfering with my enjoyment.

What's the point of the dialogue that we hear over "Main Titles?" If I wanted to listen to dialogue, I'd watch the movie again. It's not even the best lines from the movie--just Harrison Ford listing a bunch of numbers (from the Esper sequence). I love Rutger Hauer's closing soliloquy, but when I listen to music, I'd like it to be music, not a soliloquy. Vangelis must have understood something of this, so he reprises "Tears In Rain" on the second CD, without the dialogue. But unable to let the music stand by itself, he inserts a wind effect over the whole track. Where's the wind in "Blade Runner?" Rain I see, but wind? If only there were rain and no wind, or wind and rain, but why wind and no rain?

I also don't see much point in CD 3. Music inspired by the film. It doesn't really evoke the film, though--most of them some like John Barryesque lounge music cues from 1960s Bond movies. The last track seems to be entirely composed of wind and a child asking a series of questions.

?

Six cues on CD 2 contain music actually used in the film. Eight cues on CD 1 contain music actually used in the film. In all, that's less than an hour of music.

I can't really complain. I knew what I was getting, and bought it anyway. I don't feel like I was conned out of my money. I bought with my eyes open. I just wanted to hear the music from "Blade Runner." Like Deckard entering teh Bradbury building, or Baty dying without distracting dialogue or sound effects. It's a humble wish, I think, and I don't think I'll ever get it.

But I see, if no one else does, that the Emperor Vangelis isn't wearing any clothes. May 18, 2008

Blade Runner, 21st century.

Vangelis has given a wonderful present to all fans of the movie and his music. Of course we miss the opening titles, that impressive theme is once more missing (why??) but at least we can enjoy previously unreleased music and, above all, there is completely new music based on BR which is particularly interesting since it means a new turn in V's music career after so many "neoclassical" albums. Jazz, electronica, new age..., styles he visited in the past sound now as fresh as ever and sheer experimentation is also there to the delight of his 70's music fans. A real must. February 29, 2008

Amazing

This is just a great edition for the Vangelis fan, i was very pleased with the new third cd, it's relaxing and brings you in the right mood, a must for every Vangelis fan! February 23, 2008

Lounge Music

There I was sitting in a comfortable airport bar at DIA having a smooth drink watching the world stroll by when my inner ears perked up. What was that music that was playing? Wait I recognize that ...... It's It's the Blade Runner soundtrack by Vangelis. But it sounds like lounge music. Oh no ! It hit me as hard as when I learned that there was no Santa. The music from my favorite Sci-fi movie when disembodied from the visual imagery dilutes to bar music. The tracks sounded so ... at home here in a bar. But somehow when fused back into the movie it all fits so perfectly. Indeed Vangelis' undulating soundtrack adds so much to the film's images. They did not elect an over the top electrotrack nor pretentious spaceclassic music. . . . . . Now comes this 25th anniversary CD. Not really the "soundtrack". Instead more lounge music; "Dimitri's Bar, Piano in an Empty Room'. They should have followed Coppola's lead when he released Apocalypse Now in it's entirety. Every word, every sound, every song (almost)). That was a worthy SOUNDTRACK ! February 21, 2008

Temas de un clasico

Esta colección de tres discos, editada para conmemorar el 25 aniversario del Estreno de la Pelicula de Blade Runner, es un trabajo muy bien logrado por Vangelis, que se manifiesta en una obras que refleja de manera excelente la atmosfera futurista y obscura de la cinta. Y sobre todo, a partir de el crea variaciones que toman senderos originales, para explorar el mundo que es insinuado por las imagenes de la pelicula. Es decir Vangelis retrata musicalmente a la creación del director Ridley Scot, pero no se contenta con ello, profundiza para hacer sus aportaciones y enriquecer la obra de arte, de manera que estos CD cobran vida propia tomando caminos paralelos a donde se inspirarón. February 18, 2008

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