One of the most informative & hilarious commentaries I've heard. Probably the 1st one I ever really listened to when I started collecting DVDs.

Everyone has something to add here, with the exception of the producer (I cannot stand producers in commentaries, whose only "comment" is "this cost so much money..."), and it makes for a fun listen. There are no brilliant insights into the film, but quite a bit of practical tidbits and descriptions of how things were done (such as the shot out of the back of the head, etc.) Upon listening to this at first, I wasn't so impressed, but after listening again, it would seem as though most of the bases are covered, and any discussion detailing the idiocy of the MPAA gets a big boost in my book.

The first commentary I ever listened too. It cost me £55 to import the Criterion DVD from the US back in the late 90's when DVD was new and a novelty. Plus I then had to invest in a multi region DVD player, which was about £350 and then a NTSC to PAL converter as my old CRT TV wouldn't accept NTSC, which was an additional £50!!
But it was all worth it. As with most, if not all, Criterion commentaries this track is absolutely superb. It's packed with info exclusive to this track. Anecdotes you will not hear on the MGM track, or in the making of documentaries.
These days you can pick up the Criterion DVD second hand for £5-£10. I cannot recommend this enough. I don't regret paying out a fortune back in the day, it was worth every penny.

Agree with the above. As great as the MGM commentary is, this Criterion track is superior. Ed Neumeier is hilarious, and Producer Davison and Mr. "V" himself are informative and engaging. Everything you wanted to know about the masterpiece of Orion Films.

Very good Criterion commentary with interesting information about the movie. Jon Davison admits he was the voice of ED-209, Verhoeven admits he initially threw the script into trash because he didn't want to do direct cheap movies in the US while screenwriter Neumeier reacts to the violence in the film, contemplating about the value of life in modern times ("We here in the Western world have a great sense that life has value, but it's just not true. It's not true in history. It's not true in where we live now. We sit and have this great debate about violence on films and TV, but we don't treat life with any sanctity... The price of life is very cheap. It's cheaper than the price of a car. Unfortunately, if you think what is happening in the world right now..."). It was also amusing to hear how the guys wondered how apparently "it's no big deal when gunshots or explosions are heard in Dallas" where they were filmming. A little bit dry and slow, though, and I wish they would have talked even more about the film (also, it seems the three gentlemen are not in the same room). Still, for fans of the film, a valuable piece of data. 8/10

Two statements that say it all... Blade Runner was a beautiful film, but it does not have a single laugh.

and... I had not realized that in Dallas you could shoot tons of guns off in the middle of the night and no one cared. We scouted Toronto and they were offended that we wanted to fire off even a single gun in one scene.

I sat on my laserdisc of this film for so long because I knew it by heart, and had only recently remembered there was a commentary. The writer grew up near me, so I liked his comments about local inspirations. And in truth, he is a pretty fascinating writer, in how he knew to take the ideas of where we fear things were going, and then go over the top with it.

Verhoeven is pretty good talking about his motivations, character ideas, why things were shot a certain way, and most of all, about how he grew up in Nazi occupied Holland, so seeing a lot of violence, dead bodies, and having bombs blow up near you, were regular daily things during his formative years.

My only complaint might be that they seldom talked about individual scenes taking place, and more about larger general ideas the scene was a part of.