Which version of Blade Runner to watch first?

[Vlad!]

Believe it or not, I have never seen the classic film Blade Runner. I have to admit that, though I love Philip K. Dick and imagine I will like the film, what prompted me to rectify this was less a love of the cinematic arts and more the fact that I ran across a five-disc blu-ray set for twelve bucks.

So which of the discs should I pop in the old movie player? It seems to me, having done almost no research on this, that the only two contenders are the theatrical version (if I want to see the version that theatergoers would have seen back when it originally came out) or the "Final Cut" 25th anniversary version, which it seems is the closest we'll get to the version that Ridley Scott actually intended us to see.

Is there any reason why I would not want to watch the 25th anniversary version first? Or any reason why I would want to use the three other discs as something other than a fancy coaster?

[spacebrat311]

Here's thing thing with Blade Runner. None of the cuts works on their own. They all have glaring flaws and they don't all have the same glaring flaws. I probably like The Final Cut the best, but I can explain my reservations once you see it.

[Vlad!]

I sort of expected that to be the case...so I guess what I should have asked is "which version of Blade Runner should I watch first?"

[spacebrat311]

Nothing wrong with The Final Cut for a first viewing. I think it's probably the most cohesive.

[AldaForPresident]

I watched the Final Cut a couple of years ago when I watched it for the first time. I always meant to watch more versions of it but never got around to it, and I've read so much about all of them now I can't remember which is which.