[jqp]

I saw Blade Runner 2049 about a week after it was released. Being a huge fan of the original, i wanted to see it right away. I had heard there were some "issues" with it that caused it not to live up to hopes.

Now for a little history for you millenials or non-cult fanatics.

Blade Runner was based on 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep'. Phillip K. Dick was a tremendously influential Sci Fi writer that no one has heard of. It took only 14 years for Blade Runner with all its groundbreaking design and effects to hit the theaters as a dud. After 30 years it became obvious this was more than just a cult movie that was a box-offoce bust.

But back to Philip k Dick for a moment. Just how influential was he? How did he escape the backwaters of science pulp fiction of the 50's to get real recognition in the 60's and 70's science fiction community, and you still did not hear about him? First, science fiction, second he had a troubled life of schizophrenia and drug abuse. If it were not for that he might have had much greater celebrity like a Stephen King.

Still, consider some of the movies (after Blade Runner) he has inspired:

Total Recall
The Adjustment Bureau
A Scanner Darkly
Paycheck
Minority Report
The Man in the High Castle
Radio Free Albemuth

I would say that he also influnced Inception, but I guess he just influenced Christopher Nolan in general.

Ridley Scott undertook a monumental effort with futurist industrial designer Syd Mead to create the Blade Runner film universe which has influenced so many Science Fiction movies since 1982. You need to watch Blade Runner several times and note the date of those Sci Fi films which you didn't realize were borrowing from Blade Runner.

There is a certain anachronistic quality about Blade Runner, set in 2019: very analog skin-job detection equipment,  architecture that seems frozen in time, buildings that burn off natural gas. This is a distopian future where the climate and the American Dream have not gone well. L.A. seems to have many more Asians, and they brought their analog bicycles with them.

Deckard's eating habits and Deckard's gun do not seem that progressive. The cars are flying cars, but somehow they do not seem very futuristic. Lots of steam, leather, round glasses give it a kind of Steam Punk vibe. And the genre is a kind of...wait for it...film noire. The original theatrical release had a voice over from the boozing, loner detective.

Live animals a scarce, though. This is effective currency in both films.

I love all of that stuff, so my hopes were that the new director would maintain the vibe. Philip K Dick was very happy with Ridley Scotts film pre-release. Maybe I like it because it is somewhat accidentally faithful to Philip K Dicks style.

The sequel, Blade Runner 2049 is a must see. I do not like everything about the film, but I like a lot of things about the film. I am not a big fan of some things about Jared Leto's character, but he is a necessary addition to the plot.

The movie is too loud, you will lose some of your hearing during the 164 minute movie. I do not agree that you should/can traumatize your audience with decibels to shape the mood. You can traumatize your audience.

I was afraid that there would be no scruffy Deckard in the film. I was relieved to see he was a main character, and that he had in fact run away and lived with the android Rachel. I wish that Sean Young could have been in some scenes, flash-backs from before she dies.

I see so many influences from so many directors. The female figures in Las Vegas look like they were taken out of Clockwork Orange. Except for some shots of large buildings, I do not see much from Blade Runner.

I like the detective work identifying the bones, it is very good and ties in with Blade Runner. I like the acting of the Leto characters androind number one. I wish she was a little more android-like though, instead of like a modern politician. Robin Wright does an excellent job as the Blade Runners police lieutenant.

Over all I really liked it, and will see it many times I am sure (with ear plugs where appropriate).

Most of all I like the fact that Deckard is still not an android, no matter what Ridley Scott wanted.

[THROWBACK]

jqp
I appreciate your review even though I did not agree with most of it. But I will not subject you to a point-by-point. I was a huge fan of the original Blade Runner. In fact, the preface to my own memoirs quoted Roy's famous line, "I have seen things . . . "

To me, the yearning for humanity that was so poignant in the androids in the first film was missing in the second. Or maybe it was there but I just didn't see it.

Perhaps, as you suggest, I should see BR 2049 again. In fact, I think I will.

[Tyson]

Watched 2049 last night on the giant screen with my awesome 4k projector. 

Well that was... disappointing. 

It was a good movie, actually.  But the original Blade Runner was a astonishingly great work of art.  Compared to most other big-budget movies coming out today, 2049 was excellent.  Compared to the original Blade Runner, it just doesn't match it. 

And I really like the director, he directed one of my favorite movies in the last 10 years (Arrival), and seemed like a perfect choice.  But alas it was all a bit too shiny and clean looking.  2049 had some amazing visuals, but didn't have the pure cinematic poetry of the original. 

[S Clark]

Which version of the original do you have? 

[Tyson]

Which version of the original do you have? 

The Final Cut.  Just the Blu Ray though.  I'm just about to order the 4k disc, I was reading that it was a substantial improvement, even over the very-good blu ray. 

In fact, I see the 4k Blade Runner Final Cut is only $19 on Amazon, and I have $10 in reward points there.  So, just ordered the 4k version for $10 out of pocket - not bad!

[WGH]

Watched 2049 last night on the giant screen with my awesome 4k projector. 

Well that was... disappointing. 

OK, I'll bite - how giant is it?

We were younger, more hopeful and had seen far fewer post-apocalyptic films when the first Blade Runner came out. Google the films that came out in 1982 and even though there were futuristic themes Like ET, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Tron, there was nothing as apocalyptic.

Perhaps watching Villeneuve's other films before Sicario and Arrival to get a feel for his style and then watching 2049 in 4k will change your mind.
And whatever volume you watched 2049 at - it has to be louder, a lot louder.

[THROWBACK]

I agree with Tyson. The original had a poignancy about it that the remake lacks. I found the characters in the original much more appealing. Roy (Rutger Hauer) and Pris (Darrell Hannah), in particular, were special.
Chuck

[Tyson]

OK, I'll bite - how giant is it?

A bit over 100 inches.  Plus I sit about 8 feet from it so it really fills up my field of vision - the effect is pretty marvelous.  Love, love, love watching movies on my system. 

Chuck,
You should come over and watch the 4k Blade Runner Final Cut when it gets here 

[ketcham]

I was 10 with the original BladeRunner and over the decades the movie takes on different meanings.  I felt the new version resonated with me and to me was very cerebral with introspection into what is humanity.  The sequel was less violent which I appreciated and I did not find it slow at all.  Both have their own excellent qualities.  Sequels usually suck, with only a handful of exceptions.