Yeah, the voice over in the original grew on me too. I would be 100% OK with it if they cut the last cheesy “but then again, who does” line from it.
Just watched the original theatrical release again so that it would be fresh in my mind when I see the sequel, and took a look at the newer/refined bits of the 1992 director’s cut and the final cut (which Ridley Scott says is his preferred version) too. The final cut removes the visible wires from the LAPD Spinner as it lifts off in various street scenes, corrects Bryant’s line in the briefing so that two (not one) replicants were killed trying to break into Tyrell Corp., and has a better matte shot of the dove flying up into a rainy and not a clear sky after Roy dies. It does omit Deckard’s v.o., though.
Something I’d forgotten: Deckard flatly tells Bryant he won’t take another Blade Runner job, but Bryant snarls and says he has no choice. And Deckard takes the job. Why? Assuming Deckard isn’t a replicant (and I don’t think he was), what leverage did Bryant have over him?
BRYANT
You know the score, pal. When
you're not a cop, you're little
people.
Apparently in the future, policing organizations enjoy the capability to abuse their power, seemingly unimpeded by the checks and balances of democratic society. A bit farfetched, admittedly, but I didn’t have a problem suspending disbelief on this point.
I am very excited about this. Arrival was probably my favorite film of last year and perhaps my favorite science-fiction film ever. I am also excited about watching the Blade Runner universe in IMAX 3D.I am less reverential towards the original than some. While I liked the setting and themes, I found much of the film rather boring. I fully expect to like this sequel more.
Heh. ISWYDT.
All these years, I thought Deckard was an ex-cop at the start of the movie. Now I wonder if he was still a cop, but a plainclothes detective not in the Blade Runner unit. Bryant was saying, accept reassignment as a Blade Runner again or I’ll have you forced out of the LAPD entirely.
I don’t think of Deckard as an active cop, maybe a job that depends on his police contacts like a P.I.? That’s perhaps “implanted” by memories of noir-type narration. To me that scene sets up Deckard’s moral authority somewhere between police and Serpico, and alcohol is featured in the scene too so the viewer is allowed to speculate freely about Deckard’s. I’d be pleasantly surprised if Villeneuve’s try captures any sort of moral ambiguity. More likely there’ll be white hats and black hats.
Another official teaser movie, expositing about “events in 2036.” The big news in 2036 is apparently a unanimous return to old timey fashions. Exclusive: Blade Runner 2049 Short Film Reveals What Happened in 2036
That was pretty bizarre and a little bit fan fic.
Yes, it was strange, and a different kind of strange than Blade Runner.
So there’s a prohibition on replicants, and weird scientist guy is seeking to have the prohibition repealed? Interesting.
Is he blind or are those replicant eyes?
And another short film is released. It starts out like a trailer, similar to the earlier ones, but the short film starts a little further along.
There is also an anime short in the works.
I’m guessing it’s “yet to be released” rather than “in the works.” If they’re actually scrambling to produce more expository materials three weeks before the film hits screens, Villeneuve’s project is even more of a train wreck than I could have imagined.
The anime is called Blade Runner: Blackout 2022. It is directed by Shinichiro Watanbe and is great like all his stuff. The anime short (~13 minutes) is now available at crunchyroll.com. They do have a 30 day free trial if you want to sign up to see it.
Also on Youtube with no subscribing crap.
In the anime, they say that angry mobs of humans are hunting down Replicants on Earth. Wait, what? The whole point of Blade Runner is that Replicants are illegal on Earth and the Blade Runners hunt them down. Where are all these Replicants coming from for the mobs to hunt down? Why don’t they just call the LAPD and report them to the Blade Runners?
A co-worker just saw it and he was not terribly impressed.
At more than 2.5 hours he found it very long. He also said it was very violent, like watching all the death scenes from a Lara Croft video game
Blade Runner 2049 currently at 97% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Gonna have to see this one in a theater, I think. No waiting for the disc for me.
This director is becoming one of our greats at this point.
He is doing Dune next, I heard. Not sure if Dune should ever be a movie, but if he can do a 3-hour one, it might be pretty good. I still would prefer Dune and its universe be expanded into a TV show(Game of Thrones style), but I’m curious what kind of movie can be made.
I was disappointed that both this review and one in Slate reveal that
Gosling’s character “K” is a replicant. I guess the movie makes it clear in the first five minutes so it isn’t exactly a spoiler, but I wish I’d learned that by watching the movie.
For those who don’t want to know about plot and characters going in, be careful what reviews you read. (And if you quote this, please delete the spoiler since those tags don’t work in quotes with the new skin.)