# Blade Runner "Trailer" - 1940's Film Noir **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 16, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-trailer-1940s-film-noir/671393 "2013-10-16T13:40:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-trailer-1940s-film-noir/671393/1 "2013-10-16T13:40:07Z")
> **[This trailer for Blade Runner as a 1940s noir film is genius](https://gizmodo.com/this-trailer-for-blade-runner-as-a-1940s-noir-film-is-g-1445790282)** > > Blade Runner was always kind of a noir film, but Chet Desmond's black-and-white re-imagining of what the movie's trailer would look like had it been made in the '40s is simply stunning. Hey, Ridley Scott — why don't you forget about that sequel and... See link above. Blade Runner’s sci-fi noir interpreted as a hard-boiled 40’s noir is pretty cool - just making the links more obvious. I love the music - actually prefer it to Vangelis\* \*it works as a “future” sounding music for Blade Runner (a favorite of mine) and it’s near-future look and feel. Unfortunately, IMHO, I find his work in both BR and Chariots of Fire to sound dated now. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-trailer-1940s-film-noir/671393/2 "2013-10-16T14:08:05Z")
If you like that, you might like this too… > **[FIREFLY: The Credits Sequence It Deserved!](https://gizmodo.com/firefly-the-credits-sequence-it-deserved-5582513)** > > Joss Whedon's Firefly was awesome, but its title sequence really didn't sell the show. What Firefly really needed was a kick-ass, old-school, synth-happy, guitar-solo, Yay Spaceships, 1980s-style intro credit sequence. And here it is. Joss, you can... An 80s style opening for Firefly… ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-trailer-1940s-film-noir/671393/3 "2013-10-16T14:55:06Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Blade Runner’s sci-fi noir interpreted as a hard-boiled 40’s noir is pretty cool - just making the links more obvious. It _is_ nice, but… redundant? Wasn’t it obvious enough in the movie? Is there anyone who understands and likes this that didn’t already get it? So many visual details and shot compositions were textbook noir in the first place. Still, nice. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-trailer-1940s-film-noir/671393/4 "2013-10-16T15:06:49Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > It _is_ nice, but… redundant? Wasn’t it obvious enough in the movie? Is there anyone who understands and likes this that didn’t already get it? So many visual details and shot compositions were textbook noir in the first place. > > Still, nice. I’d go with that. I guess I would say that I like the B&W because it points out the visuals even more starkly and I like the music - because, as you say, the links to 40’s noir is so obvious that the period music aligns better IMHO with the visuals… ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-trailer-1940s-film-noir/671393/5 "2013-10-16T15:39:45Z")
Hey, if they’d make that movie, I’d watc…oh, yeah, never mind. The trailer is better great because it really does draw you into the characters and the story, but it doesn’t seem to give it away. I agree that the Vangelis soundtracks for both movies are the most dated parts of them. I had a friend who owned a record store (who was the person who first made me _listen_ to Prince), who loved his soundtrack to BR, and when he obtained a copy he played the whole thing for us. At the time I thought it was mostly mushy synth noodling. I don’t think much better of it now. I know the intro music to the mock trailer is 40’s era, but the piano piece through most of the trailer is actually in the movie. It’s “Memories Of Green” by Vangelis. In retrospect, it’s pretty nice. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-trailer-1940s-film-noir/671393/6 "2013-10-16T15:43:56Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Hey, if they’d make that movie, I’d watc…oh, yeah, never mind. > > The trailer is better great because it really does draw you into the characters and the story, but it doesn’t seem to give it away. > > I agree that the Vangelis soundtracks for both movies are the most dated parts of them. I had a friend who owned a record store (who was the person who first made me _listen_ to Prince), who loved his soundtrack to BR, and when he obtained a copy he played the whole thing for us. At the time I thought it was mostly mushy synth noodling. I don’t think much better of it now. I know the intro music to the mock trailer is 40’s era, but the piano piece through most of the trailer is actually in the movie. It’s “Memories Of Green” by Vangelis. In retrospect, it’s pretty nice. Oh, cool - thanks for that information. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-trailer-1940s-film-noir/671393/7 "2013-10-16T16:02:24Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Oh, cool - thanks for that information. You’d better thank me - I listened to several _Vangelis_ clips to get that title. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-trailer-1940s-film-noir/671393/8 "2013-10-16T16:06:26Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > You’d better thank me - I listened to several _Vangelis_ clips to get that title. 😃 Yeah, sorry about that 😉 It really is amazing how a step in one direction or another might’ve meant that Vangelis’ music wouldn’t sound as dated now. I mean, Giorgio Moroder’s production work on Donna Summer’s _I Feel Love_ still sounds great. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-trailer-1940s-film-noir/671393/9 "2013-10-16T16:52:10Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Yeah, sorry about that 😉 > > It really is amazing how a step in one direction or another might’ve meant that Vangelis’ music wouldn’t sound as dated now. I mean, Giorgio Moroder’s production work on Donna Summer’s _I Feel Love_ still sounds great. Well, to a certain segment of the population, I imagine that soundtrack is their equivalent of classic rock. - it’s just not my idea of the classics. I actually like some of the structure to his stuff, but the waveforms irk me. If he’d been working at his height ten years earlier, when synths sounded like machines; or if he’d been working ten years later, when sampling was trivial; it would still sound kind of dated, but it wouldn’t drive me nuts. OTOH, there’s people using those kinds of waveforms today, they like them, and it still drives me batty. Someday soon, probably in the past, they’ll be the new traditionalists. But now I’ve listened to [Memories of Green](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBkMVelmb08) three times in a row, and there’s nothing about it I don’t like. It’s got enough Sonic Youth loneliness with Eno introspection and quirkiness to make me sublimate. Damn you. You’ve made me admit that I like a Vangelis song to the point where the next time I see the _Blade Runner_ soundtrack in the bargain bin, I’m buying it. I suffered through a couple of years of playing the _Chariots of Fire_ theme in orchestra. If I ever meet you, I’m going to stab you with a grand piano. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-trailer-1940s-film-noir/671393/10 "2013-10-16T17:28:56Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > If you like that, you might like this too… > > [http://io9.com/5582513/firefly-the-credits-sequence-it-deserved](http://io9.com/5582513/firefly-the-credits-sequence-it-deserved) > > An 80s style opening for Firefly… Simon doesn’t even get an “…and the rest” mention. Of course if you want further self-torture, there’s the [_Watchmen_ cartoon](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDDHHrt6l4w). ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-trailer-1940s-film-noir/671393/11 "2013-10-16T17:33:10Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Damn you. You’ve made me admit that I like a Vangelis song to the point where the next time I see the _Blade Runner_ soundtrack in the bargain bin, I’m buying it. I suffered through a couple of years of playing the _Chariots of Fire_ theme in orchestra. If I ever meet you, I’m going to stab you with a grand piano. Wouldn’t it be better to stab me with an early polyphonic synth? Say a Prophet 5 or something? 😉 **Bryan Ekers** - yeah, I’ve seen that (if its the one I’m thinking of; having probs with the mobile link). Hilarious. As for synth tones, I don’t know - some just sound “better” in a more timeless sort of way. Moroder/Summer; Clarke/Yaz and Depeche Mode; some Gary Numan; most New Order. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blade-runner-trailer-1940s-film-noir/671393/12 "2013-10-18T20:34:39Z")
Pretty good _noir_ ad for _Blade Runner_. I wouldn’t have had the last shot be the PURGE screen in the police car, though.