Blade Runner 2049

[killdozzer]

The original has held up extremely well. We watched it last week in prep for the new one and it is still great. Visually, the 25th anniversary edition looks incredible. Some of the effects are not a bit dated, but most of them are still visually stunning; on par if not better than current CG.

Tru det!

Try proposing a soundtrack this heavy and melancholic for a sci-fi blockbuster today.

 

[KEW]

I don't really agree with KEW that Hollywood got better at remakes and think that the least promising fact about the movie is the moment in time when it gets remade. I could barely name one or two remakes that are done well. It's always an empty husk with expensive production value. Eye candy's and nothing more and it's even not a particularly nice candy. (Just a notice; the term "remake" is arguably the least precise term in the theory of cinema, this causes a lot of problems when debating.)

I hate to disappoint, but you are not disagreeing with me! My statement was directed at sequels, not remakes:

It does seem like Hollywood has gotten better about not always just milking the name of a hit move in the sequel (but they still do it).

 

[lovinthehd]

I hate to disappoint, but you are not disagreeing with me! My statement was directed at sequels, not remakes:

Have to agree there are a few sequels that have worked for me, but mostly not. Remakes and making them more "relevant" at time of release sometimes works, but I think also mostly not, like sequels.

 

[Pogre]

Watching the original with my wife right now. I'm gonna see if it inspires me to go to the theater or wait for the rental.

 

[killdozzer]

I hate to disappoint, but you are not disagreeing with me! My statement was directed at sequels, not remakes:

Sorry for that. My mistake.

 

[j_garcia]

First off, seeing this in Dolby Cinema was absolutely an experience. First time in a theater like this. The seats have tactile transducers to add to the bass response. It actually became distracting at times because they had them cranked up, but it was still fun. The seats were huge, comfy full powered recliners, all they needed was the massage button when there was no bass lol.

The screen is slightly curved and the laser projector has a ridiculously high contrast ratio with DEEP blacks. They popped up a message saying "Yes, the projector is still on" when the screen went black after their Dolby Cinema intro LMAO. The insanely clear image was impressive - often text can be fuzzy and unclear, but even sitting fairly far back, every bit of text was 100% clear. Since this one was beautifully done film, this really added to the experience.

Audio in this theater was nuts. There's a massive array (full Atmos) of speakers that looks like a concert venue, like 20+ tower size speakers along the walls and the whole ceiling was covered in Atmos arrays. It is imposing and they look like they're going to totally overpower you, but they really were properly calibrated and gave nothing short of fully immersive sound. I was pleased, compared to the average theater. When the film was done, the wall speakers lit up with LEDs over the driver arrays, which was not exactly necessary but cool. Tickets for this theater are more and IMO, absolutely worth it.

Oh yeah, the film. I liked it lol. Gorgeous cinematography, excellent audio. It definitely pays a lot of homage to the original, occasionally a bit too much, but it doesn't detract IMO. The audio was a good blend of new and old and felt very appropriate. Visually the film is striking and beautiful with excellent cinematography. I am still mulling over the story. We both enjoyed it, however it isn't perfect. It definitely answers some questions but takes things in a sort of unexpected direction. The trailers give one impression but doesn't give away the WHY part. Performances were solid, but I felt both Ford and Leto were underutilized. The story is well fleshed out, but could have been tighter IMO. Despite being very good, it did feel a bit long at 2:43. I don't want to get into the story because fans should just see it. The antagonist was excellent.

There are 3 short films, at least 2 of which are on YouTube now - if you are going to see this, WATCH THEM, they add to the story usefully. One is 2022 Blackout that sets up some of what is happening in the background of how we arrived at how things are in 2049. This one is animated and is supposed to be exclusive to the Crunchyroll service initially. Then there is 2048 Nowhere To Run, which is background on Dave Bautista's character. The third was my favorite, 2036 Nexus Dawn. It is some background on Jared Leto's character as well as the Replicants. None of these will spoil the film.

 

[j_garcia]

Two of the three shorts:

 

[Cos]

If there was ever a movie that highlights the benefits of Dolby Atmos, this is it. I will go so far to say that this is the best sound mix I have heard in any movie to date. I will preface that by saying I am a huge fan of the original, as I probably own every version released (and there are a lot) I even have the suitcase version in HD DVD! (I have kept my internal PC LG BluRay and HD DVD combo drive in every build of my PC) If it dies I am screwed lol.

I also agree with J_garcia, it does an excellent job of paying homage to the original. The same visual nirvana I enjoyed from the original, as well as keeping the atmosphere of the original with soundtrack and sound effects, it makes the transition 25+ years later quite well.

I will go so far to say it is probably my top 3 favorite sequels of all time. It has a very strong story that stands on its own even if there was never a first movie, you would still walk away enjoying it. That being said, it will be a long time before I rewatch it again. Almost 3 hours long, very character driven with minimal action until the last 30-40 minutes.

As was already stated, I wish there was more Harrison Ford in this movie, but the used his character very well in the plot line. As for Jared Leto, I felt his character was the weakest, but I am not a fan of his to begin with. They could have at least given him more of his backstory.

Great Movie!

 

[Gov]

I agree with J Garcia and Cos what a most excellent movie! I saw this in IMAX yesterday and the bass was insane at times!! This move was my first IMAX experience and it was nothing short of amazing. I can wait for the BD release it should be reference all the way around.

 

[j_garcia]

Leto's character almost felt half out of context. Had I not watched the above short about him, it would have been worse, but it still isn't filled out enough to make him really useful. IMO, his performance in the short is better than in the full film. Felt like the makings of a good character; could have done more with him.

Some incredible bass in this one. Definitely want to see this one on the big screen because of the great cinematography; IMAX or Dolby Cinema if you can.

"I like this song."

 

[Blue Dude]

I saw it in a non-Atmos theater and enjoyed it. The story itself was thought provoking and kept me guessing, which is always a good thing.

The flat 7.1 mix was fine though I thought some of the "music" - the recurring chainsaw buzz music effect - was mixed way too loud. Unfortunately, it became obvious that this was a last minute replacement score. I liked some of the callbacks to the original Vangelis score but they didn't match the new material well. I'm a soundtrack aficionado but I think I'll skip this one.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

I must say I liked the original more but this is a good movie and will buy it on bluray when it is out. Had quite high expectations for this movie and it didnt let me down.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

Two of the three shorts:

I believe this is the third one:

 

[j_garcia]

I believe this is the third one:

Crunchyroll had it exclusive the week of, now it is available.

 

[killdozzer]

It is now 01:00 in the morning here and I just got back from this movie.

It is thick as pig sh.. For me the only way not to keep on being rude and insult this movie and the director is not to talk about it at all which is indicative in itself. It's just that I feel insulted by this director and treated as being very stupid when I see what he thinks I should consider as a sequel to the Blade Runner, which makes me want to insult back.

So I'll just stop. I'm calling @andyblackcat to get me some kitty litter, I read somewhere he stacks it. I'm gonna need some.

 

[afterlife2]

Blade Runner 2049: the four-hour cut we'll never see
At one stage, Blade Runner 2049 was even longer: a four-hour cut with an intermission. Its editor explains why we may never see it...

NEWS
Ryan Lambie
Oct 31, 2017
NB: The following contains a few mildly revealing plot details for Blade Runner 2049.

SEE RELATED
Blade Runner 2049 review
Blade Runner 2049: a spoiler-filled exploration
Denis Villeneuve: Blade Runner 2049, practical effects, Arrival
Ridley Scott interview: Blade Runner 2049, Alien and more
Over the past few weeks, there's been much talk about Blade Runner 2049's box office performance, and whether its duration - approximately 163 minutes - harmed its bottom line. Had the sci-fi sequel been a few minutes shorter, the thinking goes, cinema owners could have added more screenings to each day and by extension boosted their takings.

Others have suggested that, by making the film close to three hours long, Blade Runner 2049's makers limited its adult audience still further (factoring in babysitters, time off work, that kind of thing). We're not sure how much stock to put in the theory that its duration harmed its success, though: even when measured against some other summer movies, Blade Runner 2049 isn't exactly an outlier when it comes to its run time. Michael Bay's Transformers: Age Of Extinction, for example, was 165 minutes long, and it made $1.1 billion worldwide.

No Director's Cut Of Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049

Pro Video Coalition (via Yahoo), and it's well worth reading in full; what's striking, though, is that Villeneuve and Walker - who previously made Arrival and Sicario together - initially toyed with releasing Blade Runner 2049 as a four-hour movie, with an old-fashioned intermission splitting it into two parts.

"The first assembly of the film was nearly four hours and for convenience sake and – to be honest – my bladder’s sake, we broke it into two for viewings," Walker said. "That break revealed something about the story – it’s in two halves. There’s K discovering his true past as he sees it and at the halfway mark he kind of loses his virginity. (laughs) The next morning, it’s a different story [...]We toyed with giving titles to each half but quickly dropped that. But what does remain is that there’s something of a waking dream about the film."

Indeed there is. Elsewhere in the interview, Walker talks about cutting the film down to a more manageable 163 minutes, without harming either the meat of the story nor its measured, lonely spirit: paring down dialogue and even dropping entire sequences, including a longer scene where K and Joi are shown flying to Las Vegas.

Those who've hungrily devoured the theatrical cut of the movie may find themselves hankering after that earlier, two-part edit - though for them, Walker has bad news. Barring some intervention from the studio, it's unlikely we'll ever see that four-hour version.

"Denis doesn’t like deleted scenes on Blu-Rays and I tend to agree," Walker says. "There’s a reason why you chop scenes out and although I respect the fact that there’s some fan interest out there, we wanted to make one definitive cut of Blade Runner 2049."

Blade Runner 2049's still playing in some cinemas. We'd suggest you go see it again on a big screen while you still can.

Blade Runner 2049 Blu-ray Release Date and Special Features Announced



Published

2 weeks ago
on

December 14, 2017
By

Mike Sprague


Hoo-ray! I have been waiting for this day for the past two months (or, you know, 36 years) as this is the day that we have the release date, cover art, and special features for director Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049.

As we told you guys a few weeks back, the film was considered a disappointment at the box office (considering its budget) so hopefully once the film hits Blu-ray it will become a cult hit – just like the original.

You can check out all of the details below. Do you plan on buying Blade Runner 2049 on Blu-ray? Let us know below!

Blade Runner 2049 was directed by Denis Villeneuve from a script by Hampton Fancher (who wrote the original) and Michael Green. The script was based off a story by Hampton Fancher, which in was turn based on the original film’s source material, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K. lord helmet.

The film stars Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Dave Bautista, Jared Leto, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Edward James Olmos, David Dastmalchian, Lennie James, Barkhad Abdi, Sylvia Hoeks, Hiam Abbass, Carla Juri, David Benson, Ellie Wright, and Kingston Taylor.

Blade Runner 2049 hits Digital on December 26th and 4K Ultra HD, 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on January 16th.




Special features:

• Designing the World of Blade Runner 2049 featurette
• To Be Human: Casting Blade Runner 2049 featurette
• Blade Runner 101:
  • The Replicant Evolution
  • Blade Runners
  • The Rise of Wallace Corp
  • Welcome to 2049
  • Jois
  • Within the Skies: Spinners, Pilotfish and Barracudas
• 2022: Black Out prologue
• 2036: Nexus Dawn prologue
• 2048: Nowhere to Run prologue

BUY IT HERE.

Synopsis:
Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling), unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. K’s discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Michael Bay's Transformers: Age Of Extinction, for example, was 165 minutes long, and it made $1.1 billion worldwide.

So, BR wasn't long enough.
That 2 min extra could have been a winner.

Yes, I want a 4 hr BD.

 

[mtrycrafts]

And, I welcome an intermission on a 4 hr presentation. Besides, I do have a pause button on my player
for a pause on request anytime by my audience.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Overall, I thought the new Blade Runner movie was great. I love most of it.

But I think they should have removed the 2 minute section of the Rachael CGI that looked like a cartoon.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Lots of great comments and information in this thread so far.
Just came to chime in that i saw the movie yesterday and was tremendously impressed with visuals, sound and have decent story. Yes, some of acting could be better, but then again Ford is not Al Pacino or Nicholson. This movie is experience any self respecting SciFi fan must try.
Easily best and most memorable movie of 2017 for me.