My only real complaint about the movie is Gaff. I'd like to believe even in the old folks home, Gaff would still be O.G. and using cityspeak all the time.
My only real complaint about the movie is Gaff. I'd like to believe even in the old folks home, Gaff would still be O.G. and using cityspeak all the time.
Well, there *was* mention of the Nexus-7 in the "N7" designation in Rachel's serial number (& she HAD the extended life-span).I think they intimated Deckard COUKD have been a Replicant but that was only part of Wallace's speech to him towards the end, hinting perhaps Tyrell made him and Rachel with procreation in mind. But it's more profound to have a human/Replicant pairing. It is curious there is no Nexus 7 mentioned in the film, perhaps that was the Deckard model with extended life but that contradicts the first film, Tyrell hadn't solved that. And Deckard is human in regards to his physical strength.
I finally got off my butt to watch this film last night.
It was magnificent.
I'm eating nothing but crow because, going into this movie, I had a lot of concerns even after the trailers and shorts.
There's no way this should have worked for me. Blade Runner 2049 was a "no win" proposition in my heart and mind with endless potential pitfalls:
- if it expanded on the film's world-building it would easily violate the claustrophobic tonality of the original
- if it tried to preserve the feel of BR it might just become derivative and unnecessary
- if it continued the story it could have become laden with needless exposition where BR was refreshingly sparse
- I was worried it might have been too rapidly paced and edited as so many modern films are
- I was concerned this would be another chase film dressed as hard sci-fi which simply applies a known property for a backdrop - c.f. Total Recall
- I was afraid it might become too ambitious in scaling up the film that it loses the characteristic intimate scale of BR
- I was afraid because I was one of the few people who thought Arrival was overrated
I hold Blade Runner in such reverence there was no way this could have been good enough for me.
.... but it was. It was better than I dared to hope and even enhances my appreciation of BR.
Dennis gets it. He gets it hard. He made a film that Ridley himself is incapable of making. He made a film that straddles the line between being an entirely original (and credible) extension of the first film and wallowing in its shadow. I love this movie.
First of all, I love how Blade Runner 2049 creates a wonderfully detailed and cacophonous tapestry of ambient (and often inexplicable) city noises blended with the soundtrack just as Blade Runner did.
The characteristic BR pathos is infused in this film as well.
For me Carla Juri as Dr. Stelline was the standout among the entire cast of outstanding performances. It's her performance that still haunts me most.
Ryan Gosling as "K" was wonderful. Before the film I was afraid of "Gosling fatigue" but he was legitimately engaging and tragic. What an engrossing personal arc.
I haven't changed my mind about Leto but he was, thankfully, not at the core but resigned to a small corner of the film to chew. (and he didn't "chew" as badly as I thought he would) I am very, very grateful for that.
Though it touched upon a replicant uprising I'm grateful it didn't go all Matrix Revolutions. I also like how it didn't go Off-World.
Prior to this movie the idea of Deckard as a replicant made no sense to me - but that revelation didn't derail the film for me. But I'll have to digest it a bit more before I know how I ultimately feel about that.
I thought the Blackout was a great way to explain any subtle incongruences in setting and design between the films.
And then there are the countless bits that only a solid BR fan could appreciate. But they weren't just fan service - they were enhancements. I haven't read any other post here yet but I'm sure most of them have been mentioned. e.g. the sex-worker attire ("fur" bolero) that called back to Pris - which also confirms that Pris was likely a sex-worker on Earth in BR as she was Off-World. Or the almost faceless folks of the shanty towns who spoke German like the little vandals who jumped on Deckard's car in BR. etc.
Blade Runner 2049 didn't explode in the box office but I have absolutely no doubt it will stand by Blade Runner as an enduring classic. It's a much better film than I deserved to expect.
It's beautiful how Deckard's retreat from the world is paralleled with J.F. Sebastian's self-imposed social isolation. There's that leitmotif when K enters the casino which was first heard in Blade Runner when Deckard entered the Bradbury. And, if that wasn't enough to drive the parallel, Joi exploring the place and looking at the canisters is a direct reference to Pris exploring J.F.'s place.
And if you listen closely while Joi is looking at the canisters you can hear a sound effect that I first heard in ALIEN and then ESB and Prometheus.
The first time I saw it I also thought she said "It's from a dream," but the second time I'm absolutely sure that she said "It's from a tree," hearkening back to her first conversation with K and seeing the picture of Sapper's dead tree.Did anyone catch what Mariette said as she stood by K's bed and picked up the horse? It sounded like she mentions a dream.
The first time I saw it I also thought she said "It's from a dream," but the second time I'm absolutely sure that she said "It's from a tree," hearkening back to her first conversation with K and seeing the picture of Sapper's dead tree.
Sigh. I want to say I loved it, but the truth is, I didn’t. Beautifully shot. Some great sets, props, and wardrobe, but man did this movie suffer from a severe lack of editing. So many scenes drug on for a painful amount of time and for no gain. It also felt that multiple plot points were left purposefully vague in an effort to be “deep” and “provoking” when in reality they were just generic and unspecific. Not a bad film but it seemed more like it was trying to be what everyone says the first film is than it was simply confident in its own story and style.
Yup, as soon as I heard that my mind snapped back to ESB. Great sound. Subtle yet penetrative.And in Deckard's apartment. Ben Burtt made it for Alien, and he used it again in ESB. Since it was also part of the effects library archived for Alien, Ridley reused it, too.