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First Blade Runner 2049 impressions

S

self_aware_keyboard

Member
SchrodingerC said:
If anyone wants to watch, Adam Savage gave his impressions of BR2049 on the Still Untitled: The Adam Savage Project podcast.

Spoiler free of course:
https://youtu.be/eQ9F3U3Pax8?t=24m2s

They talk about a few behind the scenes details before the impressions as well.
Click to expand...

First off I love watching Adam as a builder/maker he can be fascinating to hear him talk through a build.

On the flip side he is prone to completely over the top gushing over fairly mediocre* stuff. I find it hard to listen to him with any seriousness as a reviewer of movies. Also at times he can get far too caught up in trying to politically correct/gender equality correct. Perhaps that's just a Californian thing :)

*Mainly based on his love of The force awakens as brilliant and JJ's Trek - but that's another thread :)
 
O

overcast

Member
TACPhilly said:
I would love to see a sci fi win best picture for once
Click to expand...
Would be cool to see but won't happen and I doubt this would get it done against the competition this year.
Alienfan said:
That $185 million budget on Wikipedia can't be right, I know Warner Bros have backed some crazy risky shit before, but that number seems unusually high
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I love that WB is prone to throwing money at risky concepts.
 
F

faridmon

Member
I am gonna be berated, but I honestly didn't like the original Blade Runner. Not too excited about this, but these reviews is making me curious.
 
B

brau

Member
Spuck-uk said:
Of all the films I absolutely would NOT want to see in 3d, this is right at the top of the list.
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Any specific reasons?

I was going to debate about this same thing to a coworker until I found more about the way the movie was filmed. If 3D was not something that they thought about and filmed it in I would go for the 2D showing of it. Seems that was the case. But I would love to hear more about this if you have any other reasons.
 
S

shaneo632

Member
Journo friend of mine whose opinion I trust is seeing it Friday. I will let you know what his anonymous, embargo-breaking impressions are.
 
Spuck-uk

Spuck-uk

Banned
brau said:
Any specific reasons?

I was going to debate about this same thing to a coworker until I found more about the way the movie was filmed. If 3D was not something that they thought about and filmed it in I would go for the 2D showing of it. Seems that was the case. But I would love to hear more about this if you have any other reasons.
Click to expand...

Yup, I can't see 3d bringing any benefit whatsoever to the experience, and being actively distracting in a 3 hour long thriller.
 
K

Kraftwerk

Member
The only reason I was, and still am a little hesitant about the movie is Ridley fucking around with it and dipping his fingers gets into it... whether during production or editing or whatever.

But I love everything Denis has done, so hoping for the best.
 
J

jett

D-Member
duckroll said:
The boxoffice prediction game is really tough with scifi films because the scifi nature of a film is hardly the reason most people would watch the film, so it's really about what other factors there are which could draw them in or repel them.

Arrival is less than two hours long, is presented as a family relationship drama mixed with first contact with aliens. I think it's fairly relatable and not something that turns people off if they're curious about it or the word of mouth is good.

Blade Runner is almost 3 hours long, is almost certainly going to be more of a thriller of sorts which attracts more of a male skewed demographic but also more cerebral and atmospheric which might be more challenging than some of those audiences would like. It's also 3 hours long. I would say the closest comparison here is Nolan's Interstellar, except without having "From the director of the Batman trilogy" pasted on it.

Another factor to consider: How much international pull does this need to be successful? Arrival was basically 50/50 with 100 million domestic and 100 million foreign. For a good level of success a blockbuster that costs >150 million is going to need much more foreign success to carry it unless we're expecting a HUGE domestic take, which looks unlikely.
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If it gets widespread critical acclaim and good word of mouth I can see the older crowed coming out for this movie and it achieving some respectable Mad Max-tier success with decent legs. That's best case scenario, I don't expect it has the chance of being anything more than that.
 
Z

Z3M0G

Member
duckroll said:
2036 Nexus Dawn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgsS3nhRRzQ
2048 Nowhere to Run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ9Os8cP_gg
2022 Black Out: http://www.crunchyroll.com/blade-ru...k-out-2022-blade-runner-black-out-2022-748417
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I watched the first one... I like how it looked, but I didn't particularly like the plot of it...

What was the point of that?

Sometimes I need to remind myself that these scenes are things that were cut from the film for a reason... they are just deleted scenes re-purposed as promo material.

Honestly, watching that made me want to see the film less... not more...

Edit: Holy fuck... Nowhere to Run sold me on their set design, that's for damn sure... they really did travel back to the original movie set to film this... How the hell did Scott make that movie back then??

Edit: Ok, I didn't skip over the intro on the 2nd one, and learned how these are done by different directors, so they are not just "deleted scenes" like I thought. Sorry about that.
 
G

George Oscar Bluth II

Banned
self_aware_keyboard said:
Also at times he can get far too caught up in trying to politically correct/gender equality correct. Perhaps that's just a Californian thing :)
Click to expand...
tenor.gif
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Z3M0G said:
I watched the first one... I like how it looked, but I didn't particularly like the plot of it...

What was the point of that?

Sometimes I need to remind myself that these scenes are things that were cut from the film for a reason... they are just deleted scenes re-purposed as promo material.

Honestly, watching that made me want to see the film less... not more...
Click to expand...
They’re not deleted scenes. They’re shorts directed by Ridley Scott’s son
 
I

Inferno313

Banned
Chained Prometheus said:
I wouldn't call it a "flaw" per se, but let's be honest- the actual story of Blade Runner isn't all that impressive. It's more focused on acting as the metaphorical vehicle used by the film in order to share a) Roy Batty, b) the central themes and c) essentially the entire Cyberpunk aesthetic (looks and sound) all at once. Which is fine, because those three main goals all work astoundingly well.

I adore the film, but I can absolutely see the new film improving upon the original if it has a better story at its core. It probably won't be as massively groundbreaking, but I can see a case being made for it being a better film overall than the original.

At the end of the day, whether the majority of people end up preferring 2049 over the original or not, I think it's a safe guess at this point that we're looking at a sequel film that's right on par with the likes of Mad Max: Fury Road in terms of sheer quality.
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Well, I think you're conflating plot with story. Plot being the events that happen in a story, and a story being the entirety of the larger narrative, including the characters, how the plot affects the characters, etc. It's true that Blade Runner has a relatively simple plot, yeah. However, that's not really a problem. Many might view it as a strength. 12 Angry Men, Alien, the aforementioned Mad Max: Fury Road, these are all wonderful films that don't just have simple plots, but excel because of the simplicity of the plotting.

You say that Blade Runner doesn't have a compelling story, and then go on to list one of the main characters, and the themes as part of what makes it a great film... And those are aspects of the story.

Blade Runner is more than just an aesthetic. It's a rich narrative full of fascinating, weird, intriguing characters. It's full of complex moral issues about the nature of humanity, the nature of good and evil, the nature of society's need for a disposable workforce. There's a lot going on story-wise.
 
C

Chained Prometheus

Member
Inferno313 said:
Well, I think you're conflating plot with story. Plot being the events that happen in a story, and a story being the entirety of the larger narrative, including the characters, how the plot affects the characters, etc. It's true that Blade Runner has a relatively simple plot, yeah. However, that's not really a problem. Many might view it as a strength. 12 Angry Men, Alien, the aforementioned Mad Max: Fury Road, these are all wonderful films that don't just have simple plots, but excel because of the simplicity of the plotting.

You say that Blade Runner doesn't have a compelling story, and then go on to list one of the main characters, and the themes as part of what makes it a great film... And those are aspects of the story.

Blade Runner is more than just an aesthetic. It's a rich narrative full of fascinating, weird, intriguing characters. It's full of complex moral issues about the nature of humanity, the nature of good and evil, the nature of society's need for a disposable workforce. There's a lot going on story-wise.
Click to expand...

Right, right. Knew something was off about that! I always mix up the difference between "story" and "plot" in my head. lol Thanks for the correction there.

And like I said in the first place, I wouldn't call that a "flaw" per se. It's just a criticism or nitpick that I can see an argument being made for as to why someone might prefer the new film over the original.

Though there are actual flaws in the story itself too (and this time I mean the proper definition of it). As another poster mentioned earlier in the thread, there is a legitimate criticism to be made on how the original film handles the romance narrative between Deckard and Rachel.
 
S

Surfinn

Member
This film is almost 3 hours? Damn. I hope it's justified. Increasingly hyped. If nothing else, it's going to be a visual feast.

self_aware_keyboard said:
First off I love watching Adam as a builder/maker he can be fascinating to hear him talk through a build.

On the flip side he is prone to completely over the top gushing over fairly mediocre* stuff. I find it hard to listen to him with any seriousness as a reviewer of movies. Also at times he can get far too caught up in trying to politically correct/gender equality correct. Perhaps that's just a Californian thing :)

*Mainly based on his love of The force awakens as brilliant and JJ's Trek - but that's another thread :)
Click to expand...

What
 
J

Jarmel

Banned
SchrodingerC said:
If anyone wants to watch, Adam Savage gave his impressions of BR2049 on the Still Untitled: The Adam Savage Project podcast.

Spoiler free of course:
https://youtu.be/eQ9F3U3Pax8?t=24m2s

They talk about a few behind the scenes details before the impressions as well.
Click to expand...
I'm kind of stunned at the comment in there that this movie has as much thematic depth if not more than the original. That's something the original Blade Runner is famous for. Maybe that's hyperbole on the reviewer's part.
 
S

Surfinn

Member
What's the definitive version to watch (Blade Runner), as somebody who has seen it once a long time ago and wants to give it another go?
 
B

Bobby Roberts

Banned
Surfinn said:
What's the definitive version to watch (Blade Runner), as somebody who has seen it once a long time ago and wants to give it another go?
Click to expand...

There isn't one, really.

Final Cut is the latest one, though. The differences between all five cuts are, even at their most pronounced, pretty minimal. Like, the most changed version from the theatrical is still like 95% the exact same movie.

FC or DC are the two most recommended, I think.

(Workprint cut is best cut)
 
S

Surfinn

Member
Bobby Roberts said:
There isn't one, really.

Final Cut is the latest one, though. The differences between all five cuts are, even at their most pronounced, pretty minimal. Like, the most changed version from the theatrical is still like 95% the exact same movie.

FC or DC are the two most recommended, I think.

(Workprint cut is best cut)
Click to expand...

There are five fucking cuts?

Thanks. So it sounds like it wouldn't be a significantly different experience, regardless of the cut, for someone who isn't really familiar with the film?
 
K

kmax

Member
I got my tickets locked down (best seats in town) since 2 weeks back, so I'm ready to rock n' roll.

Nice to hear the positive early buzz. I'm looking forward to once the RT reviews drop.
 
B

Bobby Roberts

Banned
Surfinn said:
Thanks. So it sounds like it wouldn't be a significantly different experience, regardless of the cut, for someone who isn't really familiar with the film?
Click to expand...

Not really.

In my experience, with all the people who I've talked to and/or watched Blade Runner with, it really doesn't matter which cut you watch first because the movie doesn't really grab hold until you rewatch it. The first view seems to mostly just... glide off at first. Stray bits of things get stuck in your head, and eventually you wanna go back to it to see if maybe there was something you missed.

and that is when it hooks you.
 
B

Burt

Member
Surfinn said:
This film is almost 3 hours? Damn. I hope it's justified. Increasingly hyped. If nothing else, it's going to be a visual feast.
Click to expand...

so much movie for your money

It's like getting to see Thor: Ragnarok twice for the price of once!
 
M

mattp

Member
the cuts are all so similar, unless you're a super fan and have watched them all multiple times you wouldn't even notice the differences, for the most part

its easier to just break them into 2 "cuts"
the theatrical release, which has the bad voice over and different ending
and all the other cuts, which are pretty much the same
 
B

Bloodporne

Member
I've been ignoring the shit out of this for the most part because I'm a huge fan of the original...this sounds shockingly good suddenly.

Oh my, could this be the real deal?
 
S

Surfinn

Member
I'm all for hype but it's almost like people are weirdly trying to outdo each other and up the ante with hyperbolic impressions (OMG I'm at home and I forgot how to eat, can someone stop by and spoon feed me my dinner?!)

Still, it sounds like fantastic reception and I'm hyped.

Solo said:
Spider-Man 3
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This legitimately made me laugh
 
M

Master_Funk

Member
Has anyone commented on the music? Then Vangelis score of the original was marvelous and I'm hoping they kept that general vibe, instead of mostly orchestral stuff .
 
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