Support NeoGAF

[Freeglader]

I was afraid of popping in this thread because of potential spoilers, but my god those brief impressions in the op!! I'm pumped. Villeneuve is king.

 

[Blade30]

Saw Blade Runner fully for the first time (Final Cut). Had tried to watch a few years ago, couldn’t finish it

- It moved faster than I had expected, and the slower parts and dialogue were never boring. I like the plot feels so very small and slice-of-life - just one story that could be happening among hundreds - while the world-building and details make the scope feel so much more grander
- The atmosphere and sense of place is still amazing today. Crowded, dank, claustrophobic decay, rundown and rain-drenched. A lot of cyberpunk depictions get some of those aspects - the rain, the neon, the decay - but Blade Runner has a realism and density that I think other depictions in film and games have failed to capture
- The naturalistic approach of the future and future tech is also very different from many other cyberpunk works I’ve seen and read. Most go very heavy on the augmentations and “high tech megacorp crushing the people”, while Blade Runner feels more realistic in its depiction of the future
- Rutger Hauer’s Roy was an excellent performance. Charming and cultured yet menacing and haunted. Ford as Deckard was great too, although I do have a soft spot for sci-if noir and characters like him
- I got to agree with the common criticism here: Deckard and Rachel’s romance felt completely unearned and had none of the emotional weight that the movie thought it had

I've re-watched it yesterday too, it's been a long time since I have last scene so some parts were really hazy. I watched the final cut version which I hadn't seen before and I agree with your points especially the last one with the romance which didn't sit well with me. I'm probably going to re-watch it tomorrow or so.

 

[Screaming Meat]

Best you don't know any more. Just see it, takes like 2 hours.

Maybe I will...

Maybe I will.

 

[Neith]

I've re-watched it yesterday too, it's been a long time since I have last scene so some parts were really hazy. I watched the final cut version which I hadn't seen before and I agree with your points especially the last one with the romance which didn't sit well with me. I'm probably going to re-watch it tomorrow or so.

I don't think it is unearned really. It's just something that happens. You know, not all romances are ten month affairs. It's definitely weird for sure, but I don't think it harms the film at all. In fact, a prolonged romance would have sunk this film.

 

[Neith]

Enemy > Incendies = Prisoners > Sicario >> Arrival

don't @ me

Enemy was really good. The symbolism and subtlety in that film is right on. I have the rest on Bluray but have only dipped into Sicario so far which I have on UHD and need to get Arrival on UHD. Oops doubled again sorry bout that.

You can say this about any director.

Except you cannot say that about any director?

For instance Sicario was almost entirely driven by the acting and writing. Yes, he did a fine job in the director's seat, but the film was not really his to take home. That was all about acting and writing IMO. I liked the visual aspects of Sicario, but it wasn't say something that blew my mind or anything. It did show he has tremendous restraint in a lot of ways.

Now something like Enemy was much more of a director's vision IMHO. Of course again with completely solid performances and writing all around.

Not every director gets this chance. If anything Denis has good taste and the ability to surround himself with like-minded professionals.

Going on this, I wouldn't call the writers and people Ridley Scott works with talented across the board. His movies have been 50% good 50% pure shit in the last ten years. Something is just not working out there. Whether it is because he has poor taste, judgement, or whatever IDK.

 

[Ushojax]

The romance is supposed to feel awkward, for obvious reasons. It's two emotionally stunted people trying to understand how to be human (whether you think Deckard is a replicant or not).

 

[ZombAid82]

One Hour to go, until embargo is lifted!
Most anticipated Movie of the Year.
Villeneuve is one of the best still working/not-dead Directors of our time.
Bring on Dune!
Villeneuve ranked:
Incendies
Arrival
Enemy
Prisoners
Polytechnique
Sicario(Have to rewatch, anybody in Berlin who wants to sell their UHD ;-)

 

[Kenzodielocke]

Do we have an exact time for the embargo lift today? It's supposed to be this afternoon.

 

[ZombAid82]

Do we have an exact time for the embargo lift today? It's supposed to be this afternoon.

From Mashable:

But on Wednesday, after it was clear that bloggers were loving Blade Runner 2049, the studio shifted up its embargo time to Friday at 9 a.m. ET. That gives it a whopping lead time of 6 days, 10 hours — putting it in line with Spider Man: Homecoming, Girls Trip and The Lego Batman Movie. All were around or above 90%.

 

[Krev]

Except you cannot say that about any director?

For instance Sicario was almost entirely driven by the acting and writing. Yes, he did a fine job in the director's seat, but the film was not really his to take home. That was all about acting and writing IMO. I liked the visual aspects of Sicario, but it wasn't say something that blew my mind or anything. It did show he has tremendous restraint in a lot of ways.

Sicario is very much the movie it is because of the direction. It is very atmospheric, very cold, very precise. If you don't see this you should watch Wind River (from the same writer who is this time in the director's seat), which features a scene of snowmobiles pulling up at a location that's clearly meant to serve the same sort of feeling as the convoy scene in Sicario. The difference Villeneuve's directing makes to the overall impact is huge.

Sicario is actually the movie that convinced me Villneuve was right for Blade Runner.

Not every director gets this chance. If anything Denis has good taste and the ability to surround himself with like-minded professionals.

Going on this, I wouldn't call the writers and people Ridley Scott works with talented across the board. His movies have been 50% good 50% pure shit in the last ten years. Something is just not working out there. Whether it is because he has poor taste, judgement, or whatever IDK.

My general point was that any really good director surrounds themself with talent. I'd go as far as to say that picking great material and collaborators is the most important job of a director.

 

[George Oscar Bluth II]

From Mashable:

That's just 35 minutes from now

Oh shit

 

[ZombAid82]

That's just 35 minutes from now

Oh shit

 

[ZombieFred]

Can someone kind enough ensure no spoilers or any whiff of major plot get caught in the basic quotes of the reviews when they come? I don't want get spoiled!

 

[Bloodporne]

Yeahh that scene is 100% not comfy. I imagine it was at the time supposed to be some kind of "wahh so passionate" thing that i guess didn't look as rapey in the 80's. Scene totally aged like shit and is honestly super creepy, and considering the movie seems to play it of as consentual and a beautiful scene or whatever i can only assume it was something that kinda didn't look too weird "at the time" for alot of people.

It's the odd performances that I think probably pushed this scene into "ehhh what?" territory. The whole sequence was probably, on paper, meant as an homage to the 40's Gumshoe Noir damsel-in-distress thing but neither Young nor Ford played it with any sort of sub-text implying that there's more going on here and they're both "in" on the attraction but still playing games.

I think it's plausible that that combination lead to how off the whole scene is. I saw it as a kid with my mother and sister originally and I remember us even then laughing at how uncalled for and tonally bizarre this moment was. As in how did all that turn into a romantic tumble in the sheets?

 

[Jarmel]

Like The Godfather Part II, it’s a sequel to a very celebrated film which may actually be better than the original.

Holy shit.

 

[Blue Lou]

Five stars from Empire: http://www.empireonline.com/movies/blade-runner-2049/review/

 

[omark]

Five star sequel may be better than the original
Ryan Gosling gives a soulful performance in a film that is always able to find the human dimension amid all the special effects and spectacle
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...-a7973621.html


As bold as the original Blade Runner and even more beautiful (especially if you see it in IMAX). Visually immaculate, swirling with themes as heart-rending as they are mind-twisting, 2049 is, without doubt, a good year. And one of 2017’s best.
http://www.empireonline.com/movies/b...r-2049/review/


Blade Runner 2049 review – a gigantic spectacle of pure hallucinatory craziness.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/201...nis-villeneuve


Blade Runner 2049 is a sequel that never should have happened, but it’s defied all odds to become one of the best ever.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/09/...er-2049-review

But whether it was needed or not, Blade Runner 2049 is as close to a perfect sequel as has ever existed, a phenomenal return to the world created by Philip K. Dick and Ridley Scott, the masterpiece result of a thousand expert minds making every right call as they worked toward a singular goal over the course of many years: simply to do this gargantuan thing justice. Needless to say, they succeeded--and then some.
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/bl.../1100-6453671/


Even when its emotions risk running as cool as its palette, 2049 reaches for, and finds, something remarkable: the elevation of mainstream moviemaking to high art.
http://ew.com/movies/2017/09/29/blad...alflow_twitter

Denis Villeneuve’s Neo-Noir Sequel Is Mind-Blowing Sci-Fi Storytelling
http://www.indiewire.com/2017/09/bla...ve-1201881820/

one of the most spectacular, provocative, and profound blockbusters of our time
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/b...tive-profound/

 

[Tigel]

Don't know if this has been posted yet: 13 mins interview with Villeneuve. It's in french though.

http://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1058520/denis-villeneuve-sortie-film-suite-blade-runner-2019

I'll translate a quote:

It's a bit arrogant to say that and it's up to the others to judge, but personally, I managed to do things in this movie that I had never managed to do before. I think it's my best film.

I'm particularly proud because Villeneuve is a fellow Quebecquers and Canadian

Hype is through the roof.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

review thread

 

[The Hermit]

Watched for the 10th time the first one with my gf who never watched before.

She loved it, got all the little details and even wondered if Deckard is a Replicant too.

I can't wait!

 

[Discotheque]

Oh man, first twin peaks returns after 25 years and was a masterpeice, and now blade runner is returning after 35 years and seems to be masterpeice. 2017 is a good year for revivals.

Kinda looking like a repeat of 2015 where an old gawd comes back to his own property years later and makes a masterpiece (Miller - Mad Max/Lynch - Twin Peaks). And then another old series gets a good sequel with a new director on board (Creed/Blade Runner)

Dat deja vu