"I did your job once. I was good at it."

May 8, 2017 11:24 AM

The new Blade Runner 2 trailer is out. Replicants and their opponents are at it again.

(Previously)

posted by doctornemo (121 comments total)

It is definitely not a morally ambiguous, meditative film like its predecessor. It appears to have clear-cut villains and a really on-the-nose metaphor about books. I'll wait until it comes out to see what people think.
posted by grumpybear69 at 11:26 AM on May 8, 2017

I watched 'Prometheus' on a long-haul flight with the sound turned off. It made more sense that way. Maybe I'll do the same thing with this movie.
posted by My Dad at 11:30 AM on May 8, 2017

"In the end he really love movies, all movies, so much he made them whether they needed it or not."
posted by Artw at 11:33 AM on May 8, 2017 [11 favorites]

Yes but at this point I trust Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Sicario, Arrival) and Michael Green (Kings, Logan, Murder on the Orient Express) to deliver moral ambiguity and slightly better than on-the-nose metaphors.
posted by seraphine at 11:34 AM on May 8, 2017 [11 favorites]

I kind of had a tiny shred of hope for this one because Arrival was so, so good but unless they've cut the trailer specifically to make it look like a really-nicely-set-dressed-but-generic sci-fi action film-- which would make no sense because come on, it's the sequel to Blade Runner-- this is just... ugh.

And I say that as, generally, a big fan of nicely set dressed generic sci-fi action flicks. But that's not at all what Blade Runner is for.
posted by WidgetAlley at 11:34 AM on May 8, 2017 [5 favorites]

One of the best aspects of the original was the relative lack of exposition. (In the narration-free director's cut, anyway.) They built a dense world and let you try to fill in the pieces. No such respect for the viewer shown here, sadly.
posted by CaseyB at 11:36 AM on May 8, 2017 [7 favorites]

Is that an upside-down Atari symbol in the first few seconds?
posted by doctornemo at 11:36 AM on May 8, 2017

So apparently this is the year where we think the future of advertising is giant holograms?

unless they've cut the trailer specifically to make it look like a really-nicely-set-dressed-but-generic sci-fi action film--

I guarantee they did this; it's their job. Whether the movie ends up satisfying is another matter.
posted by selfnoise at 11:37 AM on May 8, 2017 [7 favorites]

I guarantee they did this; it's their job.

This isn't snark, it's a genuine question: why? Blade Runner is pretty damn famous, and I think (?) most people know what it's pretty famous for, which definitely isn't generic sci-fi action film. Wouldn't it be more effective to actually represent the movie as a Blade Runner type-film, in terms of putting butts in seats? I know the original was kind of a flop when it came out, but it's achieved huge critical cult status since. I would think a trailer that looked and felt like the original would be waaaaay more effective. This trailer just seems like it's going to be indistinguishable from other movies to non-fans and piss fans off.
posted by WidgetAlley at 11:39 AM on May 8, 2017 [6 favorites]

Yes; you can read "ATARI" in the logo, even, it's only slightly tilted at an angle.

Anyway. Can we get someone to gracefully retire Ridley Scott? I'm not saying kill him or anything, just... acknowledge that he made some really wonderful films and then orchestrate circumstances so that he doesn't get to make any more, or produce any more, or whatever it is that turns beautiful, atmospheric films with loads of artistic merit like Alien and Blade Runner into whatever this and Covenant/Prometheus are.

Yeah, trailers are sometimes cut to lure in a lowest-common-denominator audience and Villeneuve might salvage the thing, but there are too many echoes of Prometheus' initial trailers; nice looking but unimaginative art direction married to a parade of writing cliches.
posted by byanyothername at 11:41 AM on May 8, 2017 [7 favorites]

Ah but which cut of Blade Runner 2 is the trailer for?
posted by srboisvert at 11:45 AM on May 8, 2017 [35 favorites]

Yeah, exactly what odinsdream said. I've been skeptical of trailers for sci-fi movies since Minority Report. The trailer made it look like a straight whodunit but it's actually about a lone hero taking on a corrupt system. This is being framed as a straight action blockbuster but it could be a simmering exploration of the meaning of humanity.

Will it be more nuanced and more interesting? I have no idea. But Hollywood has a history of making trailers boring to appeal to a wider audience.
posted by Tevin at 11:45 AM on May 8, 2017 [5 favorites]

Looks visually compelling but yes I wonder about the pacing and plot choices.

The amount of emoting that Harrison Ford does also seems a bit strange given how subdued his performance in Blade Runner is (which plays into the speculation that perhaps he's a replicant). Gosling in full-on Drive mode basically has stone face as his only/primary emotion so I wonder if they'll play with that in regards to his character.

I guess I should be disappointed they aren't willing to throw Sean Young a bone and let her play Rachael (assuming that her model doesn't have a lifespan failsafe like the Nexus-6) but I guess her reputation precedes her.
posted by vuron at 11:45 AM on May 8, 2017 [3 favorites]

Also can we work toward some international set of laws banning sequels, remakes, reboots and spinoffs unless they've gotten some kind of rigorous official approval that generally only allows for taking a thing and just going absolutely nuts with it?

Because I finally saw Evangelion 3(.0/.33) last weekend and I'm totally on board with reboots that veer off into entirely new directions and end up infuriating longtime series nerds, but so sick and tired of everything becoming a boring franchise with whatever heart and soul it had sucked right out of it.
posted by byanyothername at 11:47 AM on May 8, 2017 [8 favorites]

Honestly the decision to cut it up like an action film might not be genius, it's just the safe move. Especially after the marketing for GITS seemed to have been one factor in its downfall, the studio may not be into the idea of selling the "weirder" aspects of the picture. (I can't speak to the other factors behind GITS failure, having not seen it)

Does anyone know why they put the ultra irritating little bumper on the front of these now? It's watching an ad for the video you're watching.
posted by selfnoise at 11:48 AM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'm a die hard fan of Blade Runner, and I have no interest in this, at least based on this trailer.

Funny enough, if it didn't have Ford in it, I would be more likely to see it, simply because I could imagine it as some totally alternate universe Blade Runner. But I'm worried that seeing Ford reprise Deckard will pollute the perfect original.

Of course, once it hit theatres and reviews start coming in, I'm still vulnerable to persuasion.
posted by 256 at 11:51 AM on May 8, 2017 [4 favorites]

So apparently this is the year where we think the future of advertising is giant holograms?

dammit someone help me wrestle this cnn exec to the floor
posted by robocop is bleeding at 11:53 AM on May 8, 2017 [4 favorites]

According to YouTube, the original Blade Runner (1982) Theatrical Trailer for comparison/arguments sake. Come for the heavy exposition and then slow burn middle that makes it seem boring as heck; stay for the marketing it like a sci-fi action movie ending.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:53 AM on May 8, 2017 [9 favorites]

unless they've cut the trailer specifically to make it look like a really-nicely-set-dressed-but-generic sci-fi action film--


You can't really get a hundred million dollars for a slow contemplative film with a ton of atmosphere but not much plot these days. Plus, don't forget that the original was a notorious box office bomb that lost a fortune.
posted by octothorpe at 11:57 AM on May 8, 2017 [5 favorites]

(Not that I necessarily think comparing/contrasting the two trailers is necessarily an argument in favor of Blade Runner 2049; I just thought it was interesting.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:59 AM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

I know Harrison Ford will keep being in these franchises as long as you keep dumping tons of money in his lap, but please stop. He clearly hates it and wants to be left alone for a nap.

I will say that for a second I thought we were going to get the bit from the book with the other police department where they do the Bonelli Reflex-Arc Test instead of the Voight-Kampff, and there are people I know who would be very excited about that, but it seems like that's not going to be the case.
posted by Copronymus at 12:03 PM on May 8, 2017 [15 favorites]

Trailers can only ever misrepresent a movie.

Except the trailer for Pacific Rim, which accurately promised what the movie would deliver up to and including the canceling of the apocalypse.
posted by tobascodagama at 12:04 PM on May 8, 2017 [20 favorites]

Does anyone know why they put the ultra irritating little bumper on the front of these now? It's watching an ad for the video you're watching.

Being Youtube, and this being a trailer, it will be run as an ad in front of other videos, so the new trend is putting a 5-second teaser during the skip countdown to entice the wary away from hitting the skip button.
posted by Badgermann at 12:06 PM on May 8, 2017 [2 favorites]

All my life, I've thought - oh, Bladerunner was OK, but it just lacked that little something, like a really big explosion that sends the guys flying through the air towards the camera. Because what good is a science fiction movie without a really big explosion that sends the guys flying through the air towards the camera?

Or perhaps it was the woeful undersupply of orange and teal grading. They didn't know much back then.

But let's see. Even Arrival had an explosion, after all. Unless early reports of the actual movie really do scream dog, there's no way I'm not going to see the damn thing. I survived 2010, I can sure as hell live though this.

He clearly hates it

He hated making the first one, too. It's his method, man.
posted by Devonian at 12:07 PM on May 8, 2017 [7 favorites]

Needs Rutger Hauer in it to decide he's actually the hero and write all the best lines.
posted by Artw at 12:09 PM on May 8, 2017 [16 favorites]

According to YouTube, the original Blade Runner (1982) Theatrical Trailer for comparison/arguments sake. Come for the heavy exposition and then slow burn middle that makes it seem boring as heck; stay for the marketing it like a sci-fi action movie ending.

And compare with the BFI rerelease trailer, which I've watched more times than I care to say.
posted by lagomorphius at 12:09 PM on May 8, 2017 [6 favorites]

sicario. yes.
posted by j_curiouser at 12:10 PM on May 8, 2017

Someday they're going to make that fucking Akira film, aren't they?
posted by Artw at 12:10 PM on May 8, 2017 [3 favorites]

Am I the only one who thinks that scene with Jared Leto looks a little bit like a shout out to The Cell?
posted by lagomorphius at 12:10 PM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'm pretty sure I saw at least one Manic Pixie Dream Girl.
posted by kozad at 12:11 PM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

Huh. I'm not seeing the trailer as being exactly generic sci-fi looking. There are a good number of scenes that look to be long take or slow reveal based. We only are seeing a piece of the scene in the trailer of course, but a lot of the images seem to make the sense as parts of a more contemplative mode of filming, relatively speaking, it is Hollywood after all. I"m sure there will be more and bigger action scenes too, but it appears to me it will have some of the same sort of more languorous drawn out moments to. If the music and dialogue comes from the actual film this also would suggest the same as they too are emphasizing some longer drawn out qualities like some of the movement and shot set ups. But trailers, being what they are, can deceive, so I guess only time will tell.
posted by gusottertrout at 12:12 PM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

The die-hard fans of Blade Runner will see it no matter what (raises hand).

Huh uh. I love the original way too much to allow this to take up space in my brain and ruin it. Way too many times I've kicked at that football. No more mining my childhood.

Only way I will see this is if everyone raves that it's the best ever, and I doubt that'll be happening.
posted by cjorgensen at 12:15 PM on May 8, 2017 [6 favorites]

>Someday they're going to make that fucking Akira film, aren't they?

Probably with Jack Black or The Rock or something, yes.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 12:18 PM on May 8, 2017 [2 favorites]

Ridley Scott is a guy who got lucky a couple of times and he took that as evidence he was a genius.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 12:19 PM on May 8, 2017 [10 favorites]

i cant wait for this to hit the beer theaters and for me to drink beer and yell at it. i am going to yell at this movie particularly if it's another """"""deep""""" exploration of humanity brimmin' with dead sex workers feat. amzing sets and danky dank synth lines. i have strong feelings about blade runner!! RRRRGGGGHHH

i will yell if it is good and i will yell if it is bad and i am sorry to everybody else in the portland metro who will have to hear me bellow, but not sorry enough to change my plans
posted by nixon's meatloaf at 12:20 PM on May 8, 2017 [14 favorites]

The die-hard fans of Blade Runner will see it no matter what

I don't plan to. There should be a German compound word for this sort of overdeterimined reboot that studios hope to make bank on from old fans and new ones alike. I sense it in this production, and it's not attractive to me. Of course, this could be much more about my old-and-jadedness than about qualities of the film. I'm sure it will make money for its studio, regardless.
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 12:23 PM on May 8, 2017 [7 favorites]

The trailer prominently features both the Atari logo and something called "SOVIET HAPPY." Very weird to see 2017's vision of 2049 as extrapolated from 1982's vision of 2019, adapted from 1968's vision of 1992.
posted by designbot at 12:23 PM on May 8, 2017 [40 favorites]

Ridley Scott is a guy who got lucky a couple of times and he took that as evidence he was a genius.

Hmm. I think it;s more that he's really really good at some things (visual storytelling, storytelling through production design, just getting the fucking thing made) and people assumed he was great at the things he lucked out at also (the shower of awesome scripts he got early on).
posted by Artw at 12:23 PM on May 8, 2017 [8 favorites]

I will probably see it because it looks pretty and I dig the retropunk asthetic.
posted by Artw at 12:24 PM on May 8, 2017

He clearly hates it

He hated making the first one, too. It's his method, man.

I'm convinced he method acted Regarding Henry (1991) and had himself actually shot in the head. He has been a little off ever since that movie.
posted by srboisvert at 12:29 PM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

I know Harrison Ford will keep being in these franchises as long as you keep dumping tons of money in his lap, but please stop. He clearly hates it and wants to be left alone for a nap.

Maybe he signed on so that his character can be unquestionably killed off like it was in the Star Wars franchise. Maybe what we're watching is a really thorough preparation for retirement - you know, he brought back Han Solo to have him be killed off, he's bringing back Deckard to be killed, then we'll have one more Indiana Jones film where Indy finally dies, and then when they're all released he'll issue a statement that basically says "there, now there's no reason for anyone to drag me back to one last film for any remaining franchise. I'mma retire now, peace out."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:30 PM on May 8, 2017 [24 favorites]

With Roger Deakins as cinematographer, at the very least you're gonna get some beautiful, beautiful imagery. I'll see it for that alone.

BTW, did you know he was a "visual consultant" on How to Train Your Dragon?
posted by sutt at 12:31 PM on May 8, 2017 [3 favorites]

Maybe those fictional characters are his horcruxes.
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:31 PM on May 8, 2017 [11 favorites]

If the original had never existed, I'd be super-stoked for this. It looks like Spectacle+Ideas which is why I show up for science fiction.

The original exists, so I'm cautiously stoked, so to speak.
posted by Caxton1476 at 12:34 PM on May 8, 2017 [3 favorites]

Maybe he signed on so that his character can be unquestionably killed off like it was in the Star Wars franchise.

One last ride for Jack Ryan would be amusing to see.
posted by tobascodagama at 12:36 PM on May 8, 2017 [4 favorites]

I thought Harrison Ford was dead. Didn't Adam Driver kill him a couple years back?
posted by rikschell at 12:36 PM on May 8, 2017 [2 favorites]

>Someday they're going to make that fucking Akira film, aren't they?

Probably with Jack Black or The Rock or something, yes.

Not that Dwayne Johnson would be entirely inappropriate (though admittedly race-bent) casting for the Colonel.
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:39 PM on May 8, 2017 [3 favorites]

Denis Villeneuve has more than enough capital to burn with me that even with relatively lackluster teaser/trailer, I'm SO totally going to see this at the first opportunity.
posted by tclark at 12:41 PM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

GiTS 2017
Art Director: "It has been my life's goal to recreate the look and feel of GiTS"
Director: "I saw this movie drunk once, I could take a stab at it"

--

The art for this is obviously perfect, so we may be headed in the same direction. That said, the GiTS moron made a poorly reviewed Snow White adaptation. This guy made Arrival and Sicario; Sicario had me on the edge of my seat, feeling the tension in the pit of my stomach.

I'm hopeful. Y'all maybe just wanted an excuse for some haterade?
posted by pmv at 1:01 PM on May 8, 2017 [3 favorites]

That said, I find it highly amusing how it is now Harrison Ford's job to personally oversee the metaphorical handover of major boomer cultural artifacts to millennials.
posted by pmv at 1:03 PM on May 8, 2017 [21 favorites]

I can't even stand the final cut mucking about where Batty says "I want more life, father". I probably shouldn't see this.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 1:07 PM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'm going to see it, I saw Prometheus so the worst is over.

I'm just amazed that, from the trailer anyway, decades later, with all the technical advances, a scifi movie doesn't look as good as the original, strictly visually. What's happening?
posted by bongo_x at 1:12 PM on May 8, 2017 [4 favorites]

> I can't even stand the final cut mucking about where Batty says "I want more life, father".

I actually found myself shouting NO NO NO NO NO at the screen when I saw that version, I hated it so much and it completely inverted some of the meaning of a line I really liked. Glad it's not just me!
posted by doop at 1:32 PM on May 8, 2017 [3 favorites]

This trailer isn't knocking me out, but then again I didn't think much of Fury Road in trailer form and now I've seen it four and a half times.
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:34 PM on May 8, 2017 [5 favorites]

Y'all maybe just wanted an excuse for some haterade?

I mean, I'm refraining from directly hating on a movie I haven't seen yet, but my ultimate problem with this sequel is that there's just no need for it to exist, narratively. There was nothing left dangling at the end of Blade Runner that demanded a continuation of the story.

I'm just amazed that, from the trailer anyway, decades later, with all the technical advances, a scifi movie doesn't look as good as the original, strictly visually. What's happening?

A couple of decades of lily-gilding, I guess.
posted by tobascodagama at 1:37 PM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

> Ridley Scott is a guy who got lucky a couple of times and he took that as evidence he was a genius.

> Hmm. I think it;s more that he's really really good at some things (visual storytelling, storytelling through production design, just getting the fucking thing made) and people assumed he was great at the things he lucked out at also (the shower of awesome scripts he got early on).

It's funny because the same thing has happened to James Cameron. But not yet, I don't think, to David Fincher.
posted by Apocryphon at 1:42 PM on May 8, 2017

Nah, Cameron's made one movie people don't like and wants to make a bunch more of them, but all of his movies are very much his from a script level up.
posted by Artw at 1:49 PM on May 8, 2017 [2 favorites]

There should be a German compound word for this sort of overdeterimined reboot that studios hope to make bank on from old fans and new ones alike.

Ein "Tronlegacy".
posted by kersplunk at 2:10 PM on May 8, 2017 [16 favorites]

Denis Villeneuve has more than enough capital to burn with me that even with relatively lackluster teaser/trailer, I'm SO totally going to see this at the first opportunity.

Well and Roger Deakins as director of photography.
posted by octothorpe at 2:10 PM on May 8, 2017 [2 favorites]

This trailer isn't knocking me out, but then again I didn't think much of Fury Road in trailer form and now I've seen it four and a half times.
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:34 PM on May 8 [+] [!]

Stopped the movie halfway though one time, OR, watched it once all the way through with one eye closed?

Will move this to AskMeFi if necessary
posted by Golem XIV at 2:15 PM on May 8, 2017 [9 favorites]

Can we get someone to gracefully retire Ridley Scott?

THEY DIDN'T CALL IT EXECUTION
posted by Sebmojo at 2:20 PM on May 8, 2017 [14 favorites]

I can't even stand the final cut mucking about where Batty says "I want more life, father"

I hadn't heard of the 2007 Final Cut and was wondering if he had gone all Lucas on it. Sounds like he did.
posted by grumpybear69 at 2:25 PM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

It does seem like they have been trying to keep the plot under-wraps as much as they can, so the trailer may be edited to avoid reveals (or indeed mislead).

Reading through a few interviews it does seem possible at least that there's more depth to it than seems.

Denis Villeneuve on the Risk of ‘Blade Runner 2049’ and Why ‘Dune’ is 35 Years in the Making

HARRISON FORD AND RYAN GOSLING TALK BLADE RUNNER 2049

"...and Villeneuve said 2049 focuses on the themes of memory and empathy, so start speculating about THAT..."

posted by Buntix at 2:29 PM on May 8, 2017

re: die-hard fans:

I don't plan to see it either, for what it's worth. Ditto with the new Alien. Ditto with any franchise that gets made into a lazy, rote new movie. I really wonder about the common wisdom of "fans will see it," because that's never been true for me or, I think?, most people I've known. Slapping a recognizable name on something mediocre surely gets butts in seats, but I suspect they're mainly butts who wanted to see the mediocre thing, not the named thing.

Even if it turns out okay, it just doesn't have a lot that grabs my interest. The very idea of Blade Runner 2 makes me queasy. I saw Prometheus in part because MeFites were all like, "But the trailer looks good! And trailers lie, anyway!" so, no. Lesson learned, damage irreversible.

re: American Akira:

SHHHHHH. THEY'LL HEAR YOU.
posted by byanyothername at 2:31 PM on May 8, 2017 [3 favorites]

If Scott got anywhere near the script it'll be Ford remembering all about how he is a robot and doing some robo-empathising.
posted by Artw at 2:33 PM on May 8, 2017

I can't even stand the final cut mucking about where Batty says "I want more life, father"

I hadn't heard of the 2007 Final Cut and was wondering if he had gone all Lucas on it. Sounds like he did.

According to something I saw somewhere (maybe one of the Blu-ray extras, "I want more life, father" was the actual original line, and it was changed against Scott's wishes after the fact to spice things up a little.
posted by lagomorphius at 2:34 PM on May 8, 2017

"I want more life, father"

In the director's cut, it always sounded like it could be both "I want more life, father" and "I want more life, fucker". The ambiguity was kind of neat. How was it changed in the final cut?
posted by dazed_one at 2:42 PM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

oh also there better goddam be hella harrison ford voiceover

i love harrison ford voiceover
posted by nixon's meatloaf at 2:49 PM on May 8, 2017 [2 favorites]

dazed_one: In the director's cut it was "fucker" (maybe a little indistinct?). In the final cut it was replaced with "father" (clearly enunciated).
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 2:50 PM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

It will always be "fucker" to me because of the Director's Cut and White Zombie.
posted by bongo_x at 3:03 PM on May 8, 2017 [3 favorites]

I'd like to think that Tim Cook gently hushes each iPhone that slides, gasping and shuddering, covered in goo from a sack before telling them they're disposable.
posted by boo_radley at 3:03 PM on May 8, 2017 [20 favorites]

It's a better line, fucker.
posted by Artw at 3:06 PM on May 8, 2017 [3 favorites]

Coming to Nick Jr. in 2018: BLADE RUNNER BABIES
posted by delfin at 3:18 PM on May 8, 2017 [6 favorites]

I saw Blade Runner for the first time, in 1984, after paying some ridiculous sum for a VHS version, something like thirty or forty dollars. It was an alternate 'foreign' cut, which translated into extra gore when Roy Batty squishes Eldon Tyrell's skull, and the camera lingering a few extra seconds on Roy's hand after he pushes a rusty nail through it.

I watched that movie late at night, after my mother went to bed, the volume just barely audible to my thirteen year old ears. I was watching something forbidden, and I didn't want to get busted for it.
I watched that movie twice in row, that first night, and many, many more times since.

Blade Runner is a beautiful, fascinating, frustrating film. You can love its visuals, admire its thoughtful script, and wish with all your heart to live in its atmospheric world of rain, neon, and cigarrette smoke-- yet still be vaguely unsatisfied, no matter how many times you watch it, and all of its numerous edits.

I think about TRON, another favorite of mine, and its three-decades-later sequel. It's makers professed all sorts of love and regard for the original. What they produced was pretty, with a great soundtrack, but achingly hollow and passionless. Hell, Jeff Bridges could barely muster the energy for a half-hearted riff on The Dude. So, I don't know.

Filmmaking as an art and a business has transformed, drastically, in the thirty-five intervening years since 1982. Tastes have changed with an equal headlong rush.

The original screenwriter is on board. Harrison Ford seems awake. There seems to be less emphasis on pixels and more on actual objects and sets. The director has a decent track record.

I guess we'll see, won't we?
posted by KHAAAN! at 3:24 PM on May 8, 2017 [25 favorites]

Could be wrong, but I think the original screenwriter in this case is possibly some kind of scant weirdo who has to be included for reasons.
posted by Artw at 3:26 PM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

so sick and tired of everything becoming a boring franchise with whatever heart and soul it had sucked right out of it.

Amen. Amen to that. (yes, I'm looking at you Star Wars!)
posted by WalkerWestridge at 3:30 PM on May 8, 2017 [2 favorites]

Ah, here we go.

After convincing Philip K. Dick to option Dick's science fiction novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Fancher wrote a screenplay (that became the first screenplay of the film Blade Runner), and got the support of producer Michael Deeley. This made Fancher the executive producer, which led to disagreements with the director Ridley Scott and David Peoples being brought in to continue reworking the script.
posted by Artw at 3:32 PM on May 8, 2017 [2 favorites]

Every so often I remember that the Total Recall remake exists, then promptly forget about it again.
posted by Artw at 3:34 PM on May 8, 2017 [4 favorites]

Someone told me that there was a RoboCop remake too but I didn't believe them.
posted by octothorpe at 3:47 PM on May 8, 2017 [3 favorites]

I really liked bits of that movie, but lets face it, mostly it didn't happen as well.
posted by Artw at 3:49 PM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

To be fair, highlighting a moment when an attractive white cis straight man gets told "you are special" is a bold and unprecedented move in film history.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:06 PM on May 8, 2017 [5 favorites]

Super die-hard Bladerunner fan here.

I was prepared to hate on this but I can't wait to see this. Hell, the hair on the back of my neck is still standing up like it did for the first teaser trailer.

I don't think it'll actually suck. I'm ok with them expanding the Bladerunner story arc. The original Bladerunner is itself a mutation of an entirely different story and world anyway. And if anything it'll be better than the dozens of random and oft crappier cyberpunk franchises and realms that it inspired because people just couldn't get enough of it. (Start with Shadowrun and drill down and sideways.)

Hell, even the theatrical release of the movie is quite different than the "official" director's cut. It is already a nebulous work open to a lot of interpretation.

Now if someone could properly finish Buckaroo Banzai that'd be swell. I was promised a "to be continued" on that one.
posted by loquacious at 4:09 PM on May 8, 2017 [17 favorites]

I love Blade Runner. I hope this isn't garbage.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 4:16 PM on May 8, 2017 [2 favorites]

Enhance 224 to 176.
Enhance. Stop.
Move in. Stop.
Pull out, track right. Stop.
Center and pull back. Stop.
Track 45 right. Stop. Center and stop.
Enhance 34 to 36.
Pan right or-and pull back. Stop.
Enhance 34 to 46.
Pull back. Wait a minute. Go right. Stop.
Enhance 57 to 19. Track 45 left. Stop.
Enhance 15 to 23.
*Buckaroo Banzai II is visible on view screen in background*
posted by we halve sub sides to shole you at 4:22 PM on May 8, 2017 [29 favorites]

If goddamned Ryan Gosling turns out to be a goddamned Replicant, I'm going to just start punching motherfuckers who are all 'I never saw that coming!" in the throat. Because, Jesus, I think this goddamned trailer just made actually seeing the goddamned movie irrelevant.
posted by KingEdRa at 4:30 PM on May 8, 2017 [2 favorites]

I've always suspected that goddamned Ryan Gosling is a goddamned Replicant.
posted by we halve sub sides to shole you at 4:32 PM on May 8, 2017 [10 favorites]

oh also there better goddam be hella harrison ford voiceover

I hope in the movie Deckard just continually narrates what's going on to himself, much to K's annoyance
posted by ejs at 4:39 PM on May 8, 2017 [4 favorites]

Nevermind that the original was a masterpiece by complete accident, and recapturing lightning in a bottle is damn near impossible. This is a sequel to a thirty-year old movie. When has that ever worked?

I'm hoping it's "Ghostbusters 2 not so great, but not terrible" and not "Prometheus you have ruined me bad"
posted by lumpenprole at 4:44 PM on May 8, 2017 [4 favorites]

Bladerunner (and Alien) came out in that weird time when Star Wars had made sci-fi okay for the masses, but that bubblegum pop wasn't suited for the die-hard alt-rockers like your boy Ridley. There will never be that time again. So nothing will ever be as good. *Sigh.*
posted by valkane at 4:50 PM on May 8, 2017

I don't know why he made a sequel. Maybe in those last moments he loved this movie more than he ever had before. Not just his cut - anybody's cut; my cut. All he'd wanted were the same answers the rest of us want. Am I a replicant? Where am I going? Did Roy say "Father" or "Fucker"? All I could do was sit there and watch him murder the past.
posted by we halve sub sides to shole you at 4:51 PM on May 8, 2017 [10 favorites]

I'm a big fan of Blade Runner, as are so many of you that probably match my demographic with unsettling accuracy. I trust Villeneuve on the merits of his past work and I like Gosling, so I'll go in hoping for the best.

I hope there are some allusions to the book, and I definitely get a Mercerism vibe from some of the visuals here.

Bring it on!
posted by Kafkaesque at 4:53 PM on May 8, 2017 [2 favorites]

Gosling: I need to ask you a few questions...
[ Ford looks on quizzically ]
Gosling: You're in a desert, walking along in the sand, when..
Ford: Is this the test now?
posted by grimjeer at 4:53 PM on May 8, 2017 [8 favorites]

all the people in this post who say they're not going to see it are so going to see it
posted by obiwanwasabi at 4:56 PM on May 8, 2017 [6 favorites]

Gosling: why aren't you helping?
Ford: I dunno, I'm making this up as I go...
*cue Indy music*
posted by valkane at 4:57 PM on May 8, 2017 [5 favorites]

I've always suspected that goddamned Ryan Gosling is a goddamned Replicant.

All Mouseketeers are replicants. Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Keri Russell, Ryan Gosling... You name 'em, they're replicants.
posted by Sparx at 5:00 PM on May 8, 2017 [5 favorites]

I'm a little worried about the scene where Gosling and Ford are dancing in the stars. Blade Runner, the Musical.

...six, seven, eight...
Mother? Let me tell you 'bout my Mother.
You know I loved her like no other.
But you can't see what I've seen with your eye:
Time to die!
posted by we halve sub sides to shole you at 5:00 PM on May 8, 2017 [6 favorites]

If Scott got anywhere near the script it'll be Ford remembering all about how he is a robot and doing some robo-empathising.

i hope the actual movie is 90% Harrison Ford walking around all jerky and talking funny like that Futurama where Fry is tortured into believing that he's a robot.

beep.
posted by indubitable at 5:22 PM on May 8, 2017 [5 favorites]

I know Harrison Ford will keep being in these franchises as long as you keep dumping tons of money in his lap, but please stop. He clearly hates it and wants to be left alone for a nap.

Harrison Ford has more money than any twenty people could spend in twenty lifetimes. He lands planes on golf courses just 'cuz. He doesn't do any film he doesn't absolutely want to do. He's the 800-pound gorilla in this equation, not Ridley Scott.
posted by tzikeh at 5:27 PM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

The best would be if the sequel is just a shot for shot remake of A.I. with an elderly Harrison Ford in place of Haley Joel Osment.
posted by benzenedream at 5:50 PM on May 8, 2017 [8 favorites]

To be fair, highlighting a moment when an attractive white cis straight man gets told "you are special" is a bold and unprecedented move in film history.

There's something inside you
It's hard to explain
They're talking about you boy
But you're still the same
posted by Apocryphon at 5:53 PM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

According to YouTube, the original Blade Runner (1982) Theatrical Trailer yt for comparison/arguments sake. Come for the heavy exposition and then slow burn middle that makes it seem boring as heck; stay for the marketing it like a sci-fi action movie ending.

That video is amazing solely because somehow a film trailer in the '80s is even more longer and gives away more of the plot of a movie than one made in present day.
posted by Apocryphon at 6:05 PM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

Why has no one commented how punchable Ryan Gosling looks?

More so than usual, I mean.

I think it's that coat.
posted by quaking fajita at 6:07 PM on May 8, 2017 [5 favorites]

I really like some of the shots - the one with the enormous room and the tiny people moving in it was really cool.

It still looks like tortured white men doing their tortured white men things, but I might see it.
posted by Deoridhe at 6:11 PM on May 8, 2017

Villeneuve said 2049 focuses on the themes of memory and empathy

... so does the original?

I'm a disbeliever in the concept of sequels. The best sequels I can think of are not actually sequels (Lock Stock / Snatch), or they're intended from the outset to be a multi-part production. I might make an exception for The Godfather II, but then III lends support to my position.

I'm heavily leaning towards not seeing this, but if Kafkaesque's perception is correct and they manage to intelligently work in Mercerism in the way the novel did, then I might. That was one of the most satisfyingly unsettling parts of the book IIRC.

But if 2049 is remotely like what passes for a blockbuster these days, a pox on everyone involved.
posted by iffthen at 6:44 PM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

All of you naysayers, sure none are waiting hours for the first previews or even shelling out the first run but late one night on hbo or stawzz, tired, nothing else on but dancing with the stars reruns, maybe smidge tipsy, yeah, you'll all see it eventually.

I saw it first run at the Seattle Cinarama, it was amazing, intense. Then sometime recently I noticed all the hoopla of various releases, had not cared and not sure which version I downloaded but it held up, not changing my core inner philosophy good but it held up. Still seems like the future and didn't feel cardboard. Will the next one be as good? Probably better than Ghost in the Shell but if not still better robots that change into cars. Or is it the other way around?
posted by sammyo at 7:06 PM on May 8, 2017

> Probably with Jack Black or The Rock or something, yes.

oh, God you just described the American live action Cowboy Bebop.
posted by lkc at 7:54 PM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

I think that they are kinda trolling with the trailers.
posted by ethansr at 8:04 PM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

Glad to see Harrison Ford wearing his second-best gardening gear for this movie. I bet he's grumpy they didn't let him have his dumb fucking earring.
posted by turbid dahlia at 8:14 PM on May 8, 2017 [3 favorites]

The earring would have reduced his allowable number of on-set plane crashes, so...
posted by iffthen at 8:34 PM on May 8, 2017

they're going to make that fucking Akira film, aren't they?

neuromancer! (and if ready player one is maybe wool could see the light of day ;)
posted by kliuless at 9:56 PM on May 8, 2017

I'm going to tell everyone I'm not going to see it, then I'm totally going to go see it on Discount Tuesday at my local. If it's great, then great! If it's not I can complain with impunity. Win-win!

Arrival was one of may favorite films of last year (or was it this year? Never mind, time's not linear anyway) and I'm a bit of a cinematography nerd so I could see it going either way. I'm just going to dial down my expectations. I've gotten pretty good at that.

Blade Runner is one of my favorite films of all time. Sigh. Remember symbolism? Those were the days.

Fuck the new Alien movie though. I'm not sure why Ridley Scott thinks anyone's as interested in looking at the inside of his colon as he is.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 9:56 PM on May 8, 2017

Blade Runner, Road Warrior, Fifth Element, Minority Report, all films set in a future. Blade Runner comes in first of all films I have ever seen. The beauty of it, the pathos, the amazing idea, the execution so long ago. I am going to see this film, indeed. Alien was perfectly beautiful and horrifying and who will ever forget that breakfast scene? Ridley Scott has made some films I really love. That takes some skill.
posted by Oyéah at 10:05 PM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

On the one hand: trailers aren't representative, and Denis Villaneuve is talented and judicious in his touch (Arrival was great, and Sicario was technically excellent if one disregards its glaring moral deficiencies), so I have a hard time believing this will suck.

On the other hand: any plot summary for a sequel that involves the protagonist "[unearthing] a long-buried secret [flimsy excuse to make another movie in this universe]" does not especially bode well for the script.

Tangentially: in spite of his qualifications, I'm a little bummed that Villaneuve is directing this *and* Dune, since I've always felt that the first few minutes of Blade Runner (before cutting to Leon getting the Voight-Kampff Test) are the exact perfect blueprint for what the mood of a Dune movie should be, all terrible grandeur and monumental scope, and now that will definitely never happen. Should be interesting, anyway.
posted by invitapriore at 10:10 PM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

I blame Fury Road for allowing me to believe that it is just possible -- possible! -- that this won't totally suck.
posted by nickzoic at 10:58 PM on May 8, 2017 [2 favorites]

Oh hey.

Look at all the white people doing white people things.

Seriously, not a single Person of Color in the whole trailer. The damn thing looks like a Trump executive order signing.
posted by happyroach at 11:07 PM on May 8, 2017 [7 favorites]

I'm a little bummed that Villaneuve is directing this *and* Dune

Wait what there's another Dune movie? And Jodorowsky isn't directing this time either?
posted by Dr Dracator at 2:00 AM on May 9, 2017 [2 favorites]

Philip Dick's dystopias were sometimes explicitly white - more accurately, explicitly exclusive of African-Americans - due to genocide, extreme segregation or forced sterilization. Not always, but it was a recurring theme, and if you're extrapolating mankind's more dangerous habits and lacunae then you shouldn't omit that one. And they are dystopias, created in mid-20th century America, so.

Whether that's going to be any part of this movie, and if so whether that will stand up as anything other than a veneer on Hollywood's SOB on race, is unlikely, I fear. The distance between this movie and actual PKD is probably going to be even greater than with Blade Runner. The trailer certainly portends a heavy-handed thunker working of the 'replicants as slaves' theme, and pausing at the scene at 00:15 in the trailer I don't think we can expect subtle allusion and thematic introspection.
posted by Devonian at 4:59 AM on May 9, 2017 [1 favorite]

I've always suspected that goddamned Ryan Gosling is a goddamned Replicant.

In the director's cut of Lars and the Real Girl, there are additional details that make it clear to a more attentive viewer that Lars was also a realistic sex doll the whole time. Mind-blowing!
posted by Strange Interlude at 6:38 AM on May 9, 2017 [2 favorites]

I'm going to hazard a guess that the MacGuffin in this picture is that there aren't any humans left at all, at least on Earth, and it's going to be all Replicants chasing other Replicants.

But what about Gaff? He'll show up as Admiral Adama.
posted by lagomorphius at 8:21 AM on May 9, 2017 [2 favorites]

But what about Gaff? He'll show up as Admiral Adama.
Now, that movie I'd see. Galactica was at its best when it was still dropping Blade Runner references left and right.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 9:01 AM on May 9, 2017

I didn't think much of Fury Road in trailer form and now I've seen it four and a half times.

Slacker... when you get to 12 and 5/8ths times maybe we can talk.
posted by e1c at 11:32 AM on May 9, 2017