The story is very compelling, and also very deep thematically. Blade Runner is further advantaged by memorable dialogue, superb direction by Scott and good pacing.
There is just so much going on in this film, from the backstory of its development and release, to its iconic production design, its heady philosophical themes about the Nature of Man and the sublime synthiness of its score. Often copied but never replicated, Blade Runner is a true masterpiece of cinema.
Hailed for its production design depicting a high-tech but decaying future, the film is often regarded as both a leading example of neo-noir cinema and a foundational work of the cyberpunk genre. It has influenced many science fiction films, video games, anime, and television series.
Blade Runner 2049 is certainly a Denis Villeneuve film with his impressive visuals, striking colours and imagery. The pacing of the film may be rather slow but probably it was the intention of Villeneuve to make the audience really take in the shots on screen.
By its conclusion, the film suggests that one's ability and willingness to perceive systemic social inequality is the true measure of humanity. Blade Runner trains us into awareness of flawed social hierarchies by repeatedly emphasizing eyes and connecting them with perception beyond the physical.
Blade Runner raises the question of whether a constructed being should count as a person. In the movie, replicants lack legal rights and are not regarded as human. Similar questions are raised in later unrelated works such as Her and Westworld.
Much like the original, Blade Runner 2049 became a cult hit but failed to thrive financially due to pacing issues, murky stakes and zero fun factor. Ridley Scott followed up the tremendous success of his science fiction horror film Alien with his cyber-noir thriller Blade Runner.
Blade Runner 2049 shows viewers a future in which humans have implemented an unethical approach to Artificial Consciousness. It is morally wrong to enslave K and the other replicants just because they are sentient beings.
Ryan Gosling plays a blade runner who goes in search of the original who disappeared three decades ago. This is, of course, a follow-up to the 1982 classic starring Ford, considered by many (including me) to be the best sci-fi movie of all time.
The movie remains one of the most visually stunning in cinema history. It plots a planet of perpetual night, a landscape of shadows, rain and reflected neon (shone on windows or the eye) in a world not built to a human scale; there, the skyscrapers dwarf us like the pyramids.
On top of that, Roy saving Deckard proves that Roy believes that all life has value, not just his. Roy realizes that Deckard is in the exact same position he was in, with Deckard wanting to be saved, thus extending his life. Although Tyrell couldn't extend Roy's life, Roy knows that he can extend Deckard's life.
Blade Runner is quite simply wonderful, and not only is it one of Ridley Scott's best films, but also one of the best of the genre. For one thing, the visuals are superb. Not just in the special effects which are just mind-blowing but also in the cinematography, colours and sets.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain... Time to die." This famous monologue in the end scene of the movie Blade Runner shows "replicant" Roy Batty complaining that all his life experiences will amount to nothing after his death.
Blade Runner: The Final Cut is generally considered the best, most authentic version since it reintroduces the full-length unicorn dream sequence, all the International Cut's violent scenes, and additional new dialogue.
Because of this memory, K became convinced that he was Rachael and Deckard's child, but was eventually informed by Freysa that he was not and that the child was female. With this revelation, K soon determined that Stelline was the child. K took Deckard to Stelline's lab as she interacted with a snowfall hologram.
Blade Runner, at its core, is a film about humanity as a whole. Part of the structure of the Voight-Kampff test relies on the emotional response of those taking the test with regard to animals, the likes of which have almost entirely been wiped out as a result of humanity's ignorance and selfishness.
However, he later learns that, even if the memory is real, it was not his own but Dr Ana Stelline's. Through her work, Dr Stelline shared her memory with K, and this allowed him to understand what it was like to walk in her shoes, but most importantly, to believe himself a free, loved replicant.
Can I understand Blade Runner 2049 without watching the first?
The story continues from the original, but stands completely on it's own, it tells a new story that directly interlink with the original, but without trying to be a copy, it's a natural continuation in the same universe. You don't have to see the original Blade Runner first, though i do recommend it, see the final cut.
Thematically, 2049 is an extension of the original, continuing to ask questions about life, humanity, the nature of the soul, and free will in a world that's now completely past the point of saving. The story centers on an almost entirely new cast of characters dealing with the consequences of what has come before.
Orange. Image via Warner Bros. Once K gets to Vegas, the entire city is bathed in a mysterious orange fog that continues until he leaves this setting. Using this color as a backdrop creates a sense of warning and caution.
Blade Runner 2049's Joi is an A.I. designed by the Wallace Corporation to cater to the desires of customers, telling them what to want to hear. K's Joi is depicted in this way, providing loving warmth when he returns home and when he learns he's might have been born from a replicant, she encourages his wish.
One of the most significant – and moving – sequences in Blade Runner 2049 arrives in its third act, when K learns that he is not, in fact, Deckard and Rachael's missing child. K is what he was told he was all along: a replicant, nothing more, nothing less.
