The world of Blade Runner has been brought back to life in Dennis Villanueve’s Blade Runner 2049– which means it’s only right to review both films to see how they compare. While I am biased to any film starring Harrison Ford, I’ll do my best to be fair. Let’s start with the origination of this story with Ridley Scotts, Blade Runner (1978).
Blade Runner (1978)
Set in November 2019 (yes, right NOW), the movie follows Rick Deckard, played by Harrison Ford, who is employed as a blade runner for the LAPD. His job is to track down four rogue replicants and “retire” them. Replicants are Human clones created by the Tyrell Corporation for slave labor on off-world planets. They have greater strength than humans, are more efficient, and generally don’t talk back. They also have a life expectancy of four years which replicant Roy Batty, played by Rutger Hauer, doesn’t like. Which brings him back to earth to confront his creator for more time. Deckard meets Rachael, a new and improved replicant, played by the gorgeous Sean Young, and the story gets a lot more complicated.
Cinematography Shines With Stunning Visuals
The movie, directed by Ridley Scott, is gorgeous if you like impending doom like architecture set against dark skies and continuous rain. Flying cars, massive neon billboards selling Coca-Cola, ads for off-world adventures, and adult entertainment. It’s gritty. I love it. There’s cool tech stuff like the sliding doors, (we don’t have yet) and voice-activated systems (we have some stuff like that now) and of course the replicants ( I don’t think we have them yet but I’m suspicious of a few people I know…). I love Harrison Ford so much. He is like the everyday guy. He gets beat up, he bleeds, he runs funny. I can watch him all day. Sean Young is so amazingly gorgeous in this film, she mesmerizes me in every scene; except for one. **You’ll have to watch for yourself and let me know if you can guess the scene I’m referring to.**
A beautiful futuristic film with underlying themes of control, equality, and environmental butchery.
Great reviews. Can you believe I have never seen those movies? Although is there a Bladerunner game because that sounds familiar to me. Maybe my sons or husband had it.
Yes, I can! I had not seen Blade Runner 2049 before watching and reviewing for this post 🙂 I’m not a gamer but it sounds like it would be cool! Thanks for commenting!
I was just telling my son I needed a good movie to watch. I love the original Blade Runner with Harrison Ford and I haven’t watched Blade Runner 2049. Looks like a good choice. I’m going to add to my weekend list.
If you like the original, you won’t be disappointed with the sequel. My grocery store had a copy of Blade Runner 2049 and I picked it up because I liked it so much! (and it was only $6)