Blade Runner 2

[Replies From View]

What they might do is have Deckard re-born in an older looking model android for some plot reason and he'll be unaware of the fact like in the first film and carry on with whatever his mission is. Obviously having him look older will add credence to the notion he's human to any people that were aware of his past, which will probably be revisiting some events and people from the previous film.

They should still explain it at the start, though.  "Dear Viewer.  Please note that even though the Deckard character will largely appear unaware that he is a replicant until an ambiguous moment at the end, he definitely is one.  We hope this knowledge enhances your experience of this film; goodbye."

[Phil_A]

Isn't the Sean-Young-is-crazy thing just a case of Hollywood not applying the same standards to women as it does to men? I've read about most of the things she's done, and eh, apart from the James Woods thing it doesn't seem that mad. And who knows how trustworthy Woods is anyway.

Yeah, you're right of course. The fact that Charlie Sheen at the height of his ongoing meltdown could still get high profile gigs, while Young had to make an embarrassing Letterman appearance to beg for work, speaks volumes about the double standards of the industry.

It seems she just has a hugely volatile personality and ended up making a lot of enemies in Hollywood(Woods' smear campaign probably didn't help), and that combined with drink problems and a rep for bizarre behaviour has probably all contributed to her getting marginalised, which is pretty sad, really.

[Steven]

They should still explain it at the start, though.  "Dear Viewer.  Please note that even though the Deckard character will largely appear unaware that he is a replicant until an ambiguous moment at the end, he definitely is one.  We hope this knowledge enhances your experience of this film; goodbye."

They could reasonably get away with never really referencing it, just have older Deckard going about his business obliviously and a few viewer clues here and there. I'm really unaware of how subtle the notion was in the original film, or how it's handled in the book as I saw the confusing different edits of the film many times as a kid and I don't think I ever got the revelation until a friend told me who'd probably been told by his older film-fanatic brother

Spoiler alert

"See that unicorn origami figure the old Chinese detective puts down? That's because he has the same dreams because Deckard's been implanted with his memories because he's a replicant.."

[close]

[ZoyzaSorris]

Can we get the Vangelis from 1982 who used the majestic Yamaha CS-80 to do the soundtrack, not the pale shadow of a contemporary Greek man who dicks around on some huge General MIDI soundblaster thing?
Failing that, screenplay by the guy from Lost and a Tiesto soundtrack, surely?

[ZoyzaSorris]

ie more this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoEkyBX7qsg
than this, please:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01h3hmz

[greenman]

Maybe he'll be in weird CGI like Jeff Bridges in Tron: Legacy. It might even connect the uncanny valley effect with the whole replicant differences. Even then though, Ford actually sounds a lot different now. Always sounds tired and bored.

I'd be excited about a new film set in the same universe with some real talent but using Ford is risky.

Is Vangelis still alive? [checks] Yes!

I could see a similar situation, the actual Ford playing the human the replicant Deckard/Deckards were based on(similar to Rachael being based on Tyrells niece), they would need to get the FX to a higher standard though as Tron got away with it being only so so due to the environment.

[Phil_A]

Failing that, screenplay by the guy from Lost and a Tiesto soundtrack, surely?

Fuck no, keep that hack Lindelof well away from it. And Abrams as well. I don't dislike his films, but this needs someone who can do thoughtful, thematically rich material, not just crowd-pleasing Spielbergian pastiche.

[BlodwynPig]

Can we get the Vangelis from 1982 who used the majestic Yamaha CS-80 to do the soundtrack, not the pale shadow of a contemporary Greek man who dicks around on some huge General MIDI soundblaster thing?
Failing that, screenplay by the guy from Lost and a Tiesto soundtrack, surely?

Hmmm, your Tiesto plan may work, but in full on progressive house mode, not clubland Tiesto.

[Operty1]

I hope Vangelis does produce the soundtrack so we can finally get a sequel to this game:

[ZoyzaSorris]

Fuck no, keep that hack Lindelof well away from it. And Abrams as well. I don't dislike his films, but this needs someone who can do thoughtful, thematically rich material, not just crowd-pleasing Spielbergian pastiche.

Yeah, I was hoping the inclusion of tiesto (ties to where?) might have made clear it was something I didn't want.

[Johnny Textface]

Think people are too hard on Lindelof. Sure, with Lost they wrote themselves into a bit of a corner - but the journey, for the most part, was fantastic. The Leftovers was pretty good too i thought.  And it's Scott who should take full responsibility for Prometheus.

[Rolf Lundgren]

Prometheus, like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, will find that history will be kind to it. In 20 years time they'll both blend in with the rest of the films in the series. Blade Runner 2 however can't fit in as naturally with the original because of the

Spoiler alert

mixed interpretation of whether Deckard is a replicant or not

[close]

[nb]Do you need to have spoilers for a film over 30 years? I'm doing it anyway to be nice.[/nb]

[greenman]

Think people are too hard on Lindelof. Sure, with Lost they wrote themselves into a bit of a corner - but the journey, for the most part, was fantastic. The Leftovers was pretty good too i thought.  And it's Scott who should take full responsibility for Prometheus.

Nah I think you can very clearly point to the script of Prometheus as the weak point, the film looks amazing, the performances are competant to great but its in service of a very confused plot with some clunky lines that doesn't answer its own questions very well in order to shoehorn in another space monster film. Since Blade runners failure at the box office Scott has really always been a slave to the quality of his scripts, well and casting Orlando Bloom.

Still its clearly a better film than the entirely forgettable Crystal Skull if you ask me, mostly for the visuals.

[Johnny Textface]

From what I heard, Lindelof was pretty much brought in to do Scott's bidding story wise. Trouble is, no one is going to argue with Ridley Scott.

Edit: Found what I was after..

http://www.slashfilm.com/filmaid-broadcast-part-3-damon-lindelof/

Listen from about 41 mins in.

[Replies From View]

I have a friend who somehow has never seen Alien, yet saw Prometheus at the cinema when it came out.  I'm quite keen to have him watch Alien with me and see what he gets out of the "space jockey" sequence.

[Mango Chimes]

Prometheus, like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, will find that history will be kind to it.

By pretending it never existed?

[greenman]

From what I heard, Lindelof was pretty much brought in to do Scott's bidding story wise. Trouble is, no one is going to argue with Ridley Scott.

Edit: Found what I was after..

http://www.slashfilm.com/filmaid-broadcast-part-3-damon-lindelof/

Listen from about 41 mins in.

I don't think Scott is so proven at the box office that he's above studio meddling although that's never going to be openly commented on, hence Bloom in Kingdom of Heaven.  Lindelof to me is just the kind of guy the studio would ask Scott to work with to sex things up a bit by looking to add in some Alien style horror.

Maybe he was Scott's choice but if so he was a poor choice as the end result was too to familiar with his other work, a mixed up unfocused plot.

[Milverton]

The first teaser at a ComicCon, the first trailer attached to Thor Faw, the second trailer, the international trailer, the concept art book, the novelisation, the halting, Simon Mayo interview down the line, Claudia Winkleman thinking it's better than the first, the online hunt for a half decent cam version, the realisation you will have to actually pay to see it, the crushing disappointment of the reality, the six month wait, the online hunt for the leaked BlueRay.

Should fill in a few hours.

[lazarou]

Prometheus, like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, will find that history will be kind to it. In 20 years time they'll both blend in with the rest of the films in the series.

Just like Blues Brothers 2000, Psycho 2, Escape from L.A and an American Werewolf in Paris.

[SavageHedgehog]

Psycho 2 is regarded with some fondness these days isn't it? Indeed, not completely panned on release either.

Escape from LA has its fans too. I always found both of the Escape films a little tepid, and liked that one maybe a tad more.

[biggytitbo]

30 years later Halloween 3: Season of the Witch is now universally regarded as the best one, so anything is possible.

[Replies From View]

30 years later Halloween 3: Season of the Witch is now universally regarded as the best one, so anything is possible.

That's stupid though, because it is a three, not a one.

[Steven]

Deckard isn't a fucking replicant!

Contentious, moi?

[greenman]

Most of the time the basis for this argument seems to be "look at me I saw Bladerunner before you! the original cut was best".

The unicorn is hardly shoe horned into the film, you look at Deckards character and his emotional malaise clearly seems to reflect that of the replicants. Making a superhuman Deckard would obviously reveal his true nature as well and if the original Deckard was effective(as this one is as well) why bother taking the risk?

So much of the film just seems more effective to me with him as a replicant, the Rachael and Roy plots are clearly aimed at showing these character have the same worth as humans. The way the reveal is handled really tells you how well it plays into the film, its not a "shocking twist" that knocks Deckard for six but more something he takes in his stride because he's seen it doesn't lessen him.

[Endicott]

I've never bought the 'Deckard is a replicant' idea. I've watched the directors cut specifically with this in mind and it makes no sense to me if he isn't real. The unicorn bit is just one of your classic red herrings as far as I'm concerned.

I know Scott says the opposite but that man is crazy.

[Steven]

The replicant idea is a good one for a Twilight Zone-ish short story concept driven narrative. But for something trying to explore the human condition and using man's inhumanity to man via the allegory of hunting human-like androids, the antithesis between human emotion and merely being able to feign such for survival etc, probably better if Deckard was human which to all but Scott he was, so it will be interesting to see the tack the sequel takes - I'm not that hopeful.

[Replies From View]

And also his eyes reflected some light at one point.  Proving it.

[Steven]

Either way, after the shiteyness of Prometheus I don't hold great hope for Scott's approach to this which will probably have a similar ham-fisted allegorical religious commentary.

[greenman]

The replicant idea is a good one for a Twilight Zone-ish short story concept driven narrative. But for something trying to explore the human condition and using man's inhumanity to man via the allegory of hunting human-like androids, the antithesis between human emotion and merely being able to feign such for survival etc, probably better if Deckard was human which to all but Scott he was, so it will be interesting to see the tack the sequel takes - I'm not that hopeful.

Again though this isn't a Twilight zone ending that shifts our whole understanding of what came before, a few hints to it are there but its real purpose is to be a capstone on the idea that "godless" and short lived replicants (as a stand in for atheistic humans?) have worth. That moreso than an anti slavery message is really the main focus of the film if you ask me.

A Twlight zone ending would be Deckard only coming to the realisation that replicants have worth when he discovers he is one.

[great_badir]

Just like Blues Brothers 2000, Psycho 2, Escape from L.A and an American Werewolf in Paris.

I like Blues Brothers 2000.  Genuinely.

And also his eyes reflected some light at one point.  Proving it.

Although if you really knew your Blade Runner, you would know that that was actually just an on-set cockup where Ford's eyes were reflecting the light set up for Sean Young's eyes.

Siding with the "Deckard IS a replicant" argument, that perfectly timed[NB]"No.  But someone would.[/NB] moment just happens to squeeze nicely with the idea.


With it being my favourite film, I have mixed feelings about a sequel, and equally mixed feelings about Scott no longer being the director.  There is so much of Scott in the original that a sequel without him just wouldn't really work.  On the other hand, he hasn't made a half-decent film since Matchstick Men (Kingdom of Heaven director's cut aside, and both Body of Lies and American Gangster massively over rated in my opinion).

Despite clashing with my belief that he is a replicant, Ford coming back as Deckard is less of a problem for me - whilst him gallavanting about as Indy in Crystal Skulls was initially a bit dodgy, I found myself completely forgetting about his age within minutes (and instead concentrated on how very shit the film was in general).  Deckard is a lot less of a physical role and that character as an older man (hell, an OLD MAN) merely mirrors how he was originally envisaged for the film.  So I think that will work.  Unless they have him hiding in fridges.

Waiting with standard breathing.