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The original Vangelis Blade Runner score auto-creates handicap for the sequel

A

Annoying Old Party Man

Member
I've been listening to the soundtrack of the original film for a long time now, and man, this is top-10 movie soundtrack of all time material.

Few movie soundtracks are as iconic as what Vangelis composed back then. You cannot imagine the film without the music - I reckon BR would not be half as good without it.

I mean, imagine how it is to finish a movie with this piece of music playing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAwo7DPUFUM

There is nowhere to go but down after this soundtrack. That's why I think Blade Runner 2049 has a major handicap without Vangelis at the soundtrack, because it will never be able to replicate the atmosphere of the original. Though to be honest, It wouldn't matter even if Vangelis was responsible for it - you don't get to strike gold twice and Vangelis hasn't produced anything substantial for a long time now.

What do you think Gaf?
 
F

fade_

Member
Another GAFer posted this about the music which is great https://youtu.be/4T_sSSka9pA

I think the whole movie handicaps the sequel. Villanueve himself said he's made peace with it not being better. I still think I'll enjoy it but the first is one of the best sci-fi movies in existence imo.
 
DiscoJer

DiscoJer

Member
Yeah, it's not unlike 2010 compared to 2001. They didn't even try to compete with the original's use of music, save I think Also Sprach Zarathrusta at the very end of it.


And what drove me crazy that for the longest time, you couldn't get the Blade Runner soundtrack. You had a cd with cover versions of it and then later Vangelis had a greatest soundtrack hits cd that had a couple songs from it along with his other movies. Not until relatively recently could you get the whole, real thing.
 
W

wandering

Banned
I think that with Johan Johansson on board they're going to try and take it in its own direction rather than mimicking Vangelis.
 
T

TheChewyWaffles

Member
DiscoJer said:
Yeah, it's not unlike 2010 compared to 2001. They didn't even try to compete with the original's use of music, save I think Also Sprach Zarathrusta at the very end of it.


And what drove me crazy that for the longest time, you couldn't get the Blade Runner soundtrack. You had a cd with cover versions of it and then later Vangelis had a greatest soundtrack hits cd that had a couple songs from it along with his other movies. Not until relatively recently could you get the whole, real thing.
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I think "Tears in Rain" still has the Roy voiceover in that, doesn't it? Great in the movie, but keep it out of my soundtrack!

Agree with you, OP.
 
W

wenis

Registered for GAF on September 11, 2001.
everyone is doing moody synth soundtracks now. I'd rather have a Johannson soundtrack than another synth one. talk about a genre that's been beaten to a pulp now.
 
W

watershed

Banned
I just hope the movie doesn't try to hit the same beats as the original, but unfortunately it already looks like it does in at least a few ways.
 
R

Replicant

Member
Yeah, I can tell. The minute a trailer comes out with "End Theme" attached to it, it becomes instantly better than its previous iterations.
 
W

wenis

Registered for GAF on September 11, 2001.
TheChewyWaffles said:
Nothing on par with Blade Runner, unless you'd care to offer an example.
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I never thought the blade runner soundtrack was as special as everyone made it out to be, so I'd say any John Carpenter soundtrack. It was one really good album from an artist that had a long string of ok to good records before and after that soundtrack.
 
A

AoM

Member
wenis said:
I never thought the blade runner soundtrack was as special as everyone made it out to be, so I'd say any John Carpenter soundtrack. It was one really good album from an artist that had a long string of ok to good records before and after that soundtrack.
Click to expand...

I think he meant in the past 5 years or so.
 
D

Discotheque

Banned
John Carpenter has put out some fantastic soundtracks for his movies but Vangelis' Blade Runner work belongs up there with the best of those tbh.

And I have a hard time seeing this movie top BR as well, or Johans soundtrack living up to it. But I still got high expectations for this film
 
K

Krev

Unconfirmed Member
SolidChamp said:
Vangelis is still alive, can someone explain why didn't they just get him?
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Firstly Johannson has an established partnership with Villeneuve, secondly Vangelis might not be in the best place creatively at the moment (I'm not sure, but he's pretty old), thirdly his soundtrack would go against trends and it looks like they're trying to make a lot of money with this.
 
L

lazygecko

Member
wenis said:
I never thought the blade runner soundtrack was as special as everyone made it out to be, so I'd say any John Carpenter soundtrack. It was one really good album from an artist that had a long string of ok to good records before and after that soundtrack.
Click to expand...

Carpenter soundtracks are droning and minimalist. Vangelis is more freeform/jazzy and expressive (at least in the case of Blade Runner) with a bigger "orchestration".
 
E

Ether_Snake

安安安安安安安安安安安安安安安
The fact it has Gosling in the lead does that already. Then on top of that you have old Lucassified-I'm-Always-Right-Space-Jesus Ridley Scott.

My expectations are at the lowest, and I'm not watching anything at all until my ass in the theater. Right now, I imagine the movie will be about blowing up a Replicant factory before Tyrell Corp replaces the president with one, while he's attending a football match or something. The last actions scene will be Gosling fighting against a naked Replicant overpowered copy of himself as the factory self-destruct process is going, with a female voice recording reporting on the self-destruction process stage echoing in the background. Lots of smoke machine with blue-white spot lights and flashing red lights.

And then a post-credit scene that makes us wonder if Gosling is a new Nexus model, and Scott going on about it in the press and how we'll have to wait until the next movie to find out the truth.

Low expectations.
 
F

Fancyarcher

Member
With Johansson involved, I imagine the music will be sound effective-like if anything, although Blade Runner was hardly the most melidious score anyway.

DiscoJer said:
Yeah, it's not unlike 2010 compared to 2001. They didn't even try to compete with the original's use of music, save I think Also Sprach Zarathrusta at the very end of it.
Click to expand...

2010's score is highly underrated though. One of the best synth scores of the 80's IMO. Hyams wanted it to be synth so he could evoke an "otherworldiness, and I think he succeeded in that regard. It did its own thing which was nice too.

lazygecko said:
Carpenter soundtracks are droning and minimalist. Vangelis is more freeform/jazzy and expressive (at least in the case of Blade Runner) with a bigger "orchestration".
Click to expand...

They both use electronics in place of an actual orchestra though, since neither are exactly "master musicians" per-say.
 
-shadow-

-shadow-

Member
TheChewyWaffles said:
I think "Tears in Rain" still has the Roy voiceover in that, doesn't it? Great in the movie, but keep it out of my soundtrack!

Agree with you, OP.
Click to expand...

Yeah all official releases contain speech throughout the album. I'm still bit annoyed that for whatever reason they never gave a music only audio track on the blu-rays.
 
E

epmode

Member
As much as I love the film, I've never purchased the Blade Runner soundtrack. And now that I'm looking into it, I've found that many of the official tracks include dialogue and/or sound effects from the film which is just confusing to me.

Is there a complete Blade Runner score WITHOUT dialogue or sound effects?

edit: Oh, someone brought it up before I did. That sucks.
 
S

Screaming Meat

Unconfirmed Member
wenis said:
I never thought the blade runner soundtrack was as special as everyone made it out to be,
Click to expand...

It had a huge impact on electronic music, became the defacto sound of the 'future' for years (kind of still is), is instantly recognisable, and compliments the film perfectly.

Saying you don't like it is one thing, but not "special"...?
 
D

Deleted member 102362

Unconfirmed Member
wandering said:
I think that with Johan Johansson on board they're going to try and take it in its own direction rather than mimicking Vangelis.
Click to expand...
Which works for me. JJ's work in his previous Villeneuve collabs is absolutely fine, so I'm really not worried. I'd rather they go for something new than straight imitation.

Occam said:
Unfortunately there is a very low chance of Blade Runner 2049 being good, no matter what.
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Even my least favorite work from Villeneuve is still quality and well-made. Obviously, I won't know how I feel about BR 2049 until I see it myself, but I'd be shocked if, considering the people involved, it isn't even slightly good.

The original Blade Runner is my favorite movie. I have faith that Villeneuve and crew are going to do the best they can to make a worthy followup to it.

-shadow- said:
Yeah all official releases contain speech throughout the album. I'm still bit annoyed that for whatever reason they never gave a music only audio track on the blu-rays.
Click to expand...
Per a conversation I had with the Blu-ray producer years ago, there are a couple of things preventing this from happening. One is Vangelis would have to sign off on it; the other is how would the music be edited? It could be kept exactly as it exists in the movie, of course, but then you have some tracks that will cut abruptly into silence, depending on the scene.
 
L

lazygecko

Member
Fancyarcher said:
They both use electronics in place of an actual orchestra though, since neither are exactly "master musicians" per-say.
Click to expand...

That was kind of my point. They both use synthesizers, but that's pretty much where the similarities end. Structurally and musically they are very different. Vangelis is mainly a pianist and it really shows in the compositions, like the way he layers those cascading electric piano tones to fill out the tracks, and also heavily uses stuff like aftertouch to get a lot more expression out of the melodic performances. Vangelis also utilizes a lot more unison/layering on stuff like synth strings and choirs to get that "big" orchestra feel that you generally don't hear in Carpenter's music.
 
s_mirage

s_mirage

Member
Krev said:
Firstly Johannson has an established partnership with Villeneuve, secondly Vangelis might not be in the best place creatively at the moment (I'm not sure, but he's pretty old), thirdly his soundtrack would go against trends and it looks like they're trying to make a lot of money with this.
Click to expand...

Also, by all accounts Vangelis didn't exactly have a fun experience scoring Blade Runner, which could be why the official release of the soundtrack was held up for over a decade. There's the possibility that he wouldn't want to do it.
 
S

Skyball Paint

Member
wenis said:
everyone is doing moody synth soundtracks now. I'd rather have a Johannson soundtrack than another synth one. talk about a genre that's been beaten to a pulp now.
Click to expand...

I don't know what universe is synth more tired than booming orchestral music, but it ain't this one.

At least Johansson can bring the moody atmosphere, though I can't imagine it being anywhere near as memorable as Vangelis's work in the first.
 
D

Dreams-Visions

Member
fade_ said:
Another GAFer posted this about the music which is great https://youtu.be/4T_sSSka9pA

I think the whole movie handicaps the sequel. Villanueve himself said he's made peace with it not being better. I still think I'll enjoy it but the first is one of the best sci-fi movies in existence imo.
Click to expand...

Well, certainly one can't go make a movie and expect it to be a masterpiece. You don't just...go out and make masterpieces. So what else could he say or expect.
 
E

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
wenis said:
everyone is doing moody synth soundtracks now. I'd rather have a Johannson soundtrack than another synth one. talk about a genre that's been beaten to a pulp now.
Click to expand...

Blade Runner isn't Blade Runner without the synth, doing something for the sake of being different would be awful.
 
V

Vilix

Unconfirmed Member
I don't expect 2049 to best the original. But I'm hoping it's good on its own merits.
 
S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
There's a bunch of eighties movies with amazing but legally entangled soundtracks- blade runner, body double (pino donnagio) Dune (Brian eno and others) and The Keep (tangerine dream) and it took me ages to get them all legally
 
S

Skyball Paint

Member
Stinkles said:
There's a bunch of eighties movies with amazing but legally entangled soundtracks- blade runner, body double (pino donnagio) Dune (Brian eno and others) and The Keep (tangerine dream) and it took me ages to get them all legally
Click to expand...

Last I checked, you couldn't get the complete Blade Runner soundtrack in any official release.
 
S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
Skyball Paint said:
Last I checked, you couldn't get the complete Blade Runner soundtrack in any official release.
Click to expand...

I have a legal U.K. Cassette Tape of the official soundtrack

The keep was more of an ordeal - was sold exclusively briefly during a European tour
 
M

Mindlog

Member
High hopes for this movie and the sound is going to play a big part.
Same exact thing with the potential new Dune. They have a lot of great work together and they seem perfect for these projects.
Monocle said:
Whoever did The Neon Demon's score should get the job. (Edit: Cliff Martinez)

Because it's really damn good.
Click to expand...
He's got some great stuff on Drive as well.
 
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