Support NeoGAF

[Addi]

Question about 2049 though, I didn't quite hear or make out the uprising's leader connection to Sapper but how did she lose the eye? Thinking on it I figured it was removed so no Blade Runners could scan it for the serial but wouldn't that be a dead giveaway anyway? lol

She and Sapper were both old Nexus 8 models, they have their serial numbers on the eye ball.
She probably removed it to fake her death somehow, Sapper's eye was removed by K when he retired him.

Check out the blade runner anime short 2022: Black out if you haven't seen it. They explore the black out and the nexus 8 models.

I know it's cliche to link any water related imagery to baptism but that's how I took Luv's death scene.

Well, she wasn't pulled up from the water again, that's what you need for a baptism, to enter a new life. I took it more as a visual representation of her suppressed self having been underneath the surface all the time.

 

[Escape Goat]

Yes, the water was Deckard's rebirth.

Also: Deckard thought K was there to retire him, hence why Deckard started attacking him. K did not instigate the fight.

K ran which forced Deckard to assume his assumption about K was correct. It’s like a unnecessary comic book fight where 2 heroes fight due to a misunderstanding when a talk would have cleared everything up.

 

[Farside]

I thought the same for Joes showdown with the villain. But water could represent a baptism or a rebirth for Joe, washing away his sins committed while he was K. Water, in particular the ocean, often represent memory.

Yeah, I get that, I just think it could have been handled differently. It's a very small gripe for an otherwise stunning movie.

 

[III-V]

K ran which forced Deckard to assume his assumption about K was correct. It’s like a unnecessary comic book fight where 2 heroes fight due to a misunderstanding when a talk would have cleared everything up.

Deckard did shoot him after all lol, at which point he fell over a balcony. Deckard was going to kill him, no doubt.

 

[Atraveller]

I think Joi went above and beyond her programming. Her jealousy of the prostitute wasn’t part of her advertised function (to pamper). And in the end, she risked her own existence for K, that’s something.

 

[Window]

K ran which forced Deckard to assume his assumption about K was correct. It's like a unnecessary comic book fight where 2 heroes fight due to a misunderstanding when a talk would have cleared everything up.

Deckard had a gun pointed at him which he shot. I don't think K's response was contrived at all.

Well, she wasn't pulled up from the water again, that's what you need for a baptism, to enter a new life. I took it more as a visual representation of her suppressed self having been underneath the surface all the time.

I took her drowning to mean she couldn't achieve humanity. A failed baptism.

 

[Escape Goat]

Deckard did shoot him after all lol, at which point he fell over a balcony. Deckard was going to kill him, no doubt.

Deckard had a gun pointed at him which he shot. I don't think K's response was contrived at all.

Deckard hadn’t fired yet and killed K so he was open to talking. Then K says nope time to escalate this and fight. I can see it both ways but if Deckard hadn’t given K a choice and just went all out from the start it would have felt more natural to me.

 

[Window]

Deckard hadn’t fired yet so he was open to talking. Then K says nope time to escalate this and fight. I can see it both ways but if Deckard hadn’t given K a choice and just went all out from the start it would have felt more natural to me.

What did K do to escalate it? Do you think he jumped off the balcony before Deckard fired the shot?

 

[III-V]

I wanted to believe that the Joi relationship was special, and I haven't closed out that idea, but at the end where K sees the Joi billboard, she calls him Joe, has the same mannerisms, and is advertised to say what you want to hear, does what you want her to do.

Joi was programmed to play into K's fantasy of being special. She nudged him on to continue the quest for truth. K believed that somehow he was different, and her programming picked up on this and fed it back to him.

It was a really fantastic sub plot that strung through the entire movie.

 

[Escape Goat]

What did K do to escalate it? Do you think he jumped off the balcony before Deckard fired the shot?

He ran. They were talking and then K jumps off the balcony. Why not just level with Deckard right there?

 

[III-V]

He ran. They were talking and then K jumps off the balcony. Why not just level with Deckard right there?

You may be misremembering. They were talking, then Deckard shot K, at which point, K falls off the balcony.

 

[Atraveller]

Han shot first.

 

[Window]

He ran. They were talking and then K jumps off the balcony. Why not just level with Deckard right there?

He felt he needed to disarm Deckard before they could have a conversation as it was clear from Deckard firing that his life was in danger otherwise. I don't know, just seemed believable to me I guess.

 

[ronaldthump]

Why would Deckard not be hunted? He was a rogue BR aiding and abetting a prized Replicat

no one even knew what he did so why would he be hunted? He did everything covertly and no one in 2049 even knew he existed til gosling went looking.

I wanted to believe that the Joi relationship was special, and I haven't closed out that idea, but at the end where K sees the Joi billboard, she calls him Joe, has the same mannerisms, and is advertised to say what you want to hear, does what you want her to do.

Joi was programmed to play into K's fantasy of being special. She nudged him on to continue the quest for truth. K believed that somehow he was different, and her programming picked up on this and fed it back to him.

It was a really fantastic sub plot that strung through the entire movie.

Joi + Joe's relationship is wholely artificial. she did as she was programmed and said all the things her model is designed to do. That's what the the message the holographic joi at the end revealed when she called him "Joe".

 

[hamchan]

Gosh I could make so many backgrounds with images from this film. So beautiful.

What a damn fine sequel this was.

Denis Villeneuve is on such a roll of great films, love this man.

 

[Window]

no one even knew what he did so why would he be hunted? He did everything covertly and no one in 2049 even knew he existed til gosling went looking.

No one knew what he did? I think Gaff and team knew he was on the run with a replicant he was supposed to retire. Even if Gaff may have chosen to let them escape, his colleagues probably weren't of the same opinion.

I think Joi's ad calling K Joe doesn't necessarily mean that K's Joi was a complete fake but it does seed some doubt (for the better I think).

 

[III-V]

no one even knew what he did so why would he be hunted? He did everything covertly and no one in 2049 even knew he existed til gosling went looking.

Deckard would be hunted because he was a replicant from pre-blackout (Tyrell Nexus model). Prohibition rules meant they all needed to be hunted down and retired.

Joi + Joe's relationship is wholely artificial. she did as she was programmed and said all the things her model is designed to do. That's what the the message the holographic joi at the end revealed when she called him "Joe".

Thats what I came away with as well, but I am leaving the door open because: 1.) Joi and the replicant call girl 'connected'. 2.) Call girl told her she had 'seen inside' of Joi. 3.) Call girl is now emotionally connected with K as seen near the end. Joi may live on in some way within her, I would not be surprised to see something like this in the next film.

 

[ronaldthump]

Deckard would be hunted because he was a replicant from pre-blackout (Tyrell Nexus model). Prohibition rules meant they all needed to be hunted down and retired.

You dont know that he's a replicant.

No one knew what he did? I think Gaff and team knew he was on the run with a replicant he was supposed to retire. Even if Gaff may have chosen to let them escape, his colleagues probably weren't of the same opinion.

what we know is that no one was looking for the daughter or deckard in the movie til the bones were revealed.

 

[III-V]

You dont know that he's a replicant.

Although BR left that open-ended, BR2049 made it abundantly clear that Deckard is a replicant.

 

[Window]

what we know is that no one was looking for the daughter or deckard in the movie til the bones were revealed.

We know they were not looking for the daughter but we don't know they weren't on the hunt for Deckard. It's been 30 years, it was probably not an active manhunt but if he were identified by an officer he would probably be apprehended. Given the ending of the first, I don't have any reason to believe otherwise.

 

[daviyoung]

A few weird cuts, and scenes that went on for way too long but otherwise a decent film. Could have done without so much of the "Harrison Ford you are the chosen one" bridging bullshit like Force Awakens. Lots to decompress.

 

[Escape Goat]

You may be misremembering. They were talking, then Deckard shot K, at which point, K falls off the balcony.

Maybe so. If Deckard wasn’t buying it it makes sense he would have finished K right there and not given him a chance to run. But it’s not even a real issue, I can also see K not trusting Deckard to not finish him off so he had to disarm Deckard.

 

[Kenzodielocke]

A few weird cuts, and scenes that went on for way too long but otherwise a decent film. Could have done without so much of the "Harrison Ford you are the chosen one" bridging bullshit like Force Awakens. Lots to decompress.

NOBODY is the chosen one. That's why it's so dramatic. It's just a very sick, intelligent man that made it all happen.

 

[DavidDesu]

Thought I was the only one. Hated the random noises that just suddenly come out of nowhere. It was deafening and I didn't even watch it in IMAX.

The only issue I had was a weird noise that sounded like a weird horn that sounded more like it was some large ship flying overhead... And I actually quite liked it but it was super ambiguous whether it was the soundtrack or a background sound effect.

I quite liked all of the low bass rumbling. I'll never be able to recreate that at home anytime soon so I'm gonna enjoy that in the cinema. Really helps viewing the film feel like an all consuming experience when the sound is going through you like that.

 

[Addi]

I took her drowning to mean she couldn't achieve humanity. A failed baptism.

That would fit well with her looking up at K, a replicant that was able to be reborn.

Some other symbolism:

There was a clear allusion to Egyptian mythology in the first movie, the pyramid, the sun and the owl. Tyrell representing Ra, the sun god, creator of life. This is continued in this movie:

The lighting creates a rising sun behind him. He is the new Ra, but he is blind, he doesn't have eyes so to say. His eyes are Luv, the Eye of Ra:

The Eye of Ra or Eye of Re is a being in ancient Egyptian mythology that functions as a feminine counterpart to the sun god Ra and a violent force that subdues his enemies. The Eye is an extension of Ra's power, equated with the disk of the sun, but it also behaves as an independent entity, which can be personified by a wide variety of Egyptian goddesses, including Hathor, Sekhmet, Bastet, Wadjet, and Mut. The Eye goddess acts as mother, sibling, consort, and daughter of the sun god. She is his partner in the creative cycle in which he begets the renewed form of himself that is born at dawn. The Eye's violent aspect defends Ra against the agents of disorder that threaten his rule. This dangerous aspect of the Eye goddess is often represented by a lioness or by the uraeus, or cobra, a symbol of protection and royal authority. The disastrous effects when the Eye goddess rampages out of control and the efforts of the gods to return her to a benign state are a prominent motif in Egyptian mythology.

"A new form of himself is born at dawn" fits with the shot and him being a continuation of Tyrell.

 

[daviyoung]

NOBODY is the chosen one. That's why it's so dramatic. It's just a very sick, intelligent man that made it all happen.

He is the one chosen to bridge the gap between the old and new films. The story is about his legacy. Just like Force Awakens.

 

[SolidChamp]

What an incredible, visually sumptuous, emotional gut-punch of a movie this was. Absolutely phenomenal filmmaking on display here.

Fuck me this was good.

 

[Escape Goat]

Deckard would be hunted because he was a replicant from pre-blackout (Tyrell Nexus model). Prohibition rules meant they all needed to be hunted down and retired.



Thats what I came away with as well, but I am leaving the door open because: 1.) Joi and the replicant call girl 'connected'. 2.) Call girl told her she had 'seen inside' of Joi. 3.) Call girl is now emotionally connected with K as seen near the end. Joi may live on in some way within her, I would not be surprised to see something like this in the next film.

I thought the hooker was making a wry joke about Joi being made up of light. She was hollow and not really there. Joi was the illusion with no control over what went on between Her and K. I never got that theyinterfaced in any way.

 

[Kenzodielocke]

He is the one chosen to bridge the gap between the old and new films. The story is about his legacy. Just like Force Awakens.

He might be a story element, but this is the story of Agent K - which is closed.

 

[JB1981]

Although BR left that open-ended, BR2049 made it abundantly clear that Deckard is a replicant.

No it did not. It went out of its way to preserve that mystery

 

[Farside]

Although BR left that open-ended, BR2049 made it abundantly clear that Deckard is a replicant.

That was my take, too. Not everyone here sees it this way, though.


And thanks for the Eye of Ra notes. Cool stuff.

 

[daviyoung]

He might be a story element, but this is the story of Agent K - which is closed.

The plot could have been about any baby born from a replicant. That it ended up being the main character of the last film showed me production strings that took me out the movie. Fed up of seeing his tired mush acting as an artificial lynchpin of the movie rather than an actual character.

 

[III-V]

That would fit well with her looking up at K, a replicant that was able to be reborn.

Some other symbolism:

There was a clear allusion to Egyptian mythology in the first movie, the pyramid, the sun and the owl. Tyrell representing Ra, the sun god, creator of life. This is continued in this movie:

He is the new Ra, but he is blind, he doesn't have eyes so to say. His eyes are Luv, the Eye of Ra:

"A new form of himself is born at dawn" fits with the shot and him being a continuation of Tyrell.

good one, I did not pick up on that due to Wallace's Christian mythology sputtering.

 

[Spenny]

All right. After seeing it four times I can firmly say I really enjoy it. I personally don't like it as a sequel but the movie itself is great.

That said, was everyone else's theatres empty as fuck? Other than the screening I went to each one had at most fifteen people in it.

 

[SolidChamp]

Although BR left that open-ended, BR2049 made it abundantly clear that Deckard is a replicant.

Neither my wife or I got that impression. In fact, if anything, I believe it was hinting the opposite.

 

[Window]

I didn't spot as many non-western iconography as the original but I did see a sign at the police station written in what looked like Sanskrit script. Was there much else? I'm sure I missed some.

 

[Kenzodielocke]

The plot could have been about any baby born from a replicant. That it ended up being the main character of the last film showed me production strings that took me out the movie. Fed up of seeing his tired mush acting as an artificial lynchpin of the movie rather than an actual character.

Harrison Ford did a good job. He was already special in the first movie, this is a sequel. Makes sense him turning up and having an important role to the plot. I don't get your complaint, but never mind.

Although BR left that open-ended, BR2049 made it abundantly clear that Deckard is a replicant.

Nope, Villeneuve made it clear that we don't and know and probably will never find out, because it's also irrelevant.

 

[Farside]

All right. After seeing it four times I can firmly say I really enjoy it. I personally don't like it as a sequel but the movie itself is great.

That said, was everyone else's theatres empty as fuck? Other than the screening I went to each one had at most fifteen people in it.

I went at 11AM on Friday and it was pretty empty. But that's an off-time.

 

[Escape Goat]

All right. After seeing it four times I can firmly say I really enjoy it. I personally don't like it as a sequel but the movie itself is great.

That said, was everyone else's theatres empty as fuck? Other than the screening I went to each one had at most fifteen people in it.

Wat

4 Times? You spent 12 hours watching the same movie in one day? Good lord!

 

[ZombieFred]

Man it's been a day since seeing the film and I am still thinking of how much K had to go through and his tragic story all the way to sacrificing himself in an act of kindness in the most human way possible.

I have so much feels

 

[daviyoung]

Harrison Ford did a good job. He was already special in the first movie, this is a sequel. Makes sense him turning up and having an important role to the plot. I don't get your complaint, but never mind.

My complaint is "remember Rachel!? Yeh...I remember." Here's a CGI one. Utterly pointless.

 

[Addi]

I didn't spot as many non-western iconography as the original but I did see a sign at the police station written in what looked like Sanskrit script. Was there much else? I'm sure I missed some.

The small Mahjong-looking tiles with asian inscriptions that Luv plugs on Wallace's neck.

 

[Cheebo]

Damn, I just don't get why we can't see space travel and other shitified planets in a $150 million movie

All we have is Avatar

#starved

I don't think you understand what Blade Runner is if you think this is the franchise to show robot uprisings and space adventures.

 

[Spenny]

Wat

4 Times? You spent 12 hours watching the same movie in one day? Good lord!

Not all in the same day. Went to a screening last week, went to the first showing at 7 pm Thurs, went to 11:30 am matinee on fri, then went one more time Fri night. That's still a lot I guess but Blade Runner is legit my favorite movie.

Still gonna go one more time with my mom who showed me the first movie at the ripe old age of six.

 

[Window]

My complaint is "remember Rachel!? Yeh...I remember." Here's a CGI one. Utterly pointless.

Odd complaint because that's usually brought up in context of references which do not serve any other purpose than a self congratulatory note for people who get it. I don't think that was the case here. It could have been any other character's baby but why not use characters with an established backstory who play a very minimal role here instead spending time setting up a new ones who would be nothing more than a plot device? If you have an aversion to any references or continuation of story elements at all then I guess I can understand where you're coming from. I mean, this story could be transplanted outside of the Blade Runner universe and still get across its core themes well enough.

But with respect to that Rachel scene in particular, I didn't care much for it either.

 

[Number_6]

My one question is, well, I thought replicants have a life span of four years? Knowing this, how is Deckard alive in this movie?

You're assuming Deckard is a replicant. They leave that open-ended. Anyway, this same movie mentions the Nexus 8 which had a "natural" lifespan.

oh but the twist is meant to add depth a shock factor to the K story. Otherwise, it's just all sorta eh. Considering we follow K in this movie as the protagonist as he is led to believe he is a real boy and the chosen one, the twist mattered more than you gave it credit for. It just wasn't done well with a verbal exposition instead of more dramatic or interesting reveal.

Yup, twist absolutely mattered. K was able to do all that emotion and lying and disobeying on his own, without actually being human/the child. Then we see plenty of other woke replicants. I see no problem with how twist was done, though.

Deckard would be hunted because he was a replicant from pre-blackout (Tyrell Nexus model). Prohibition rules meant they all needed to be hunted down and retired.

Although BR left that open-ended, BR2049 made it abundantly clear that Deckard is a replicant.

Also, was it me or were they intentionally vague on whether Deckard was actually a replicant? Wallace seemed to say he had no way to know for sure, because of incomplete records, but the conspiracy theory in his head was that Tyrell created Deckard to mate with Rachel and carry out the plan for replicant reproduction.

Lots of assuming Deckard is a replicant here. Or desire to confirm it. Just because Ridley kept proclaiming it years after the fact doesn't make it so, especially in Denis Villanueve's film. Such a twist would exist only for twists' sake, and actually undermines the theme of the first film.

Not sure how anyone could say BR2049 made it clear Deckard is a replicant, either. Wishful thinking? Hearing what you want to hear? Was this movie your own personal Joi?

Wallace was ambiguous. Speculating. Fucking with Deckard's head. If he thought Deckard was a replicant, he could easily confirm it by pulling an eyeball or taking a future microscope to his hip bone. And he could still ask him questions too.

Deckard didn't necessarily need to be special to have a child with Rachel. Only Rachel had to be special--she's the (for sure) replicant that got pregnant and had the damned baby.

 

[hamchan]

Man it's been a day since seeing the film and I am still thinking of how much K had to go through and his tragic story all the way to sacrificing himself in an act of kindness in the most human way possible.

I have so much feels

K was such a good hero.

They really had me thinking that he was Deckard's chosen one son.

And that he wasn't, that he was just a full bodied replicant who did all these things and felt all this stuff, impacted me much more greatly.

 

[Farside]

Not sure how anyone could say BR2049 made it clear Deckard is a replicant, either. Wishful thinking? Hearing what you want to hear? Was this movie your own personal Joi?

Jesus, that's pretty dismissive of another's interpretation. I'm not sure how anyone could think that Deckard isn't a replicant. Wishful thinking? Hearing what you want to hear? Was the movie your own personal Joi?

 

[daviyoung]

Odd complaint because that's usually brought up in context of references which do not serve any other purpose than a self congratulatory note for people who get it. I don't think that was the case here. It could have been any other character's baby but why not use characters with an established backstory who play a very minimal role here instead spending time setting up a new ones who would be nothing more than a plot device?

You answered your own question. The baby is just a plot device, adding it being Deckards adds absolutely nothing to this. It's basically the only anchor to the original film and it's such a crucial one for this movie. More stuff like yer man making origami sheep instead of the shoehorning in of Deckards legacy would have made the callbacks more palatable.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

is there a place to buy or legally stream the soundtrack? I found some stuff on Spotify but I don't know if it's an official playlist.