I watched the original only this week. I could see the cultural impact the movie had but it felt weak in some aspects. The visuals were amazing, I actually had listened to the soundtrack a dozen times while working and its great. I felt like the big issue for me was that the pacing and plot didn’t age too well. 35 years later, we’ve been exposed to a lot of sci-fi, possibility of cloning, androids, advanced AI which makes the slow pacing of the original movie to let the viewer digest and form an opinion wasn’t really required. This may be a tribute to the impact the film had more than anything…
Where I think the original failed me with its plot and pacing, the new one nailed it. The plot messes with you in so many great ways. It takes your expectation of how the plot is going to unfold and makes you think you were clever for having figured it out and then just spins, several times. The reflective pacing was also quite welcome. As the actors are figuring things out, so are you.
The visuals were great, having different locations made the world feel much more real. I’m a bit disappointed there weren’t more street level urban scenes, I loved those in the original and gave you a sense of the relation of the different characters with their world. They also looked really cool.
I liked the inclusion of snow in the movie. It may just be a Canadian thing but there’s something much more relatable to the heavy and silent yet serene atmosphere of a light snow fall than baking in the California sun.
Like Michael, I was let down by the score. The original is so expressive and melodic. It actually works as a great counterpoint to the desolate landscape. It also puts you a bit in the mind of the characters. This universe is what they know, there’s no shock to riding a flying car above a 30 story concrete maze of people in a super rough situation. Deckard is feeling love and wonder much more than he is feeling oppressed. The new soundtrack while it uses the same synth and has the right textures in some places, it completely misses the mark in terms of melody and moving you. Hans Zimmer seems like an odd fit as he’s one of the least melodic composers out there. Someone like the band Air could have been like a good fit. It seems like they had to change who was doing the score midway through, so maybe Zimmer was a choice more because he’d get something ok in little time more than because he was the best fit.
On the design front. I really liked the brand integration (as there was in the original) and I’d be curious how they happened. The Peugeot spinner, the John Walker bottles, the Sony entertainment system. Its interesting how having those recognizable brands in the movie make the feel much more immersive. While there’s an aesthetic to Blade Runner, its not uniform and seeing the interpretation of the visual language of those brands through the lens of that universe made for some really cool props.
This could also make for an interesting exercise of just running what if scenarios on products and brands. Playing with the history and purpose of products to get new ideas in the process.
Anyhow, it’s cool seeing everyone’s reaction and interpretation is quite different for this movie.