Los Angeles 2019 - 2049
Bladerunner 2049
2017
Why watch it:
The inner turmoil of the main character is incredibly profound
It wrestles with complicated themes, that are difficult, but important to understand
It captures the human experience in such a way that it leaves a profound imprint on the audience
You won’t see a film like this in the cinema again
Memorable scenes:
Interlinked within cells
Someone lived this
Her eyes were green
I want to be real for you
Turning of the Tide
Purpose realized
Themes Examined:
What it is to be human
The parental dilemma of letting go
Serving something bigger than yourself
Bladerunner was a dangerous film, because it showed us a future we didn’t expect
But Bladerunner 2049 is a different story.
It doesn’t reflect our future. It reflects our present.
It’s a dangerous and complex film experience, which can be too challenging for casual audiences.
Despite a relatively recent release, (close to a Replicant’s four year lifespan) Bladerunner 2049 has caused just as much polarization and debate as the original, in much less time. To paraphrase Dr. Eldon Tyrell, the film has burned so very, very brightly.
So why was the response so polarizing?
There are a number of reasons, which stem from the following points:
it’s both the same, and strikingly different from the original
it asks questions which make you rethink your life
in a bizarre way, it replicated the release of Bladerunner, for better and worse
audiences weren’t, and still aren’t ready for the ‘Bladerunner effect’
Bladerunner 2049 is long in its runtime and deep in its meaning. To write one article on it would be exhausting for the reader. Therefore, this analysis will consist of a series of articles which look at a variety of aspects form the movie – the background to Bladerunner, the characters and their innermost motivations, and the themes that run through the film.
To start, we will look at the origins of Bladerunner, how the world wasn’t prepared for it in 1982, and how the world still isn’t ready for the sequel, over thirty years later.
The original Bladerunner, (hereafter referred to as BR82) captured a cultural zeitgeist, but it did so before the change occurred.
It brought audiences a frightening glimpse of the future which they weren’t yet ready to confront. The result was a box office failure and a divisive critical reaction. It wasn’t until 1991, and the release of the director’s cut, that the film was acknowledged as a masterpiece of cinema.
To understand why this happened, it’s important to look at the film landscape of the time, and what followed post 1982.
BR82 came out as the original Star Wars saga was reaching its conclusion, and weeks after the release of the global blockbuster E.T. This was a time of simplistic science fiction: Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon and Star Wars, all of which brought a sense of wonderment, excitement and escapism to viewers. Though visually spectacular, they were straightforward and revealed a naïve vision of the future. Good and bad were clearly divided, technology and humanity worked in unison, and there was a sense of adventure in these universes. Whereas the sci fi movies of the fifties reflected the societal fears of the time – namely the cold war, the science fiction of the late seventies and early eighties did not. A full decade had passed since the last manned moon landing, and a disturbing realization was beginning to form in public consciousness.
Though mankind had been to the moon, we would not see the stars in our lifetimes.
The genre of science fiction was heavy on fiction, and light on science.
Sci fi had become synonymous with blockbusters. Spectacle over substance, entertainment for the popcorn masses.
Then Bladerunner was released.
Imagine watching this between Empire Strikes back and Return of the Jedi.
Audiences simply weren’t ready.
As a reminder of our limitations and mortality, BR82 was a difficult pill to swallow. It heralded the arrival of the cyberpunk genre, high tech and low life. It was a genre diametrically opposed to the popular sci fi stories of the time. Instead of utopian cities made of glass and steel, our future was a high tech dystopian nightmare; lacking humanity and ruled by ominous mega corporations.
Science fiction had grown up, but audiences were not yet ready. This resulted in something this writer terms the ‘Bladerunner effect’:
A film which divides an audience upon release, then influences the film landscape that follows, only to later be seen as a masterpiece.
In BR82, it can be seen by the film’s performance:
on a budget of 28 million USD it made 32 million in the US
it made 41 million worldwide
it received mixed to scathing reviews – terms included “Bladecrawler” and “science fiction porn”
If a film is objectively bad, it can be described as such and simply dismissed. However the criticism leveled at BR82 reveals something else – anger.
Anger is a byproduct of fear. BR82 showed viewers a future which they weren’t ready to face. The result was an anger at being confronted with reality, an acknowledgement of the audiences’ collective cognitive dissonance. This caused a critical and commercial split which is still a point of contention among film fans today.
While the film wasn’t well received at the time of release, its impact on sci fi filmmakers was electrifying. For the rest of the decade and beyond, all notable science fiction films were heavily influenced by it.
Examples include:
Robocop
Akira (though the manga began in 1982, the 1988 film was heavily influenced by Bladerunner)
Back to the Future Part 2
The Running Man
And countless others.
In addition, there is not a film that has been released since 1982 which doesn’t pay homage to Bladerunner. Even Star Wars, which predates Bladerunner by 5 years, attempted a poor imitation of Los Angeles 2019 in Episode II.
Star Wars Episode II - Coruscant
Simply put, Bladerunner was film ahead of its time, and its effect on cinema was as powerful as its opening shot.
Then, over thirty years later, a sequel was announced.