Blade Runner 2049 (runtime 2:43:27) - Patreon Version
Added 2026-01-13 17:00:09 +0000 UTCHi Everyone!
Blade Runner 2049 was the other movie to win our Second Chance Poll! This movie had some big shoes to fill after the original Blade Runner, but it completely delivered!
I was so happy to spend a few hours back in that world, with the music and the beautifully moody atmosphere. The story was wonderful and kept us both guessing until the end, the performances were great, and I could just keep heaping praise on it all day....or you could watch it with us!
Comments
Wow wow wow, so well put ❤️❤️❤️ You point out a lot of powerful moments that are so simple in the film, but hold so much weight. I think that just shows how skilled the writing is, and how the director had a very clear vision.
Chandra
2026-01-21 00:33:37 +0000 UTC(For anyone reading this who has yet to see the film, spoilers lie ahead). I finally found the time--as well as the right state of mind--for this re-watch. I'm so pleased to have seen how this movie affected you both. The film is so--well, here is perhaps a weird word to describe a movie: Punctuated. For instance, Jordan, when Joe was told that he'd been getting along just fine without a soul, it immediately struck you just how profoundly sad of a concept that is to think about and feel. Much like the first film, it just has these moments that stop you in your tracks long enough to realize: This movie is ABOUT something. Something real, but almost intangible. For me, it's like reaching at a cloud I've just fallen out of, but by nature of it being a cloud, there's nothing I can physically partake with. Kinda like the scene with JOI and Joe trying to make physical contact, or Joe trying to make sense of memories that aren't even his. Sigh. I mean, this movie is straight-up poetry. The first time I watched it, I was, of course, deeply moved. It immediately became my favorite film of all time (previously, that title belonged to Dancer in the Dark), and has remained so since 2017. The second time I watched it, though, I remember having to pause the film when The Memory Maker said, "I love birthday parties". I really cannot put into words how much that line punches me in the heart. It's like those words "tenderize" me, so that any ounce of external hardness I have left is undone, and I'm primed to absorb the remainder of the story's musings. Everything that happens afterward is just gut punch after gut punch. Even though everything in this film is filling us with a sense of dread--from the visuals, to the dialogue, to the score--there is this surgical incision made upon me that keeps allowing for things like beauty and hope to live. There's this spark which lights in me, and makes me think, "It's all of you, human beings, who need to be shown what it means to have a soul". I love this movie. Is it ABOUT something? Sure. Do I know what it's about? I don't think I can definitively say. Themes of rebellion, autonomy/individuality, loneliness, cruelty, purpose, what it means to be human, if merely being human has any intrinsic meaning at all... It just doesn't tell you what to think. It only offers you things to think about. It's beautiful. And, yeah, like you said, Chandra, this one sticks with you for life. I can personally attest to that. It's so. Fucking. Good.
Darian Harman
2026-01-16 13:37:35 +0000 UTCMan the visuals! That's a Denis movie for you. I'm glad I got to watch this with you guys. One of my favorites. If you guys are intrigued by the AI and JOI in this, I highly recommend the movie HER. Goes into those concepts in depth. Thanks!
Ian A
2026-01-14 05:20:31 +0000 UTCThe first Bladerunner is similar to Star Wars ANH for me in that it is a foundational movie that left a mark on everything that came after. Cyberpunk as a genre has yet to come out from under the aesthetic that Ridley Scott and that visual development team set up all those years ago. You can see the fingerprints of it on so many movies, tv, anime, and games that came after. For me it makes them at least a little unassailable outside of nitpicks from a modern perspective that wouldn't exist if movies like Star Wars, Blade Runner, Mad Max, Alien. Silent Running, etc hadn't been made. What Denis Villeneuve was able to accomplish to with 2049 was to build upon and not ruin, the original. I have watched the original and its various incarnations dozens of times and *FOR ME* 2049 is a better film. By just a smidge. It has a cohesion that no sequel with that much time between entries has had. I daresay if Ridley Scott had made 2049 it wouldn't be as good as what Denis made. The one possible other "sequel" I can think that is as good with a similar amount of time between entries, was Fury Road. but Mad Max is more serialized than sequel, with no continuity that matters and has the same director/writer/creator at the helm. Anyway, great film and great reaction. I appreciate seeing you guys quietly riding through most of the film and not playing up big reactions to engage your viewers. It is a pretty sedate film that rewards quiet attention imo. I highly recommend the BR 2049 short films that Denis made to set up for this film. They aren't required but they are very well done and in total are less than an half an hour. BR 2049 shorts YT Playlist link https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMQZFn8rxlqMKLp8xhFRGN2r6Ogqg0ujQ&si=MG-ejvf7U0D6bJJR There was also a animated series set in 2032 called BR: Black Lotus that I haven't checked out. It got one season before David Zaslav canceled after he took over Warner. Zaslav cancelled a lot of stuff, much of it for no good reason. I hope whoever ends up buying Warner/HBO/Etc brings some of it back to streaming so folks see the content even it doesn't get additional seasons. IP like Bladerunner deserve better stewards than dudes like Zaslav.
James W.
2026-01-14 03:21:07 +0000 UTC
