As much as I enjoy the original Blade Runner, it really does not feel like a masterpiece the way 2049 does.
Note the usage of quotes from Nabokov's Pale Fire during the baseline test. A few I liked:
Do you feel that there's a part of you that's missing? Interlinked.
Did you buy a present for the person you love? Within cells interlinked.
* spoiler alert *
Joe (aka "K") has to pass the baseline test to demonstrate his lack of emotional state.
There's a scene early on in the film where K will be giving a present to his hologram love, Joi. She's the opposite of K - full of emotion, joy, sadness. Joe just had a rough day, comes home, and she tries to cheer him up
Joi : Would you read to me?
[gets up, crosses to table, 'picks up' Nabokov's Pale Fire]
Joi : It'll make you feel better.
'K' : You hate that book.
Yes, of course she hates that book. She is a glowing ball of emotion and doesn't want to ever give that up. She's the most emotional character in the whole film.
It's clear the film is a true labor of love from Hampton Fancher and Michael Green. They put their entire being into this work.
I read a post some time ago that explained how that test came to be - It was created by Ryan Gosling of all people - and it's an incredible story inside an incredible story.
Not sure if this [1] is the post I read back in the day, so I hope it does explain the story correctly (Haven't read this one in particular, just googled for it). Then I thought "May be I picked that from Hacker news" [2] and [3] (May be you should go at these in reverse order)
Crazy to me that people think 2049 was a masterpiece. That film was full of the most generic sci-fi story tropes possible and entirely missed the chaotic, visual genius of the original. It’s a forgettable sci-fi action movie that no one would have looked twice at if it weren’t named Blade Runner.
I barely remember 2049. I remember so much of the original. Ridley Scott and team created the world from scratch and mastered the atmosphere. 2049 is very good, but it's basically a requel.
Note the usage of quotes from Nabokov's Pale Fire during the baseline test. A few I liked:
* spoiler alert *Joe (aka "K") has to pass the baseline test to demonstrate his lack of emotional state.
There's a scene early on in the film where K will be giving a present to his hologram love, Joi. She's the opposite of K - full of emotion, joy, sadness. Joe just had a rough day, comes home, and she tries to cheer him up
Yes, of course she hates that book. She is a glowing ball of emotion and doesn't want to ever give that up. She's the most emotional character in the whole film.It's clear the film is a true labor of love from Hampton Fancher and Michael Green. They put their entire being into this work.