Which movie is better: Blade Runner or Blade Runner 2049?

[Fatoy]

I like Blade Runner 2049 a lot. It's a terrific piece of future mood, a peerless showcase for cinematography and unintrusive VFX, and a poignant meditation on humanity. But it's also saddled with the baggage of the first film, and in that respect I think it's a bad sequel. I would like it more as a standalone film.

The first Blade Runner is all of those things - mood, cinematography, VFX, themes - with none of the added weight to drag it down. Considering that the the first BR also refined the template for essentially all of those things in sci-fi cinema, I give the edge to the original.

 

[nelsonroyale]

I thought 2049 was a good film, but it wasn't better, particulalry for its time, than the original BR in anyway. The characters in particular were better in the original, as was the acting. 2049 didn't really have a particulalry riveting story, even though it was executed well. It was a good update of the formula, and I liked the speculative tech they included, but it didn't really bring anything new, like the original did. I mean given what it was, I don't think it could have been better unless they took more creative risks, which could have exploded in their faces anyway. I also think the original contributed a visualisation of a particular future which contributed to the wider cultural conversation. BR 2049 did have some interesting stuff with holograms being projected onto a living person, but I don't think it had much to say or depict that was of consequence. That isn't a big deal per se, it was a good movie, just not a particularly significant one in a wider cultural sense.

 

[mbpm]

They feel like they're trying to do pretty different things

 

[Zushin]

2049 imo.

 

[-shadow-]

As much as I like the second one, I'm way too bothered by the fact it completely drops the aspect of the replicants wanting to start a revolution. It's such a big build up, but there's literally no payoff for it in the end. The film cuts from them explaining what they're planning, to K being depressed on the bridge to him saving Deckard and it just ends.
Even with a lot of the stuff that was cut from the original, I never felt like anything important was dropped or left on the cutting room floor. I do with this one unfortunately.

 

[Tansut]

2049 is the movie I wanted the original to be.

 

[Cup O' Tea?]

I found the original a little boring at times. I never felt bored watching 2049.

 

[harry the spy]

BR 2049 is a great movie. BR is the better movie and it's not even close.

 

[Deleted member 25870]

2049 is the better film. Its existence actually makes the original better. And I REALLY like the original already.

2049 is also bittersweet for me. I wish my grandfather could have seen it. He passed away about a year before it hit theaters. Blade Runner was one of his favorite films. He would have loved it.

 

[Deleted member 42055]

What I always say, I really do love both but only one film has the " Like tears..in...rain" scene and " Love Theme"

 

[Deleted member 10234]

2049 is too long. Original looks better for the most part and has a better soundtrack.

I have watched Blade Runner at least once a year after first seeing it (and on average more than that), I've seen 2049 twice and feel like I'd be fine never seeing it again.

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

2049 is very likely my favorite film. I think it takes the baseline characters and themes of the original and goes into extremely good expansion and exploration of it all while topping the original in production quality and tone.

It's better than Blade Runner but it also doesn't stand up without it. You have to know BR to maximize what 2049 achieves. But I do think that 2049 is a better executed film than the original, even lacking the prestige of defining an entire visual style in film and pop culture.

 

[Elfotografoalocado]

I think both are about even in top movie territory. Blade Runner was one of the most impactful films in general and for me, and 2049 is just incredible and a modern masterpiece. I must have seen it like four or five times in theaters because it was just so good. It knows how to draw from the themes and plot of the first film while doing its own thing, and it's not afraid to explore what could happen in the world that the original film left.

 

[Deleted member 37151]

Blade Runner is my favourite film.
I didn't like 2049 really. It's just empty posturing.

 

[Timbuktu]

2049 might be better in some ways but it doesn't have the impact or break new ground like the original did.

 

[Natsume Soseki]

I don't like Blade Runner so it's not a fair question for me.

 

[UltraMav]

Tough choice. The original has higher highs, but the sequel is a more consistently enjoyable movie. I'm torn.

 

[Plasma]

The sequel is a good film but I liked the original more, it just stuck with me in a way the sequel never did.

 

[pechorin]

2049 is a better movie overall, but I prefer the aesthetic/music of the first one.

 

[shaneo632]

2049. The first one has worse pacing and some really goofy shit that doesn't work (the backflipping!), and 2049 doesn't have the rapey Deckard stuff to deal with (even if it's undeniably tethered to it).

 

[Mg.]

Had to vote for equal, because they're both very similar but also incredibly different.

What I sort of prefer of the original is it feeling more contained and personal, whereas 2049 felt more bombastic and 'epic'. (If that makes sense lol)

Despite all that, both movies are incredibly important pieces of cinema and both are in my top 10 favourite movies of all time.

 

[Edgar]

Outside it's aesthetic I never cared for original. 2049 I rewatched 4 times

 

[Deleted member 34725]

I'm shocked by the amount of people who are saying that they liked 2049 more. I thought it was pretty mediocre. The best scene in the entire film is the one with Bautista and after that it's all down hill.

 

[BobbeMalle]

Watching OG BR in the 80's and watching it now are very different experiences.
I think BR in its time is superior to 2049, but overall i like the latter better

 

[It’s Reyn Time!]

Blade Runner has a special place in my heart, and is constantly flitting around in my top 5-10 films of all time. When a sequel was announced I had this horrible sinking feeling that they were going to fuck it up on the scale of, say, most Terminator sequels.

Blade Runner 2049, to me, is a better film in every way. It's an incredible piece of cinema and I adore it.

 

[trioptimum24601]

2049 was good, but if you think it's better than you are objectively wrong and need to turn in your license to look at things.

 

[Gernau Morat Gurgeh]

The original for me. 2049 is good but tends to drag in places

 

[Soj]

The original.

2049 mostly goes to shit in the third act.

 

[FuzzyWuzzy]

Yeah I prefer the original, 2049 is a great movie and ende dup way better than I expected but no way I would take 2059 over the original.

 

[Lost Knight]

2049 for me, the original is indeed influential, has a great antagonist, and the production design is a class of its own, but in all honestly, Deckard is just boring as a protagonist.

 

[Martinski]

I always recommend anyone that has trouble getting to sleep to put on Blade Runner and you are set.

2049 is a much better looking and more enjoyable movie overall even if the original is so iconic etc, the sleepy pacing in the first will put almost anyone down. Not to say that the pacing in the sequel isn't slow but it's night and day.

 

[LabRat]

Blade Runner is the more influential and groundbreaking movie
Blade Runner 2049 is by far the better movie

 

[Deleted member 9932]

One is a highly influential movie, the other is a cool sci-fi story bizarrely shoehorned into the br franchise that just aesthetically apes the superior movie and its forgotten after 3 years. This isn't difficult.

 

[Deleted member 69573]

I was hovering over both for a good minute before I realised they're about equal. The around 10 minutes of resistance subplot / sequel bait is what holds back 2049 for me otherwise itd be the outright winner.

 

[Mivey]

Original is the more important movie to me, though I won't deny that on pure artistic merit, Villeneuve's movie is - for the most part - better. If it didn't star Jared Leto, I might have ranked it higher than the original

 

[Pilgrimzero]

BR is boring slog except for the intro credits and the monologe in the end.
BR49 is great all the way through.

Click to shrink...

I find the opposite. I find it hard to rewatch the sequel. It's like to long.

 

[StraightToHell]

The original is an imperfect film but poignant, daring, has many great moments and full of amazing artistic achievements.

2049 is well crafted and put together, but somehow feels hollow and tries too hard to make each camera shot worthy of being put up on a wall. It ultimate feels contrived and doesn't dare to do anything on its own.

 

[DavidDesu]

Close but I've watched 2049 multiple times in the cinema and at home. I just love it. Blade Runner has more atmosphere for sure but as a watchable film it can feel pretty long at times with some sections I don't really care for so much.

K's mental journey in 2049 was absolutely stunning to behold and still gets me.

 

[DIE BART DIE]

I love both.

2049 has a much more interesting plot and the story is told better.

The original beats 2049 when it comes to its iconic cinematography and music.

 

[doops.]

The fact that the (in my opinion) absolute best song on the soundtrack plays over the r*pe scene really undercuts the original over 2049 to me.

Besides, I was far more invested in K's story than Deckard's, like it's not even that close.

Sean Young is an absolute treasure though, it must be said.

 

[Protome]

I prefer the original but only just, they're both fantastic movies.

 

[DIE BART DIE]

As much as I like the second one, I'm way too bothered by the fact it completely drops the aspect of the replicants wanting to start a revolution. It's such a big build up, but there's literally no payoff for it in the end. The film cuts from them explaining what they're planning, to K being depressed on the bridge to him saving Deckard and it just ends.
Even with a lot of the stuff that was cut from the original, I never felt like anything important was dropped or left on the cutting room floor. I do with this one unfortunately.

Click to shrink...

On the contrary, what makes 2049 so good is that it is a film full of good decisions, shepherded by a very smart and restrained director.

A lesser filmmaker would have made K the chosen one.

A lesser filmmaker would have ended the film with the clichéd uprising led by the chosen one trope.

A lesser filmmaker would have definitively answered the Deckard replicant debate.

We don't need to see a replicant uprising, it would have shifted focus from the personal story 2049 wanted to tell. I'm convinced that had Ridley Scott directed as originally planned, he would have asserted his vision on the screenplay and at the least Deckard would be depicted as a replicant, and we would have perhaps got the revolution ending.

 

[Kurtikeya]

I have a soft spot for 2049 because it finally got Deakins his Oscar, but...

The original is an imperfect film but poignant, daring, has many great moments and full of amazing artistic achievements.

2049 is well crafted and put together, but somehow feels hollow and tries too hard to make each camera shot worthy of being put up on a wall. It ultimate feels contrived and doesn't dare to do anything on its own.

Click to shrink...

This is where I'm at.

 

[Adventureracing]

2049. The first one has worse pacing and some really goofy shit that doesn't work (the backflipping!), and 2049 doesn't have the rapey Deckard stuff to deal with (even if it's undeniably tethered to it).

Click to shrink...

That's my biggest hangup. Frankly that made me really uncomfortable on rewatch and i'm not sure i plan on ever watching BR again for that reason.

 

[dejay]

Blade Runner 2049 is better by a country mile and it didn't take multiple cuts to get that way.

As much as I love the original Blade Runner, it's one of the sleepiest movies ever made. Shit can knock me out faster than Tylenol PM.

Click to shrink...

Yup - took me three attempts to love it. The other two times I fell asleep. They're both movies I have to be in the exact mood for, but they're both great.

I still prefer the original.

 

[Nooblet]

I like BR 2049 more.
But the original BR did some things better like the density of environment and showing the city and life a bit more.

 

[Prine]

2049

 

[Tygre]

BR has an incredible intro and finale, but is utterly interminable in the middle. Even with 15 different cuts it still has the same garbage pacing problems. An incredibly important film without a doubt, one which has had a significant impact on the industry and culture at large, but not a good watch.

BR2049 is good. It's a meaningful sequel that makes BR better in retrospect. It's not important in the same way, but it's an interesting and engaging film start to finish.

 

[MadLaughter]

The original didn't really ever click for me outside of the aesthetic and a moment or two from the replicants. The weird like..assault scene by Deckard didn't help.

Whereas 2049 felt pretty gripping start-to-finish. Seeing that one in an IMAX theater probably helped.

 

[Swearing.circle]

I was one of the people who felt 2049 would be a travesty despite loving Denis' work. I felt blade runner was the movie that did not need a sequel and anything would just be a tired retelling or would completely miss the point of the original.

I was wrong in every conceivable way. 2049 takes Blade Runners themes and explores them on a much deeper level. The characters are incredibly well realised and thematically it is just incredible. The movie was a life changing experience for me and gave me a lot of self reflection on who I am and my place in everyday life. The cinematography was amazing, the actors perfectly cast and the pacing was deliberate and it pulled no punches. We wont get a film like it again for years and I genuinely think it's the best performance I've seen from Harrison Ford. It has dethroned the original as my favourite film.

The only thing that I would say is worse, is the music but the soundtrack is still great. I've watched it 5 times and I still havent changed my mind. Every time I watch it I pick up on something new, whether its visual metaphors or dialogue that I didnt pick up on. The movie manages to say a lot through visual imagery as opposed to exposition dumps. 10/10.