Science Fiction Films Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049
January 24, 2018
The original Blade Runner movie, released on June 25th, 1982, is an “American neo-noir science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos,” according to Wikipedia. iMDb, a reliable source of information for all things film-related, captures the entire two-hour plot in a single sentence: “A blade runner must pursue and try to terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.”
Just over 35 years later, on October 6th, 2017, Blade Runner 2049, a sequel to the original Blade Runner, was released. Following the timeline of reality, the show’s plot is set thirty years from the original Blade Runner. “A young blade runner’s discovery of a long-buried secret leads him to track down former blade runner Rick Deckard, who’s been missing for thirty years. (iMDb)”
Comparing both viewer and critic reception of these two movies, you will see many similarities and few differences, an unexpected result of two movies that span over thirty-five years of time. Typically, film sequels do much worse, ratings-wise, than their predecessors. While the original Blade Runner (1982) movie received an average of 8.2 stars out of 10 by over 560,000 iMDb users, the new Blade Runner 2049 (2017) received the same score of 8.2 stars out of 10 by 220,000 iMDb users. Now, this shows that users roughly liked the two movies the same amount.
Looking at critic reviews, we see that the original Blade Runner received a Metascore of 89 by 11 critics from Metacritic.com. Meanwhile, the new Blade Runner 2049 received a Metascore of 81 by 54 critics, 8 entire points less than its predecessor. However, when we take a look at RogerEbert.com, we see the reverse scenario: Blade Runner received a score of 3 out of 4 stars while Blade Runner 2049 received 3.5 out of 4 stars.
Overall, both these movies have seen incredible success. Blade Runner 2049 is still in theatres, and I hope this article has helped you in making your decision on whether or not to go out and see it.
Links:
Roger Ebert: Blade Runner 2049
The Wikipedia articles are great sources for technical knowledge of the films, including plot summaries, cast descriptions, and production notes. Meanwhile, iMDb provides more of an interactive and fun interface with its graphics, including photo galleries, trailer videos, and user/critic reviews. The Roger Ebert website contains many incredibly comprehensive and unique film reviews by experienced film critics, and the Blade Runner reviews are not an exception.
