Blade Runner 2049 (4K UHD BD) [Blu-ray]

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Blade Runner 2049can feel a bit padded at times. It's not too long or anything, I wouldn't cut any scenes, but there are certain stretches where one can feel the length. Ridley Scott himself has recently come out and said that part of the reason why this film didn't connect at the box office was probably due to its length. Again, I'd say that it is a tad long, but that has more to do with pace rather than length. Some scenes could have been trimmed, but not eliminated. To be honest, I'm glad that Scott didn't direct this sequel. After the middling Prometheus and the messy Alien Covenant, I don't think he would have had the patience to let this film and its ideas breathe in a satisfying way. Scott's films of late feel like they suffer from Intellectual ADD, one interesting idea pops up without being fully explored before jumping to another interesting idea before being dropped altogether and outright forgotten.

Nexus Dawn (HD 6:31) Directed by Luke Scott, this short expands on a part of the prologue explaining how Jared Leto's Wallace was able to continue production of Replicants and also plants a couple seeds for his motivations in the movie.While I won't go so far as to say that Blade Runner 2049 is as good as or better than the original Blade Runner, it gets pretty damn close. So close that the margin of difference is really only quantifiable to that moment of first discovery. As I detailed in my review for the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of Blade Runner, I discovered the film under pretty unique and very memorable circumstances that made me an instant fan of that film. I didn't want to believe that Blade Runner 2049 could even come close to being as good as it is. I was expecting to walk out of the theater thinking "That was pretty good. They didn't screw it up!" In actuality, after sitting through the credits I walked out of the theater speechless, in a stupor. Blade Runner 2049 brought up so many thought-provoking ideas about heady issues and themes like love, having a soul, and what it means to be human that I needed to take a walk for a mile or two to process everything. But the bottom line feeling that was fueling my thoughts was just how incredible the film was. I just couldn't believe that it was actually that good. Though 2049 can be cool in its emotions, it wears them better than the original. Blade Runner arguably still has the measure of its progeny, but that speaks volumes as to how good 2049 often is. Bigger in scope, with more to grapple with and discern, it's a long watch but it's hard to take your eyes off it. The overall Atmos is an excellent one, with consistent activity in the height channels. Whether it's K's spinner, voices or Los Angeles' environment (it rains a lot), the height channels have weight and presence. The positioning and steering of effects are seamless as gunshots zip past, Spinners throttle across the screen and waves crash along the Sepulveda Wall in the film's climax.

Against all odds, Denis Villeneuve has crafted a truly worthy sequel to Ridley Scott’s original Blade Runner. This is not quite a masterpiece, nor can it be called a “perfect” film like the original, but 2049’s conceptual, visual, and character additions to this world are significant and feel completely organic and true to that compelling earlier narrative. Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 is a deeply cinematic experience, a film that dazzles the senses even as it challenges the intellect. It’s also a remarkable 4K Ultra HD experience that’s not to be missed. The colours have received a boost, thanks to Wide Colour Gamut (WCG). They're enriched, and the texture and subtlety of the tones is more readily appreciable. The various oranges and reds, mixed with yellows and glossy creams in the Las Vegas sequence are gorgeously rendered. vibrantly alive. (The green forest she's editing when K first arrives is so gorgeous that it belongs format that, like IMAX, is touted for its detail, depth and color intensity. The added height of the

legendary Roger Deakins, a pioneer of digital cinema who personally oversaw the film's post-production on a 4K digital intermediate. Deakins also Villeneuve has crafted a visual feast for the eyes. Using a mix of old-school practical effects and models with new digital effects, he created a beautiful yet horrifying landscape that echoes the world presented in the first film, but shows that humanity has stumbled further into a frightful dystopia where it rains all day, snows all night, and the sun rarely pierces the haze that lingers above Los Angeles.Roger Deakins captures every minute detail with wide expansive vistas and long takes that allow your eyes the freedom to wander. With 13 Oscar nominations and no wins, Deakins is long overdue for the Academy recognition he rightly deserves. I don't know if Blade Runner 2049 will be the film that nails it for him, but he plays with color, light, and shadow to create a world that is both beautiful and horrifying.

Nowhere to Run (HD 5:49) This expands on Dave Bautista's Sapper Morton and how the character became a rogue Nexus 8 replicant. Roger Deakins has stated that he's not a huge fan of HDR and we can't tell if the 4K is hugely brighter or darker than the Full HD Blu-ray as it would seem it's subtly implemented. Image consistency across the resolutions appears to be the key. Designing the World of Blade Runner 2049 (HD 21:55) With cast, crew, and creative team interviews, this is a pretty fantastic look at the making of the world of this sequel. While a lot of stuff is covered, 21 minutes feels a tad short for my taste, this could be its own feature-length documentary I'm sure.Blade Runner 2049 can be hunted down on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray presented in 3840 x 2160p with a widescreen 2.40:1 aspect ratio, using 10-bit video depth, a Wider Colour Gamut (WCG) and High Dynamic Range(HDR), encoded using the HEVC (H.265) codec. The UHD Blu-ray was reviewed on a Samsung UE55KS8000 Ultra HD TV and a Samsung UBD-K8500 Ultra HD Blu-ray player.