Blade Runner 2049: New Vangelis Cut

I really loved this take on Blade Runner: 2049 and found the execution flawless. Blade Runner and Vangelis go hand in hand so this was a fanedit that I hoped for, even before finding out one existed. Avoiding the original score was a smart move as the music is so familiar it might have seemed pastiche, which this edit isn't at all. Whilst I would have been happy for the Wallace scenes to be left in, I'm glad they were removed as Leto's performance is complete garbage and I can only think that he ended up where he did with that character because his scenes were brief and he wanted to leave an impression. If you were going to remove one thing, that would be it. Perfectly happy for the Rachel scene to go too, as it proved so controversial that seeing it breaks immersion every time.

Overall I would recommend this fan edit without hesitation. It sets out exactly what it achieves too and executes its vision pretty much perfectly. I won't say which version I prefer, because I think both this and the original compliment each other and I expect to alternate between them in the future, depending on my mood.

If you're interested in a Vangelis-scored Blade Runner: 2049 (and who wouldn't be) then you should definitely give this fanmix a go.

I can't love this movie, but I can't hate it either. It has fantastic visuals, at times a very dense atmosphere and some cool ideas. It also has boring, one dimensional villains, silly replicant resistance subplots and the tendency to shoehorn fanservice in an already thin plot. It also has a very forgettable soundtrack. I didn't know how much I missed Vangelis until the last scene where a few of his notes were played... and the scene came alive.

Problem Eliminator sure lived up to his name. Much of the unneeded fanservice was removed and Vangelis is back to raise the bar a couple of notches. Audio and video quality was great. The original Blade Runner is one of my favorite movies and even with PEs edits, many things in 2049 still make my eye tick with annoyance, but this is definitely a big improvement.

‍

When I saw BR2049 in theaters, my only complaint was that the soundtrack wasn't quite cutting it: this fanedit solved this problem and made an already great film into a near perfect one; the new Vangelis soundtrack really makes the world of the movie feel so much deeper and more alive in my opinion.

The narrative is also made leaner through the excision of unnecessary "nostalgia-fodder" and some dialog i, like PE, found a bit annoying (namely, too many women hitting on K). I think cutting Wallace's screen time actually makes him into a much more menacing figure, hidden the shadows, although the dialogue in his intro now feels a bit clunky, especially on first watch.

The editing is flawless, and except for a few aesthetic remarks (I would've cut K screaming from the memory lab scene and I would've just got rid of the eye closeup entirely instead of placing it at the end, which I find a wee bit distracting) I have nothing but praise for this edit. Absolutely recommended!

Ok, so first off, I do have to say that I DO and DON'T recommend this edit, but hear me out.

The narrative is perfect. I'm a huge fan of BR2049 and love the theatrical release as it stands. I think the original release is still a 10/10, but there were a couple of very minor things left to be desired revolving around Wallace, which this edit does remove...to its benefit. When I heard the editor removed the Rachael scene, I thought for sure he was bonkers. However, having seen the edit he made to that scene, I can totally understand the choice. Does it change the scene, making it better? I don't know about that. I did feel like it lent more of an emotional impact on Deckard's part for sure. I also like the drastic removal of most of Wallace's scenes, but mostly because I just wasn't a huge fan of the floating eye bots and the birth of a replicate bits, which are gone in this edit. So yeah, as far as the narrative goes, I didn't notice much if anything cut besides the Wallace and Rachael bits. Narratively, it's perfect. (Not that the theatrical wasn't)

Now, as for the bigger change here: The soundtrack. This is where I don;t recommend this edit... I would say maybe half of it worked kinda mostly, while the other half felt out of place and some tracks felt too were familiar. Suffice to say, I wasn't a fan of the new Vangelis soundtrack. I think maybe the Vangelis should stay with the original Blade Runner where it felt appropriate. This movie is 30 years later, and should have a fitting soundtrack that feels new, not a throwback soundtrack. When I got this edit, I thought for sure that I would be enamored by a Vangelis soundtrack, but I just wasn't. It doesn't feel right to me.

Anyways, soundtrack aside, the editing is technically perfect from my perspective. I don't know what magic was used to replace the soundtrack, but it was mixed in there well. As for the narrative and editing, I found zero issues. Honestly, if I could have THIS edit with the ORIGINAL BR2049 soundtrack, that would be fantastic.