Blade Runner 2049: New Vangelis Cut

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!

My reviews are a personal opinion of what i enjoy and not an indication of a good or bad edit. We all have different likes and what floats my boat sinks another. So please don't let my opinion stop you from viewing any fanedit...not that it would

Having recently watched Problem Eliminator's BR2049 Vangelis Cut i can say that for me it is 90% there. My go to version has been TM2YC's Aerodynamik which does a marvelous job of cutting the space and moving the film along at an accelerated pace. Problem Eliminator's reduces the films length but does so by chopping various scenes. I can honestly say that i never really had a problem with Wallace and was a little bit weary of having so much of his screen time trimmed but this really works for the better. The replicant birth does now seem rather unnecessary. All other cuts and trims especially cutting the Frank Sinatra jukebox add to the enjoyment of BR 2049 but i am still undecided whether i'd prefer to keep the Rachael clone scene. Either the Deckard flashback of Rachael scene has to go or the clone scene has to go - you can't have both and P.E chose to remove the clone scene.
All dialogue trims are perfect and as i discussed with Problem Eliminator before i viewed his edit the area in between dialogue allows the space to add Vangelis sublime instrumentation... and every film could do with a little more Vangelis.
I liked the original score - Zimmer has been at the top of his game recently: take the Interstellar, Man of Steel & Dunkirk OST's as reference. I wanted the BR2049 to be a little more emotive and at times in this cut it really works. The roof top kiss between K and Joi is where the new music is a 10/10 absolutely perfect... but there are times when i feel the music is amiss and the original music is better, take for instance - I didn't like the music choice when K first returns to Los Angeles after killing Sapper, it sounded a little too middle eastern and took me out of the cityscape... also the chase scene at the end before Luv's shuttle crashes into the sea i preferred the original and i also preferred the theatrical versions music at the end, which i deemed highly emotional. These are the only three scenes whereby i prefer the original - all other cuts and music choices are spot on.
Well done P.E I'll definitely be watching this version again in the future. Highly recommended

Both Blade Runner films have the general problem of just dragging too much and being too goddamn long for me. Wakeupkeo made an awesome fanedit of the first film that truly improved upon it to the point that I now LOVE that film; and out of all the fanedits I watched of the second film, Problem Eliminator's was certainly the best one so far.....but the problem of it being too long and dragging still remains.

For me, most of the drag revolves around the character of Joi. Now, I know there are some "Joi-less" edits out there, but they just don't work since some of the important plot points are revealed during the Joi scenes; removing her all together just doesn't work. Problem Eliminator's edit is currently the ultimate compromise for me, given the fact that it keeps the Joi character, but it does also trim the fat that is found throughout the film thus improving the overall pacing (while also establishing a stronger consistency when it comes to the narrative, which I TRULY appreciated).

Now, when it comes to the main attraction, which is the replaced music, I found that to be somewhat enjoyable. The way it was done was masterful, but it honestly didn't really do a big difference when it comes to drastically changing the feel of the film overall. Vangelis's score worked perfectly with the original BLADE RUNNER film, but for this second film that is more ambitious, epic, and modern in it's scope, I ultimately felt Zimmer was a sensible pick. To me, ultimately, it works either way. An uncle of mine, who watched and enjoyed 2049, did complain that the film didn't feel the same as the original due to it not having a Vangelis score. Perhaps he's a better candidate than me to test this fanedit....

All in all, a very good edit that was seamless and did, in fact, ultimately improve upon the original. Highly recommended.

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I really enjoyed this and appreciated the decision to eliminate some of the ickier bits from the narrative.