Blade Runner 2049: New Vangelis Cut

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.

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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.

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