Blade Runner 2049 *SPOILER THREAD*

[blackprinceofmuncie]

*Warning, this thread will contain spoilers for the movie. You have been warned.*

Could be, could be. But where answering that Q would take the overall story, I'm not so sure: does a yes or a no propel the main conflicts/philosophical examinations of Blade Runner (both versions) forward at all?

I think there are some unanswered questions that a living K adds to the story. We have a replicant engineered to obey who lied to his supervisor. We have a replicant designed specifically NOT to have the same aspirations as the earlier Nexus models who believed himself to be, for a while, the offspring of two replicants and took actions to preserve his own life. I think one of the unanswered questions is whether the newer model replicants really are incapable of disobeying. Will they aid the humans in the coming struggle or can some of them be converted into helping with the replicant uprising.

I don't think a full on war movie would be appropriate to the genre, but I can definitely see a sequel where a covert power struggle is going on (perhaps with replicants attempting to replace important human political figures akin to the faux SF police dept. in the novel). With K at the center of the intrique, we could be left wondering throughout the story whether he truly has gone over to the replicant side or if he is working as a double agent.

I would see that movie.

[TRP]

I think one of the unanswered questions is whether the newer model replicants really are incapable of disobeying. Will they aid the humans in the coming struggle or can some of them be converted into helping with the replicant uprising.

I think that's where the baseline testing comes in. The LAPD, if not everyone, knows that K's model can go off programming. That's why the testing. If the model was 100% guaranteed to be loyal, truthful and obedient, then there would be no reason for the testing.

I don't think a full on war movie would be appropriate to the genre, but I can definitely see a sequel where a covert power struggle is going on (perhaps with replicants attempting to replace important human political figures akin to the faux SF police dept. in the novel). With K at the center of the intrique, we could be left wondering throughout the story whether he truly has gone over to the replicant side or if he is working as a double agent.

I agree that a Bladerunner movie just about a war wouldn't be very interesting. Neither would I be interested in a straightup noir detective story with K.* What makes Bladerunner and Bladerunner 2049 work for me as PKD inspired stories, is that they both focus on perceptions of reality on a personal basis. It's not really about a big story of whether replicants can self-replicate, or about a war between factions. Issues like those are just backdrops for the protagonists to navigate while they figure out who they are, or even know what they are.

* the exception would be if even K didn't know who, which side or maybe no one at all, he might be helping. He'd have to have serious doubts his own motives. Are they his motives or maybe he's just experiencing the whole thing as memory implant? Maybe he's just a brain in a jar somewhere and none this shit is really happening anywhere.

[thedungeondelver]

Depending on your feelings about the film, Soldier starring Kurt Russell is a sort-of Sequel (people say "sidequel" which is a portmanteau I hate) to Blade Runner. I'm neutral on the subject as I have never seen the film. So depending on your feelings there, you might have your "Blade Runner war movie" in it.

I've read differing plot summaries of K's last onscreen moments; some say he lies down and dies, others that he lies back and watches the snow fall. He doesn't go slack in death but then none of the replicants did in Blade Runner (Zhora, for example, went rigid almost immediately, Roy sat there with his head slightly bowed, etc.)

As I've said before the movie was largely ruined by the audio experience so I'm wondering what I missed during the chase sequence. Were they going to a launch site to go to an off-world colony or were they already on one?